797 Marion Turner and Chaucer (Revisited)

In this revisited episode of The History of Literature, host Jack Wilson revisits his 2023 conversation with Marion Turner, the J.R.R. Tolkien Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, about her biography *Chaucer: A European Life*. Turner challenges the traditional view of Chaucer as the 'father of English literature,' arguing instead that his life and work were deeply embedded in a cosmopolitan, multilingual Europe. Drawing on over 500 archival records—ranging from travel logs and court appointments to clothing purchases—Turner reconstructs Chaucer’s life not through emotional introspection but through the spaces and structures that shaped his imagination: from Vintry Ward in London to Genoa, Navarre, and the royal courts. She emphasizes how Chaucer’s exposure to Italian, French, and Latin literature, combined with his extensive travels and roles as diplomat, MP, and royal clerk, made him a uniquely European figure. The discussion also explores Chaucer’s innovative use of English, his radical narrative techniques in *The Canterbury Tales*, and the enduring mythologizing of his 'bawdy' reputation, which Turner argues overshadows his profound contributions to religious, philosophical, and scientific writing. Finally, she addresses the long-debated allegations of sexual assault against Chaucer, citing newly discovered archival evidence that recontextualizes the case as a labor dispute rather than a rape accusation, underscoring the ongoing vitality of medieval scholarship.