Selections from the Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400), known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin, largely through his best-known work, The Canterbury Tales. The tales are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The most well-known tales are included here in Middle English with a glossary to help the reader comprehend the less obvious words..