[Sidenote:
Gentility
is wholly foreign to renown, and to those who
boast of noble birth.
Chaucer - Boethius
inges I ne trowe
nat ?at ?e p{r}is {and} grace of ?e poeple nis nei?er wor?i
*to ben remembrid ne come? of wise iugement. ne is
ferm p{er}durably.
[Sidenote: How empty and transitory are titles of nobility!]
? But now of ?is name of gentilesse. 2148
what man is it ?at ne may wel seen how veyne {and}
how flittyng a ?ing it is.
[Sidenote:
Gentility
is wholly foreign to renown, and to those who
boast of noble birth.
]
? For if ?e name of gentilesse
be referred to renou{n} {and} clernesse of linage. ?an
is gentil name but a for[e]ine ?ing. ?at is to sein to 2152
hem ?at glorifien hem of hir linage.
[Sidenote: Nobility is fame derived from the merits of one's
ancestors.]
? For it seme?
?at gentilesse be a maner p{re}ysynge ?at come?
