chaucer

Often the one name used in referring to Geoffrey Chaucer. He wrote many famous poems and stories, and was well known to be one of the first men to write officially in the common language, as we now know as Middle English. This was basically unheard of in his day, since any professional and elite writers would only use Greek or even Latin. He refused to use these languages, although he knew them well enough, and opted to write in a language much closer to our modern English than that of Old English. Famous for: The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, The House of Fame, and A Treatise on the Astrolabe. Read The Miller's Tale (in the Canterbury Tales).. it's hilarious.