Who Murdered Chaucer?

About this book

In this spectacular work of historical speculation Terry Jones investigates the mystery surrounding the death of Geoffrey Chaucer over 600 years ago. A diplomat and brother-in-law to John of Gaunt one of the most powerful men in the kingdom Chaucer was celebrated as his countrys finest living poet rhetorician and scholar: the preeminent intellectual of his time. And yet nothing is known of his death. In 1400 his name simply disappears from the record. We dont know how he died where or when; there is no official confirmation of his death and no chronicle mentions it; no notice of his funeral or burial. He left no will and theres nothing to tell us what happened to his estate. He didnt even leave any manuscripts. How could this be? What if he was murdered? Terry Jones hypothesis is the introduction to a reading of Chaucers writings as evidence that might be held against him interwoven with a portrait of one of the most turbulent periods in English history its politics and its personalities.