And al above ther lay a gay sautrie,
On which he made a-nyghtes melodie
So swetely that all the chambre rong;
And Angelus ad virginem he song.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Miller’s Tale. Nicholas singing and performing the devotional "The Angel to the Virgin" can hardly be seen as an act of true religious piety. In view of his affairs with married women, including the young wife of his landlord, it is more an act of religious hypocrisy.