Book contents
- Lady Church in the Christian Imagination
- Lady Church in the Christian Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Christ’s Consort
- 2 Christ’s Coregent
- 3 Wyclif’s Mother
- 4 Wyclif’s Other Mother
- 5 Wyclif’s Lady, Dymmok’s Queen
- 6 Langland’s Dame
- 7 The Lanterne of Liȝt’s Virgin
- 8 Foxe’s Hera
- 9 Her Mother’s Daughter
- 10 Donne’s Whore
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Langland’s Dame
Holy Church as Romance Heroine
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 February 2026
Book contents
- Lady Church in the Christian Imagination
- Lady Church in the Christian Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Christ’s Consort
- 2 Christ’s Coregent
- 3 Wyclif’s Mother
- 4 Wyclif’s Other Mother
- 5 Wyclif’s Lady, Dymmok’s Queen
- 6 Langland’s Dame
- 7 The Lanterne of Liȝt’s Virgin
- 8 Foxe’s Hera
- 9 Her Mother’s Daughter
- 10 Donne’s Whore
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 6 demonstrates how Langland’s use of personification allegory, romance tropes, and alliterative verse develops Lady Church as a theologically robust yet devotionally accessible being in Piers Plowman. The chapter argues that Piers Plowman presents Lady Church as a preexistent being who assumes a series of incarnate forms and depicts religious maturation and ecclesiastical reform as a transformed relationship with Lady Church, from dependence on the Church as a maternal figure to a pursuit of her as a promiscuous yet demanding romance heroine.
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- Lady Church in the Christian ImaginationFrom Early Christianity to Early Modernity, pp. 166 - 210Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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