The Canterbury Tales is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's magnum opus. The tales are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.
A Tale from the Decameron by John William Waterhouse
Canterbury Cathedral from the north west c. 1890–1900 (retouched from a black & white photograph)
Title page of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the hand of "Scribe B", identified as Adam Pinkhurst, c. 1400.
The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 is mentioned in the Tales.
Middle English is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English period. Scholarly opinion varies, but Oxford University Press specifies the period when Middle English was spoken as being from 1100 to 1500. This stage of the development of the English language roughly followed the High to the Late Middle Ages.
A page from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
