LANGLAND, WILLIAM. - English poet, born around 1332, died around 1400, according to the conjectures of W. W. Skeat. Nothing precise is known about his life, apart from what can be gleaned from the text of his work *The Vision of Piers the Plowman*, an allegorical poem in alliterative verse, a sober yet powerful representation of the Christian life in search of truth.
The poem is also highly significant as a document of the social and religious life of the lower classes of the time. Piers, who in allegorical language represents the life of truth to the people, ends up identifying himself with Christ Himself. The work, sober and at times somber, is a necessary complement to Chaucer’s vivid portrayals. The author shows himself to be quite severe toward the clergy and inclined to interpret Christian life as an imitation of the Gospel message in its entirety; yet
like Chaucer, though vastly different from him, he is free
from Lollardism, very rigorous, and fully orthodox
in his stance toward the Church.
Three versions of the poem exist, of which the second and third are amplifications perhaps by another author, texts that are in any case more convoluted and whose authenticity remains doubtful. L.’s poem is a typical medieval vision, with personifications of vices and virtues. The author is considered the greatest of Chaucer’s contemporaries.