Lollardy

Folie 1

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• Bildunterschrift: Did they impact the Reformation?

Wycliffe

• Lollardy was founded by Wycliffe, a philosopher and theologian who criticised the Catholic Church.
• Lollardy emerged in England in the second half of the 14th Century, and was widespread up to the beginning of the 15th century.
• It was considered heresy,
• It was a small minority of mainly peasants who were critical of the church and enraged by its corruption.
• It persisted in parts of Southern England, such as Buckinghamshire and other areas of the South East.
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• Bildunterschrift: He is known as the ‘morning star of the reformation’

Records

• Wycliffe elaborated that:
• The King was as much God's vicar as the Pope.
• This would correspond to Henry VIII's views in the future.
• The only record of beliefs is The Twelve Conclusions of Lollardy.
• In Fox's Book of Martyrs, it is evident that the Lollards survived into the 1530s
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Where else was Lollardy found?

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• Buckinghamshire, as previously mentioned, was one of the areas of the South East where Lollardy was found.
• 'Spread from universities and London’ - Derek Wilson
• It was passed down through families and spread by intermarriage
• It was not only the peasantry that took to it - it was among yeoman farmers, small tradesmen and craftsmen also, all of whom may have felt bitterly against the corruption and privilege of the bishopric.

Views of the Lollards

• Some examples of Lollard beliefs are:
• - Condemnation of pilgrimage and offerings to images
• - equation of the Pope as an antichrist
• - Placed stress on the understanding of the Bible and believed everyone should have access to a Bible in their own language.
• - considered Catholic Church corrupt
• - sceptical about the Eucharist and transubstantiation
• - denied idea of the special status of priesthood
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Issues they found with the Church

• 1) Pluralism (having more than one parish) and absenteeism (not being present in a diocese)
• 2) Simony (such as when HVII raised £200 for the Archbishopric of Buckinghamshire)
• 3) Clerical misconduct, such as in the case of Richard Hunne 1514, of who it was believed was tortured to death
• 4) Wolsey was a representative of the corruption of the Church
• 5 ) Fundamental flaws with Catholic teachings, such as transubstantiation
• Wilson --> 'as some of their critics confessed, many of these heretics [Lollards] knew the Bible better than their parish clergy did'

Limitations

• Their views were considered heresy and some were punished for this crime.
• Popularity decreased after the failed Lollard uprising of 1414, many years before the reign of Henry VII or Henry VIII
• Became geographically restricted and lost intellectual coherence
• The bulk of its followers were peasants who were of little wealth or power
• Priests retained support of most members of laity.
• Quite seditious and socialist views - would not complement the beliefs of many.
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• Bildunterschrift: The burning of heretics was introduced in 1401 - Lollards placed their lives at risk

Lollards during Henry VIII's reign

• To what extent were they present?
• 310 Lollards were recorded to have been burned in the Diocese of London 1510-1532
• John Hacker, a leading Lollard in London, distributed heretical books from 1520
• From 1521 he was linked with the Buckinghamshire Lollards, and his associates in London had connections with the Colchester Lollards.
• There was a network forming through England
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Influence of the Lollards

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• Bishop Cuthbert of London (of who replaced Wolsey) called Lutheranism the foster-child of Wycliffe heresy
• They had been linked with nobility and the crown in the past, having been protected by John of Gaunt around 1370 - 1380.
• The Lollards set the principle to other movements of criticising the church, and Protestant groups in later years such as the Baptists, Puritans and Quakers show a continuation of Lollard ideas

Historian Quotes

• Elton --> Lollardy had no part in Reformation
• Cross --> Even when Lollardy had its widest appeal, idealists never intended that the Church should be deprived of its surplus wealth for the good of the state.
• Dickens --> 'The ground for humanism was prepared by Lollardism'
• Cross --> In some parts of England there reappeared a surprisingly vigorous strain of Lollardy