This work brings together the disciplines of history and English literature to present interpretations of late 14th-century English society. While historians have been pursuing the new social history, literary scholars have revived interest in the historical context of literature - the new historicism. Increasingly, the boundaries of these two disciplines have been converging, with scholars of each finding fresh insights into the complementary field of study. Beginning with the turbulent reign of Richard I and Bolingbroke's coup, this volume addresses such topics as the influence Richard might have had personally over the remarkable literary production of the period, the concepts of gentility that influenced Chaucer's own thinking, and the role London played as the centre of both the court and the literary world.