Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Geoffrey Chaucer's father, John, was a vintner, or wine-maker. (Riverside Chaucer, "Introduction," xvi.)
One quarter of Chaucer's tales closely resemble a tale from Boccaccio's Decameron. (Helen Cooper, The Canterbury Tales 8)
Eighty-three medieval manuscripts of at least some portion of The Canterbury Tales are extant, or still in existence. This is more than any other medieval manuscript except one, The Pricke of Conscience. (Derek Pearsall, The Canterbury Tales 8)
Chaucer's last direct male descendants, John de la Pole and his brothers, died as prisoners in the Tower of London, claimants to the disputed British throne through their uncle, Richard III. (Riverside Chaucer, "Introduction," xvi)