Which 14th-century English poet wrote 'The Canterbury Tales'?

Geoffrey Chaucer was the 14th-century English poet who wrote The Canterbury Tales.

Chaucer began The Canterbury Tales in the 1380s, presenting a group of pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury Cathedral. To pass the time, they agree to tell stories, creating a frame narrative that lets Chaucer explore comedy, romance, religion, morality, class, and human hypocrisy through many different voices.

The work was written in Middle English, the language used in England after the Norman Conquest and before modern English fully developed. Chaucer’s lively characterization and attention to spoken language helped establish English as a major literary medium at a time when French and Latin were also prestigious literary languages.

The title can mislead readers into expecting a finished, orderly book. Chaucer planned a much larger collection, but The Canterbury Tales remained incomplete when he died around 1400. The surviving work contains 24 tales, along with prologues and connecting passages. Chaucer was also a civil servant, diplomat, and author of works including Troilus and Criseyde and The Book of the Duchess.