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A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of English Villanova University PIERS PLOvlMAN AND THE LOLLARDS A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of English Villanova University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Sister Mary Kilian Dunn, R. S. M. March, 1961 Approved by ~w(]3~~~ Major Professor APpro~/ ~.~ ~~ 7 FOi'8:duate Council TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION .. .. .. .. • 1 II. LOLLARDRY. ••••••••••• •• 6 III. PIERS PLOWMAN .,. •••••••••• .22 IV. THE TRANSCENDENCY •.•••••••••4, BIBLIOGRAPHY •••••••••••••••• 52 I INTRODUCTION Since 1906 when Professor John Manly of Chicago aroused a renewed interest in Piers Plowman by opening the controversy of authorship of the three texts, much has been studied and written about this medieval allegory. Lined up on the side of single authorship are such renowned scholars as Skeat, Jusserand, Cham- bers, Grattan, and Coulton; and an opposing team defending Manly's theory of multiple authorship includes Bradley, Furnivall, and Wright. These and many others have engaged themselves in apparent- ly much intense study of textual content, form, style, and histori- cal background events in order to defend their positions. Because the B-text contains not only nine more passus than the A-text, but also includes a revision of many parts, and the C-Text expands and omits in the rewriting, the exponents of multiple authorship use as one of their planks the claim that the same person could not have done the later manuscripts. The opposing assumption is that as the man matured, he saw different needs which he included in his poem. H. W. Wells in a critical artiole also olaims that the apparent incoherence of tales is not necessarily because of sepa- rate authorship but rather one of the main characteristics of a dream poem. I lH. W. Wells, "The Construction of Piers Plol~an,n ~ XLIV(March, 1929), pp. 12;-140. 1 2 In the npresent State of Piers Plowman Studies' written in 1939, the author gives a complete reviel'l of the work done on this much discussed question during a period of about thirty-three years. His claim to have sifted and arranged the research carried on re- cently is justly manifested in an examination of the thorough de­ tail of the article. In conclusion he admits there is still much to be done.2 And so, until some literary ferret finds an authenti- cally signed manuscript, the matter seems to remain suspended in controver sy• For the purpose of this thesis, it will be sufficient to rest on the long, but possibly shakily established, presumpuon that William Langland, a cleric with minor orders, from Malvern hills is the author of Piers Plowman. This traditional presump- tion held from the time of the texts of Professor Skeat to some of our modern medieval scholars such as Henry Wells, is based a great deal on internal evidence. These internal evidences were not destroyed in any of the revisions. And since we are primarily concerned with the content of the poem, we feel justified in ad- hering to this traditional stand. The main point of issue will not be authorship, form, or style, but the ,religious ideas conveyed in the work to the people for whom and about whom it was written. It is an allegory and has been subjected to a variety of interpretations. Some have called it the cry of Lollards, others the outcome of the heresy. ~~. W. Bloomfield, "Present State of PIers Plowman Studies,u Speculum, XIV(April, 1939), PP. 215-232. Contrariwise, two more modern writers depict it as a prophecy of the liturgical and lay apostalate movements of modern times,' and a harbinger of the papal encyclicals on labor.4 By studying the religious ideas in the content of the work with interpretations of them by various medieval scholars, one may hope to be able to comprehend more fully the true value of the work as an outstand- ing piece of medieval literature. And by comparing and contrast- ing these ideas with the prevailing Lollard notions, one may also hope to understand the claim that it is a part of our Catholic heritage rather than an expression of Lollardry. Christopher Da,,,son makes this claim. and further laments: ••• for some reason William Langland has never received the attention he deserves••••Here is the Catholic English­ man par excellence, at once the most English Qf Catholic poets and the most Catholic of English poets;' Spurred by the enthusiasm of this modern scholar, the mod- ern reader welcomes the renewal of interest in Piers Plowman and the translations and interpretations recently completed and still in the process of being published. This list includes William Lang­ land a version by Donald Attwater, the ultra-modern Visions from Piers Plowman translation by Nevill Coghill who has also given us the interesting modern version of the Canterbury Tales, Piers Plow- man: An Interpretation of the A-Text, a unique "lork by Father T. P. Dunning, and older prose for.m by Kate Warren entitled The 'Dom Denys Rutledge, O. S. B., "Langland dnd the Liturgical Tradition", Dublin Review, COXXVIII(Winter, 1954), pp. 405-416. 4s. B. James, "A Re-reading of Piers Plowman," Clergy Review, XVI(March, 19,9), pp. 21,-221. 5Christopher Dawson, "Vision of Piers Plowman," Medieval Religion and Other Essays(New York: Sheed and Ward, 19,4), pp. "1S'.J58 4 Vision of Piers Plowman, and the probably most comprehensive in modern English, ~ Vision of Piers Plowman by Henry W. Wells. Because this thesis involves more a question of inter- pretation of thoughts and ideas expressed in the poem rather than structure or style, the USe of a translation of the original manuscripts seans justifiable. And because the late work of Henry Wells is so inclusive as to contain the three texts and has been favorably approved by modern critics, it is used through- out this paper as the basic text for quotations from Langland. Substantiating the choice of this particular text are four re- views from some outstanding periodicals: The most Catholic of all Christian poems in the English tongue is reprinted•••The translatign preserves the alli­ terative effects of the original••• Prof. Wells has chosen what he considers the finest parts of three texts of Piers Plowman and woven them into a splendid contemporary work of rhythm and verve.7 Prof. Wells has rendered an immense service to modern readers by giving us this familiar yet goble and scholarly translation of the long-neglected work. Although the reviewer in American Ecclesiastical Review condemns 6Aloysius J. Miller, S. J., Review of The Vision of Piers Plowman, by Henry W. Wells, Catholic Library World, XVI (May, 1945), p. )01. 7Review of The Vision of Piers Plowman, by Henry W. Wells, America, LIV(December 21, 19;5}; p. 260. 8Review of The Vision of Piers Plowman, by Henry W. vmlls, The Catholic World, CXLI(March--,19;6), p. 759. 5 Langland for contributing as he states it: •••even more than the men he castigated towards that division within the Church of God which resulted in national apostacy. he does admit that •••the literary value of this highly influential medieval poem obviously makes its publication a favor to the world of Catholic scholarship.9 One of the most complimentary and probably most extensive reviews is that which appeared in the New York Times Book Review almost immediately after the publication of the translation. The reviewer comments upon the "poetic ll and lIaccurately scholarly translation" and finally concludes: Mr. Wellst although his work will be helpful to teachers of literature, has sought to put before the general public a poetic work which is all but great, one that touches the present and is so richly cadenced as to be effective purely as poetry and apart from the didactic purpose of its origination. We trust that this rendering of The Vision of Piers Plowmra will have something of the reception it so richly deserves. 9Review of The Vision of Piers Plowman, by Henry W. Wells, American EcclesiastICal Review;-CXIII(November, 1945), p. 400. 10Review of The Vision of Piers Plowman, by Henry W. Wells, -----New York Times ---Book ReView, (December 1, 19,5), p. ,2. II LOLLARDRY At the time when Langland's pilgrimage to Truth occurred, the European stage featured a setting most adaptable for the heresy which grew from the Lollards' activities. Financially and economically wrecked by the Hundred Years' War, socially and physically depopulated by the Black Death, and spiritually shaken by the Avignon reign of Popes with the subsequent instability, no country passed through the early Middle Ages without feeling these events in a weakening interior. On the continent, the countries suffered from these events earlier than England. France was already weakened from years of defense and offense with the then great political power, the Church. Added to this the impotent condition resulting from lack of strength and stability in its monarchs and other leaders made it an especially vulnerable target for the bitter struggle with England that lasted intermittently for over one hundred years. The effect on the Church over this struggle between two Catholic countries is described by Father Philip Hughes as follows: ••••The losses to Catholicism that ensued from this Catholic power's (England) plundering of a neighbor­ ing Catholic country were such that, in the end, Providence intervened directly and, to rid the country of the scourge sent the inspired generalship of the Lorraine peasant girl, 6 7 St. Joan of Arc.l The physical aspects of the Black Death are usually summarized in population statistics. However, a brief descrip- tion given by Winston S. Ohurchill gives an insight as to the why of the tremendous social, economic, and even religious devasta- tion it brought.
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