William Langland

William Langland (/ˈlæŋlənd/; c. 1332 – c. 1386) is the presumed author of a work of Middle English alliterative poetry, generally known as Piers Plowman, an allegory with a complex variety of religious themes. Piers Plowman translated the language and concepts of the cloister into symbols and images that could be understood by the layman. In general, the language of the poem is simple and colloquial, and some of the author’s imagery is powerful and direct. Additionally, the literary device known as dream-vision is used in Langland's Piers Plowman.

The attribution of Piers to Langland rests principally on the evidence of a manuscript held at Trinity College, Dublin (MS 212). This manuscript directly ascribes 'Perys Ploughman' to one 'Willielmi de Langland', son of 'Stacy de Rokayle, who died in Shipton-under-Wychwood, a tenant of the Lord Spenser in the county of Oxfordshire'. Other manuscripts name the author as 'Robert or William Langland', or 'Wilhelms W.' (most likely shorthand for 'William of Wychwood'). The poem itself also seems to point towards Langland's authorship. At one stage the narrator remarks: 'I have lived in londe...my name is longe wille' (B.XV.152). This can be taken as a coded reference to the poet's name, in the style of much late-medieval literature (see, for instance, Villon's acrostics in Le Testament). Although there is little other evidence, Langland's authorship has been widely accepted since the 1920s. It is not, however, entirely beyond dispute, as recent work by Stella Pates and C. David Benson has demonstrated.

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