“For thogh a widwe hadde noght a sho,So plesaunt was his In principio,Yet wolde he have a ferthing er he wente.“Prologue to Cant. Tales, ll. 253-5.Exactly what was the Friar's “In principio,” and why did he use it when he went to call on barefoot widows?These questions evidently suggested themselves to Tyrwhitt, who in his epoch-making edition of the Canterbury Tales (1775), observes: “This phrase is commonly explained to refer to the Beginning of St. John's Gospel. It may also refer to the Beginning of Genesis. In an old French Romance, l'histoire des trois Maries, it seems to signify some passage in the conclusion of the Mass.”