Background Information

Use this worksheet to find out more about Chaucer’s life and his writing.
All the gaps can be filled using words found in the box at the bottom of
the worksheet. You can only use each word in the box once.

___ Geoffrey ____ Chaucer was a medieval ___ poet ____. Unlike many other writers at

the time, he wrote his main works in __‘ English _____. Usually poems and other literary

works were written in __ Latin _____ or _ French ______.

The English language he wrote in is called __ Middle _____ English, which was used

between the years __1100____ and __1500_____. During this long period there were

three __ languages _____ in active use. The common_______ man spoke English; French

was spoken by ___rich____ and the ___royality____ _______; Latin was the language of

the upper classes_______ and ___teachers____.

Chaucer’s main work is called ______ _ The Canterbury Tales’ ____________. He began

writing this in __1386_____ but did not complete it before his __death_____ in

__1400_____. It is a __ collection _____ of tales told by fictional ____ characters ___

who are on a __church_____ to the shrine of ____ St Thomas a Beckett

________________ at Canterbury. There are _____29__ pilgrims on the journey and

each one has to tell a ___ story ____ to keep everyone entertained and __ amused _____

along the way. However Chaucer died before he could complete all of the tales so only

___24____ have been written.

People often went on journeys like this at this time, often in the hope of being

___boast____ and to pray for their ____sins___ to be _____ forgiven __. However

some people, usually __ pilgrimage _____ people, went on pilgrimages so that they could __

healed _____ about it.

People in Chaucer’s time liked to __listen_____ to stories and __books_____ were very

expensive. Most of the tales are written in ____ prose ___ _______ although some are

in ___ rhyming couplets ____.

* common * healed * Geoffrey * 1400 * upper-classes * 29 * poet * English

Copyright © 2004 www.englishteaching.co.uk + www.english-teaching.co.uk
* collection * teachers * listen * Latin * pilgrimage * story * Middle * 1100 * books *

1500 * ‘The Canterbury Tales’ * languages * royalty * Church * 1386 * death *

* characters * prose * rich * forgiven * St Thomas a Beckett * rhyming couplets *

* 24 * amused * boast * French * sins *

Copyright © 2004 www.englishteaching.co.uk + www.english-teaching.co.uk