Langland, William

(?1330-?1400)

   The dates given here are taken from the Dictionary of National Biography. Little is known of Langland's life; he could have been born somewhere in the region of the Malvern Hills, in Worcestershire, or at Ledbury near the Welsh marshes. He could have been educated at the Benedictine school in Great Malvern. References in his allegorical poem suggest that he knew London and Westminster as well as Shropshire, and that he was a cleric in minor order. In London he apparently eked out his living by singing masses and copying documents. The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman is second only in importance to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales among medieval literature. The poem-both a social satire and a vision of the simple Christian lifeconsists of three dream visions: in which Holy Church and Lady Meed (representing the temptation of riches) woo the dreamer; in which Piers leads a crowd of penitents in search of St. Truth; and the vision of Do-well (the practice of the virtues), Dobet (in which Piers becomes the Good Samaritan practicing charity), and Do-best (in which the simple plowman is identified with Jesus himself ).

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Life and Work of William Langland (http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/langland.htm). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.