1. In this Tale Chaucer seems to have followed an old French
story, which also formed the groundwork of the first story in
the eighth day of the “Decameron.”
2. “He must us clothe”: So in all the manuscripts and from this
and the following lines, it must be inferred that Chaucer had
intended to put the Tale in the mouth of a female speaker.
3. Dan: a title bestowed on priests and scholars; from
“Dominus,” like the Spanish “Don”.
4. Bruges was in Chaucer’s time the great emporium of
European commerce.
5. The monk had been appointed by his abbot to inspect and
manage the rural property of the monastery.
6. Malvesie or Malmesy wine derived its name from Malvasia, a
region of the Morea near Cape Malea, where it was made, as it
also was on Chios and some other Greek islands. Vernage was
“vernaccia”, a sweet Italian wine.