Learning from Langland: theo-poetic resources for the post-Hind ...

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Holy Church’s response is as follows: Will objects: He is told: Whan alle tresors arn tried, Truthe is the beste. Lereth it this lewed men, for lettred it knoweth – That Treuthe is the tresor the Trieste on erthe. (B1.135-7) (When all treasures are tried, Truth is the best. Teach it to uneducated men, for the educated know it – that truth is the choicest treasure on earth.) ‘Yet have I no kynde knowynge,’ quod I, ‘ye mote kenne me better By what craft in my cors it comseth, and where.’ (Yet I have no ‘natural understanding’, you must teach me better by means of what power in my body it arises, and in what part of it.’) It is a kynde knowynge that kenneth in thyn herte For to love thi Lord levere than thiselve, No dedly synne to do, deye theigh thow sholdest- This I trow be truthe; (B1.142-5) (It is a ‘natural understanding’ that instructs your heart to love your Lord more dearly than yourself, 44
to commit no mortal sin, even in the face of death – this I swear is truth.) This exchange sets up one of the poem’s central tensions: the tension between different ways of knowing and enacting spiritual truth. The next six passus, covering scenes at court and the ploughing of the half acre, are a series of demonstrations of the difficulty of acting well in accordance with truth, and the ease with which falsehood infiltrates the structures of public life. This first section of the poem presents a social landscape of considerable complexity, and the second half of the poem seeks ways in which this complexity can be ordered and understood so that Will can find a way to live with spiritual integrity in a such a context. One way to understand the middle section of the poem, therefore, is as a process of trying out different schemes and organising concepts in an effort to bring order to the inner and outer unruliness Will experiences. In Passus 8-12 Will re-visits the issues raised in his opening conversation with Holy Church and probes more deeply into the problems of right belief and right practice. This central section wrestles at length with questions of formal learning and its relationship with embodied wisdom, and I will explore some aspects of this in greater depth in Chapters Three and Four. The point to note in a general outline of the poem’s progress is that Langland’s method is to set up a series of debates about models of learning which question the relationship between study and holiness, truthful speech and truthful praxis. In choosing Piers Plowman as a resource for a different kind of settlement I am arguing that both its content and style are significant. John Bowers asks what difference it makes that Langland should explore his thinking about himself, his society and his God through the form of dream visions rather than in an analytic treatise, and concludes that a treatise would come to a conclusion whereas the poem does not, and that that dissatisfaction with 45
Page 1 and 2: Learning from Langland: theo-poetic
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents ABSTRACT 2 ACKNOW
Page 5 and 6: ECCLESIOLOGY AND THE BODY 278 THE S
Page 7 and 8: the thesis, namely that learning ta
Page 9 and 10: Introduction The word ‘learning
Page 11 and 12: My thesis is, in part, an attempt a
Page 13 and 14: settlement will be described and ev
Page 15 and 16: Chapter One: The Hind Settlement Th
Page 17 and 18: Fluctuations in theological trainin
Page 19 and 20: etaining local connection whilst be
Page 21 and 22: Thirdly, this particularity is mani
Page 23 and 24: factors in the proliferation of pro
Page 25 and 26: flourish. The changing face of know
Page 27 and 28: This highlights one area of potenti
Page 29 and 30: training might at the same time be
Page 31 and 32: By its very calling the Church is i
Page 33 and 34: discharge of recognisable and measu
Page 35 and 36: This paragraph displays many of the
Page 37 and 38: service provision. This would exclu
Page 39 and 40: ecomes a priority. Such an educatio
Page 41 and 42: on to use language of participation
Page 43: several parallel strands which are
Page 47 and 48: The Prologue: learning, power and l
Page 49 and 50: constraints from both the Church an
Page 51 and 52: ut only how to suffer and serve) It
Page 53 and 54: experience of alienation as the poe
Page 55 and 56: ‘scholastic’ and to attempt a w
Page 57 and 58: on the ‘spiritual sense’ which
Page 59 and 60: Monastic and scholastic approaches
Page 61 and 62: Higton’s re-drawing of the lines
Page 63 and 64: ‘Piers Plowman’ and the monasti
Page 65 and 66: some of the ways in which Piers Plo
Page 67 and 68: epresentatives of both the scholarl
Page 69 and 70: Chapter Three: Learning and progres
Page 71 and 72: walls. A tradition of research and
Page 73 and 74: makes a convincing case for this pr
Page 75 and 76: The report is keen to address conce
Page 77 and 78: Christ’s call to ‘Follow me’.
Page 79 and 80: open-endedness of the journey of di
Page 81 and 82: such a project is integral to the t
Page 83 and 84: and the ways in which it is qualifi
Page 85 and 86: The mention of Dowel in the priest
Page 87 and 88: inseparable from the more abstract
Page 89 and 90: interrogates Imaginatif. In this sc
Page 91 and 92: detail later in the chapter. 145 Th
Page 93 and 94: waking life of Will; the biblical s
Page 95 and 96:
acknowledgement of the ultimate ina
Page 97 and 98:
The existence of variant manuscript
Page 99 and 100:
of the search for a controlling sch
Page 101 and 102:
within the poem. However, without s
Page 103 and 104:
I want to look in greater detail at
Page 105 and 106:
as a template for Piers Plowman and
Page 107 and 108:
which unites love and learning. It
Page 109 and 110:
elationship between God, the world
Page 111 and 112:
an assimilation of two different
Page 113 and 114:
the reflection, and aims to break o
Page 115 and 116:
eflection stage when there is a bre
Page 117 and 118:
esult. 208 My contention is that on
Page 119 and 120:
of immediacy, demanding a response
Page 121 and 122:
what it means to learn, and are par
Page 123 and 124:
disconcerting ‘exemplum’ who co
Page 125 and 126:
Or any science under sonne, the sev
Page 127 and 128:
whole be read as an extended piece
Page 129 and 130:
Thus this short passage in Passus 7
Page 131 and 132:
Bothe dregges and draf, and draw at
Page 133 and 134:
here, at the point of a potential s
Page 135 and 136:
This abuse of the image of the body
Page 137 and 138:
active response and thereby to new
Page 139 and 140:
dioceses and parishes, and whether
Page 141 and 142:
contested ever since the Reformatio
Page 143 and 144:
This phenomenon reflects the fact t
Page 145 and 146:
never-ending journey, shalom, kingd
Page 147 and 148:
Another expression of the desire to
Page 149 and 150:
questions, especially in the light
Page 151 and 152:
some kind of preliminary stage prio
Page 153 and 154:
working group’s agenda at 2.23, t
Page 155 and 156:
call to participate in Christ’s m
Page 157 and 158:
implications of the example of Jesu
Page 159 and 160:
The phrase ‘the clerical paradigm
Page 161 and 162:
can be seen as another instance of
Page 163 and 164:
expectations of the training of ord
Page 165 and 166:
vocations and for people to be more
Page 167 and 168:
them… clerical and lay surely mus
Page 169 and 170:
guides for clergy were produced, wi
Page 171 and 172:
Christian usage of the world for th
Page 173 and 174:
Lay learning: the positives Those s
Page 175 and 176:
very much the age of the laity…In
Page 177 and 178:
the nature and capacity of English;
Page 179 and 180:
their ideal of the first apostles.
Page 181 and 182:
these cover several inter-related a
Page 183 and 184:
importance of the material church o
Page 185 and 186:
with the question of clerical and l
Page 187 and 188:
whom Will seeks guidance. Secondly,
Page 189 and 190:
nor would it be to anyone’s merit
Page 191 and 192:
commanded clergie (B10.439-449). Hi
Page 193 and 194:
ut Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
Page 195 and 196:
The poem uses different techniques
Page 197 and 198:
value of learning with a story of t
Page 199 and 200:
which the will oscillates between e
Page 201 and 202:
attack (for example, the grotesque
Page 203 and 204:
‘Werche’ and ‘wille’ functi
Page 205 and 206:
access to saving grace is enabled l
Page 207 and 208:
helps Langland ‘to pull into a co
Page 209 and 210:
as being as natural as Piers’ exp
Page 211 and 212:
And help my fore-iron to cut and cl
Page 213 and 214:
(‘What!’ said the priest to Pie
Page 215 and 216:
Ac Piers the Plowman parceyveth moo
Page 217 and 218:
However intellectual many of his co
Page 219 and 220:
to overcome the lay/clerical binary
Page 221 and 222:
Thus hath Piers power, be his pardo
Page 223 and 224:
Abruptly, just when it seems that P
Page 225 and 226:
although figural readings shed impo
Page 227 and 228:
etween Langland’s situation and o
Page 229 and 230:
eaction. And this is a crucial part
Page 231 and 232:
analyse sections of Piers Plowman w
Page 233 and 234:
the level of rhetoric, where the la
Page 235 and 236:
a body, there are various stages an
Page 237 and 238:
MACHINE was substituted for THE BOD
Page 239 and 240:
Hind picks up the body imagery from
Page 241 and 242:
arises when this image is overplaye
Page 243 and 244:
Scripture and the body In looking a
Page 245 and 246:
Since a complete analysis of body i
Page 247 and 248:
Christ’s death, and his hermeneut
Page 249 and 250:
One problem with the metaphor of th
Page 251 and 252:
Hind Two: the follow-up Part Three
Page 253 and 254:
pregnancies which falls upon famili
Page 255 and 256:
pronouncement comes down from on hi
Page 257 and 258:
more theologically integrated disco
Page 259 and 260:
on a more rich and integrated Chris
Page 261 and 262:
‘ostensibly an image of the unity
Page 263 and 264:
divine and human’, and she sees t
Page 265 and 266:
The ideal of providing for everyone
Page 267 and 268:
poverty involves the poem in an int
Page 269 and 270:
lack through activity in order to s
Page 271 and 272:
The description is interspersed wit
Page 273 and 274:
(B14.274), he initially gets an obf
Page 275 and 276:
Real bodies, real people: Hind In d
Page 277 and 278:
heard and their wisdom attended to
Page 279 and 280:
arn he uses as a symbol for the Chu
Page 281 and 282:
precedence for such a choice: one o
Page 283 and 284:
choice. At B20.310 the language cha
Page 285 and 286:
And he cried out after Grace, until
Page 287 and 288:
the poet expresses ambivalence else
Page 289 and 290:
key means of encountering Christ -
Page 291 and 292:
It would mean we could see failure
Page 293 and 294:
Reed’s point is that the church h
Page 295 and 296:
ecome recipients - recipients of th
Page 297 and 298:
systematic way. Rather, references
Page 299 and 300:
In a culture which construes povert
Page 301 and 302:
intersect. 536 It is, as Murtaugh c
Page 303 and 304:
Christological scope of Hind discou
Page 305 and 306:
why; by putting the emphasis on Jes
Page 307 and 308:
kind of way. The report genre is fo
Page 309 and 310:
proposed de-regulation could allow
Page 311 and 312:
Meed is thus presented in these pas
Page 313 and 314:
… Preestes and persons that plesy
Page 315 and 316:
he that maketh presents shall purch
Page 317 and 318:
Learning and teaching have thus bee
Page 319 and 320:
as she permits the adulteration of
Page 321 and 322:
Conclusion: Taking care of our lang
Page 323 and 324:
We are as we come to see and as tha
Page 325 and 326:
with uncomfortable connections that
Page 327 and 328:
Reading becomes the site of theolog
Page 329 and 330:
pedagogical policy making and that
Page 331 and 332:
on and transformed in the light of
Page 333 and 334:
- poetry on the one hand and report
Page 335 and 336:
Chapter Five. If we are in a post-H
Page 337 and 338:
Church Reports All Are Called: Towa
Page 339 and 340:
Aston, Margaret Faith and Fire, Ham
Page 341 and 342:
Bloomfield, Morton W. Piers Plowman
Page 343 and 344:
‘The Female Body and Religious Pr
Page 345 and 346:
The Creativity of God, Cambridge Un
Page 347 and 348:
and Nadia Tazi (eds.) Ferruolo, Ste
Page 349 and 350:
Grey, Mary ‘Disturbing the Wise?
Page 351 and 352:
Howard, Thomas A. Protestant Theolo
Page 353 and 354:
Kittelson, James M. Rebirth, Reform
Page 355 and 356:
Lytle, Guy Fitch ‘The Careers of
Page 357 and 358:
Morgan, John Godly Learning, Cambri
Page 359 and 360:
‘Bureacratic ideology in establis
Page 361 and 362:
Salter, Elizabeth York Medieval Tex
Page 363 and 364:
Steinmetz, David ‘The Superiority
Page 365 and 366:
Vaughan, Miceal (ed.) ‘Suche Werk
Page 367:
Wittig, Joseph ‘Piers Plowman B,
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