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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Geoffrey Chaucer
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(c.1343–1400) The greatest poet in England before Shakespeare, and the first to make English, rather than French or Latin, the main language of his poetry. The son of a rich London wine merchant, his career was closely involved with the royal court; he was variously employed on diplomatic missions, as controller of customs, and as clerk of the works. The palace and the households of great nobles also provided his audience; it was in such gatherings that he read his poems, which then circulated in manuscript. It was not till nearly a century after his death that *Caxton brought him a wider readership.
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A learned and bookish man, his genius ranged from the courtly elegance of *Troilus and Criseyde to the rumbustious vigour of the most popular scenes in The *Canterbury Tales. Much admired in his own time, he was granted the honour of burial in Westminster Abbey, where his tomb later became the nucleus of *Poets' Corner.
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