Chaucer and His Times

The medieval world feels alien to us: a place of plague and poetry, of courtly intrigue and vernacular rebellion. Geoffrey Chaucer - diplomat, courtier, poet - moved through this world and transformed it, giving English its first great literary voice. This early 20th-century study by Grace E. Hadow digs into the uncertainties that still shroud Chaucer's origins and early life, painting a vivid picture of the cultural currents that shaped one of literature's most influential figures. We see Chaucer not as a statue in a hall of fame but as a living presence - a royal servant navigating the treacherous politics of Edward III and Richard II's courts, absorbing French literary traditions and the raw energy of emerging English. Hadow's work remains essential reading for anyone drawn to the Middle Ages or curious about where English literature truly began.