Lollards Quotes

“Is it possible to propose an evolutionary continuum, with phases of Lollard intellectual, instrumental, and introspective orientation conditioned by intrinsic and extraneous dynamics? In an intellectual stage, its greatest preoccupation would have been with doctrinal knowledge and its chief influence was the heresiarch John Wycliffe. Having achieved an academic foundation, Lollardy’s itinerancy phase would have entailed promulgation of tenets through missionary evangelism as well as definition of objectives, such as Oldcastle’s Rebellion. However, the failure of the latter and the fading of evangelical missions (after 1428) may have marked the end of Lollardy’s adolescence. Reaching its majority—both in terms of development and participation—Lollardy’s maturity came with the success of the educational program which—combined with continued detections and executions—seems likely to have encouraged re-orientation into a period of introspection whereby its self-identity was consolidated (through focusing on small-scale activities and opportunities manifesting emotional commitment). Such a phase may have coincided with the quiescence in heresy proceedings thereby creating an illusion of decline since Lollard survival (like English recusancy or Quakerism during later centuries) seems more realistic. Introspection—creating a climate in which social and familial, rather than evangelical, transmission would have predominated—may have also stimulated a generational reorientation (making membership more appealing to those of advancing years).


R. E. Stansfield-Cudworth, ‘From Minority to Maturity: The Evolution of Later Lollardy’ (2021), p. 342.”
― Robert E. Stansfield-Cudworth

“Is it possible to propose an evolutionary continuum, with phases of Lollard intellectual, instrumental, and introspective orientation conditioned by intrinsic and extraneous dynamics? In an intellectual stage, its greatest preoccupation would have been with doctrinal knowledge and its chief influence was the heresiarch John Wycliffe. Having achieved an academic foundation, Lollardy’s itinerancy phase would have entailed promulgation of tenets through missionary evangelism as well as definition of objectives, such as Oldcastle’s Rebellion. However, the failure of the latter and the fading of evangelical missions (after 1428) may have marked the end of Lollardy’s adolescence. Reaching its majority—both in terms of development and participation—Lollardy’s maturity came with the success of the educational program which—combined with continued detections and executions—seems likely to have encouraged re-orientation into a period of introspection whereby its self-identity was consolidated (through focusing on small-scale activities and opportunities manifesting emotional commitment). Such a phase may have coincided with the quiescence in heresy proceedings thereby creating an illusion of decline since Lollard survival (like English recusancy or Quakerism during later centuries) seems more realistic. Introspection—creating a climate in which social and familial, rather than evangelical, transmission would have predominated—may have also stimulated a generational reorientation (making membership more appealing to those of advancing years).

R. E. Stansfield-Cudworth, ‘From Minority to Maturity: The Evolution of Later Lollardy’ (2021), p. 342.”
― Robert E. Stansfield-Cudworth, SHERM Journal: Vol. 3, No. 2