This groundbreaking work challenges the received history of William Langland's "Piers Plowman." Through close textual analysis, Lawrence Warner brings about a fundamental shift in our understanding of the production and transmission of the poem's three versions, establishing an entirely new paradigm for the study of Middle English literature.

Preface
Chapter 1. Piers Plowman Before 1400: Evidence for the Earliest Circulation of A, B, and C
Chapter 2. Scribal Conflation, Convergent Variation, and the Invention of Piers Plowman B
Chapter 3. The Poison of Possession: B Passus 15
Chapter 4. The Ending, and End, of Piers Plowman B
Conclusion. Lollars, Friars, and Fyndynges: C Passus 9 and the Creation of Piers Plowman
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments

Lawrence Warner is Senior Lecturer in Middle English at at King's College London.