The Lollards And The Establishment Of The Church Of England

Western Europe was in a historical period of great changing in the 14th Century. With the massive movement of reclamation which promoted the development of handicraft and trade, the social structure of urban and rural was changing. A kind of new class was developing and becoming an important social force. The Roman Church moving to Avignon and the Great Schism made papacy plummeted, provoked anticlericalism and changed the way of religious beliefs. In England, the impact of the Hundred Years War and the formation of English promoted the national consciousness of England. All these changes were reflected in the changing of the religion, and then a new religious thought which focused on freedom of belief and broke away from the Roman Church was gradually forming. John Wycliffe who conformed to this trend put forward a concept of national religion timely and systematically. In the debate about his religious ideas, Lollard began to form around Oxford University. As the only influential local heresy of medieval England, Lollard inherited and developed the doctrine of Wycliffe. They advocated the supremacy of Bible and translated Bible to English, which broke the monopoly of church and developed Modern English. Meanwhile, they also proposed the establishment of an independent national Church. Lollard’s thoughts, to some extent, reflected the requirements of the nation state and the development of new classes. There were many supporters and participants of Lollard among nobility, clergy, academics and civilian. Lollard developed rapidly and covered most of the England especially in Leicester, Bristol and London in early time. In the 15th century, Lollard’s development changed to underground for the suppression of church and government. In the early 16th century, Lutheran Protestantism introduced to England. Lollard was alive again and set a certain social foundation to the top-bottom English Reformation for the similarity between Lutheran Protestantism and Lollard in religious thought and the way of belief It was a strong impetus to the English Reformation that laid an important ideological foundation and mass base for the Anglican establishment.