Lollard
/ˈlɒləd
/noun
A follower of John Wyclif. The Lollards believed that the Church should help people to live a life of evangelical poverty and imitate Christ. Their ideas influenced the thought of John Huss, who in turn influenced Martin Luther.Today, our increasingly ‘mediaeval’ nation needs to be viewed through the eyes of John Wyclif and his Lollards....
- In doctrinal matters, there were heretics like the Lollards, Hussites, Waldensians and others - these were the sectarian groups who uttered sedition and blasphemy.
- The followers of Wycliffe's ideas, known as Lollards, were vociferous in support of such demands.
Derivatives
Lollardism
Lollardy
- Although England, like Bohemia, had its own indigenous mediaeval heresy in Lollardy, Luther's attack on the church had initially produced little resonance in England.
- A distracted state and church now believed Lollardy to be a spent force.
- It may be that the infrequent public burnings (usually of non-townsmen) were sufficient encouragement to conformity, actual or disguised, in the period of Lollardy.
Origin
Originally a derogatory term, derived from a Dutch word meaning 'mumbler', based on lollen 'to mumble'.