Geoffrey Chaucer...what a guy!

Since we've been dallying here concerning English, I thought I'd mention this fellow, widely thought of as 'the father' of the language. And needless to say, whenever such a phrase is heard, many names come to mind, not least the Bard himself, or the committee that he may have been. But what of Chaucer?
Well, in one of the Ueber-alt-liberal Beeb's programs, I learned a bit about him. First of all, he was well born, and wore many hats, during his half century of life. For a man living in the second half of the 14th century, he traveled a good deal, from the Baltics to Turkey. And much of this was as a combat soldier. (hundred years war!) He was captured and released on ransom, paid by the King Himself. Well connected, I'd say.....
Returning to London, his place of birth, he was a public servant of the court, even as an esquire, the title lawyers use these days. He married well, during which time he wanted for little, with all his wife's dough. But her early death left him in financial straits, and he then worked at different jobs, until his death, in 1400. Some were again as a court official, and he did gardening later in life.
All this apparently left him little time to write, but write he did. But what about all this father of the English language literature stuff?
Seems as though, in the day, English was a lower class tongue, even in England. French was spoken at Court, and Latin was used for much else. But perhaps his best known work was Canterbury Tales. Written in quite colorful vernacular, it contained much not discussed in polite company, but was widely, VERY widely, enjoyed, and known by company of all sorts, anyway.
The twenty four tales, each named after one of the motley pilgrims on their way to the shrine at Canterbury, which they never reached, spared little of the saucy details on intimate dalliance, between women and men. And unusual for the time, the ladies got their good share, and weren't afraid to kiss and tell. And to smell.
Scholars apparently still debate why his writing, much of which was in lively verse, might have brought about the gradual switch to the broader use of English, and the demise of Latin and French. But He's burred in Poets' Corner in London. Not too shabby, for a wine merchant's son.
Just brought this up because his English is a blast to try to read and to understand. Sure, the s*xual antics titillate, especially considering the time it was written. And the earthy-risque' humour, VERY earthy, is a hoot.
But it's the use of words and phrases, most of which are reasonably clear even today, but some less understandable, that is interesting. With the naughty hat on, easy enough to get it all, with help from the context. It all got me thinking, with lots of possibilities, about the evolution of language. And the rhyming verse is great.
Your library should have CT, and other stuff he wrote. Some might even have modern English along with His verse, pages side by side. Check it out. Then check it out.
English. Lots of fun, when not abused, or taken too seriously. We've all had such teachers, sadly so. When your one only important cherished thing in life, is a pathetic box of nails, every tool starts to look like a hammer. I digress