Noght fer fro thilke paleys honurable,
Wher as this markys shoop his mariage,
There stood a throop, of site delitable,
In which that povre folk of that village
Hadden hir beestes and hir herbergage,
And of hire labour tooke hir sustenance,
After that the erthe yaf hem habundance.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Clerk’s Tale. Close to the great palace where the Marquis planned his marriage was a small village full of poor and humble folk, who worked at keeping farm animals and growing crops to survive. The wealthy and the poor are practically next door neighbors.