<Tr> <Th> Publication date </Th> <Td> 1387 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Text </Th> <Td> The Canterbury Tales at Wikisource </Td> </Tr> <P> The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400 . In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of Peace and, in 1389, Clerk of the King's work . It was during these years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales . The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story - telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral . The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return . </P> <P> After a long list of works written earlier in his career, including Troilus and Criseyde, House of Fame, and Parliament of Fowls, The Canterbury Tales is near - unanimously seen as Chaucer's magnum opus . He uses the tales and descriptions of its characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church . Chaucer's use of such a wide range of classes and types of people was without precedent in English . Although the characters are fictional, they still offer a variety of insights into customs and practices of the time . Often, such insight leads to a variety of discussions and disagreements among people in the 14th century . For example, although various social classes are represented in these stories and all of the pilgrims are on a spiritual quest, it is apparent that they are more concerned with worldly things than spiritual . Structurally, the collection resembles Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron, which Chaucer may have read during his first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372 . </P>

When did chaucer begin writing the canterbury tales and when did he stop