Heere may ye se wel how that genterye
Is nat annexed to possessioun,
Sith folk ne doon hir operacioun
Alwey, as dooth the fyr, lo, in his kynde.
For, God it woot, men may wel often fynde
A lordes sone do shame and vileyny.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Nobility is not joined to possessions and wealth, the Loathly Lady says, since folk do not always behave as they should. And sometimes a nobleman’s son can carry out an act of shame of villainy – an obvious swipe at the Knight, who has committed rape.