Thomas Chaucer

Thomas Chaucer was the son of Geoffrey Chaucer and became a wealthy English courtier, administrator and landholder. He served successive Lancastrian governments, represented Oxfordshire in Parliament and was elected Speaker of the House of Commons on several occasions. His marriage to Matilda Burghersh and control of valuable estates placed him within networks connecting the royal household, Parliament and the nobility.

Chaucer also undertook diplomatic and military responsibilities during the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V, including service connected with negotiations in France. His career illustrates how household service, diplomacy, finance and parliamentary influence overlapped in early Lancastrian government.

In Richard Foreman’s Agincourt, Thomas Chaucer and Edward Fordham meanwhile pursue the French agent Reynard de Troyes through enemy-held territory. In Richard Foreman’s Harfleur, Thomas Chaucer is sent to negotiate with a French merchant who might supply the besiegers, only to encounter an enemy from the earlier intelligence struggle. In Richard Foreman’s The Game’s Afoot, the king sends Thomas Chaucer and the veteran archer Robert Cooper north to intercept money intended to finance a Scottish attack.