Research topic: Lollardry

Lollardry or Lollardy, medieval English movement for ecclesiastical reform, led by John Wyclif , whose "poor priests" spread his ideas about the countryside in the late 14th cent. The church in England was ridden with abuses, especially in the ownership and management of great ecclesiastical properties, and its apparent wealth stood in stark contrast to the miserable poverty of most of the common people. Wyclif's central doctrine of evangelical poverty was close to the actual conditions of the people and gave form to widespread discontent with the church. The Great Schism (1378) had... Read more