More Pre-Reformation Support For Reformation Beliefs Among The Lollards

I've discussed their support for Reformation views in other posts, like here and here. And here's one about a book on Lollard heresy trials in the first half of the fifteenth century.

I recently finished reading another book of a similar nature, about Lollard heresy trials in the early sixteenth century, shortly before the Reformation. The book is Norman Tanner's Kent Heresy Proceedings 1511-12 (England: Kent Archaeological Society, 1997).

Though it covers heresy trials during those two years, the individuals put on trial and others associated with them were active in holding and promoting the beliefs in question earlier, often in the fifteenth century. For a discussion of some of the issues involved in evaluating heresy trials (how often the people put on trial renounced their views, the significance of that renouncing, etc.), see my first post linked above.

The Kent trials, like the Norwich trials I discussed in an earlier post linked above, involved the Lollards' belief in many of the views held by Protestants and others in later years. There was widespread rejection of Roman Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, etc.) authority claims, baptismal regeneration, the veneration of images, prayer to saints, etc.

Tanner notes that Jesus' bodily presence in the eucharist is the most prominent topic (xii). There was widespread denial of a bodily presence in the eucharist among the Lollards. As Tanner explains, "In short, the information comes to us largely through the eyes and according to the priorities of the prosecution, and Warham's [the Roman Catholic archbishop's] first priority seems to have been to secure convictions on a relatively small number of charges where heresy was clear-cut, not to enter into the defendants' beliefs at all fully or sympathetically." (xiv) So, the prominence of the eucharist in the trials doesn't tell you what the priorities of the Lollards were.

As my post on the Norwich heresy trials mentioned, it seems likely that the Lollards involved in these trials also disagreed with Roman Catholicism on some topics not brought up at the trials. You can read the post just linked for further discussion of the subject.