Work / monument · text

The Canterbury Tales

c. 1387–1400 · 14th century

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories in Middle English verse and prose by Geoffrey Chaucer, written in the late fourteenth century and left unfinished at his death in 1400. It presents a group of pilgrims travelling from Southwark to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, each telling tales in a storytelling contest. It was among the first books printed in England by William Caxton.

The Canterbury Tales
Image: DemonDays64 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). The Canterbury Tales. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-canterbury-tales
MLA
“The Canterbury Tales.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-canterbury-tales. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “The Canterbury Tales.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-canterbury-tales.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘The Canterbury Tales’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-canterbury-tales (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻