For gentillesse nys but renomee
Of thyne auncestres, for hire heigh bountee,
Which is a strange thyng to thy persone.
Thy gentillesse cometh fro God allone.
Thanne comth oure verray gentillesse of grace;
It was no thyng biquethe us with oure place.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. True gentility or nobility comes from the grace of God alone and is not bequeathed to us with our social rank, the Loathly Lady tells the Knight. It is not just the renown of your ancestors, for their great goodness, for that is something not naturally part of you.