William Sawtrey
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William Sawtrey, also known as William Salter (died March 1401) was an English Roman Catholic priest and Lollard martyr. He was executed for
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
. Sawtrey was born in
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, England. He was a follower of
John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...
, the leader of an early reformation movement called
Lollardy 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 Catholi ...
.


Sawtrey's association with Lollardy

Sawtrey was a priest at two
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
churches, St Margaret's in Lynn and Tilney. He preached and endorsed Lollard beliefs, including the rejection of Catholic saints and the sacrament of
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
. Of the latter, he claimed that "after the consecration f the hostby the priest there remaineth true material bread" (Trevelyan 334). As a result of spreading these views, Sawtrey was taken to
Henry le Despenser Henry le Despenser ( 1341 – 23 August 1406) was an English nobleman and Bishop of Norwich whose reputation as the 'Fighting Bishop' was gained for his part in suppressing the Peasants' Revolt in East Anglia and in defeating the peasants at t ...
on 30 April 1399. Le Despenser, a bishop then based in
North Elmham North Elmham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,428 in 624 households at the 2001 census, including Gateley and increasing slightly to 1,433 at the 2011 Census. For ...
, ordered an examination of Sawtrey. The examination lasted for two days. Sawtrey's examiners claimed that he rejected free will, and that he did not believe in venerating images and embarking on
pilgrimages A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
. He was therefore charged with
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
and sent to an episcopal prison. Sawtrey denounced Lollardy upon his release. He abjured privately at first, but then publicly in Lynn on 25 May 1399. He appeared before le Despenser in St John's Hospital the next day, and swore on the Gospels that he would never again preach Lollardy. He also promised to never hear confession without a license from le Despenser. In 1401, Sawtrey moved to London and began working as a parish-priest at St Osyth's, where he continued to preach Lollard beliefs. It is possible that he moved to London in order to distance himself from le Despenser, but he had not removed himself from the anti-Lollard sentiment of the Catholic Church. One year earlier, ''
De heretico comburendo ''De heretico comburendo'' (2 Hen.4 c.15) was a law passed by Parliament under King Henry IV of England in 1401, punishing heretics with burning at the stake. This law was one of the strictest religious censorship statutes ever enacted in Englan ...
'' ("Regarding the burning of heretics") was passed. The statute called for the burning of heretics either plainly rejecting Catholicism, or accepting Catholic beliefs but returning to their previous heretical beliefs. Sawtrey was summoned to appear at St Paul's Cathedral on 12 February 1401. Sawtrey appeared before Archbishop
Thomas Arundel Thomas Arundel (1353 – 19 February 1414) was an English clergyman who served as Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of York during the reign of Richard II, as well as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken op ...
. Before convocation, Sawtrey was delivered the following heretical charges: failure to "adore the true cross" (National Biography 869), belief that a priest's time spent in hourly prayers could be better spent preaching and spreading the word of God, his opinion on the temporalities of the church and on how the money could be put to better use, preaching on adoration of mankind over
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s, and finally his belief in consubstantiation. Sawtrey resisted, and was once again charged with heresy. Sawtrey demanded a copy of his charges and was given 18 February to make an appeal. At his appeal before Parliament he defended his beliefs with quotes from St John, St Paul, and St Augustine. His defence was heavily questioned by Arundel, who spent three hours questioning of the topic of the Eucharist alone, all the while trying to convert him back to Catholicism. Sawtrey resisted, and on 23 February charges were once again made against him. He was condemned and "through seven successive stages he was degraded from priest to doorkeeper, then stripped of every clerical function, attribute, and
vestment Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Anglicans, and Lutherans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; this ...
". Vol. 50 p. 381. Sawtrey was convicted and sentenced to death on 26 February 1401. In March, he was taken to Smithfield and publicly burned at the stake. He was the first follower of Lollardy to die for his beliefs. He and
John Purvey John Purvey (c. 1354 – c. 1414) was an English theologian, reformer, and disciple of John Wycliffe. He was born around 1354 in Lathbury, near Newport Pagnell in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. He was a great scholar, permitted to ente ...
, a friend and follower of John Wycliffe who also was tortured for his beliefs, were the two most egregious cases against Lollardy committed under the Statute of Heresy.


After effects

The lower classes of England were quick to catch on to Lollard ideas, especially about disbursing Church funds to aid people in need and to ease lower class financial stresses caused by heavy taxation. The representatives of the lower class made efforts on two occasions to convince King Henry IV and Parliament to appropriate the Church's money and to use it for the people of England. The Church reacted against this proposal and, with the help of the King, set forth a number of statutes to protect Church temporalities. Among these orders was the statute ''De heretico comburendo'', which stated that heresy was punishable by means of public burning. The severity of Sawtrey and Purvey's punishments created a wave of Lollard supporters. Among them was
John Oldcastle Sir John Oldcastle (died 14 December 1417) was an English Lollard leader. Being a friend of Henry V, he long escaped prosecution for heresy. When convicted, he escaped from the Tower of London and then led a rebellion against the King. Eventual ...
, a knight and captain for the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
. He protected and hid preachers from the Statute of Heresy. Oldcastle and other Lollard-sympathising knights pleaded with King Henry IV to change the law. They argued that the King should take the money the Church was wasting and put it into England's armoury, almshouses, and universities. Many students of Oxford University were also Lollard sympathisers. Students translated Wycliffe's work and began to debate the lawfulness of Bible translations. However, despite their efforts, the persecution of Lollards continued. The knights' arguments were shot down, and Oxford was discredited by the Church. Nevertheless, Lollard believers continued practising their faith in an underground network.


Other supporters

(After John Wycliffe's death, Archbishop
William Courtenay William Courtenay ( 134231 July 1396) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1381–1396), having previously been Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Early life and education Courtenay was a younger son of Hugh de Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon ( ...
began to defend his beliefs in 1382. He argued concepts such as consubstantiation, the belief that the
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
is still indeed bread and that body of Christ exists simultaneously with the bread. He also used the Bible to explain that certain mass ceremonies were not specifically ordered by Christ. He defended the belief that, "a priest in mortal sin could not administer the Sacraments." He also supported Wycliffe in his opinion about confession, which was that if a man is truly contrite after his verbal confession, then no other action is necessary. The final point he argued was that of papacy. In his life Wycliffe had proposed that
Pope Urban VI Pope Urban VI ( la, Urbanus VI; it, Urbano VI; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death in October 1389. He was the most recent pope to be elected from outside the ...
should be the last pope and that people govern themselves under their own laws.) The above statement is not only historically inaccurate but completely false. Archbishop William Courtney condemned Wycliffe. Courtenay "held a council at Canterbury in 1382 that condemned Wycliffe, whose works Courtenay censured. He obtained Richard’s permission to imprison heretics (1382) and to seize heretical books (1388), bringing him into conflict with John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster and Wycliffe’s protector. In November 1382 Courtenay assembled a convocation at Oxford, where he forced the academic Lollards (holders of certain religious tenets derived from Wycliffe’s teachings) into submission. He protested the second (1390) Statute of Provisors, which disapproved of ecclesiastical offices appointed by the pope; he condemned it as a restraint upon apostolic power and liberty."- Encyclopaedia Brittanica


Footnotes


References

*Feiling, Keith. A ''History of England''. London: Macmillan, 1950. p. 284. Print. *MacFarlane, K.B. ''John Wycliffe and the Beginnings of English Nonconformity''. London: English Universities Press, 1966. pp. 150–151. Print. * *Trevelyan, George Macaulay. ''England in the Age of Wycliffe''. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1904. pp. 293, 334. Print.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawtrey, William 1401 deaths 14th-century English Roman Catholic priests Executed people from Norfolk Lollard martyrs People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning People executed for heresy People executed under the Lancastrians People from King's Lynn Year of birth unknown