From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by
Geoffrey Chaucer in the
14th century (two of them in
prose, the rest in
verse). The tales, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a
frame tale and told by a collection of
pilgrims on a pilgrimage from
Southwark to
Canterbury to visit the shrine of
Saint Thomas Becket at
Canterbury Cathedral.<ref>The shrine was destroyed in the 16th century during the
dissolution of the monasteries.</ref>
The Canterbury Tales are written in
Middle English. Although the tales are considered to be his
magnum opus, some believe the structure of the tales are indebted to the works of
The Decameron which
Chaucer is said to have read when he visited
Italy in the
14th century.
