William Langland

William Langland ( * ca 1330, † 1387 ) was one of the most significant Middle English poets.

Little is known about the life Langlands, his name can only be derived from the work attributed to him, Piers Plowman. This ranks alongside the works Geoffrey Chaucer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Layamons breeding the most important works of Middle English poetry.

It is generally believed that Langland was born in the early 1330s in the West Midlands. The regional origin Langlands can be derived from the dialect of one of his manuscripts. The text also contains allusions to the Malvern Hills, a landscape in the south-west Worcestershire. Even the year of death can be determined only indirectly. Thus, a manuscript copy of a certain John But from 1387, contains an allusion to the only recent death of the author.

Overall, however, all information on the life Langlands in the manuscripts of Piers Plowman must be treated with caution, as it is in this work is a dream interpretation and can not be a clear distinction between the figure of the Plowman and the author.

In one of the manuscripts of Piers Plowman we find the oldest mention by name of Robin Hood.