In al that lond no Cristen dorste route;
Alle Cristen folk been fled fro that contree
Thurgh payens, that conquereden al aboute
The plages of the north, by land and see.
To Walys fledde the Cristyanytee
Of olde Britons dwellynge in this ile;
Ther was hir refut for the meene while.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Man of Law’s Tale. Northumberland where Constance is now living is pagan and not Christian-friendly. Christians dare not assemble, and can only practice their faith in secret. This was the time of the Saxon settlements, and the pagan Saxons had driven the British Christians into Wales.