1. Late Medieval Heresy: Lollards and Hussites
Dr Aysu Dincer

2. What is heresy?
A wish to reform: could be led by someone from within the hierarchy
'Heresy is in the eye of the beholder'

3. What is Lollardy?
The name given to the followers of John Wyclif/Wycliffe ( ).
This was a movement deemed heretical
'Lollard': a derogatory term

4. The background Popular protests Plague Anti-clericalism
Higher literacy rates (relatively speaking)

5. Who was John Wyclif? An academic at Oxford; also a parish priest.
Argued against the temporal power and possessions of churchmen
Asserted the right of temporal lords to appropriate the goods of an undeserving clergy
Initially an ally of John of Gaunt.

6. Wyclif’s arguments
attacked the wealth and power of the pope and the friars
saw the scripture as the only reliable guide to the truth about God and argued that all Christians should rely directly on the Bible
attacked the priests' power of excommunication
disapproved of pilgrimages, veneration of saints, indulgences and clerical celibacy
Initiated the translation of the bible into English
launched an attack on transubstantiation in 1381
criticised the structure and organisation of the church, and its theology.

7. How did the movement develop after Wyclif's death?
The troubled reign of Richard II
1399: accession of the House of Lancaster
1401: the Act on the burning of heretics
Over 250 manuscript Bibles existed; not just owned by Wycliffite dissenters.
1415: Declared to have been a heretic at the Council of Constance
Lollardy became a lay movement, often connected with political discontent.
1413: a small rising of heretics at Abingdon.
Became less visible, with some survival in their old centres: London, Coventry, Leicester, and the eastern counties (mostly small artisans).
16th century: some Lollard hunts.

8. Who were the Hussites? The followers of Jan/John Hus (1369-1415)
Stronghold: Bohemia (the modern Czech Republic).
Hus was influenced by Wyclif; neither the University of Prague nor the Bohemian church were keen on Wyclif.
1408: Hus suspended from his preaching position
1409: Hus accused of heresy and excommunicated.
Attended the Council of Constance, where he was formally charged with heresy, arrested and burned at the stake.
Diverged from Wyclif: rejecting Wyclif's doctrine on transubstantiation
1420: the Articles of Prague, calling for: 1) freedom of preaching; 2) laity to receive the wine as well as the bread (Utraquism); 3) end to the worldly power of churchmen; 4) punishment of grave sins committed by clerics.