“This is my letter to the World...” by Emily Dickinson. ORIGINAL TEXT AND AUDIO - 2017 On this day in 1389, King Richard II appointed poet Geoffrey Chaucer to the position of Chief Clerk of the King's Works in Westminster. Chaucer, the middle-class son of a wine merchant, spent his lifetime associated with aristocracy: as an adolescent, he served as a page for a wealthy household and later fought in France with Edward III, who paid the ransom when Chaucer was captured during a siege. The clerkship came with a significant salary — 30 pounds per year — but a heavy workload: Chaucer supervised the building and maintenance of several royal projects, including the Tower of London and Westminster Palace. Chaucer traveled widely as Clerk, which afforded him the opportunity to meet people across a spectrum of social classes: peasants, nobles, and clergy. Their voices are the narrative cornerstone of Chaucer's greatest work,
TWA from Wednesday, July 12, 2017
TWA from Wednesday, July 12, 2017
TWA from Wednesday, July 12, 2017
“This is my letter to the World...” by Emily Dickinson. ORIGINAL TEXT AND AUDIO - 2017 On this day in 1389, King Richard II appointed poet Geoffrey Chaucer to the position of Chief Clerk of the King's Works in Westminster. Chaucer, the middle-class son of a wine merchant, spent his lifetime associated with aristocracy: as an adolescent, he served as a page for a wealthy household and later fought in France with Edward III, who paid the ransom when Chaucer was captured during a siege. The clerkship came with a significant salary — 30 pounds per year — but a heavy workload: Chaucer supervised the building and maintenance of several royal projects, including the Tower of London and Westminster Palace. Chaucer traveled widely as Clerk, which afforded him the opportunity to meet people across a spectrum of social classes: peasants, nobles, and clergy. Their voices are the narrative cornerstone of Chaucer's greatest work,