Philip de la Vache ""The Canterbury Tales"". However, the reference to Vache in Chaucer's poem may on good grounds also be a pun on his own name. The phrase Vache, leve! in the first line of the Envoy corresponds to medieval French Vache, reïs!, 'cow, leave!'. The French phase reïs, Vache!, (REISVACHE), when reversed, becomes CHAVSIER, the French form of the poet's name (this is a so-called palindrome). In the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament, the cows on their way to Beth Shemesh are likened to holy men, or monks on their way to the Heavenly Jerusalem. Chaucer may have regarded
Thomas Fleetwood (of the Vache) Thomas Fleetwood (of the Vache) Thomas Fleetwood (1517/18 – 1570), of London, The Vache, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire and Rossall, Lancashire, was an English politician. He was a member of parliament, a judge, and Master of the Royal Mint under King Henry VIII. Fleetwood was the younger son of William Fleetwood and Ellen Standish. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Preston in March 1553 and for Buckinghamshire in 1563. He originated from Heskin, Lancashire and purchased the manor of the Vache in Chalfont, Buckinghamshire in 1564. He was granted the family's arms on 4 July