Which theoritecal thoughts help me the most to understand the fourteenth century literature in relation to politics in Chaucer's poetry?

The 14th c. in
England was pre-Reformation, and the prevailing powers--the Catholic church and the English
monarchy--were beginning their disagreements, which would come to awith Henry VIIIs desire for a
divorce, and Romes refusal, in the 16th c.  Added to this growing tension was the gradual
strengthening of the power of Commerce, as fueled by...