She blesseth hire, and with ful pitous voys
Unto the croys of Crist thus seyde she:
O cleere, o welful auter, hooly croys,
Reed of the Lambes blood ful of pitee,
That wessh the world fro the olde iniquitee,
Me fro the feend and fro his clawes kepe,
That day that I shal drenchen in the depe.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Man of Law’s Tale. After the wedding feast massacre, during which all Christians except Constance are murdered, the Sultaness’s men put Constance on a rudderless ship with provisions and bid her to sail back to Italy. Constance is more fearful of the devil than she is of death at sea, and prays that she will escape Satan’s clutches the day she drowns.