Lollardy
Lollard, Lollardi, or Loller was the popular derogatory nickname given to those without an academic background, educated, if at all, mainly in English, who were reputed to follow the teachings of John Wycliffe in particular.
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.
The word is much older than its English use; there were Lollards in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 14th century who were akin to the Fraticelli, Beghards, and other sectaries similar to the recusant Franciscans.
These were known colloquially as lollebroeders (Middle Dutch for "mumbling brothers"), or Lollhorden, from Old High German: lollon ("to sing softly"), from their chants for the dead.
[citation needed] Two other possibilities for the derivation of Lollard are mentioned by the Oxford English Dictionary:[4] According to scholar Margaret Aston, as Wycliffe's academic theology percolated to the masses, it changed measureably, some parts strengthening and others weakening.
[6] Historian John Thomson is paraphrased "Rather than a specific creed of well thought out theological doctrine, Lollard beliefs are more aptly described as a set of consistent attitudes.
"The Plowman's Tale", a 16th-century Lollard poem, argues that theological debate about orthodox doctrine is less important than the Real Presence:[10] 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.
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?
"[13][14] In the mid 15th century a priest named Richard Wyche was accused of false doctrine that corrupted the faith of Northumbrians, and left a letter detailing his version of the inquisitional proceedings, where a succession of theologians and others attempted to convince him of the Catholic position or to find some compromise wording that involved him not denying transubstantiation.
[20]: Art.9 Lollards challenged the practice of clerical celibacy and believed priests should not hold government positions as such temporal matters would likely interfere with their spiritual mission.
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.
[25] 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 vernacular texts.
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.
[6] Sixteenth-century martyrologist John Foxe reduced the main beliefs of Lollardy to four, to an extent eliding the Wycliffite doctrine of dominium, claiming they were: Although Lollardy was denounced as a 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.
[29] 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.
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.
"[30] 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.
"[32] A group of gentry active during the reign of Richard II (1377–99) were known as "Lollard Knights" either during or after their lives due to their acceptance of Wycliffe's claims.
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.
Leaders of the English Reformation, including Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, referred to Lollardy as well, and Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall of London called Lutheranism the "foster-child" of the Wycliffite heresy.
[40] 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.
