The Ploughman's Tale
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There are two pseudo-Chaucerian texts called "The Plowman's Tale". In the mid-15th century a
rhyme royal Rhyme royal (or rime royal) is a rhyming stanza form that was introduced to English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. The form enjoyed significant success in the fifteenth century and into the sixteenth century. It has had a more subdued but continuing ...
"Plowman's Tale" was added to the text of '' The Canterbury Tales'' in the Christ Church MS. This tale is actually an orthodox
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
, possibly anti-
Lollard Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catho ...
version of a
Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...
miracle story written by
Thomas Hoccleve Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve (1368 or 1369–1426) was an English poet and clerk, who became a key figure in 15th-century Middle English literature. His ''Regement of Princes or De Regimine Principum'' is a homily on virtues and vices, written for ...
called ''Item de Beata Virgine''. Someone composed and added a prologue to fit Hoccleve's poem into
Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
's narrative frame. This bogus tale did not survive into the printed editions of Chaucer's ''Works''. The better-known "Plowman's Tale" was included in printed editions of Chaucer's ''Works''. It is a decidedly
Wycliffite John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of O ...
anti-fraternal tale that was written ''ca.'' 1400 and circulated among the Lollards. Sometimes titled ''The Complaynte of the Plowman'', it is 1380 lines long, composed of eight-line stanzas (
rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB r ...
ABABBCBC with some variations suggesting interpolation) like Chaucer's "
Monk's Tale "The Monk's Tale" is one of '' The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Monk's tale to the other pilgrims is a collection of 17 short stories, exempla, on the theme of tragedy. The tragic endings of these historical figures are recounte ...
". There is no clear internal/design connection in "The Plowman's Tale" with Chaucer's ''
Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus ...
'' or '' Piers Plowman''. Anthony Wotton, who was probably the editor of the 1606 edition of "The Plowman's Tale", suggested that "The Plowman's Tale" makes a reference to '' Jack Upland'' or, more likely, '' Pierce the Ploughman's Crede'', since the main character in "The Plowman's Tale" says: "Of Freres I haue told before / In a making of a Crede..." (1065–66). ''The Plowman's Tale'' also borrows heavily from the ''Crede''. Some sections of "The Plowman's Tale", such as the prologue, were added in the 16th century to make it fit better as one of Chaucer's tales. The prologue announces that a sermon is to follow in the tale. Instead, a traveller with none of the characteristics of Chaucer's plowman (or any literary plowman of the era) overhears a Pelican and a Griffin debating about the clergy. Most of the lines are the Pelican's, who attacks the typical offences in an evangelical manner, discusses Antichrist, and appeals to the secular government to humble the church. The Pelican is driven off by force but is then vindicated by a Phoenix. The tale ends with a disclaimer wherein the author distinguishes his own views from those of the Pelican, stating that he will accept what the church requires. The association of this and other texts with Chaucer was possible because Chaucer's "
General Prologue The General Prologue is the first part of ''The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer. It introduces the frame story, in which a group of pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury agree to take part in a storytelling comp ...
" to '' The Canterbury Tales'' introduces a Plowman who never receives a tale. This omission seems to have sparked the creativity of others from an early date. In the "General Prologue", the Host jokes about the Plowman's brother, who is the Parson. I
some surviving manuscripts
the Host suggests that the Parson is a "Lollere." As early as 1400, Chaucer's courtly audience grew to include members of the rising literate, middle-/merchant class, which included many Lollard sympathizers who would have been inclined to believe in a Lollard Chaucer.


Printed editions and their interpretation

The sole surviving manuscript of "The Plowman's Tale" (written in a 16th-century hand) was inserted at the end of ''The Canterbury Tales'' in a copy of Thomas Godfrey/Godfray's 1532 printed edition of Chaucer's ''Works'' (STC 5068), edited by William Thynne. (This is in PR 1850 1532 cop. 1 at the University of Texas Harry Ransom Center.) According to
Thomas Speght Thomas Speght (died 1621) was an English schoolmaster and editor of Geoffrey Chaucer. Life He was from a Yorkshire family, and matriculated as a sizar of Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1566, graduating B.A. in 1570, and M.A. in 1573. At Cambridge he w ...
, John Stow had a manuscript copy that is now lost. William Thynne's son,
Francis Thynne Francis Thynne (c. 1544 – 1608) was an English antiquary and an officer of arms at the College of Arms. Family background and early life Francis Thynne was born in Kent, the son of William Thynne, who was Master of the Household of King H ...
, wrote in his ''Animadversions'' that "The Plowman's Tale" was not printed along with the other tales in 1532 because of suppression started by Cardinal
Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the ...
(ca. 1475–1529/30). However, Francis Thynne's views are often discounted, largely because he was only an infant when his father was working on his Chaucer editions. Some scholars have argued that ''The Plowman's Tale'' was part of a Henrician propaganda effort. Godfrey was probably working with the King's Printer, Thomas Berthelet, and he was protected by
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...
(c. 1485–1540), earl of Essex, who was responsible for the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–39). But "The Plowman's Tale" could also be used as criticism against the king, since the Pelican marvels at the ignorance of parliament and of the lords and the king concerning the plight of the commons. In the mildest interpretation, "The Plowman's Tale" makes a bid for the necessity and appropriateness of heeding the concerns of the commons. "The Plowman's Tale" was successfully printed on its own in an octavo edition by Godfray ca. 1533–36 (STC 5099.5). In 1542,
Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – ) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his executi ...
's
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
and other vernacular books were banned – essentially everything printed in English before 1540 – with the exception of "Canterburye tales, Chaucers bokes, Gowers bokes and stories of mennes lieves" according to a royal statute, the ''Act for the Advancement of True Religion''. "The Plowman's Tale" was printed again as a duodecimo volume in London by William Hyll ca. 1548 (STC 5100) as "The Plouumans tale compylled by syr Geffray Chaucher knyght." In the year of the ban it was printed in Thynne's second (1542) edition of Chaucer's ''Works'', under the imprints of William Bonham (STC 5069) and John Reynes (STC 5070). After 1542, "The Plowman's Tale" appeared in new and reprinted editions of Chaucer's ''Works'' based on Thynne's text for some two centuries, during which the Chaucer canon and order of the ''Canterbury Tales'' was quite fluid.
Thomas Tyrwhitt Thomas Tyrwhitt (; 27 March 173015 August 1786) was an English classical scholar and critic. Life He was born in London, where he also died. He was educated at Eton College and Queen's College, Oxford. He was elected a fellow of Merton College ...
finally excluded "The Plowman's Tale" from his 1775 edition of the poet's work.


Associated with Chaucer and Piers Plowman from 1500–1700

The king's antiquary (under Henry VIII), John Leland (c. 1506–52), seems to have confused '' Piers Plowman'' and "The Plowman's Tale", referring to ''Petri Aratoris Fabula'' (Peter/Piers Plowman's Tale) as a Canterbury tale.
John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed ...
similarly included ''Arator Narratio'' (Plowman's Tale) in his list of the ''Canterbury Tales'' in his ''Scriptorum Illustrium Maioris Brytanniae . . . Catalogus'' (Basle, 1557, 1559). Corroborating Francis Thynne, Leland's remarks on ''The Plowman's Tale'' are as follows: "But the tale of Piers Plowman, which by the common consent of the learned is attributed to Chaucer as its true author, has been suppressed in each edition, because it vigorously inveighed against the bad morals of the priests" (''Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis'' ed. Anthony Hall. Like Bale's Chaucer, Leland's Chaucer is a reformer and follower of Wycliffe. John Foxe praised "The Plowman's Tale" in his first (1563) and second (1570) editions of the immensely influential ''
Acts and Monuments The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engl ...
''. Foxe implies that Chaucer was a
proto-Protestant Proto-Protestantism, also called pre-Protestantism, refers to individuals and movements that propagated ideas similar to Protestantism before 1517, which historians usually regard as the starting year for the Reformation era. The relationship be ...
Lollard and assumes he was the author of "The Plowman's Tale". ('' The Testament of Love'' and '' Jack Upland'' are also mentioned.) ''The Plowman's Tal'' was again printed by itself in 1606 by Anthony Wotton. The full title of Wotton's edition reads: "The Plough-mans Tale. Shewing by the doctrine and liues of the Romish Clergie, that the pope is AntiChrist and they his Ministers. Written by Sir Geffrey Chaucer, Knight, amongst his Canterburie tales: and now set out apart from the rest, with a short exposition of the words and matters, for the capacitie and understanding of the simpler sort of Readers." Edmund Spenser's ''
The Shepheardes Calender ''The Shepheardes Calender'' was Edmund Spenser's first major poetic work, published in 1579. In emulation of Virgil's first work, the ''Eclogues'', Spenser wrote this series of pastorals at the commencement of his career. However, Spenser's ...
'' (1579) makes references to and borrows from ''The Plowman's Tale'' (attributing it to Chaucer), possibly '' Pierce the Plowman's Crede'', and, more obscurely, perhaps to ''Piers Plowman''.
Gabriel Harvey Gabriel Harvey (c. 1552/3 – 1631) was an English writer. Harvey was a notable scholar, whose reputation suffered from his quarrel with Thomas Nashe. Henry Morley, writing in the ''Fortnightly Review'' (March 1869), has argued that Harvey's Lati ...
's copy of the Speght 1598 edition of Chaucer's ''Works'' (BL Additional 42518) summarises ''The Plowman's Tale'' with the note "Ecclesiastical abuses." Sir William Vaughan's ''Golden Fleece'' (1626) presents Chaucer as Wycliffe's master and the author of ''The Plowman's Tale'', which is used to give lines to
Duns Scotus John Duns Scotus ( – 8 November 1308), commonly called Duns Scotus ( ; ; "Duns the Scot"), was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher, and theologian. He is one of the four most important ...
and Chaucer in a debate between them that centres on the Pope (Is he Antichrist?) just as in the 1606 Wotton edition. This work promotes the colony at Newfoundland over against the vices of contemporary England. Famous historical figures, including Chaucer and Scotus, are brought to the court of Apollo to discuss English society. Apollo ultimately proclaims that all the problems that are exposed will be cured by the Golden Fleece, which is in Newfoundland. Other seventeenth-century citations of ''The Plowman's Tale'' are: Anthony Wotton's ''A Defense of Mr. Perkins Booke, Called a Reformed Catholike'' (1606), Simon Birkbeck's ''The Protestant's Evidence Taken Ovt of Good Records'' (1635), ''John Favour's Antiquitie Trivmphing Over Noveltie'' (1619), and John Milton's ''Of Reformation'' (1641) and ''An Apology Against a Pamphlet'' (1642).
John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...
remarks in ''Fables Ancient and Modern'' (1700) that Chaucer had "some little Byas toward the Opinions of Wycliff . . . somewhat of which appears in the Tale of Piers Plowman n interesting conflation of Langland and pseudo-Chaucer Yet I cannot blame him for inveighing so sharply against the Vices of the Clergy of his Age: Their Pride, their Ambition, their Pomp, their Avarice, their Worldly Interest, deserv'd the lashes which he gave them, both in that, and in most of his Canterbury Tales." The phrase "inveighed . . . against the clergy" is possibly derived from Leland; similar synopses appear in the editions of Chaucer's ''Works'' starting with Thynne. Another eighteenth-century commentator,
John Dart John Dart (died 1730) was an English lawyer and cleric, known as an antiquary and man of letters. Life Initially an attorney, but not successful in the profession, Dart obtained a title for holy orders. In 1728, he was presented by the master ...
, rejected ''The Plowman's Tale'' as Chaucer's but still agreed that Chaucer "bitterly inveighs against the Priests and Fryars", although he "expresses his regard for the secular clergy who lived up to their profession".


See also

*
Piers Plowman Tradition {{no footnotes, date=September 2009 The Piers Plowman tradition is made up of about 14 different poetic and prose works from about the time of John Ball (died 1381) and the Peasants Revolt of 1381 through the reign of Elizabeth I and beyond. All ...


Sources

*Bradley, Henry. "The Plowman's Tale." ''The Athenaeum'' 3898.12 July 1902: 62. *Clark, David Paul.
Reaping what was sown: Spenser, Chaucer, and The Plowman's Tale
" MA thesis. Iowa State University, 1995. *Costomeris, Robert. "The Yoke of Canon: Chaucerian Aspects of The Plowman's Tale." ''
Philological Quarterly The ''Philological Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on medieval European and modern literature and culture. It was established in 1922 by Hardin Craig. The inaugural issue of the journal was made available at sixty ...
''. 71.2 (1991): 175–198. *Forni, Kathleen. "The Chaucerian Apocrypha: Did Usk's 'Testament of Love' and the 'Plowman's Tale' Ruin Chaucer's Early Reputation?" ''Neuphilologische Mitteilungen: Bulletin de la Société Néophilologique'' ulletin of the Modern Language Society, Helsinki, Finland98.3 (1997): 261–72. *---. ''The Chaucerian Apocrypha: A Counterfeit Canon''. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2001. *Heffernan, Thomas J. "Aspects of Chaucerian Apocrypha: Animadversions of William Thynne's edition of the ''Plowman's Tale''." ''Chaucer Traditions: Studies in Honor of Derek Brewer''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 155–167. *Irvine, Annie S. "A Manuscript Copy of ''The Plowman's Tale''." ''University of Texas Studies in English'' 12 (1932): 27–56. *Long, Percy W. "Spenser and the ''Plowman's Tale''." ''Modern Language Notes'' 28.8 (1913): 262. *Patterson, Paul J. "Reforming Chaucer: Margins and Religion in an Apocryphal ''Canterbury Tale''." ''Book History'' 8 (2005): 11–36. *Thorne, J. B. "Piers or Will: Confusion of Identity in the Early Reception of ''Piers Plowman''." ''Medieum Ævum'' 60 (1991): 273–84.
''The Plowman's Tale''
Ed. James Dean. Introduction and Annotated Text. Originally Published in ''Six Ecclesiastical Satires'' Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1991. *''The Plowman's Tale: The c. 1532 and 1606 Editions of a Spurious Canterbury Tale''. Ed. Mary Rhinelander McCarl. New York: Garland Press, 1997. *''The Ploughman's Tale''. Ed. Andrew Wawn. PhD Thesis, University of Birmingham, 1969. *Thynne, Francis. ''Animadversions uppon the Annotaciouns and Corrections of some Imperfections of Impressions of Chaucers Workes (sett downe before tyme, and nowe) reprinted in the yere of oure lorde 1598''. Ed. G. H. Kingsley (1865) EETS OS 9. Rev. edn F. J. Furnivall, 1875. EETS SS 13. Rpt. 1891, 1928 and 1965. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965. *Wawn, Andrew N. "''The Plowman's Tale'' and Reformation Propaganda: The Testimonies of Thomas Godfray and ''I Playne Piers''." ''Bulletin of the John Rylands Library''. 56 (1973): 174–192. *---. "The Genesis of ''The Plowman's Tale''." ''Yearbook of English Studies''. 2 (1972): 21–40. *---. "''The Plowman's Tale''." The Spenser Encyclopedia. Gen ed. A. C. Hamilton. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990: 548–49. *---. "Chaucer, Wyclif, and the Court of Apollo." ''English Language Notes'' 10 (1972–73): 15–20. {{DEFAULTSORT:Plowman's Tale, The Literature of England English Reformation History of Catholicism in England Literary forgeries English Renaissance The Canterbury Tales