LOLLARDI. –
I. IN THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY
L. was the name given to the members of a religious confraternity that arose at the beginning of the 14th century in Antwerp during an epidemic, in the course of which they cared for the sick and buried the dead. The name derives from the German lullen, einlullen, “to sing softly, in a low voice,” and was applied to them because of the psalmody with which they accompanied funeral processions; for this reason they were also called Deum laudantes. They were also called “Brothers of St. Alexius,” after their patron, or cellite brothers, from the cellae, caves or tombs where they buried the dead. Because of their poor way of life and the penitential habit they wore, they resembled the beguines or beghards, with whom they were not infrequently confused (cf. G. L. Mosheim, De berghardis, Leipzig 1790). Among the wandering students of the 14th century in Germany there were also some l. (cf. L. Spätling, De Apostolicis, Munich 1947, p. 163). They were at times suspected of heresy and therefore persecuted; but they were finally tolerated by Gregory XI in 1374. The “Brothers of the Common Life,” despised by the world, resembled the l., as testified by Thomas à Kempis and Johannes Busch (Chronicon Windeshenense, ed. K. Grube, III, Halle 1886, chap. 41).II. IN ENGLAND
The first preachers, or “poor priests,” sent by Wicleff to preach his false doctrines were called l. Their existence is first attested in 1387 by the bishop of Worcester (v. , nonime seu ritu lollardorum confederati), the complete text of which is found in D. Wilkins, Concilia Maguae Britanniae, III, London 1737, p. 202). In 1395, having become very powerful, they posted defamatory manifestos against the clergy on the doors of Westminster and S. Paolo in London. At the same time, they had the reform of the Church proclaimed by the English Parliament. King Riccardo II Plantageneto, who until then had attempted to paralyze the clergy’s action against the l., ordered that the l. preachers be imprisoned and, if necessary, burned before the people. In 1399 Enrico V di Lancaster likewise showed himself opposed to the l. The archbishop of Canterbury persecuted them zealously and purged the University of Oxford of their heretical tendencies. After the solemn condemnation of Wicleff’s errors at the Council of Constance (1414–18), zeal against the l. in England revived. Despite this, in 1428 the l. were still numerous, and their writings were widely disseminated.The errors of the l. set forth in the Repressor of Reginaldo Pecock, bishop of Chichester, are the same as those of Wicleff, except for the final point concerning the condemnation of war and the death penalty. Officially, the Church’s battle against the l. lasted until the reign of Enrico VIII.
III. THE L. AND THE PROTESTANT «REFORMATION». — The question has been raised whether the l. movement prepared the «Reformation» of the sixteenth century. Neither in Germany nor in England did the l. cause the Lutheran or Anglican «Reformation», since they had almost disappeared when the «Reformation» began. Nevertheless, there are undeniable analogies between the doctrines of the l. and those of the reformers, particularly on the following points: the subordination of spiritual authority to civil authority; the struggle against ecclesiastical possessions; the need for a popular translation of the Bible and for its reading outside the control of the hierarchy. It may be said that, through their fierce struggle against the existing order
