Geoffrey Chaucer was born between 1340 and 1345 in London to John Chaucer, a prosperous wine merchant, and Agnes Copton. Through his father’s connections, he began his career serving as a page to Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, and later held numerous important positions as a courtier, diplomat, civil servant, and collector of scrap metal. Chaucer was fluent in French, Italian, and Latin, traveled extensively on diplo