Protestant Elements in the Piers Plowman Texts of Robert Crowley and Takamiya MS 23.

The article examines New Haven, Beinecke Library, MS Takamiya 23, a sixteenth-century manuscript copy of *Piers Plowman*, comparing it with Robert Crowley’s 1550 printed editions to assess textual fidelity, doctrinal alterations, and linguistic modernization. While Crowley’s editions exhibit a few deliberate Protestant-motivated suppressions of Catholic references, the Takamiya manuscript largely preserves these readings, instead focusing on linguistic modernization and occasional interpretative clarifications aligned with sixteenth-century English Bibles. The scribe’s interventions are sporadic and less polemical than Crowley’s extensive marginal annotations, showing limited engagement with prophetic passages and reflecting a more private, readerly approach to the poem. The manuscript thus provides valuable insight into sixteenth-century reception of *Piers Plowman*, highlighting the complexities of textual transmission, religious reform influences, and evolving English usage beyond strictly Protestant or prophetic frameworks.