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Unit 2: The Age of Chaucer

2.7 Summary Notes

The fourteenth century, as J. M. Manly puts it in The Cambridge History of English Litera-
ture, was “a dark epoch of the history of England”.
Latin and French were the dominant languages in fourteenth-century England.
Chaucer first appears in public records in 1357 as a member of the house of Elizabeth,
Countess of ulster.
In October 1385, Chaucer was appointed a justice of the peace for Kent, and in August 1386
he became knight of the shire for Kent.

2.8 Keywords

Black Death : The severest attack of this dread epidemic came in 1348. It was
called “the Black Death” because black, knotty boils appeared on
the bodies of the hopeless victims.
Peasants’ Revolt : It is, according to Compton-Rickett, “a dim foreshadowing of those
industrial troubles that lay in the distant future.”

2.9 Review Questions

1. What is the Chaucer's age-both medieval and modern? Explain.
2. What do you mean the Hundred years war? Explain.
3. What is the age of Chivalry?
4. What is literary and intellectual tendencies? Explain.

Answers : Self Assessment

1. Chaucer's age 2. England 3. Materialism
4. France, England 5. Pestilence

2.10 Further Readings

Books A Critical History of English Literature, IV Vol, 2nd ed. Ronald, New York,
1970: Daiches, David.
History of English Literature, Cambridge University Press, London, 1968: Legouis
and Cazamian.
An Outline of History of English Literature, G. Bell and sons, London, 1930:
Hudson, W.H.

Online links www.gutenberg.org/files/10609/10609-h/10609-h.htm#chap4
allaboutenglishliterature.blogspot.com/2011/09/age-of-chaucer-1350-1400.html

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