William Taylor (died 1423) was a medieval English

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

, executed as a

Lollard Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catho ...

. Nothing is known of Taylor's career before he named as Principal of

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any universit ...

in a rent roll for 1405–1406. One sermon from 1406 survives, and was republished by the

Early English Text Society The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...

in 1993. Taylor next appears as a longstanding

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the Koinonia, communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The ...

on 12 February 1420 before Archbishop Chichele. On 14 February he was absolved from his excommunication. On 11 February 1423 he was again brought before Chichele, and this time was convicted; on 1 March 1423 was stripped of his status as a priest. The next day he was burnt at Smithfield.

References

Sources

* Anne Hudson, ed., ''Two Wycliffite Texts: The Sermon of William Taylor, 1406 — The Testimony of William Thorpe, 1407'' (Early English Text Society 301, Oxford, 1993) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, William 1423 deaths People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Executed British people People executed under the Lancastrians 15th-century English Roman Catholic priests Executed English people Principals of St Edmund Hall, Oxford People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning Year of birth unknown Lollard martyrs