The Life and Times of Chaucer

I've read a bit of Chaucer and know a bit about 14th century history, but John Gardner does an excellent job of unifying various threads in this account of the poet's times.

The main events (from an English perspective) in the second half of the 1300's are the internal politics of the Plantagenets (the children and grandchildren of Edward II by Isabella of France), the 100 Years War (with France, in part to assert the right of the children of Isabella to the French throne), the adoption of English as the language of the court, the Peasant's Revolt, and the Plague. None of these events are independent of each other, yet are often studied separately.

By turning his story on the axle of Chaucer's life Gardner is able to bring them all into a single compact tale, since Chaucer–as a minor member of the court, a sometime soldier and diplomat, and a life-long civil servant (or as close as the medieval world could come to such a thing)–was touched by all of these and more.

As such the book is more times than life, as we know relatively little about Chaucer the man, other than what is revealed by his poetry. Gardner-the-novelist has a keen eye for incidental details that illustrate the timeless nature of human folly, which is fundamental focus Chaucer's humane and insightful poetic stories. My favourite is the claim the Edward II's youngest son, John of Gaunt (born to Isabella in Ghent, Belgium) was in fact a changling, swapped at birth for a Flemish imposter. Modern conspiracy theorists of the “birther” kind might be pleased to know their particular delusion has deep historical roots.

If we know less about Chaucer than we might like, this book puts his work in context and is an excellent reader's companion to the poems, adding texture and locality to their universal concerns and observations on the human condition.