The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 2Langland, William
General
The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 2
Langland, William
Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Poetry
6831. _may no cherl chartre make._ Such was the law of _vileinage_, then in
existence. There is a curious story illustrative of the condition of the
_cherl_ or peasant, in the Descriptio Norfolciensium, in my Early Mysteries
and other Latin Poems of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, p. 94. The
'cherl,' vilein, or bondman, could not even be put apprentice without the
licence of the lord of the soil. In the curious poem on the Constitution of
Masonry (14th cent.) published by Mr. Halliwell, the master is particularly
cautioned on this point:--
The fowrthe artycul thys moste be,
That the mayster hym wel be-se
That he no bondemon prentys make,
Ny for no covetyse do hym take;
For the lord that he ys bonde to,
May fache the prentes whersever he go.
_Early History of Freemasonry in England_, p. 14.
6859. _Trojanus._ 6869. _Gregorie._ The legend here alluded to is given
briefly as follows, in the life of St. Gregory in the Golden Legend, fol.
lxxxxvii,--
"In the tyme that Trayan themperour regned, and on a tyme as he wente
toward a batayll out of Rome, it happed that in hys waye as he shold ryde a
woman a wydowe came to hym wepyng and sayd: I praye thee, syre, that thou
avenge the deth of one my sone, whyche innocently and wythout cause hath
ben slayn. Themperour answerd: yf I come agayn fro the batayll hool and
sounde, thenne I shall do justyce for the deth of thy sone. Thenne sayd the
wydowe: Syre, and yf thou deye in the bataylle, who shall thenne avenge hys
deth for me? And the wydowe sayd, is it not better that thou do to me
justice, and have the meryte thereof of God, than another have it for thee?
Then had Trayan pyté, and descended fro his horse, and dyde justyce in
avengynge the deth of her sone. On a tyme saynt Gregory went by the marked
of Rome whyche is called the marked of Trayan. And thenne he remembred of
the justyce and other good dedes of Trayan, and how he had ben pyteous and
debonayr, and was moche sorowfull that he had ben a paynem; and he tourned
to the chyrche of saynt Peter waylyng for thorrour of the mescreaunce of
Trayan. Thenne answerd a voys fro God, sayng: I have now herd thy prayer,
and have spared Trayan fro the payne perpetuelly. By thys thus, as somme
saye, the payne perpetuell due to Trayan as a mescreaunt was somme dele
take awaye, but for all that was he not quyte fro the pryson of helle; for
the sowle may well be in helle, and fele ther no payne, by the mercy of
God."
6907. 1 John iii, 15.
6938. Luke xiv, 12.
6964. John viii, 34.
6981. Galat. vi, 2.
7015. Matth. vii, 3.
7063. Luke x, 40.
7072. Luke x, 42.
7113. Although our writer quotes the circumstance from Luke xviii, the
words he gives are from Matth. xix, 21.
7113. In Whitaker's text the following passage is here inserted:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account