Final answer:
In 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' from Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales', the knight is sentenced to death for assaulting a maiden, but he is given a chance to save himself by discerning what women most desire.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, specifically in The Wife of Bath's Tale, the knight receives a death sentence because he assaults a maiden. This egregious act goes against the codes of chivalry and the law, leading to his arrest and condemnation by King Arthur.
However, the queen intervenes and proposes that if the knight can find the answer to what women most desire, he will be spared. The knight's journey to find this answer is the core of the tale, where he meets an old woman who provides him with the correct answer in exchange for a promise, fundamentally testing his honor and understanding of women.