A great unfinished collection of stories in verse and prose, framed by a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. A group of travellers from many walks of life, including a knight, a miller, a wife, a monk and a pardoner, agrees to pass the journey by telling tales. Their stories range from courtly romance to bawdy comedy and religious teaching. The portraits of the pilgrims, and the way their tales reveal and sometimes quarrel with one another, give a vivid picture of medieval English society. It is one of the foundations of English literature.