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PRUDENCE is Melibee's wife in The Tale of Melibeus. Chaucer found the name in his sources, Le Livre de Mellibee et de Prudence by Renaud de Louens (after 1336) and Liber consolationis et consilii by Albertanus of Brescia (1246). Prudence's character is defined by her name; she finds the right answers to all Melibee's questions and dissuades him from seeking vengeance on his enemies. [Melibee: Sophie]

Prudence is the English and French variants of Latin Prudentia, "prudence."

Albertanus Brixiensis, Liber consolationis et consilii, ed. T. Sundby; Renaud de Louens, Le Livre de Mellibee et de Prudence, ed. J.B. Severs. S&A, 560-614; J.B. Severs, "The Source of Chaucer's Melibeus." PMLA 50 (1935): 92-99.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.
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