The English poet William Langland (ca. 1330-ca. 1400) is known as the probable author of "Piers Plowman," an allegorical poem which attacks abuses in the government and the Church and deplores the misery of a people without true leadership.

Except for information that may be gleaned from his poem Piers Plowman, nothing is known about William Langland's life. The poem opens as the poet wanders on Malvern Hills. On the basis of this reference it has been suggested that the poet was probably born at Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire. But it has also been argued that a more likely location is in Herefordshire between Colwall and Ledbury. Recent research has revealed that some imagery in the carvings on the choir stalls at the priory church of St. Giles in Little Malvern near the second of the sites suggested may be echoed in the poem. The Herefordshire location seems more...