Langland was probably a minor ecclesiastic (not a priest) from the Malvern Hills area in the western English Midlands; later lived in London and made a living by singing masses and doing clerical work; the author refers to himself in the poem, "I have lived in land ... my name is Long Will" (15.152)
Piers Plowman (Visio Willelmi de Petrus Plowman, "Vision of William Concerning Peter the Plowman")
narrative poem in unrhymed alliterative verse; text divided into sections called Passi (Passus = "step"); three versions extant in 47 manuscripts:
part of Alliterative Revival
use of allegorical figures
three dream visions
leaders of Peasants' Revolt (1381) quoted passages from Piers Plowman which was also popular with religious reformers, like John Wycliffe (1320-1384), because of its seeming glorification of the humble and the poor; Langland however was a political and religious conservative very much in favor of the existing hierarchies and traditional powers and had no sympathy for social or religious reform movements
Langland was concerned with the breakdown of the traditional order and its effects on those like himself who made a living selling masses and other services connected to religion; Langland saw change as decay; his work is a defense of the status quo against change and reform
Links:
William Langland: http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/langland.htm