EGLENTYNE is the Prioress's name. Chaucer's portrait of her is a composite of the ideal courtly heroine found in medieval romance, Gen Prol 118-162, especially in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose, 13341-13351, but overdone just enough to suggest that the Prioress might not be the aristocrat she pretends to be. She tells the story of the boy-martyr, which belongs to the type called a "Miracle of the Virgin." During Chaucer's time a nun named Madame Argentyn lived at the Benedictine Convent of St. Leonard at Stratford-atte-Bowe. She is mentioned in the will of Elizabeth of Hainault, sister of Queen Philippa, Edward III's wife. This convent was about two miles from Chaucer's house in Aldgate, and Chaucer mentions St. Leonard's shrine, HF I.115-118.

Eglentyne is a variant of Aiglentine, a name rich in romantic associations of courtly love as well as those of religious devotion. In The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, the author mentions three crowns of thorn used by the Roman soldiers when they tortured Jesus: one of hawthorn (when they arrested Jesus in the garden); one of eglentine or briar rose (when they brought him before Caiphas); and one of the sea reeds (when he was crowned before Pilate). Eglentyne, as the Prioress's name, appears once, in final rhyming position, Gen Prol 121. [Leonard: Loy]