And to the church ich wente. And to the church gan ich go, God to honourie, Byfor the crois on my knees Knocked ich my brest, Sykinge for my sennes, Segginge my paternoster, Wepyng and wailinge, Tyl ich was a-slepe Thenne mete me moche more Than ich byfor tolde, Of the mater that ich mete fyrst On Malverne hulles. Ich sawe the feld ful of folk Fram ende to the other; And Reson revested Ryght as a pope, And Conscience his crocer Byfore the kynge stande. Reson reverentliche Byfor all the reame Prechede and provede That thuse pestilences Was for pure synne, etc. _See_ l. 2497, of the present edition. 2497. _thise pestilences._--There were three great pestilences in the reign of Edward III, the terrible effects of which were long fresh in people's minds, and they were often taken as points from which to date common events. Two of them had passed at the period when the Visions of Piers Ploughman are believed to have been written, and are the ones here alluded to. Of the first, or great pestilence, which lasted from 31 May, 1348, to 29 Sept. 1349, the contemporary chroniclers give a fearful account. In a register of the Abbey of Gloucester (MS. Cotton. Domit. A. VIII, fol. 124), we have the following entry:--"Anno Domini m^o.ccc^o.xlviij^o. anno vero regni regis Edwardi III, post conquestum xxij^o. incepit magna pestilentia in Anglia, ita quod _vix tertia pars_ hominum remansit." This pestilence, known as the _black plague_, ravaged most parts of Europe, and is said to have carried off in general about two-thirds of the people. It was the pestilence which gave rise to the Decameron of Boccaccio. For an interesting account of it, see Michelet's Hist. de France, iii, 342-349. The second pestilence lasted from 15 Aug. 1361, to May 3, 1362, and was much less severe. The third pestilence raged from 2 July to 29 September, 1369.