Editing Piers Plowman (section)

===16th–18th centuries===
The most conspicuous omissions from [[William Caxton]]'s press were the Bible and ''Piers Plowman''. [[Robert Crowley (printer)|Robert Crowley]]'s 1550 editions of ''Piers Plowman'' present the poem as a [[proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestant]] goad to the reformation of religion and society. In the passus summaries in the second and third editions, Crowley emphasizes material in the poem warning of political instability and widespread corruption when the king is a child (as was then the case). Crowley may have made small attempts to remove or soften single references to [[transubstantiation]], the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]], [[purgatory]], and the [[Virgin Mary]] as a mediator and object of devotion (although almost a dozen references to purgatory remain, as well as three significant references to Mary). He actually added a line to his second and third editions that clearly refers to [[Marian intercession]] (F1r).

After 1550, it was not printed again until 1813 except for Owen Rogers' 1561 edition—a cheap knock-off of Crowley's text. The few people who mention ''Piers Plowman'' before 1700 usually attribute it to someone other than Langland, and often it is unclear whether they are referring to Langland's poem or one of the many other texts circulating in print as part of the [[Piers Plowman tradition]], particularly ''[[The Ploughman's Tale]]''. Since Piers was [[conflate]]d with the author and dreamer-narrator of the poem at an early date, "Piers Plowman" or a Latin equivalent is often given as the name of the author, which indicates unfamiliarity with, or disbelief of, Crowley's preface.

When Langland's poem is mentioned, it is often disparaged for its barbarous language. Similar charges were made against Chaucer, but he had more defenders and was already well established as a historical figure and "authority." Despite the work of Bale and Crowley, Langland's name appears to have remained unknown or unaccepted since other authors were suggested after Crowley's editions. Sometimes "Piers Plowman" was referred to as the author of the poem, and when writers refer to a list of medieval authors, they will often mention "Piers Plowman" as an author's name or a substitute for one. One gets the overall impression that Langland and ''Piers Plowman'' had less existence as author and text than did the fictional figure of Piers, whose relationship to a definite authorial and textual origin had been obscured much earlier.

[[Samuel Pepys]] owned a copy of ''Piers Plowman''. Milton cites "Chaucer's Ploughman" in "Of Reformation" (1641) when he is discussing poems that have described Constantine as a major contributor to the corruption of the church. The end of ''Piers Plowman'', Passus 15, makes this point at length—but it is also made briefly in one stanza in ''The Ploughman's Tale'' (ll. 693–700). In "An Apology for a Pamphlet&nbsp;..." Milton refers to ''The Vision and Crede of Pierce Ploughman'', which might mean one or both of these texts. Perhaps it refers to Rogers' 1561 edition which put them together. [[Henry Selden (writer)|Henry Selden]] (1622) appears to have read the poem closely enough to admire it for its criticism of the church as well as its judgment and invention. [[John Weever]] (1631) also names Robert Langland, as does [[David Buchanan (writer)|David Buchanan]] (1652). Buchanan, however, makes Langland a Scot and attributes other works to him aside from ''Piers Plowman''.

[[Thomas Fuller]] (1662) bases his remarks about Langland on Selden and Bale, emphasizing Langland's putative proto-Protestant status. Fuller also notes that ''[[The Praier and Complaynte of the Ploweman unto Christe]]'' was "first set forth by [[William Tyndale|Tindal]], since, exemplified by [[John Foxe|Mr. Fox]]." Since the language of this text is similar to that of ''Piers Plowman'', Fuller attributes it to Langland as well. [[Thomas Dudley]], father of [[Anne Bradstreet|Anne Dudley Bradstreet]] (1612–72), brought a copy of Crowley's ''Piers Plowman'' to America. [[Alexander Pope]] (1688–1744) owned a copy of Rogers' reprint of Crowley's edition of ''Piers Plowman'' with the ''Crede'' appended, and [[Isaac D'Israeli]] (1766–1848) wrote in his ''Amenities of Literature'' that Pope had "very carefully analyzed the whole" of the latter text. D'Israeli also mentions [[Lord Byron]]'s (1788–1824) praise for ''Piers Plowman''.