William Langland

Almost everything about William Langland is uncertain, and that mystery is part of why he remains so interesting. Scholars generally identify him as the author of Piers Plowman, a long allegorical poem written in Middle English that explores religion, social injustice, corruption, and the search for a good life.

He is usually placed in the 14th century and is often associated with the English Midlands. Because so little firm evidence survives, many details of his life are reconstructed from manuscript notes and from the world reflected in his poem rather than from clear historical records.

What is clear is his literary importance. Piers Plowman became one of the major poems of medieval England, admired for its vivid dream-vision style, moral seriousness, and sharp attention to the lives and struggles of ordinary people.