4. Chaucer wrote The Book of the Duchess as an elegy for Blanche, the late wife of which nobleman?
- Henry Bolingbroke
- John of Gaunt
- Jean de Montfort
- Simon de Montfort
The answer is b. John of Gaunt.
John of Gaunt was the Duke of Lancaster, the second son of King Edward III, and regent to Richard II during his minority. He and Chaucer knew each other for some years and were apparently on very friendly terms. Blanche died of plague in 1369. John's son by Blanche, Henry Bolingbroke, would later become King Henry IV. Jean de Montfort was the duke of Brittany at that time; Simon de Montfort lived in the 13th century and led a baronial revolt against King Henry III.
The Book of the Duchess is Chaucer's first important poem, probably written in 1370. A dream-vision, it was heavily influenced by the French poem of courtly love, the Roman de la rose, which Chaucer translated in part.
