View source for Lollardy

{{Short description|Radical Christian reform movement}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:WycliffeYeamesLollards 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|In this 19th-century illustration, [[John Wycliffe]] is shown giving the Bible translation that bore his name to his [[Lollards|Lollard]] followers.]]

'''Lollardy'''{{efn| Also known as '''Lollardism''', or the '''Lollard movement'''.}} was a [[proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestant]] [[Christianity|Christian]] religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century [[English Reformation]]. It was initially led by [[John Wycliffe]],<ref>{{Citation | first = Chris | last = Roberts | title = Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme | publisher = Thorndike Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-7862-8517-6}}.</ref> a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] theologian who was later dismissed from the [[University of Oxford]] in 1381 for [[heresy]]. The Lollards' demands were primarily for reform of [[Western Christianity]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Christian Reformists: What Did the Lollards Believe? |url=https://www.historyhit.com/early-christian-reformists-what-did-the-lollards-believe/ |access-date=2026-01-03 |website=History Hit |language=en-GB}}</ref> They formulated their beliefs in the [[Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=William |title=The Lollards: Beliefs, Key Events, and the Demise of the Movement – High Speed History |url=https://highspeedhistory.com/2024/08/06/the-lollards-beliefs-key-events-and-the-demise-of-the-movement/ |access-date=2026-01-03 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{multiple issues|section = yes|
{{refimprove section|date=January 2025}}
{{Overly detailed|section|date=January 2025}}
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[[File:Lollards QE4 126.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Lollards' prison in [[Lambeth Palace]], overlooking the [[River Thames]] in London]]

''Lollard'', ''Lollardi'', or ''Loller'' was the popular derogatory nickname given to those without an academic background, educated (if at all) mainly in [[English language|English]], who were reputed to follow the teachings of [[John Wycliffe]] in particular. By the mid-15th century, "lollard" had come to mean a [[heresy|heretic]] in general. The alternative term "Wycliffite" is generally accepted to be a more neutral term covering those of similar opinions, but having an academic background.

The term is said to have been coined by the [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]] cleric [[Henry Crumpe]], but its origin is uncertain. The earliest official use of the name in England occurs in 1387 in a mandate of the [[Bishop of Worcester]] against five "poor preachers", ''nomine seu ritu Lollardorum confoederatos''.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Lollards}}</ref> According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', it most likely derives from [[Middle Dutch]] ''{{lang|dum|lollaerd}}'' ("mumbler, mutterer"), from a verb ''lollen'' ("to mutter, mumble"). The word is much older than its English use; there were Lollards in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 14th&nbsp;century who were akin to the [[Fraticelli]], [[Beguines and Beghards|Beghards]], and other sectaries similar to the recusant [[Franciscans]].<ref name=EB1911/>

Originally the Dutch word was a colloquial name for a group of buriers of the dead during the [[Black Death]], in the 14th&nbsp;century, known as [[Alexians]], Alexian Brothers or Cellites. These were known colloquially as ''{{lang|dum|lollebroeders}}'' (Middle Dutch for "mumbling brothers"), or ''{{lang|goh|Lollhorden}}'', from {{langx|goh|lollon}} ("to sing softly"), from their chants for the dead.<ref>cf. English ''[[:wikt:lullaby|lullaby]]'', and the modern Dutch and German ''lallen'' "to babble, to talk drunkenly": {{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.dwds.de/?qu=lallen |dictionary=Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache |title=lallen|date=November 2022 }}</ref> [[Middle English]] ''{{lang|enm|loller}}'' (akin to the verb ''[[wikt:loll|loll]]'', ''[[:wikt:lull|lull]]'', the English cognate of Dutch ''lollen'' "to mutter, mumble") is recorded as an alternative spelling of ''Lollard'', while its generic meaning "a lazy vagabond, an idler, a fraudulent beggar" is not recorded before 1582.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trench |first=Richard Chenevix |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351342872 |title=On the Study of Words |date=2018-05-08 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-12382-0 |editor-last=Palmer |editor-first=A. Smythe |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781315123820}}</ref>

Two other possibilities for the derivation of ''Lollard'' are mentioned by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'':<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Lollard |dictionary=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
* [[Latin]] ''{{lang|la|lolium}}'', a weedy [[Vicia sativa|vetch]] (tares), supposedly a reference to the biblical [[Parable of the Tares]] (Matthew 13:24–30);
* the surname "Lolhard" of an eminent Franciscan preacher in [[Guyenne]], who converted to the [[Waldensians|Waldensian]] way. The region of Guyenne was at that time under English dominion, and his preaching influenced pious lay English. He was burned at [[Cologne]] in the 1370s. Earlier, another Waldensian teacher, also named "Lolhard", was tried for heresy in [[Austria]] in 1315.<ref>{{cite book |first=T.J. |last=van&nbsp;Bright |title=The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians |orig-year=1660 |edition=Third English |year=1886 |translator=Joseph F. Sohm |publisher=Herald Press |place=Scottsdale, Pennsylvania}}</ref>

==Beliefs==
[[File:lollardmap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A map of Lollardy's influence. Areas of Lollardy's influence before the death of [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] are in green. Areas where Lollardy spread in the 15th century are in red.]]

According to scholar [[Margaret Aston]], as Wycliffe's academic theology percolated to the masses, it changed measurably, some parts strengthening and others weakening.<ref name="aston"/>  Historian John Thomson is paraphrased{{why?|date=July 2025}} "Rather than a specific creed of well thought out theological doctrine, Lollard beliefs are more aptly described as a set of consistent attitudes."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Freeman |first1=Cameron |title=Who were the post-Wycliffe Lollards, what did they practice and what became of their movement? |url=https://cameronfreeman.com/socio-cultural-anthropology/anthropology-religion-christian-tradition/post-wycliffe-lollards-practice-movement/}}</ref>

=== Eucharist ===
With regard to the [[Eucharist]], Lollards such as [[John Wycliffe]], [[The Testimony of William Thorpe|William Thorpe]] and [[John Oldcastle]] taught a view of the mystical (and yet) real presence of Christ in Holy Communion known as "[[consubstantiation]]"; but they did not accept the formulation of the idea of [[transubstantiation]], which the Roman Catholic Church required the faithful not to deny.<ref name="Walker2013">{{cite book|last=Walker|first=Greg|title=Reading Literature Historically: Drama and Poetry from Chaucer to the Reformation|date=6 February 2013|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|language=en |isbn=9780748681037|page=152}}</ref><ref name="IIHornbeck2010">{{cite book|last=Hornbeck|first=J. Patrick |title=What is a lollard?: dissent and belief in late medieval England|date=10 September 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|isbn=9780199589043|page=72}}</ref> Wycliff, at least, held that transubstantiation was impossible as it required the destruction of matter (the bread), rather than its mere imbuing with an additional being (the body of Christ). Wycliffite teachings on the Eucharist were declared heresy at the [[Earthquake Synod|Blackfriars Council]] of 1382, and later by the Pope and the [[Council of Constance]].

"[[The Plowman's Tale]]", a medieval Lollard poem, argues that theological debate about Latin doctrine is less important than the [[Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist|Real Presence]]:<ref name=barr>{{Cite book| publisher = Boydell & Brewer| isbn = 978-0-85991-419-2| last = Barr| first = Helen| title = Signes and Sothe: Language in the Piers Plowman Tradition| date = 1994}}</ref>

{{poemquote|
I say sothe thorowe trewe rede
His flesh and blode, through his mastry
Is there/ in the forme of brede
Howe it is there/ it nedeth not stryve
Whether it be subgette or accydent
But as Christ was/ when he was on-lyve
So is he there verament.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last= McCarl |editor-first= Mary Rhinelander |date= 1997 |title= The Plowman's Tale: The c. 1532 and 1606 Editions of a Spurious Canterbury Tale |location= New York |publisher= Garland |pages= 21–40|quote= On the dating of "The Plowman's Tale", see Andrew N. Warn, "The Genesis of The Plowman's Tale, Yearbook of English Studies 2" 1972}}</ref>

[In modern English:]
I say the truth through true understanding: 
His flesh and blood, through his subtle works, 
Is there in the form of bread. 
In what manner it is present need not be debated, 
Whether as subject or [[Accident (philosophy)|accident]], 
But as Christ was when he was alive, 
So He is truly there.<ref>{{cite book|last= Hardwick |first=Paul |date= 2011|title= English Medieval Misericords: The Margins of Meaning |location= Woodbridge, UK |publisher= The Boydell Press |isbn= 9781843836599|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UjODkjR1aKgC&q=Wycliffe+I+say+sothe+thorowe+trewe+rede&pg=PA59 |page=60}}</ref>
}}

[[William Sawtry]], a priest, was reportedly burned in 1401 for his preaching that "bread remains in the same nature as before" after [[consecration]] by a priest. A suspect in 1517 summed up the Lollards' position: "Summe folys cummyn to churche thynckyng to see the good Lorde — what shulde they see there but bredde and wyne?"{{sfn|Hudson|1988|p=285}}<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Saint David's Univ. College| isbn = 978-0-905285-31-3| last = Crossley-Holland| first = Nicole| title = Eternal Values in Mediaeval Life| date = 1 January 1991}}</ref>

In the mid 15th century a priest associated with the lollards named [[Richard of Wyche|Richard Wyche]] was accused of teaching false doctrine that had corrupted the faith of Northumbrians. There remains a letter detailing his version of the inquisitional proceedings, where a succession of theologians and others attempted to convince him of the Catholic position on transubstantiation, or at least to find some compromise wording by which he would not deny it.<ref name=wyche>{{cite journal |last1=Wyche |first1=Richard |last2=Bradley |first2=Christopher G. |title=The Letter of Richard Wyche : An Interrogation Narrative |journal=Publications of the Modern Language Association of America |date=May 2012 |volume=127 |issue=3 |pages=626–642 |doi=10.1632/pmla.2012.127.3.626}}</ref> When asked about transubstantiation during his questioning, he repeated only his belief in the Real Presence.{{sfn|Hudson|1988|p=284}} When asked if the host was still bread even after consecration, he answered only: "I believe that the host is the real body of Christ in the form of bread". Throughout his questioning he insisted that he was "not bound to believe otherwise than Holy Scripture says" and used various arguments against the inquisitors' claims that the use of the qualifier 'in the form of bread'. Following the questioning, he claimed he had been allowed to swear an oath qualified in his heart;<ref name=wyche/> later his inquisitors denied this. His denial of having taken the unqualified oath was taken as a re-canting by the bishop, preventing his attempted appeal to the Pope.  He was excommunicated, defrocked, and imprisoned, and he would later be executed by the state (although for a separate stubborness).{{sfn|Hudson|1988|p=284}}<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Wipf and Stock Publishers| isbn = 978-1-59752-973-0| last = Stone| first = Darwell| title = A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist| date = 1 October 2007}}</ref>

Lollard teachings on the Eucharist are attested to in numerous primary source documents. It is the fourth of the ''[[The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards|Twelve Conclusions]]'' and the first of the ''[[Sixteen Points on which the Bishops accuse Lollards]]''. It is discussed in ''[[The Testimony of William Thorpe]]'', the ''[[Apology for Lollard Doctrines]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wycliffe |first1=John |last2=Camden Society (Great Britain) |last3=Todd |first3=James Henthorn |date=1842 |title=An Apology for Lollard Doctrines |url=https://archive.org/details/anapologyforloll00wycluoft |location=London |publisher=Printed for the Camden Society, by J. B. Nichols |access-date=6 July 2018}}</ref> ''[[Jack Upland]]'', and ''[[Opus Arduum]]''.{{sfn|Hudson|1988|pp=285–286}}

=== Denial of sacraments and sacramentals ===
{{dubious|date=October 2024}}

Believing in a [[universal priesthood]], the Lollards challenged the Church's authority to invest or to deny the divine authority to make a man a priest. Lollards also did not view oral confession to a priest (auricular confession) as strictly necessary for the remission of sins. However, they strongly maintained that contrition of the heart and confession to God were essential for salvation.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last=Steenbrugge |first=C. |title=Preaching Penance on the Stage: The Case of John the Baptist |date=2016 |editor-last=Happe |editor-first=P. |url=http://www.brill.com/products/book/staging-scripture |access-date=2026-04-29 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-31394-1 |editor2-last=Husken |editor2-first=W.}}</ref> While they believed it is beneficial to confess to a good priest, it is perilous to confess to a bad one.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Purvey |first1=John |title=Remonstrance against Romish corruptions in the Church : addressed to the people and parliament of England in 1395, 18 Ric. II., now for the first time published |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924088956754/page/n47/mode/2up |publisher=London : Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans |date=1851}}</ref>{{rp|Art.9}} Lollards challenged the practice of [[clerical celibacy]] and believed priests should not hold [[Lords Spiritual|government positions]] as such temporal matters would likely interfere with their spiritual mission.

Lollard views on baptism were diverse, and while some radicals were accused of denying the need for infant baptism, the movement generally focused on the distinction between the "baptism of water" and the "baptism of the Spirit."<ref name=":1" /> [[John Wycliffe]]’s own theology, which underpins Lollardy, was rooted in a revival of [[Augustinianism]]. This tradition emphasizes the necessity of grace and the "baptism of the Spirit" for salvation, even if it downplays the absolute necessity of the physical ritual if a priest is unavailable or corrupt.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donnelly |first=Colin |date=2023-05-04 |title=“Wherfore Amend Your Lyves Yff Yowe Wyll be Savyd”: The Soteriology of Thomas Bilney |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/action/cookieAbsent |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=www.tandfonline.com |doi=10.1080/13574175.2023.2187934}}</ref> Lollard rejection of "baptism of water" was often a critique of the ceremony's necessity rather than the sacrament'''s'' underlying spiritual reality.<ref name=":1" />

Lollards also considered praying to saints and [[Iconoclasm|honouring of their images]] to be a form of idolatry. Oaths, fasting and prayers for the dead were thought to have no [[Wycliffe's Bible|scriptural basis]]. They had a poor opinion of the trappings of the Catholic Church, including holy water, bells, organs, and church buildings. They rejected the value of [[Indulgence#Early and medieval beliefs|papal pardons]].<ref name=OER/>

=== The Twelve Conclusions ===
One group of Lollards petitioned Parliament with the [[Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards]] by posting them on the doors of Westminster Hall in February 1395. While by no means a central statement of belief of the Lollards, the Twelve Conclusions reveal certain basic Lollard ideas.

* The first Conclusion rejects the acquisition of temporal wealth by Church leaders, as accumulating wealth leads them away from religious concerns and towards greed.
*The fourth Conclusion deals with the Lollard view that the [[Sacrament]] of the Eucharist is a debatable doctrine that is not clearly defined in the Bible. Whether the bread remains bread or becomes the literal body of Christ is not specified uniformly in the gospels.{{Sfn | Hudson | 1988 | p = 306}}
* The sixth Conclusion states that officials of the Church should not concern themselves with secular matters when they hold a position of power within the Church, since this constitutes a conflict of interest between matters of the spirit and matters of the State.
* The eighth Conclusion points out the ludicrousness, in the minds of Lollards, of the reverence that is directed toward images of Christ's suffering. "If the cross of Christ, the nails, spear, and crown of thorns are to be honoured, then why not honour Judas's lips, if only they could be found?"{{Sfn | Hudson | 1988 | p = 306}}
* The eleventh Conclusion was that female religious vows were unsafe, given that unmarried females could not contain their lust and would fall pregnant and commit abortion.
* Expensive church artwork was seen as an excess. They believed effort should be placed on helping the needy and preaching rather than working on expensive decorations. [[Icon]]s were also seen as dangerous since many seemed to be worshipping the icons more fervently than they worshipped God.

Later, an expanded version the "Thirty Seven Conclusions" or "Remonstrances" was submitted in the late 1390s; the author is not known.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Purvey |first1=John |title=Remonstrance against Romish corruptions in the Church : addressed to the people and parliament of England in 1395, 18 Ric. II., now for the first time published |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924088956754/page/n13/mode/2up |publisher=London : Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans |date=1851}}</ref>

===Vernacular scripture===
Lollardy was a religion of [[Bible translations in the Middle Ages|vernacular scripture]].<ref name=OER>{{Cite encyclopedia| isbn = 978-0-19-506493-3| last = Aston| first = Margaret| title = Lollardy - Oxford Reference| chapter = Lollardy| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Reformation| access-date = 31 May 2017| date = 1996| chapter-url = http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195064933.001.0001/acref-9780195064933-e-0830}}{{subscription required|via=[[OUP]]}}</ref> Lollards opposed many practices of the Catholic church. [[Anne Hudson (literary historian)|Anne Hudson]] has written that a form of ''[[sola scriptura]]'' underpinned Wycliffe's beliefs, but distinguished it from the more radical ideology that anything not permitted by scripture is forbidden. Instead, Hudson notes that Wycliffe's ''sola scriptura'' held the [[Bible]] to be "the only valid source of doctrine and the only pertinent measure of legitimacy."{{sfn|Hudson|1988|p=280}}

Later Lollards believed that people deserved access to a copy of their own Bible. Many attempted to distribute English copies. Due to the lack of a printing press and low literacy levels, it was difficult to accomplish this goal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Bucholz |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fvm4DwAAQBAJ |title=Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History |last2=Key |first2=Newton |date=2019-10-23 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-53221-8 |language=en}}</ref>

However, a notable feature of some Lollard inquisitions was the common claim of illiteracy, or vision impairment, as a defence against the suspicion of Lollardy raised by possession of suspect vernacular texts.<ref name=aston />{{rp|495}}

Despite popular beliefs to the contrary: 

{{quote|There is no doubt that the Lollards (as Wycliffe's followers were called) were persecuted, but it does not appear that the possession, use, or manufacture of an English version of the Bible was one of the charges specially urged against them. The subject is not raised in the extant list of articles upon which the suspected were to be questioned.|Fredrick Kenyon, ''Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts'', 1903<ref>{{cite book |last=Kenyon |first=Frederic G. (Frederic George) |date=1903 |title=Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts [Microform]; Being a History of the Text and Its Translations |url=https://archive.org/details/MN41613ucmf_0/page/n277/mode/2up |location=London, New York [etc.] |publisher=Eyre and Spottiswoode}}</ref>{{rp|206}} }}

=== Catholic practices ===
Lollards did not observe [[fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church]]. In [[heresy]] proceedings against [[Margery Baxter]] it was presented as evidence that a servant girl found [[bacon]] in a pot of [[oatmeal]] on the first Saturday of [[Lent]]. Non-observance of dietary restrictions was used as evidence of heresy in another [[Norfolk]] case against Thomas Mone, where it was alleged that a piglet was eaten for [[Easter]] dinner when eating meat was forbidden.<ref>{{cite book |last=Woolgar |first=C. M. |publisher=Yale University Press |title=The Culture of Food in England, 1200–1500 |date=2016 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeKoCwAAQBAJ |page=29|isbn=9780300181913 }}</ref>

Special vows were considered to be in conflict with the divine order established by Christ and were regarded as [[Anathema#Catholicism|anathema]].<ref>{{Cite journal| last = Gasse| first = Roseanne| title = Margery Kempe and Lollardy| journal = Magistra| access-date = 30 May 2017| date = 1 January 1996| url = https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-894819351.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170830102446/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-894819351.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 30 August 2017}}</ref>

Lollards had a tendency toward [[iconoclasm]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Some Lollards believed work was permissible on Sundays.<ref name=aston />

=== Foxe ===
Sixteenth-century [[martyrologist]] [[John Foxe]] reduced the main beliefs of Lollardy to four (none of which correspond exactly to the [[five solae]] alleged of Protestantism), marginalizing the Wycliffite doctrine of ''[[Dominion (political theory)|dominium]]'', claiming they were:

* opposition to pilgrimages
* opposition to saint worship
* denial of the doctrine of [[transubstantiation]] (e.g. in favour of [[consubstantiation]])
* a demand for [[Bible translations into English|English translation of the Scriptures]]<ref name=walker>{{Cite journal| last = Walker| first = Greg| title = Heretical Sects in Pre-Reformation England| journal = History Today| access-date = 30 May 2017| date = 1 May 1993| url = https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-13822945.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170830104151/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-13822945.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 30 August 2017}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Wycliffe John Gospel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A late 14th-century beginning of the [[Gospel of John]], starting with a large letter "I" in blue, from a pocket Wycliffe translation. It may have been used by a roving Lollard preacher]]

Although Lollardy was denounced as a [[Heresy in Christianity|heresy]] by the Catholic Church, initially Wycliffe and the Lollards were sheltered by politically-influential nobleman [[John of Gaunt]] and other anti-clerical nobility, who may have wanted to use Lollard-advocated clerical reform to acquire new sources of revenue from England's monasteries. The [[University of Oxford]] also protected Wycliffe and similar academics on the grounds of academic freedom and, initially, allowed such persons to retain their positions despite their controversial views.

Two primary religious opponents of the Wycliffites were [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] [[William Courtenay (bishop)|William Courtenay]] and his successor [[Thomas Arundel]], assisted by bishops like [[Henry le Despenser]] of [[Bishop of Norwich|Norwich]], whom the chronicler [[Thomas Walsingham]] praised for his zeal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Walsingham |title=Historia Anglicana |volume=2 |page=189}}.</ref>

Historian T. Waugh suggests the Lollard movement was small with little appeal to the upper classes, who liked the anti-clerical politics but not the religious doctrines. "Notices of Lollardy after the death of Wycliffe are scattered and meagre. Sixteenth century Protestantism invested the Lollards with a posthumous renown, but there can be little doubt that, when their first energy had spent itself, they speedily became an obscure sect, destitute of living leaders, and vaguely re-echoing the teaching of a deceased founder whom they only half understood."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Waugh |first1=W. T. |title=The Lollard Knights |journal=The Scottish Historical Review |date=1913 |volume=11 |issue=41 |pages=55–92 |jstor=25518640 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25518640 |issn=0036-9241}}</ref>

=== Oxford Lollards===
The initial Lollards were a small group of scholars,  particularly at [[Merton College]], Oxford University, some with important positions, who came under the influence of Wycliffe in the 1360s and 1370s. After Wycliffe's natural death, all of them eventually submitted to Archbishop of Canterbury [[William Courtenay (bishop)|William Courtenay]] to renounce Wycliffe's contentious doctrines, and none suffered long-term consequences.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larsen |first1=Andrew E. |title=The School of Heretics: Academic Condemnation at the University of Oxford, 1277-1409 |date=9 September 2011 |doi=10.1163/9789004206625_010}}</ref>{{rp|ch9}} These notably included [[Nicholas Hereford]], who is usually named as the translator of most of the Old Testament of the Wycliffean [[Wycliffe's Bible|Middle English Bible]].

=== Peasants' Revolt===
{{Main|Peasants' Revolt}}

Lollards first faced serious persecution after the [[Peasants' Revolt]] in 1381. While Wycliffe and other Lollards opposed the revolt, one of the peasants' leaders, [[John Ball (priest)|John Ball]], preached Lollardy. Prior to 1382, Wycliffite beliefs were tolerated in government as they endorsed in [[Acts of Supremacy|royal superiority]] to bishops.{{clarify|date=September 2023}} However, the government and royals were hesitant, as they did not want to encourage subjects to criticize religious powers.<ref name=":0" />

After 1382, royalty and nobility found Lollardy to be a threat not only to the Church, but to English society in general. The Lollards' small measure of protection evaporated. This change in status was also affected by the departure of [[John of Gaunt]] (Duke of Lancaster, patron of [[Chaucer]] and protector of [[John Wycliffe]]) who left England in 1386 to pursue the [[Crown of Castile]].

Paul Strohm has asked: "Was the Lollard a genuine threat or a political pawn, agent of destabilising challenge, or a hapless thread of self-legitimizing Lancastrian discourse?"<ref name=kelly>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199672806.013.2| last = Kelly| first = Stephen| editor2-first = Helen| editor2-last = Wilcox| editor1-first = Andrew| editor1-last = Hiscock| title = The Pre-Reformation Landscape| journal = The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern English Literature and Religion| access-date = 7 July 2018| date = 29 June 2017| isbn = 978-0-19-967280-6| url = http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199672806.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199672806-e-2| url-access = subscription}}</ref>

=== Lollard Knights ===
A group of gentry active during the reign of [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] (1377–99) were known as "Lollard Knights" either during or after their lives due to their acceptance of Wycliffe's claims. [[Henry Knighton]], in his Chronicle, identifies the principal Lollard Knights as Thomas Latimer, John Trussell, Lewis Clifford, Sir John Peche (son of [[John Peche]] of Wormleighton), Richard Storey, and Reginald Hilton. [[Thomas Walsingham]]'s Chronicle adds William Nevil and [[John Clanvowe]] to the list, and other potential members of this circle have been identified by their wills, which contain Lollard-inspired language about how their bodies are to be plainly buried and permitted to return to the soil whence they came.

There is little indication that the Lollard Knights were specifically known as such during their lifetimes. They were men of discretion, and unlike Sir [[John Oldcastle]] years later, rarely gave any hint of open rebellion. However, they displayed a remarkable ability to retain important positions, without falling victim to the prosecutions of Wycliffe's followers during their lifetimes.

=== Legal response ===
[[File:Richard Wyche at the stake, 1440.gif|thumb|upright|Lollard Richard Wyche being burnt at the stake in 1440]]
Religious and secular authorities strongly opposed Lollardy. In eventual response to the revolting Lollards, the law ''[[De heretico comburendo]]'' was enacted in 1401 during the reign of [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]]; traditionally heresy had been defined as an error in theological belief, but this statute equated theological [[heresy]] with [[sedition]] against political rulers.<ref name=kelly/>

By the early 15th century, stern measures were undertaken by Church and state which drove Lollardy underground. One such measure was the 1410 burning at the stake of [[John Badby]], a layman and craftsman who refused to renounce his Lollardy. He was the first layman to suffer [[capital punishment]] in England for the crime of heresy.

===Oldcastle Revolt===
{{Main|Oldcastle Revolt}}

[[File:Oldcastleburning.jpg|thumb|upright|[[John Oldcastle]] being burnt for insurrection and Lollard heresy.]]

[[John Oldcastle]], a close friend of [[Henry V of England]] and the basis for [[Falstaff]] in the [[Shakespearean history]] ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]]'', was brought to trial in 1413 after evidence of his Lollard beliefs was uncovered. Oldcastle escaped from the [[Tower of London]] and organized an insurrection, which included an attempted kidnapping of the king. The rebellion failed, and Oldcastle was executed. [[John Oldcastle#Open rebellion|Oldcastle's revolt]] made Lollardy seem even more threatening to the state, and persecution of Lollards became more severe.

=== 1428 Kentish Insurrection ===
An insurrection was nipped in the bud in 1428, feared to involve several thousand Lollards, intent on "destroying the English church."<ref name=aston>{{cite journal |last1=Aston |first1=Margaret |title=William White's Lollard Followers |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |date=1982 |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=469–497 |jstor=25021412 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25021412 |issn=0008-8080}}</ref>{{rp|769}} It was associated with Lollard missionary William White.

=== Late Lollardy in the 1500s ===
Lollards were effectively absorbed into [[Protestantism]] during the [[English Reformation]], in which Lollardy played a role. Since Lollards had been underground for more than a hundred years, the extent of Lollardy and its ideas at the time of the Reformation is uncertain and a point of debate.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aston |first=Margaret E. |author-link= Margaret Aston |date=1964 |title=Lollardy and the Reformation: Survival or Revival? |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-229X.1964.tb01098.x |journal=History |language=en |volume=49 |issue=166 |pages=149–170 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.1964.tb01098.x |issn=0018-2648|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dickens |first=A. G. |author-link= A. G. Dickens |title=The English Reformation |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0271028682 |edition=2nd |location=Pennsylvania |pages=46–60 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stansfield-Cudworth |first=R. E. |date=2021 |title=From Minority to Maturity: The Evolution of Later Lollardy |url=https://www.shermjournal.org/articles/from-minority-to-maturity%3A-the-evolution-of-later-lollardy |journal=Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry |language=en |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=325–352 |doi=10.33929/sherm.2021.vol3.no2.07 |s2cid=248602354 |issn=2637-7500|doi-access=free }}</ref> Ancestors of [[Blanche Parry]], the closest person to [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] for 56 years, and of [[Blanche Milborne]], who raised Edward VI and Elizabeth I, had Lollard associations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/statutes.html |title=Documents on the changing status of the English Vernacular, 1500–1540 |access-date=11 March 2008 |publisher=RIC |last=Potter |first=R.}}</ref>

Many critics of the Reformation, including [[Thomas More]], equated Protestants with Lollards. Leaders of the [[English Reformation]], including Archbishop [[Thomas Cranmer]], referred to Lollardy as well, and [[Cuthbert Tunstall|Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall of London]] called [[Lutheranism]] the "foster-child" of the Wycliffite heresy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/statutes.html |title=Documents on the changing status of the English Vernacular, 1500–1540 |access-date=11 March 2008 |publisher=RIC |last=Potter |first=R.}}</ref> Scholars debate whether Protestants actually drew influence from Lollardy, or whether they referred to it to create a sense of tradition. Late Lollards had little direct connection to Wycliffe's ideas.<ref>"There is very little evidence that the late Lollards ever saw, read or possessed anything from the corpus of Wycliffite writings, with the exception of the scriptural translations." {{cite journal |last1=McSheffrey |first1=S. |title=Heresy, Orthodoxy and English Vernacular Religion 1480-1525 |journal=Past & Present |date=1 February 2005 |issue=186 |pages=47–80 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gti001}}</ref>

Other [[martyr]]s for the Lollard cause were executed during the next century, including the [[Amersham]] Martyrs in the early 1500s and [[Thomas Harding]] in 1532, one of the last Lollards to be persecuted. A gruesome reminder of this persecution is the 'Lollards Pit' in Thorpe Wood, now [[Thorpe Hamlet]], Norwich, Norfolk, "''where men are customablie burnt''",<ref name="Rackham">{{cite book|last=Rackham |first=Oliver |author-link = Oliver Rackham |year=1976 |title=Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape |publisher=JM Dent & Sons |isbn=0-460-04183-5 |pages=137–38}}.</ref> including [[Thomas Bilney]].

Despite the debate about the extent of Lollard influence there are ample records of the persecution of Lollards from this period. In the [[Diocese of London]], there are records of about 310 Lollards being prosecuted or forced to abjure from 1510 to 1532. In Lincoln diocese, 45 cases against Lollardy were heard in 1506–1507. In 1521, there were 50 abjurations and 5 burnings of Lollards.{{clarify |Lollard or Lutheran?|date=September 2023}} In 1511, [[Archbishop Warham]] presided over the abjuration of 41 Lollards from Kent and the burning of 5.<ref name="Dickens">{{cite book |last=Dickens |first=A.G. |author-link= A. G. Dickens |year=1959 |title=Lollards & Protestants in the Diocese of York, 1509–58 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=9780907628057}}</ref>

In 1529, [[Simon Fish]] wrote an incendiary pamphlet ''Supplication for the Beggars'', including his denial of [[purgatory]] and teachings that priestly [[celibacy]] was an invention of the [[Antichrist]]. He argued that earthly rulers have the right to strip Church properties, and that [[tithe|tithing]] was against the [[Gospel]], Protestant views that echo the Wycliffite/Lollard teaching.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.3366/more.1984.21.2.4| issn = 0047-8105| volume = 21 (Number 82)| issue = 2| pages = 18| last = Marc'hadour| first = Germain| title = Margaret Aston, "William White's Lollard Followers"| journal = Moreana | date = 1 June 1984}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 978-1-134-91333-6| last = Rollison| first = David| title = The Local Origins of Modern Society: Gloucestershire 1500-1800| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkKIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |date = 11 August 2005}}</ref>  He advocated closing of all monasteries, and notably provided economic estimates of the revenues of various monastic and church institutions.

The extent of Lollardy in the general populace at this time is unknown. The prevalence of Protestant [[iconoclasm]] in England suggests Lollard ideas may still have had some popular influence if [[Huldrych Zwingli]] was not the source, as Lutheranism did not advocate iconoclasm. Lollards were persecuted again between 1554 and 1559 during the [[Revival of the Heresy Acts]] under the Catholic [[Mary I of England|Mary I]], which specifically suppressed heresy and Lollardy.

The similarity between Lollards and later English Protestant groups, such as the [[Baptists]], [[Puritans]], and [[Quakers]], also suggests some continuation of Lollard ideas through the Reformation.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The World of Rural Dissenters, 1520–1725 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0521410618 |editor-last=Spufford |editor-first=Margaret |editor-link= Margaret Spufford |location=Cambridge |language=en}}</ref>

==Representations in art and literature==
[[File:Fox_preaching_to_the_gullible_fowl.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Misericord with a carved scene showing a fox preaching from a pulpit to a cockerel and a goose.|upright=1.2|Fox preaching to the gullible fowl, a [[misericord]] (1491–1494), in the [[Choir (architecture)|quire]] at Ripon Cathedral.]]

The Roman Catholic Church used art as an anti-Lollard weapon. Lollards were represented on [[misericord]]s as [[fox]]es dressed as monks or priests preaching to a flock of [[goose|geese]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Benton|first=Janetta|title=Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings|url=https://archive.org/details/holyterrorsgargo00bent|url-access=registration|date=January 1997|publisher=Abbeville Press|isbn=978-0-7892-0182-9}}, p. 83</ref> These representations alluded to the story of the preaching fox found in popular medieval literature such as ''The History of [[Reynard]] the Fox'' and ''The Shifts of Raynardine''. The fox lured the geese closer and closer with its eloquent words, until it was able to snatch a victim to devour. The moral of the story is that foolish people are seduced by false teachers.

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Religion|History|England}}
* ''[[Ecclesiae Regimen]]''
* [[Euchites]]
* [[Hussites]]
* [[Lollard Disendowment Bill]]
* [[Margery Baxter]]
* [[Nicholas Love (monk)|Nicholas Love]]
* ''[[Piers Plowman]]''
* [[Piers Plowman tradition]]
* [[Thomas Netter]]
* [[Waldensians]]
* [[William Langland]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* Aston, M. E. (1960). "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/649784 Lollardy and Sedition 1381-1431]". ''Past & Present'' (17): 1–44.
* {{Cite journal |last=Arnold |first=John H. |author-link=John H. Arnold (historian) |title=Voicing Dissent: Heresy Trials in Later Medieval England |journal=Past and Present |date=2019 |ref=3–37 |issue=245 |url=https://academic.oup.com/past/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/pastj/gtz025/5540343?redirectedFrom=fulltext |doi=10.1093/pastj/gtz025 |pages=3–37 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last=Aston |first=Margaret E. |author-link=Margaret Aston |title=Lollards and Reformers: Images and Literacy in Late Medieval Religion |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Hambledon Press]] |place=London |year=1984 |isbn=978-0907628187 }}
* {{Cite book |editor1-last=Aston |editor1-first=Margaret E. |editor1-link=Margaret Aston |editor2-last=Richmond |editor2-first=Colin F. |editor2-link=Colin Richmond |date=1997 |title=Lollardy and the Gentry in the Late Middle Ages |place=Stroud |publisher=Sutton |isbn=978-0312173883 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Dickens |first=A. G. |author-link=A. G. Dickens |title=The English Reformation |place=Pennsylvania |publisher=[[Penn State University Press|Pennsylvania State University Press]] |year=1989 |edition=2nd  |isbn=978-0271028682 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Duffy |first=Eamon |author-link=Eamon Duffy |title=The Stripping of the Altars |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1992 |place=[[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] |title-link=The Stripping of the Altars  |isbn=978-0300108286 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Forrest |first=Ian |title=The Detection of Heresy in Late Medieval England |place=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2005  |isbn=978-0199286928 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Hudson |first=Anne M. |author-link=Anne Hudson (literary historian) |title=The Premature Reformation: Wycliffite Texts and Lollard History |place=Oxford |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |year=1988 |chapter=The Ideology of Reformation |isbn=978-0198227625 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Lowe |first=Ben |title=Teaching in the 'Schole of Christ': Law, Learning, and Love in Early Lollard Pacifism |journal=Catholic Historical Review |volume=90 |issue=3 |year=2004 |pages=405–38 |doi=10.1353/cat.2004.0142|s2cid=153795536 }}.
* {{Cite book  |last=Lutton|first=Robert |title=Lollardy and Orthodox Religion in Pre-Reformation England |place=Woodbridge |publisher=[[Boydell and Brewer]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1843836490 }}
* {{Cite book |last=McFarlane |first=K. B. |author-link=K. B. McFarlane |title=John Wycliffe and the Beginnings of English Nonconformity |place=London |publisher=English Universities Press |year=1952 |isbn=978-0340166482 }}
* {{Cite book |editor1-last=McSheffrey |editor1-first=Shannon |editor1-link=Shannon McSheffrey |editor2-last=Tanner |editor2-first=Norman P. |date=2003 |title=Lollards of Coventry, 1486–1522 |series=Royal Historical Society, Camden, Fifth Series, 23 |place=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521830836 |oclc=799426323 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=McSheffrey |first=Shannon |author-link=Shannon McSheffrey |title=Heresy, Orthodoxy and English Vernacular Religion 1480–1525 |url=http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/6400/ |journal=Past and Present |date=2005 |issue=186 |ref=47–80 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gti001 |jstor=3600851 |pages=47–80 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Rex |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Rex |title=The Lollards: Social History in Perspective |place=New York |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0333597521 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Robson |first=John Adam |date=1961 |title=Wyclif and the Oxford Schools: The Relation of the "Summa de Ente" to Scholastic Debates at Oxford in the Later Fourteenth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/wyclifoxfordscho00robs |place=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0521089326 }}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Spufford |editor-first=Margaret |editor-link=Margaret Spufford |date=1995 |title=The World of Rural Dissenters, 1520–1725 |url= |place=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0521410618 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Thomson |first=John A. F. |date=1965 |title=The Later Lollards, 1414–1520 |url= |place=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0198213765}}

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Lollards}}
* [http://www.lollardsociety.org The Lollard Society]—society dedicated to providing a forum for the study of the Lollards
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011vh4k "John Wyclif and the Lollards"] (45 mins.; discussion); episode of ''[[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]]'', [[BBC Radio 4]]

{{Proto-Protestantism}}
{{Heresies condemned by the Catholic Church}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lollardy| ]]
[[Category:16th-century Protestantism]]