respects Chaucer received rather less than the other esquires--he was
given no corrody and no grant of land.

In one more respect can Chaucer's career be paralleled by that of other
"esquires"--in that of his marriage. Marriages between the esquires of
the King and the damsels of the queen were decidedly frequent.
[Footnote: Cf. p. 25 ff.]

Indeed, it is clear from the study of the careers of the other esquires
that, so far as we know, Chaucer received no exceptional favours, and
that his career was in practically every respect a typical esquire's
career.

In all this then there is no evidence that Chaucer enjoyed the favour of
any particular patron. Aside from the fact that, like Chaucer, some of
the esquires had served in the household of one of the King's children
before entering the King's, I have been able in no case to find evidence
of connection between them and any patron. Since Chaucer received no
more favours than did the average esquire, there is no particular reason
to suppose that he had any patron.

Now let us examine the evidence in favour of his close connection with
John of Gaunt. We have two pieces of definite evidence of a connection
between Chaucer and John of Gaunt; Chaucer's writing (probably shortly
after 1369) of the Book of the Duchess, and John of Gaunt's grant of an
annuity of ten pounds in June 1374. The former does not prove anything
with regard to a definite relation; such complimentary poems were
commonly written for nobles who were not special patrons of the poets;
and Chaucer in his Parlement of Foules possibly complimented Richard II
in much the same way. In regard to the latter piece of evidence--John of