(I) The medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was able to travel widely throughout Europe and study the literature of France and Italy. (II) With striking success, he combined his wide-ranging learning with an enthusiastic love for the everyday lives of ordinary English people into his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales. (III) During the century following Chaucer's death, England was torn apart in a civil war, called the “Wars of the Roses”. (IV) This is a work which the educated admired for its careful development of current literary forms, while ordinary listeners loved its comedy and adventure. (V) It became one of the most popular texts of its day.