The Dialogue on Translation between a Lord and a Clerk, or Dialogus inter dominum et clericum, was written by John Trevisa. Along with the dedicatory Epistle, it forms the introduction to his 1387 translation of the Polychronicon of Ranulf Higden, commissioned by Trevisa's patron, Lord Berkeley. Written in Middle English, it consists of a series of arguments made by the clerk on why books should not be translated from learned languages such as Latin, each one followed by a rebuttal from the lord. The clerk eventually agrees, and the exchange concludes with a prayer for guidance in the translation. Influences This work was most probably influenced by a dialogue that Trevisa had translated while studying at Oxford, The Dialogue between the Knight and the Clerk, a conversation between Sir Thomas and his chaplain. It is commonly attributed to William of Ockham and was written in support of the French monarch. Representation The dialogue is not a historical record; rather, it uses dramatization as literary criticism in the form of commentary on the translation process. As the preface for the Polychronicon, it is a defense of the translation of a seminal text on world history. There are a few readings of the figures of the dialogue. One interpretation, based on the victor of the dialogue and its context in prefacing a Latin translation, is that Trevisa speaks through the lord figure. Another is that Trevisa is the clerk and Lord Berkeley is the lord. Yet a third reaction is that the one-sided nature of the dialogue renders it unable to represent a conversation between two people. Arguments In the Dialogue, the lord commissions a prose translation of Higden's Polychronicon, which the clerk initially refuses and eventually accepts. Trevisa uses the dialogue in order to criticize the "grete mischief" of knowledge remaining inaccessible due to language. The lord The lord, or Dominus, begins the dialogue with a speech on language and the utility of Latin as a lingua franca. He then requests that the clerk translate Higden's Polychronicon from Latin into English. The arguments of the lord are characterized by Watson as based in "capacious intellect and improbably egalitarian ethics." The lord notes that not everyone has the ability to learn Latin. When the clerk acquiesces and asks the lord to choose between a poetry or prose translation, the lord selects prose, which he argues will benefit the vernacular audience of the