written after 1422. The Epistola ad regem (1418), Epis-
tola ad Universitatem Parisiensem (1420), and Epistola
ad detestacionem belli gallici et suasione pacis (ca.
1422–24) display strongly held political convictions.
A number of his diplomatic orations survive, no doubt
because of their eloquence: Oratio ad imperatorem
(1425), Oratio ad regem Romanorum (1425), Persuasio
ad Pragenses in fi de deviantes (1425), and the Discours
au roi d’Ecosse (1428). A number of shorter, more
personal Latin prose works bear the clear infl uence of
Cicero: Invectiva contra ingratum amicum (ca. 1425),
Invectiva contra invidium et detractorem (ca. 1425), and
Epistola ad fratrem suum iuvenem (uncertain date).
The large number of manuscripts, early printed edi-
tions, and imitations of Chartier’s works attests to his
continuing popularity as an author well into the 16th
century and beyond.
See also Charles d’Orléans
Further Reading
Chartier, Alain. Les œuvres latines d’Alain Chartier, ed. Pascale
Bourgain-Hemeryck. Paris: CNRS, 1977.
——. Le quadrilogue invectif, ed. Eugénie Droz. 2nd ed. Paris:
Champion, 1950.
——. The Poetical Works of Alain Chartier, ed. J. C. Laidlaw.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974.
——. Poèmes par Alain Chartier, ed. J.C. Laidlaw. Paris: Union
Générale d’Éditions, 1988.
——. Le livre de l’esperance, ed. François Rouy. Diss. Université
de Paris, 1967.
Champion, Pierre. Histoire poétique du XVe siècle. 2 vols. Paris:
Champion, 1923, Vol. l, pp. 1–165.
Hoffman, E. J. Alain Chartier: His Work and Reputation. New
York: Wittes, 1942.
Rouy, François, ed. L’esthétique du traité moral d’après les
œuvres d’Alain Chartier. Geneva: Droz, 1980.
Walravens, C. J. H. Alain Chartier: études biographiques, suiv-
ies de pièces justifi catives, d’une description des éditions et
d’une édition des ouvrages inédits. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff-
Didier, 1971.
Janice C. Zinser
CHAUCER, GEOFFREY (ca. 1342–1400)
England’s greatest nondramatic poet, whose superb
poetry—often moving, sometimes disturbing, always
immensely readable—gave a new direction to English
literature.
Life
Chaucer was born into a London merchant family; by
1357 he was connected with the court, initially in the
household of Elizabeth countess of Ulster, later in the
service of successive kings. His wife, Philippa, was
herself connected with the royal households of Elizabeth
of Ulster, Queen Philippa, and Constanza of Castile,
second wife of John of Gaunt; Philippa’s sister, Kath-
erine Swynford, was for many years Gaunt’s mistress
and eventually his third wife.
Chaucer made a number of journeys abroad on the
king’s business: to France on several occasions, appar-
ently to Spain in 1366, and to Italy in 1372–73 and 1378,
where he discovered the great literature of the Trecento.
He held a number of senior “civil service” posts, includ-
ing a controllership of customs (1374–85), the clerkship
of the king’s works (1389–91), and a deputy forestership
in Somerset (1390s). He was a justice of the peace for
Kent and represented the county in the parliament of- Although there are numerous records of payments
to him in both money and kind (clothing and wine)
by Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV, and to both
himself and his wife by John of Gaunt, these are always
in return for work or services; there is no mention of
patronage specifi cally for his poetry.
Linguistic and Literary Backgrounds
Chaucer’s life coincided with a turning point in the
history of the English language. Under Edward III
the dominant language spoken and written within the
royal household was French, in its Anglo-Norman
form; parliamentary proceedings were conducted in
the same language. By the end of the century English
predominated in court and parliament, and schoolboys
were translating their Latin into English instead of
French. Chaucer’s poetry refl ects, and encouraged, the
new self-confi dence of the language and contributed
to the standing of the London dialect. His style com-
bines specifi cally English features, such as alliterating
phrases, with French fl exibility of sentence structure
and, increasingly, a spaciousness of syntax similar to
that seen in the long complex found in Latin.
Chaucer was familiar with English literary forms,
including alliterative verse (cf. the sea fi ght in the
Legend of Cleopatra, Legend of Good Wo m e n 635–48,
and the tournaments in the Knight’s Tale 2602–16) and
rail rhyme (parodied in Sir Thopas); he probably knew
Langland’s work, and certainly Gower’s. His earnest
identifi able poetic models, however, were French. Most
important was the 13th-century Roman de la Rose of
Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, an allegorical
love vision that Chaucer claims to have translated; of
the three fragments of an ME translation that survive,
only the fi rst is likely to be his. It may be the earliest
surviving example of his work. The Roman remained a
key infl uence throughout his career, but his career, but
his use of it changed signifi cantly: his earlier poems
draw most on Guillaume’s account of falling in love
in an idyllic courtly garden, while Jeans more cynical
writing was an inspiration behind such characters as the
Pardoner and the Wife of Bath. From the 1370s onwardCHAUCER, GEOFFREY