Whan Maximus had herd the seintes loore,
He gat hym of the tormentoures leve,
And ladde hem to his hous withoute moore,
And with hir prechyng, er that it were eve,
They gonnen fro the tormentours to reve,
And fro Maxime, and fro his folk echone,
The false feith, to trowe in God allone.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. When Maximus, one of prefect Almachius’s officers, hears the Christian teachings of Valerian and his brother Tiburtius, he gets permission from the executioners to lead them to his house. There the preaching of the brothers results in the executioners, Maximus and his people renouncing their false faith and converting to Christianity.