Editing Geoffrey Chaucer (section)

===Career===
[[File:Ellesmere Chaucer, mssEL 26 C 9, folio 153v color enhanced.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Chaucer as a pilgrim, in the early 15th-century illuminated [[Ellesmere manuscript]] of the ''Canterbury Tales'']]
Although records of the lives of Chaucer's contemporaries [[William Langland]] and the [[Gawain Poet]] are practically non-existent, Chaucer was a public servant whose official life was very well documented. Nearly 500 written items testify to his career. The first of the "Chaucer Life Records" appears in 1357, in the household accounts of [[Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster|Elizabeth de Burgh]], the [[Countess of Ulster]], when he became the noblewoman's page through his father's connections,<ref>Skeat (1899); Vol. I, p. xvii.</ref> a common medieval form of apprenticeship for boys into knighthood or prestige appointments. The countess was married to [[Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence]], the second surviving son of the king, [[Edward III]], and the position brought the teenage Chaucer into the close court circle, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king from 1389 to 1391 as Clerk of the King's Works.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Critical Companion to Chaucer: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work |last1=Rossignol |first1=Rosalyn |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York |pages=551, 613 |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-8160-6193-8}}</ref>

In 1359, in the early stages of the [[Hundred Years' War]], Edward III invaded France, and Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, Elizabeth's husband, as part of the [[History of the British Army|English army]]. In 1360, he was captured during the [[siege of Rheims]]. Edward paid £16 for his ransom,<ref>''Chaucer Life Records'', p. 24.</ref> a considerable sum {{Inflation|UK|value=16|start_year=1360|fmt=eq|cursign=£}},{{Inflation/fn|UK}} and Chaucer was released.

[[File:ChaucerCrest EwelmeChurch Oxfordshire.png|thumb|Chaucer crest ''A unicorn's head'' with [[canting arms]] of Roet below: ''Gules, three Catherine Wheels or'' (French ''rouet'' = "spinning wheel"). [[Ewelme]] Church, Oxfordshire. Possibly funeral helm of his son [[Thomas Chaucer]]]]
After this, Chaucer's life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, and [[Flanders]], possibly as a messenger and perhaps even going on a [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrimage]] to [[Santiago de Compostela]]. Around 1366, Chaucer married [[Philippa (de) Roet]]. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, [[Philippa of Hainault]], and a sister of [[Katherine Swynford]], who later ({{Circa|1396}}) became the third wife of [[John of Gaunt]]. It is uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, [[Thomas Chaucer]], had an illustrious career as [[Chief Butler of England|chief butler]] to four kings, envoy to France, and [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]]. Thomas's daughter, [[Alice de la Pole|Alice]], married the [[William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk|Duke of Suffolk]]. Thomas's great-grandson (Geoffrey's great-great-grandson), [[John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln]], was the heir to the throne designated by [[Richard III]] before he was deposed. Geoffrey's other children probably included Elizabeth Chaucy, a nun at [[Barking Abbey]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=Medieval English Nunneries, c. 1275 to 1535 |last=Power |first=Eileen |year=1988 |publisher=Biblo & Tannen Publishers |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ll6BuF4-kgC&pg=PA19 |access-date=19 December 2007 |isbn=978-0-8196-0140-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Chaucer and His England |last=Coulton |first=G. G. |year=2006 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |page=74 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tgP7qB4Br-4C&pg=PA74 |access-date=19 December 2007 |isbn=978-1-4286-4247-8}}</ref> Agnes, an attendant at [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]]'s coronation; and another son, Lewis Chaucer. Chaucer's "Treatise on the Astrolabe" was written for Lewis.<ref>Rossignol, Rosalyn. ''Chaucer A to Z: The Essential Reference to his Life and Works''. New York: 1999, pp. 72–73 and 75–77.</ref>

According to tradition, Chaucer studied law in the [[Inner Temple]] (an [[Inns of Court|Inn of Court]]) at this time. He became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a ''[[valet de chambre]]'', [[yeoman]], or [[esquire]] on 20&nbsp;June 1367, a position which could entail a wide variety of tasks. His wife also received a pension for court employment. He travelled abroad many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet. In 1368, he may have attended the wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to [[Violante Visconti]], daughter of [[Galeazzo II Visconti]], in [[Milan]]. Two other literary stars of the era were in attendance: [[Jean Froissart]] and [[Petrarch]]. Around this time, Chaucer is believed to have written ''[[The Book of the Duchess]]'' in honour of [[Blanche of Lancaster]], the late wife of John of Gaunt, who died in 1369 of the plague.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Holt Literature and Language Arts |publisher=Holt, Rinehart, and Winston |year=2003 |isbn=978-0030573743 |pages=113}}</ref>

Chaucer travelled to [[Picardy]] the next year as part of a military expedition; in 1373, he visited [[Genoa]] and [[Florence]]. Numerous scholars such as Skeat, Boitani, and Rowland<ref>''Companion to Chaucer Studies'', rev. ed., Oxford UP, 1979.</ref> have suggested that, on this Italian trip, [[Chaucer coming in contact with Petrarch or Boccaccio|he came into contact with Petrarch or Boccaccio]]. They introduced him to [[medieval]] [[Italian poetry]], the forms and stories of which he would use later.<ref>Hopper, p. viii: "He may actually have met Petrarch, and his reading of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio provided him with subject matter as well as inspiration for later writings."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Legend of Thebes and Literary Patricide in Chaucer, Boccaccio, and Statius |last=Schwebel |first=Leah |journal=Studies in the Age of Chaucer |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=139–68 |year=2014 |doi=10.1353/sac.2014.0028|s2cid=194954865 }}</ref> The purposes of a voyage in 1377 are mysterious, as details within the historical record conflict. Later documents suggest it was a mission, along with Jean Froissart, to arrange a marriage between the future King [[Richard II]] and a French princess, thereby ending the Hundred Years' War. If this was the purpose of their trip, they seem to have been unsuccessful, as no wedding occurred.

In 1378, Richard II sent Chaucer as an envoy (secret dispatch) to the Visconti and Sir [[John Hawkwood]], English [[condottiere]] (mercenary leader) in Milan.<ref name="Benson"/> It has been speculated that it was Hawkwood on whom Chaucer based his character, the Knight, in the ''Canterbury Tales'', for a description matches that of a 14th-century condottiere.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Caferro |first1=William |title=John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy |date=2006 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |page=200}}</ref>

[[File:Geoffrey Chaucer.jpeg|thumb|left|A 19th-century depiction of Chaucer]]
A possible indication that his career as a writer was appreciated came when Edward III granted Chaucer "a gallon of wine daily for the rest of his life" for some unspecified task.<ref name="Benson"/> This was an unusual grant, but given on a day of celebration, [[St George's Day]], 1374, when artistic endeavours were traditionally rewarded, it is assumed to have been for another early poetic work. It is not known which, if any, of Chaucer's extant works prompted the reward, but the suggestion of him as a poet to a king places him as a precursor to later [[poets laureate]]. Chaucer continued to collect the liquid stipend until Richard II came to power, after which it was converted to a monetary grant on 18&nbsp;April 1378.<ref name="Benson">{{cite book |last1=Benson |first1=Larry Dean |title=The Riverside Chaucer |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=xv, xvi, xvii}}</ref>

Chaucer obtained the very substantial job of [[comptroller]] of the customs for the port of London, which he began on 8&nbsp;June 1374.<ref>Morley, Henry (1890) ''English Writers: an attempt towards a history of English literature''. London: Cassell & Co.; Vol. V. p. 106.</ref> He must have been suited for the role as he continued in it for twelve years, a long time in such a post at that time. His life goes undocumented for much of the next ten years, but it is believed that he wrote (or began) most of his famous works during this period. Chaucer's "only surviving handwriting" dates from this period. This is a request for temporary leave from work presented to King Richard II, hitherto believed to be the work of one of his subordinates due to the low level of language.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Geoffrey Chaucer note asking for time off work identified as his handwriting |work=The Guardian |date=10 July 2023 |last=Alberge |first=Dalya |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/10/geoffrey-chaucer-note-asking-for-time-off-work-identified-as-his-handwriting |access-date=13 July 2023}}</ref>

On 16 October 1379, Thomas Staundon filed a legal action against his former servant Cecily Chaumpaigne and Chaucer, accusing Chaucer of unlawfully employing Chaumpaigne before her term of service was completed, which violated the [[Statute of Labourers]].{{sfn|Roger|Sobecki|2022a|p=420}} Though eight court documents dated between October 1379 and July 1380 survive the action,{{sfn|Roger|Sobecki|2022a|p=407-410}} the case was never prosecuted. No details survive about Chaumpaigne's service or how she came to leave Staundon's employ for Chaucer's.{{sfn|Roger|Sobecki|2022a|p=424}}{{efn|[[Frederick James Furnivall]] discovered the case in 1873 via a [[quitclaim]] filed by Chaumpaigne releasing Chaucer from any legal responsibility for "all manner of actions related to [her] [[raptus]]" (Latin: "omnimodas acciones, tam de raptu meo"). Furnivall, Chaucer biographers, and feminist scholars speculated that Chaucer may have raped or abducted Chaumpaigne. However, in 2022, Euan Roger and [[Sebastian Sobecki]] discovered two additional documents from the case in the [[British National Archives]], revealing that "raptus" referred to the illegal transfer of service from Staundon's household to Chaucer's and that the case was a labour dispute in which Chaucer and Chaumpaigne were co-defendants.{{sfn|Roger|Sobecki|2022a|p=407-411}}<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Roger |first1=Euan |last2=Sobecki |first2=Sebastian |year=2022b |title=Geoffrey Chaucer and Cecily Chaumpaigne: Rethinking the record |url=https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/geoffrey-chaucer-and-cecily-chaumpaigne-rethinking-the-record/? |website=UK National Archives}}</ref> Roger and Prescott commented that "the carefully curated, small-scale world of literary manuscripts...is far removed from the vast scale of government archives...[this discovery] demonstrates that there is more to be found".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roger |first1=Euan |last2=Prescott |first2=Andrew |title=The Archival Iceberg: New Sources for Literary Life-Records |journal=The Chaucer Review |date=1 October 2022 |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=498–526 |doi=10.5325/chaucerrev.57.4.0498|s2cid=252860263 |doi-access=free }}</ref>}}

[[File:Blue plaque, Tabard Inn.jpg|thumb|right|[[Blue plaque]] at the site of [[the Tabard]] inn in [[Southwark]], London where in 1386 the pilgrims in ''The Canterbury Tales'' set off to visit [[Canterbury Cathedral]]]]
While still working as comptroller, Chaucer appears to have moved to [[Kent]], being appointed as one of the commissioners of peace for Kent at a time when French invasion was a possibility. He is thought to have started work on ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' in the early 1380s. He also became a member of parliament (a [[knight of the shire]]) for Kent in 1386 and attended the '[[Wonderful Parliament]]' that year. He appears to have been present at most of the 71 days it sat, for which he was paid £24 9s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scott |first=F. R. |year=1943 |title=Chaucer and the Parliament of 1386 |journal=Speculum |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=80–86 |oclc=25967434 |doi=10.2307/2853640 |jstor=2853640|s2cid=159965790 }}</ref> On 15&nbsp;October that year, he gave a deposition in the case of ''[[Scrope v. Grosvenor]]''.<ref name=Harris>{{Cite book |title=The controversy between Sir Richard Scrope and Sir Robert Grosvenor, in the Court of Chivalry |last=Nicolas |first=Sir N. Harris |volume=II |page=[https://archive.org/details/decontroversiai01scrogoog/page/n428 404] |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/decontroversiai01scrogoog |year=1832 |access-date=2 June 2014}}</ref> There is no further reference after this date to Philippa, Chaucer's wife. She is presumed to have died in 1387. He survived the political upheavals caused by the [[Lords Appellant]]s, despite the fact that Chaucer knew some of the men executed over the affair quite well.

On 12 July 1389, Chaucer was appointed the [[Clerk of the Works|clerk of the king's works]], a sort of [[Construction foreman|foreman]] organising most of the king's building projects.<ref>Morley (1890), Vol. 5, p. 245.</ref> No major works were begun during his tenure, but he did conduct repairs on [[Westminster Palace]], [[St. George's Chapel, Windsor]], continued building the wharf at the Tower of London and built the stands for a tournament held in 1390. It may have been a difficult job, but it paid two [[shilling]]s a day, more than three times his salary as a comptroller. Chaucer was also appointed keeper of the lodge at the King's Park in [[Feckenham Forest]] in [[Worcestershire]], which was a largely honorary appointment.<ref>Forest of Feckenham, John Humphreys FSA, in Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeology Society's Transactions and proceedings, Volumes 44–45, p. 117.</ref>