Nicholas Colfox

He also held property at Barton Seagrave in Northamptonshire from Thomas Mowbray, part of the latter's inheritance as Earl of Norfolk.

During Mowbray's exile, Barton Seagrave Castle was held by Richard Colfox, possibly Nicholas's son.

He was probably instructed personally by Thomas Mowbray, then Governor of Calais, in whose charge Gloucester was held after his recent arrest on the King's order.

The fox is described in the following lines: Shakespearean scholar J Leslie Hotson (1897–1992) published Nicholas Colfox's story in PMLA XXXIX 1924, explaining Chaucer's use of his unusual name, not appearing elsewhere in English literature.

Modern critics do not all reject Hotson's allegory theory, but believe that Chaucer's long version of the fable is written on many different levels of meaning.