I LOVE "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer. I wanted to know more about the critical response, and how the public reacted to the book at the time. It seemed like it would be a bit controversial, considering the raunchy nature of the book (especially The Miller's Tale). However, all I can find are modern responses to the book.
If you don't get any responses here, you might also try /r/askliterarystudies
As I recall, The Canterbury Tales is an unfinished work, and was never officially published.
Terry Jones's book: "Who Murdered Chaucer? A Medieval Mystery" may illuminate some of this.
Caution: It's fun read, but I haven't heard anybody here review his history. It might be simplified or semi-bogus.