A radical re-reading of Piers Plowman that sheds light on the history of medieval psychology.

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Note on the text; Introduction: trial by desire; 1. 'Painful lettings': sin, temptation and tribulation; 2. Powers of knowledge and desire; 3. Studying the word; 4. The word heard and written; 5. Seeing and suffering in nature; 6. Clergie and kynde in Piers Plowman; 7. Imaginatyf and the feast of Pacience; 8. A poem shaped by knowing and wanting; Bibliography; Index.