<P> The Prioress's Tale (Middle English: The Prioresses Tale) follows The Shipman's Tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales . Because of fragmentation of the manuscripts, it is impossible to tell where it comes in ordinal sequence, but it is second in group B2, followed by Chaucer's Tale of Sir Topas . The General Prologue names the prioress as Madame Eglantine, and describes her impeccable table manners and soft - hearted ways . Her portrait suggests she is likely in religious life as a means of social advancement, given her aristocratic manners and mispronounced French . She maintains a secular lifestyle, including keeping lap dogs that she privileges over people, a fancy rosary and brooch inscribed with "Amor vincit omnia" (Love Conquers All). </P> <P> Her story is of a child martyr killed by Jews, a common theme in Medieval Christianity, and much later criticism focuses on the tale's antisemitism . </P>

In the canterbury tales who is the prioress