A good wife was ther of biside Bathe,
But she was somdel deef, and that was scathe.
Of clooth-makyng she hadde swich an haunt
She passed hem of Ypres and of Gaunt.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. We are told that the Wife of Bath is somewhat deaf, and we will learn how that came about when we get to her own prologue. She is a talented cloth-maker, so skilled she surpasses the cloth-makers of Ypes and Ghent.