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Coppee, Henry

"English Literature, Considered as an Interpreter of English History Designed as a Manual of Instruction"



And again:
Ac now is Religion | And a loud buyer,
A rider, a roamer about, | A pricker on a palfrey,
A leader of love days | From manor to manor.

PIERS PLOWMAN'S CREED.--The name of Piers Plowman and the conceit of his
Vision became at once very popular. He stood as a representative of the
peasant class rising in importance and in assertion of religious rights.
An unknown follower of Wiclif wrote a poem called "Piers Plowman's Creed,"
which conveys religious truth in a formula of belief. The language and the
alliterative feature are similar to those of the Vision; and the
invective is against the clergy, and especially against the monks and
friars.

FROISSART.--Sire Jean Froissart was born about 1337. He is placed here for
the observance of chronological order: he was not an English writer, but
must receive special mention because his "Chronicles," although written in
French, treat of the English wars in France, and present splendid pictures
of English chivalry and heroism.


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