In 1372 a French knight compiled a book of stories to teach his three daughters how to be good wives and good Christians. Here these tales are retold and interspersed with commentary about life in the late Middle Ages--what people wore, how they prayed, what they hoped for in this life and the next. The knight's stories range from the shockingly bawdy to the deeply pious. They include devils and miracles, fashionable ladies and haughty knights, lecherous monks and disobedient wives--all told to help the knight's daughters avoid what he calls blame, shame, and defame.