Thus "the great unknown" from the Oberland is the ideal character, "who illustrates how God does his work for the world and for the church through a divinely trained and spiritually illuminated layman," just as William Langland in England about the same time drew the figure of Piers Plowman.
The earl's memory remained green for a long time, and in the Vision of Piers Plowman his name is linked with that of Robin Hood.
The oldest mention of Robin Hood at present known occurs in the second edition - what is called the B text - of Piers the Plowman, the date of which is about 1377.
These " pilgrim signs " are frequently alluded to in literature - notably in the Canterbury Tales and in Piers Plowman.
But there are references which suggest its previous award in Piers Plowman and Chaucer.
