Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—

A translatory, diplomat, and customs official as well as a poet, Chaucer is most famous for The Canterbury Tales, written in the late fourteenth century and composed partly of narratives that Chaucer adapted or even appropriated from Boccaccio's Decameron. Chaucer's many other works include The Legend of Good Women (c. 1386), which collects tales primarily from Ovid and Boccaccio; Troilus and Criseyde (c.

Chatterton, Thomas, 1752-1770 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—

Inspired by a growing English interest in antiquated and primitive poetry, Chatterton fabricated a number of works supposedly by fifteenth-century Bristol sheriff Thomas Rowley, whom Chatterton fictitiously recast as a poet, providing spurious documentation for the poems' authenticity as well. Made desperate by poverty, he committed suicide while still in his teens, inspiring his reception among Romantic readers as a quintessential example of tragically neglected genius.

Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de, 1768-1848 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—

An exceptionally versatile writer, Francois-Auguste-Rene de Chateaubriand was the foremost literary figure of early nineteenth-century France. Chateaubriand's Atala (1801) is a novel of ill-fated love between two American Indians of opposing tribes. His literary criticism was highly regarded, especially his Sketches of English Literature; with Considerations on the Spirit of the Times, Men, and Revolutions (London: Henry Colburn, 1836), translated from Essai sur la littérature anglaise et Considérations sur le génie des hommes, des temps et des révolutions (1836).

Charles Edward, Prince, grandson ofJames II, King of England, 1720-1788 (Library of Congress Name Authority)—

Known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" by his supporters and "The Young Pretender" by detractors, Charles Edward Stuart was raised in exile after his grandfather, James II, was deposed from the British throne for his ambitions to return England to the Catholic faith. Prince Charles Edward mounted the Jacobite Uprising from Scotland in an effort to reclaim the throne for the Stuart royal line.