Topic summary

Lollards

Extracted from the Wikipedia article Lollardy.

Peasants' Revolt

Lollards first faced serious persecution after the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. While Wycliffe and other Lollards opposed the revolt, one of the peasants' leaders, John Ball, preached Lollardy. Prior to 1382, Wycliffite beliefs were tolerated in government as they endorsed in royal superiority to bishops. However, the government and royals were hesitant, as they did not want to encourage subjects to criticize religious powers.