“The gospel alone is sufficient to rule the lives of Christians everywhere. Any additional rules made to govern men’s conduct added nothing to the perfection already found on the gospel of Jesus Christ.” John Wyclif.
Lollardy was a religious movement calling for reform of the Church from the mid-14th century until the English Reformation. John Wyclif, an Oxford scholar, is widely regarded as the father of Lollardy. He argued that authority did not lie with the physical church on earth but in the scriptures. As a result there was no need for a visible church and its hierarchy, nor its wealth. Wyclif also argued against the need for religious orders, the cult of images, devotion to saints, transubstantiation, confession and pilgrimage, all central pillars of traditional religion in Western Europe. Crucially, the Lollards also wanted the Bible to be available in English so that people could read it for themselves.
During the 1370s Wyclif used the lecture halls at Oxford, the pulpits of London and, when possible, the king’s court, to promote his ideas. Some of Wycliff’s notable patrons included Princess Joan (mother to Richard II) and John of Gaunt (Richard II’s uncle). Prominent among the early supporters of Wyclif at Richard’s court were also a group of knights known as the ‘Lollard Knights’. The chroniclers Henry Knighton and Thomas Walsingham both provide a list of these knights who were high-ranking, influential members of the young king’s court.[1] It is worth noting that Wyclif was an academic, writing in Latin using complex and theoretical prose, which makes his influence outside of academic and courtly circles questionable.
Initially, condemnation of Wyclif came from the papacy, with Pope Gregory XI (r. 1370-78) issuing a papal bull condemning his views. However, it was the events of the Great Revolt that sealed the fate of Lollardy. Although Wyclif and other Lollards opposed the revolt, one of the rebel leaders, John Ball, openly preached Lollardy. During the revolt Archbishop Sudbery was murdered and his replacement, Archbishop Courtenay, was a long-term opponent of Wycliff. Under Courtenay the persecution of Lollards increased. A parliamentary statute was issued requiring the imprisonment of all unauthorised preachers and not long after this, Wyclif left Oxford and retired to Lutterworth, continuing to write until his death in 1384.
The next step in the attack on Lollardy came with the accession of Henry IV, following the deposition of his cousin Richard II in 1399. Henry needed to establish the Lancastrian dynasty and build its power base. To do this he used Lollardy as a heretical threat to the stability of England, seeking to unify the people against this invisible enemy. Henry IV passed the De Heretico Comburendo act in 1401 which, whilst not specifically banning Lollardy, prohibited the translating or owning of the bible in English and for the first time authorised death by burning for heretics. William Sawtry, a chaplain from Norfolk, was the first heretic to be burnt in the British Isles, at Smithfield on 23 February 1401. Nine years passed before the next burning, that of John Badby, a tailor from Evesham, on 5 March 1410.
It was the failed Oldcastle Rebellion which eventually drove the Lollard movement underground. Sir John Oldcastle (c.1378 – 1417) was a popular figure, a friend to Prince Henry (later Henry V) and a valuable commander in Henry IV’s campaigns against the Welsh. Oldcastle was a firm Lollard and a keen follower of Wyclif’s teachings. In 1413 he was accused of heresy and brought to trial under the influence of Archbishop Arundel, but he refused to recant his beliefs. Henry V intervened to save his friend and Oldcastle was imprisoned at the Tower of London instead. He later escaped and began planning a rebellion which would institute Lollardy as England’s official religion. Unfortunately for Oldcastle, his plan for rebellion was uncovered, it was poorly executed and lacked the support of influential nobles. Whilst he managed to evade capture for a time, he was eventually caught in 1417, sentenced to death and burned at the stake as a heretic. The Oldcastle Rebellion meant that Lollardy became inextricably associated with political sedition and, as such, the movement was driven underground.
Just over a century later, England broke with Rome and the Reformation did away with many of the aspects of the traditional religion which the Lollards had criticised. In 1534, Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy and Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church in England. In 1539 a copy of The Great Bible, in English, was placed in every church. Purgatory, the cult of saints, pilgrimages and religious orders were done away with. Whilst Lollard beliefs became part of mainstream religion, it was Henry’s desire to seek an annulment for his marriage to Catherine of Aragon which acted as the catalyst for England’s Reformation.
By Claire Kennan.
Claire is a Citizens Project Officer and PhD researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London.
[1] The Lollard Knights were: Sir Richard Stury, Sir Lewis Clifford, Sir John Clanow, Sir John Cheyne, Sir William Neville, Sir John Montague, Sir Thomas Latimer, Sir John Trussel and Sir John Pecce (the last two only named by Knighton).
