The Lollards / Richard Rex.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rex, Richard.

Series:

Social history in perspective (Palgrave (Firm))

Social history in perspective

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lollards.

Physical Description:

xv, 188 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave, 2002.

Summary:

The Lollards offers a brief but insightful guide to the entire history of England's only native medieval heretical movement. Beginning with its fourteenth-century origins in the theology of the Oxford professor, John Wyclif, Richard Rex examines the spread of Lollardy across much of England until its eventual dissolution amidst the ecclesiastical and doctrinal upheavals of the sixteenth century. Taking account of recent scholarship, Rex reassesses Wyclif's political career and provides a compact survey of his theology which corrects a number of current misapprehensions about it and identifies those features which help explain the hostility it aroused. Whilst endorsing the traditional view that Lollardy was indeed the lay face of Wycliffism, the author nevertheless challenges a number of cherished myths about England's late medieval heretics. Rex controversially argues that Wyclif and the Lollards were far less important than historians and literary scholars have often claimed, and takes issue with recent attempts to restore Lollardy to its once conventional position as a 'cause' of the Reformation. Powerful and persuasive, The Lollards is essential reading for anyone interested in the movement's relationship to Wyclif's teachings, its social and geographical distribution, its political significance, and its impact on the English Reformation.

Contents:

1 The Church of England in the Later Middle Ages 1

2 John Wyclif and His Theology 25

Wyclif's Philosophy 32

The Bible 34

Lordship in Grace 35

Predestination and Necessity 38

The Church 39

The Papacy 41

Faith and Salvation 41

The Eucharist 42

Sacraments and Signs 45

Christian Life 48

Royalty and Reform 50

The Peasants' Revolt and the Condemnation of Wyclif 52

3 The Early Diffusion of Lollardy 54

Lollard Preachers 55

The Lollard Message 59

Lollardy and Patronage 61

Geography of Early Lollardy 64

Social Distribution of Early Lollardy 71

Lollard Texts 74

Lollardy and Lay Piety 78

Lollardy as a Movement 81

Lollardy and Politics 82

The Oldcastle Rising 84

4 Survival and Revival 88

Geography of Later Lollardy 89

Social Distribution of Later Lollardy 101

Gender Distribution of Lollardy 104

The Dynamics of Lollard Communities 108

A Tudor Revival of Lollardy? 112

5 From Lollardy to Protestantism 115

Comparative Geography of Lollardy and Protestantism 119

The Moral Contrast between Lollardy and Protestantism 131

The Social Contrast between Lollards and the English Reformers 133

Lollardy and Calvinism 139

The Fate of Lollardy 140.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 174-185) and index.

ISBN:

0333597524

OCLC:

48649253