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The Langland Myth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Oscar Cargill
Oscar Cargill*
Affiliation:
New York University
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Extract

It is remarkable that the one possibly contemporary statement in regard to the authorship of Piers Plowman has never been adequately examined. That is the note in the Trinity College Dublin MS. D, 4, I (Skeat's No. XLI, C-text), to the effect that the author was William Langland, the son of a gentleman, Stacy de Rokayle, who lived in Shipton-under-Wychwood as a tenant of Lord le Spenser in the County of Oxford:

Memorándum quod Stacy de Rokayle pater Willielmi de Longlond, qui Stacius fuit generosus, et morabatur in Shypton under Whicwode, tenens domini le Spenser in comitatu Oxon., qui predictus Willielmus facit librum qui vocatur Perys ploughman.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , March 1935 , pp. 36 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1935

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References

1 Pat. Rolls., 14 Richard II, p. 380.

2 Ibid. p. 405.

3 Ibid. p. 404.

4 “Grant for good service to the king and earl of March, to Walter Brugge, parson of Trym and prebendary of Houthe in Ireland, to whom the king granted license to remain in England at the schools or elsewhere for ten years, receiving the fruits of his benefices meanwhile, notwithstanding ordinance to the contrary, that he be one of ten persons excepted from the provisions of the ordinance of the king and council directing that Thomas, duke of Gloucester, shall have the rents and profits of all those who have possessions in, and are absent from Ireland; to continue for 9 years from Jan. 9 last.” Pat. Rolls, 15 Richard II, p. 16. “Roger de Mortuo Mari, earl of March, staying in England, has letters nominating Thomas Mortymer, kngt., and Walter Brugge, clerk, his attorneys in Ireland for one year.” Pat. Rolls, 17 Richard II, p. 313. “Pardon to Walter Brugge … whilst he tarries in England about the earl's affairs. …” Pat. Rolls, 20 Richard II, p. 8.

5 Pat. Rolls, Edward III, Apr. 12, 1371; Pat. Rolls, 17 Richard II, p. 304 (June 24, 1393).

6 “Mortimer, Roger,” D.N.B.

7 For examples, see: Pat. Rolls, 44 Ed. III, p. 378; 45 Ed. III, p. 66; 47 Ed. III, p. 335; 51 Ed. III, p. 430; 3 Ric. II, p. 496; 16 Ric. II, p. 117; 17 Ric. II, p. 313; etc.

8 Pat. Rolls, 16 Ric. II, p. 207.

9 Pat. Rolls, 11 Ric. II, p. 405.

10 Pat. Rolls, 19 Ric. II, p. 498.

11 Pat. Rolls, 15 Ric. II, p. 16.

12 Pat. Rolls, 19 Ric. II, July 27, 1395.

13 Pat. Rolls, 14 Ric. II, p. 380.

14 Testamenta Eboracensia, Pt. i, pp. 207–210 (Surtees Society, 1836). I wish here to acknowledge my debt to Mr. H. G. Pfander, who copied out in full for me (I had it only in part) the note from the Micklethwaite Collection (B.M. MS. Add. 37,504) which led me to this very important document: “Walter de Bruge Canon of York makes his will 1396—leaves ‘unum librum vocatum Pers plewman.‘ York wills vol. i. p. 209. This is William Langland's lifetime.”—The italics in the quoted portion are mine.

15 Allan H. Bright, New Light on “Piers Plowman” (Oxford, 1928), pp. 36, 37, 42, 43, 66.

16 Attention should be called to Mr. Bright's error in assuming that the poet was a bastard and “a serf—adscriptus glebae.” A bastard was a serf because of his body and legally was not free; the type of serf described as “a serf—adscriptus glebae” was a freeman, in that he held freely his tenement and could not be compelled to hold it unless he chose. See Henry de Bracton, Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae (London, 1878) i, 35; 52 (53).—The point is important because, while the latter might take his name from the soil, the former would be far less likely to. I am afraid that it was a misunderstanding of the phrase “adscriptus glebae” which led Mr. Bright to his theory that the poet took his name from the land. See below as to how the name Langland possibly originated.

17 Note the entire absence of comment on Professor Samuel Moore's article, “Studies in Piers Plowman,” Mod. Phil., xii (May, 1914), 19–50. Though Professor Moore followed a different line of reasoning and accepted the statements of Brigham, Sparke, Wisdom as of greater antiquity than they really are, his conclusions about the Dublin note are very like mine. Differences will be developed below.

18 John of Gaunt, Simon Sudbury, Alice Perrers, Adam de Bury, etc. See my article, “The Date of the A-text of Piers Ploughman,” PMLA, XLVII (June, 1932), 354–362. Had the author made no political enemies, his attacks on the Friars would have endangered him.

19 A most thorough search has failed to reveal him; see Skeat's “General Introduction.” I may add that I have been through the printed records of the century in a search for him.

20 See Skeat, “ General Introduction,” p. xiii; also Vol. iv, p. 212, note to line 68, and p. 344, note to line 286.—It might be suggested that the poet's several allusions to his life and appearance are deliberate falsifications to lead his enemies astray; I do not altogether endorse this view.

21 B-text, p. xxviii, note 3.

22 “Studies in Piers the Plowman,” Mod. Phil., xii (May, 1914), 19–50.

23 There seems to be some difficulty as to the actual distance of the Malvern hills from Cleobury. See Allan H. Bright, New Light on “Piers Plowman” (London, 1928), p. 34.

24 If he had used a map on which the Woodbury or Abberley hills to the north were undistinguished from the Malvern hills, of which they are a continuation, the actual distance would be eight miles!

25 “Cleobury Mortimer (Salop). Dom. Cleberie, 1278; … = ‘cliff-burge’ or ‘castle,‘ etc.” J. B. Johnston, The Place Names of England and Wales (London, 1915).

26 The Vision of Pierce Plowman, 1550 (second issue); reproduced in Bright, New Light, Appendix C. p. 79.—See also third entry in Bale's note-book below.

27 Compare Crowley's statement with Sparke entry (infra) in Bale's notebook; see also D.N.B. articles for Bale and Crowley.

28 Index Britanniae Scriplorum (autograph note-book, ed. R. Lane-Poole, Oxford, 1902), pp. 383, 509, 510.

29 Above sonday Bale has written seson; above sote, warme.

30 So “collectis” would seem to imply; when he is citing from one of Brigham's works, he clearly indicates it. Compare “Ex venatione Nicolai Brigati” (Index, p. 479, etc.). This is a reference to Brigham's De Venationibus Rerum Memorabilium (See D.N.B.), not now extant.

31 The most obvious solution the duplication of the errors of fact in this note-book, in the note in the Huntington MS., and in Crowley, is to suppose that Bale is responsible for all; in a word, that the entries in his note-book in these cases represent his interpretation of lines in the poem and his guess as to the distance of Cleobury from Malvern hills. I am not absolutely committed to this view.

32 It is worth pointing out that all the “facts” embodied in the Langland myth were easily accessible, for they all lie at the beginnings or ends of Passus. Casual examination produced them!

33 Professor Carleton Brown first called this to my attention.

34 See Pat. Rolls, 6 Henry VII, pp. 337, 346; 13 Henry VII, p. 120; 17 Henry VII, p. 251; also letters in time of Henry VIII (infra, Note 35).

35 “I have detained Sparke for my Lord's scutcheons, but cannot get them yet, & must pay more for them than they are worth.” (John Husee to Lady Lisle, Letters & Papers, Foreign & Domestic, 30 Henry VIII, 17 April, No. 791; see also Nos. 784, 813). “I hope you have received the matins book & Mrs. Denny's token by Sperke.” (Same correspondents, April 26, 1539, No. 859). William Sparke is not to be confused with the soldier, John Sparke, of Lord Lisley's household, who was possibly a relative (See, ibid., 32 Henry VIII, No. 749. etc.).

36 Reproduced, Bright, New Light, Appendix C, pp. 79, 80.

37 See Bright, New Light, p. 34: “This John Wisdom may have been the father or brother of Robert Wisdom, Archdeacon of Ely. …”

38 Letters & Papers, Foreign & Domestic, xvii, 255.

39 Or Ledbury, either, which does happen to be eight miles from Malvern hills (See Bright, New Light, pp. 33 ff.). Of what significance is the fact that in the neighboring parish of Colwall in 1840 there was a meadow called “Longlands,” if the name is common in the locality and merely describes a field of two furlongs length (Bright, p. 43)? Why does Mr. Bright make so much of the dubious “eight miles” (for which several explanations can be given) and ignore the more important phrase “in the Claylands”? See also, below.

40 There is yet another inducement for garnering the records of the Rokayle family: if, after all, there was a William Langland who was the bastard son of Stacy de Rokayle, he may have assumed the name of Rokayle at times—for all but literary purposes. In no event would an inquiry be wholly futile.

41 In addition to examining an equally large number dating from the Norman Conquest, collected by Professor William Rockwell, of Union Theological Seminary, whose generosity is here acknowledged.

42 De Banco Roll, 247; Trinity, 2 Ed. II. Rot. 175 designated “Oxfordshire.”

43 Cal. Close Rolls, 1330–33, p. 178.

44 Inquis. post. mortem, 23 Ed. III, Pt. ii, No. 169 (12).

45 Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1358–61, p. 474.

46 Inquis, post mortem, 35 Ed. III, Pt. ii, Second Numbers, 32.

47 Mod. Phil., xii (May, 1914), 19–50.

48 Ancient Deeds, ii, B. 3268. 15 May, 14, Ric. II. See also B. 3269.

49 Pat. Rolls, Ed. II, p. 652.

50 Close Rolls, 18 Ed. II, p. 341; 18 Ed. II, p. 347; 4 Ed. III, p. 181; 3 Ed. III, p. 556.

51 Pat. Rolls, 9 Ed. II, pp. 425–426.

52 Pat. Rolls, 2 Ed. III, p. 281.

53 Pat. Rolls, 10 Ed. II, p. 621.

54 Pat. Rolls, 3 Ed. II, p. 246.

55 Close Rolls, 8 Ric. II, p. 571.

56 Pat. Rolls, 16 Ed. II, p. 198; 7 Ed. III, p. 504; Close Rolls, 13 Ed. III, p. 35; Pat. Rolls, 18 Ed. III, p. 245; Close Rolls, 37 Ed. III, p. 476; Feudal Aids, III, pp. 484, 506–507, 523, 531, 534, 569, 590, 591. See also: W. Rye, Norfolk Families, p. 745.

57 Close Rolls, p. 255.

58 Pat. Rolls, p. 130.

59 Fine Rolls, 6 Ric. II.

60 Ox. Hist. Soc. xci, pp. 141, 157.

61 Ox. Hist. Soc. lxxxix, p. 420.

62 Ox. Hist. Soc., xc, p. 388.

63 Ox. Hist. Soc., xc, p. 387.

64 Ox. Hist. Soc., xc, p. 487.

65 Burrow's Collectanea, iii, 188 ff. See Wood, Hist. and Antiquities (ed. Gutch), p. 491.

66 Med. Arch. of Univ. of Oxford, Vol. ii.

67 Close Rolls, 19 Ed. III, p. 677.

68 Pat Rolls, 25 Ed. III, p. 193. Italics are mine.

69 Close Rolls, 45 Ed. III, p. 260.

70 See PMLA, XLVII, 354 ff.

71 Vol. III, I Innocent VI, p. 487.

72 Close Rolls, 8 Ric. II, p. 511; 12 Ric. II, p. 607; 15 Ric. II, p. 535; 43 Edward III, p. 23; Pat. Rolls, 29 Ed. III, p. 296, etc.

73 Yet these imply a greater familiarity with the district than the single reference to Shropshire—Malvern hills—on which so much weight has been placed. Bright's anxious effort to localize the poet has led him to take a description of the Ten Commandments for one of the manor of Brockbury, Colwall (New Light, pp. 60, 61)! Aside from London, there are more references to Essex and to Hampshire than to any other localities.

74 Pat. Rolls, 1374–77, Edward III, p. 505.

75 Close Rolls, 6 Ed. III, p. 434; Pat. Rolls, 13 Ed. III, p. 293; Close Rolls, 13 Ed. III, p. 168; Supple. Pat. Rolls, 14 Ed. III, p. 505; Pat. Rolls, 19 Ed. III, p. 484; Close Rolls, 14 Ed. III, p. 423; Close Rolls, 24 Ed. III, p. 216.

76 “John But, Messenger and Maker,” Mod. Phil., xi, pp. 107–116; July, 1913. Miss Rickert, of course, believes that John But actually did add the lines at the end of the A-text, and that William was dead. She doesn't explain how William wrote the B- and C-texts nor how he happened to use the same language as John But (Compare But's “medleth of makyng,” A. xii, 105 with Ymagnatyf's accusation, “þow medlest with makynges …” B. xii, 16).

77 At Barton-upon-Humber, Pat. Rolls, 2 Ric. II, p. 280; p. 296. The whole region from Ipswich, Suffolk, through Norfolk, and along the Wash is common to both the Rokeles and Buts. For example, Arnold de Rokeles is creditor of the king through the collectors of the Port of Boston (Close Rolls, 5 Ed. III, p. 373), while Robert But (named as a merchant of Norwich, Pat. Rolls, 18 Ed. II, pp. 74, 143) was collector of the wool customs in Boston (Fine Rolls, 15 Ed. II, pp. 65, 135; 1–5 Ed. III, pp. 36 ff.).

78 Many records. Examples: Thomas de la Rokele appointed to take wool for the king's use, Close Rolls, 12 Ed. III, p. 359; Thomas But, searcher in Norwich, Fine Rolls, 12 Ed. III, p. 88; William But, collector of customs on wool in Norwich, Fine Rolls, 7 Ed. III, p. 346. Was it by any chance these Norfolk merchants who were merry and gave Will for his writing woolen clothes. (A. viii, 42 ff.)?

79 B-text, Preface, p. xi, No. xiv.

80 “Peter Le Neve,” D.N.B.

81 Pat. Rolls, 19 Ric. II, July 27, 1395.

82 “Thomas Brinton,” D.N.B.

83 Ancient Deeds, iii, p. 120. A. 4918.

84 Close Rolls, 10 Ric. II, p. 254 (June 28, 1386). Yet see allusion to “Rainalde the Reve of Rotland sokene” B. ii, 110.

85 Papal Petitions, i, 253 (I Innocent VI).

86 Pat. Rolls, 32 Ed. III, p. 57; 43 Ed. III, p. 216. Feudal Aids, vi, 442 (1412).

87 Pat. Rolls. 9 Ric. II, p. 79.

88 Mod. Lang. Rev., xx (July, 1925), 272–280.

89 Brunton was bishop from 1372–1389, see D.N.B.

90 Pat. Rolls, 48 Ed. III, p. 17, et seq.

91 See note 17 above and text.

92 Ancient Deeds, iv, 156, A. 7358 (undated).

93 Close Rolls, I Ric. II, p. 137.

94 Who has exploited the laws of chance for the first time in scholarly controversy. See his preface to Bright's New Light on “ Piers Plowman,” p. 10.