This messager drank sadly ale and wyn,
And stolen were his lettres pryvely
Out of his box, whil he sleep as a swyn;
And countrefeted was ful subtilly
Another lettre, wroght ful synfully,
Unto the kyng direct of this mateere.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Man of Law’s Tale. While King Alla is away at war, Constance gives birth to a beautiful baby son. But the King’s evil mother Donegild intercepts a letter to him from his Constable bearing the happy news and replaces it with a counterfeited letter telling him that his son is horribly deformed.