Of maistres hadde he mo than thries ten,
That weren of lawe expert and curious,
Of which ther were a duszeyne in that hous
Worthy to been stywardes of rente and lond
Of any lord that is in Engelond…
And yet this Manciple sette hir aller cappe.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. The Manciple has more than thirty masters, all skilled and expert in law. It is an irony that he is able to fool all these legal eagles, making good bargains in his purchases of food and supplies, to fraudulently gain money for himself.