The rare second edition of Chaucer's works, 1542. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 - 1400) is considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages, and is best known for The Canterbury Tales. He was a crucial figure in developing the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin. The Canterbury Tales was selected by William Caxton to be one of the first books to be printed in England.