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Unit 11: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (Non-detailed Study): Discussion and Analysis-III

11.1.3 The Man of Law’s Tale Text Notes

(I) In Syria there dwelt a company of wealthy traders who made a journey to Rome. After a certain
time there, they heard of the beauty of Constance, the emperor’s daughter, renowned equally for
her virtue, her goodness and her beauty. When they had seen her themselves, the merchants returned
to Syria, and reported to the sultan, who was immediately taken with lust and wonder for Constance.
The sultan met with his advisors and told them of his intent, but they could conceive of no way that
he could marry Constance, for no Christian emperor would allow his daughter to marry a Muslim.
“Rather than I lese / Custance, I wol be cristned” (Rather than I lose / Constance, I will be christened)
answered the sultan, and, insisting that his baronage were christened with him, the sultan set about
having his court christened.
The Roman Emperor heard of the sultan’s desire, and agreed to it, organizing a huge amount of
pomp and circumstance for the occasion. The day arrived for Constance to depart, and everyone
prepared themselves. But Constance, overcome with sorrow, arose from bed and dressed to depart,
knowing that there was no other way things could be.
It is no wonder, the narrator comments, that she wept, considering that she was being sent to a
foreign country, away from her friends, to be married to someone she had never met. Constance
then addressed her father, sad to leave him and go to the “Barbre nacioun” (pagan land), hoping
that she would fulfill Christ’s behest, continuing
I, wrecche woman, no fors though I spille! (I am just a wretched woman, and it doesn’t matter if
I die)
Wommen are born to thralldom and penance, (women are born to slavery and suffering)
And to been under mannes governance. (and to live under men’s governing)
Constance was brought to the ship, and desperately trying to put on a brave face, sailed away.
Meanwhile, the Sultan’s mother, “welle of vices” (a well of vice), who knew her son’s intention,
called her counsellers to her and told them that she would rather die than renounce Mohammed’s
law (and Islam). Each man swore to live and die with her, and she instructed them to be baptized as
her son had ordered (“Cooold water shal nat greve us but a lite!”)
The first part of the tale ends with a damning of the Sultanesse, the “roote of iniquitee”, as the
Sultan agrees to do her the honor of having the Christians to feast at her table.
(II) The Christians arrived in Syria with a great and solemn crowd, and, after many celebrations, the
time came for all of the Christian folk, along with the Sultan’s entourage, to feast at the Sultanesse’s
house. The tale breaks off to mourn “sodeyn wo, that evere art successour / To worldly blisse”
(sudden woe, which is always the successor of worldly bliss) before revealing that every one of the
Christians and the Sultan were knifed and cut to pieces at the table. There was now in Syria no-one
who had converted to Christianity–only Constance survived.
The Sultanesse’s men took Constance and put her in a ship without a rudder, bidding her to learn to
sail out of Syria and back to Italy. She had a certain amount of treasure on board, and the men had
supplied her with food and with clothes-and forth she sailed across the sea. Constance blessed
herself and said a prayer to Christ’s cross. At this point the story breaks back to narrative again, and
the Man of Law (or Chaucer) raises the question of why Constance was not also killed at the feast–
answering it with another question: who saved Daniel in the lion’s den? Christian God is the answer
to both.
The ship finally crashed on the shores of Northumberland. The warden of a nearby castle found
Constance and gave her shelter, but she refused to reveal her identity. He and his wife, Dame
Hermengyld, were pagans, but Constance soon secretly converted the wife to Christianity. In this
heathen land, Christians could only practice their faith in secret. While walking on the beach,

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