Chaucer on the Web

Chaucer on the Web

It has been only a few years since the Internet has become available to most of us. Since then, it has played an amazing role, and it changes our lives every day. We use the Internet to communicate with friends, to check news, and to find information. The Web contains a great amount of data about everything, and Geoffrey Chaucer is one popular subject. There are hundreds of sites dedicated to this great poet who was born in London between 1340 and 1345. The Harvard site describes his very busy official life: “He held positions as an esquire of the royal court, as the controller of the customs for the port of the royal court, as the controller of the customs for the port of London, as a participant in important diplomatic missions, and in a variety of other official duties.” Chaucer was an important diplomat, yet he also became known as a great poet and The Canterbury Tales made him famous. There are many sites about this author, of which three caught my interest. Each site has a different layout, format and information.

Joseph P. Thomas defines Chaucer’s life at http://www.newadvent.org: “John Chaucer, Geoffrey’s father, was a vintner and his mother Agnes was a heiress. John was connected with the Court, and once saw Flanders in the royal trim. Geoffrey was well educated, but whether he entered at either university remains unknown.” Chaucer married above his class to Philippa Roet who was a daughter of Sir Paon or Payne de Roioet Guienne, the knight at arms. They had three children, and their marriage was unhappy. Thomas inserted a lot of detailed information about Chaucer’s work, although his site is unattractive. The text is plain without any pictures, frames, or interactive sites. This web site is not easy to read and is unappealing, although it is a very useful tool in a search for details about Chaucer’s life and his time.

The Luminarium organization at http://www.