A Criminal Act that Claimed England’s Second-Most Prominent Poet
When Henry IV became king, Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, became a power behind the throne. A Machiavellian figure, he used theology to go after symbols and supporters of the old regime, and to ensure total submission to the new one. Persecution of those who stepped out of line as heretics, such as the Lollards – proto-Protestants Arundel ordered burned at the stake – was used to terrify opponents or would-be opponents, and consolidate the new king’s power. Worse for Chaucer, the archbishop had grown rich, powerful, and fat on church corruption. It is understandable that he was not a fan of the author of the Canterbury Tales, which made fun of rich and powerful clerics who had grown fat on church corruption.
Chaucer had apparently seen the writing on the wall. Shortly after his benefactor Richard II was deposed, he moved to a house within the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey. That did not save him. Chaucer simply vanishes from the record in June, 1400, and presumably died a few months later. There are clues to indicate a violent end. For one, there is a retraction inserted at the end of the Canterbury Tales. Was that an attempt to appease Arundel? For another, nobody recorded his death at the time – even though significantly more is known about the deaths of other less prominent poets. There are also medieval references to the “tragedie” of Chaucer’s death, and that he was “slaughtered”. Put that all together, and it points to the likelihood that Chaucer’s demise had probably been a criminal act – an assassination ordered by Arundel or his master, Henry IV.