Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
The Prologue of the Man of Law's Tale is a paraphrase of a papal bull (proclamation) by the 12th century Pope Innocent III denouncing poverty and the excess accumulation of wealth. The more you know. (Source.)
The Man of Law calls the Sultan's mother a "Semyrame secounde" (359). Semiramis was a legendary queen of Babylon who supposedly killed strings of lovers after her nights of passion with them so that her power could not be threatened by them. So yeah, it's not a compliment. (Source.)