Langland and the Priest’s Title.

C.13.100-13 (Pearsall), corresponding to B.11.287-302, shows Langland complaining not that the ordained misuse the name of priest, but that many are insufficiently “entitled” to become priests in the specific sense that at ordination they lack a “title,” i.e. possession of a means of livelihood that will enable the individual to live as befits his order. Whoever provided title had the responsibility of ensuring its sufficiency, just as it was the responsibility of a king to make sure that those dubbed knights had sufficient means to maintain such status.