Alice Perrers Perrers possessed the manor of Gaynes (at Upminster) in Essex, the manor in which she would die. When property disputes arose with the abbot of St. Albans in 1374, Alice, with the King's authority behind her, had the temerity to sit in the law courts to intimidate the judges and ensured that the abbot abandoned his claim due to the overwhelming power she possessed. Prior to King Edward III's death, few had prosecuted or challenged her, but that changed in 1376, when Alice was subjected to an ordinance that set penalties for all women (but specifically against her) who practiced
Alice Perrers her lands forfeit. She was later able to return to England and work to regain some of her lands. Alice Perrers died in the winter of 1400/1401 at 52 years old and was buried in the church of St Laurence, Upminster. Perrers is thought to have served as the living prototype of Geoffrey Chaucer's oft-married Wife of Bath in the Canterbury Tales. Her influence on literature may also have extended to William Langland's Lady Mede in Piers Plowman. In that work, the Lady represents, to the dreaming narrator, a woman of high status, one adorned with jewels and fine robes,