What is the Wife of Bath's real name and occupation?

The Wife of Bath, or Alyson, is in a constant state of marriage.  Of course, she is married on the doorsteps of the church because of "company in her youth" which suggests she was a bit promiscuous as a young lady. However, it also makes her an expert in the language of love and husband acquisition.  She has married five times and states that she is on the pilgrimage in search of husband number six.   Some she loves, but all of them help make her wealthier which is why she can afford to go on all the pilgrimages she has been on...a well-traveled woman and quite independent in a time where woman did not have all the rights and privileges with which we have since become accustomed.  She is a professional wife in search of a man who will treat her as his equal...just like the woman who stars in the tale she tells on the way to Canterbury.