Q 01/05

In what language are The Canterbury Tales written?

A) Old English

B) Middle English

C) Latin

D) Anglo-Norman French

Answer · why

B) Middle English

Chaucer used a London dialect of late Middle English; the final -e was still pronounced and the Great Vowel Shift had not yet happened.

Q 02/05

How many tales does the collection actually contain?

A) 48

B) 60

C) 30

D) 24

Answer · why

D) 24

The Prologue promised four from each of some 30 pilgrims, about 120 stories; most scholars think the work was unfinished at Chaucer's death.

Q 03/05

Whose shrine at Canterbury Cathedral are the pilgrims travelling to visit?

A) Saint Thomas Becket

B) Saint Alban

C) Saint Edmund

D) Saint Augustine

Answer · why

A) Saint Thomas Becket

The martyr was reputed to have the power of healing the sinful.

Q 04/05

Roughly when did Chaucer write The Canterbury Tales?

A) 1300–1320

B) 1387–1400

C) 1350–1360

D) 1410–1425

Answer · why

B) 1387–1400

He died on 25 October 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Q 05/05

At which Southwark inn do the pilgrims gather at the start of the journey?

A) The White Hart

B) The Bell

C) The Tabard

D) The George

Answer · why

C) The Tabard

Established in 1307 for the Abbot of Hyde, it stood on Borough High Street where the road to Canterbury and Dover began.