1 88 Chaucer and Henry, Earl of Derby 



men — $100,000 at one time^ — and must have kept his own 

 accounts with them. 



As for the journey to Italy, Lounsbury is not justified in 

 saying: 'There is positive testimony in the records that in 1368 

 he [Chaucer] was concerned in the war in France. This might 

 not have prevented him from being in Italy at the time of the 

 marriage ceremony; but it adds greatly to its improbability."- 

 The answer is that there was no war between England and 

 France in 1368.-^ John of Gaunt did not land at Calais till July,* 

 1369, and w^as back by November^ ; in the mean time his wife, 

 Blanche, had died (Sept. 12), Now Chaucer is listed among 

 those following John of Gaunt who received a loan (in his case 

 $750) at the beginning of the war in France, the account cov- 

 ering the period between June 27, 1369, and June 27, 1371." 

 Whether Chaucer actually crossed the Channel in 1369 we do 

 not know; but between Feb. 13 and June 27 he received $75 

 for his summer clothes -J on Sept. i it was ordered that he should 

 receive black cloth to wear at the funeral of Queen Philippa,® 

 the list being headed by John of Gaunt; and on Oct. 8 he 

 received his half-yearly pension." 



It is perhaps not without significance that Chaucer's appoint- 

 ment as sub-forester of the forest of North Petherton in 1390 



^ Cf. the Issue Roll for Oct. 29, 1366 (Devon, Issues of the Exchequer, 

 p. 188) : 'To Lionel, Duke of Clarence, in money paid to him by the 

 hands of Robert de Assheton, John Joce, and John de Hylton, for 

 the wages of himself, his men at arms, and archers, retained by him in the 

 war in Ireland, in the service of the Lord the King. By writ of privy 

 seal. 1333I. 6s. 8d.' The second year after Lionel's death (June 18, 

 1370), a commission was appointed to audit the accounts — if we might 

 once consult those accounts ! — of Lionel's treasurers, one of whom was 

 the clerk assigned to pay wages and fees in parts beyond seas to all 

 persons of the duke's retinue (Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1367-70, p. 439). See 

 also p. 189, note 3. John Joce (see above) was an esquire of the same 

 rank as Chaucer in 1369 (Kirk, p. 174). 



' I. 157- 



^ Cf. Ramsay i. 490 ff. 



* Armitage-Smith, p. 72. 



" Armitage-Smith, p. 74. 



"Kirk, p. 176; cf. Emerson, p. 337, note 61. 



' Kirk, p. 171. 



®Kirk, p. 174. 



"Kirk, p. 175. 



