But that the queene and other ladyes mo So longe preyeden the kyng of grace Til he his lyf hym graunted in the place, And yaf hym to the queene, al at hir wille, To chese wheither she wolde hym save or spille.

But that the queene and other ladyes mo
So longe preyeden the kyng of grace
Til he his lyf hym graunted in the place,
And yaf hym to the queene, al at hir wille,
To chese wheither she wolde hym save or spille.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. The lucky Knight gets a reprieve from execution when the queen with her ladies intercedes with the king to ask him for mercy. The king grants the Knight his life and hands him over to the queen, who has the power to chose whether she will save him or put him to death. There is an irony in the Knight’s situation: he commits a crime against a woman and now King Arthur puts his fate in the hands of another woman, the queen, who has mastery over him and the power to say if he lives or dies.

Geoffrey Chaucer Quotes