The medieval English poem Piers Plowman is noted for its attacks on the
clergy. The later fourteenth century, when the poem was written, is
often thought of as an anticlerical age. This book is an extended
investigation of the anticlericalism of the poem. Dr Scase challenges
the usual assumption that long-established anticlerical traditions
continued unchanged in the conflicts of this period. She describes and
analyses important but little-known medieval polemics and satires (many
of them only available in manuscript), tracing the emergence of a
distinctive 'new anticlericalism' which entailed nothing less than the
making of a new anticlerical literature. With the writing of Piers
Plowman, she argues, this literary challenge was accepted. Always
referring closely to the contemporary controversies, and with constant
attention to the detail of the text, she reveals the significance of the
poem's anticlericalism. Informative and rigorously argued, this book is
intended to convince literary critics and historians alike.