In this 19th-century illustration, John Wycliffe is shown giving the Bible translation that bore his name to his Lollard followers.

Lollardy[a] was a proto-Protestant 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,[1] a 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.[2] They formulated their beliefs in the Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards.[3]

Etymology

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, who were reputed to follow the teachings of John Wycliffe in particular. By the mid-15th century, "lollard" had come to mean a 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 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.[4] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it most likely derives from Middle Dutch 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 century who were akin to the Fraticelli, Beghards, and other sectaries similar to the recusant Franciscans.[4]

Originally the Dutch word was a colloquial name for a group of buriers of the dead during the Black Death, in the 14th century, known as Alexians, Alexian Brothers or Cellites. 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.[5] Middle English loller (akin to the verb loll, 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.[6]

Two other possibilities for the derivation of Lollard are mentioned by the Oxford English Dictionary:[7]

  • Latin lolium, a weedy 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 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.[8]

Beliefs

A map of Lollardy's influence. Areas of Lollardy's influence before the death of 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.[9] Historian John Thomson is paraphrased[why?] "Rather than a specific creed of well thought out theological doctrine, Lollard beliefs are more aptly described as a set of consistent attitudes."[10]

Eucharist

With regard to the Eucharist, Lollards such as John Wycliffe, 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.[11][12] 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 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:[13]

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?"[16][17]

In the mid 15th century a priest associated with the lollards named 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.[18] When asked about transubstantiation during his questioning, he repeated only his belief in the Real Presence.[19] 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;[18] 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 stubbornness).[19][20]

Lollard teachings on the Eucharist are attested to in numerous primary source documents. It is the fourth of the 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,[21] Jack Upland, and Opus Arduum.[22]