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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
That French literature exerted some influence upon the author of Piers Plowman has been recognized since the time of Thomas Warton, who, in his History of English Poetry, pointed out the similarity between Langland's vision of Antichrist and Huon de Méri's Tournoiement de l'Antéchrist. This influence had not been examined with any particularity, however, until Miss Dorothy Owen, of the University of London, made an illuminating study of Piers Plowman in comparison with some earlier and some contemporary French allegories. The French pieces used for this comparison are Le Roman de Carité by the Reclus de Moilliens; Le Songe d'Enfer by Raoul de Houdenc; Le Roman de la Rose; Huon de Méri's Tournoiement de l'Antéchrist; Rutebeuf's Voie de Paradis; Guillaume de Deguileville's Pèlerinage de la Vie Humaine; Le Salut d'Enfer, and De Dame Guile. Miss Owen has shown certain correspondences between the English poem and the French allegories studied, but in no case, I believe, has she been able to establish a definite connection. Students of Piers Plowman know, however, that it is very difficult to trace any of Langland's allegories to certain sources. It is doubtful whether the source of any passage of considerable length in Piers Plowman has ever been convincingly identified.
1 In this paper, I assume the correctness of the traditional view that William Langland wrote Piers the Plowman.
2 This observation of Warton's is cited by Miss Owen in her book entitled Piers Plowman: A Comparison with some Earlier and Contemporary French Allegories (London, 1912), 1. See Warton's History of English Poetry, i (London, 1775), 285–286. The relevant passages in Piers Plowman are to be found in Text B, xx, 50 ff. and Text C xxiii, 51 ff.
3 Op. cit., pp. 1 ff.
4 Edited by A. Pey in the Jahrbuch für romanische und englische Litteratur, vii (1866); and by Arthur Långfors in the publications of the Société des Anciens Textes français, lxxii (1914–1919). It is the latter edition that has been used in preparing this paper. In the opening pages of the Introduction, M. Långfors gives an excellent résumé of the two parts of the Roman. I regret that Georg Döring's dissertation, Die Personnamen in Langlands Piers the Plowman (Leipzig, 1922), is not available.
5 Långfors cites (op. cit., p. xl) M. R. Hess's dissertation on the language, and states (p. lxiii) that Hess thought the author of the first part Picard; the author of the second, Norman. But Hess had not studied all the MSS. The title of Hess's study is Der Roman de Fauvel (Studien zür Handschrift 146 der Nationalbibliothek zu Paris). Compare also E. Hoeppner's review of Långfors' edition, Romania, xlvi (1920), 426–433.
6 Histoire littéraire de la France, xxxii, 136.
7 Introduction, lxxiii-lxxvii.
8 La Vie en France au moyen âge d'après quelques moralistes du temps (Paris, 1908), 278.
9 Histoire littéraire de la France, xxxii, 136.
10 Romania, xlvi (1920), 426–433.
11 See Note 5.
12 Ch. V. Langlois, op. cit., 283–284.
13 Ibid.
14 Compare Miss Owen, op. cit., 9–10.
15 The episode of Lady Meed is found in the A-text (E.E.T.S., 28), Passus ii-iv; in the B-text (E.E.T.S., 38), Passus ii-iv; in the C-text (E.E.T.S., 54) Passus iii-v. The lines relating to Favel in the A-text, which, on account of its early date, I have used for the citations in this paper are as follows: ii, 6; 23; 38 f.; 52; 61; 113 f.; 128; 133; 140; 158; 168.
16 Notes to the Text: A, B, and C, E.E.T.S., 67 (London, 1877), 42–43.
17 Op. cit., cv.
18 Ibid. civ-cviii. See especially cv-cvi for the “Dit.” The “Dit de la queue de Renart” appears in full in A. Jubinal's Nouveau recueil de contes, dits, fabliaux, et autres pièces inédites des XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siècles, ii (Paris, 1842), 88–95.
19 Editions cited.
