Selections from English Wycliffite Writings

Selections from English Wycliffite Writings gathers together the main sources for the study of the Lollard movement, the documents of the Lollards themselves. Inspired and influenced by the writings of the heretical fourteenth century Oxford professor John Wyclif, Lollardy was the spiritual predecessor of the sixteenth century Reformation movement in England. Persecuted for their radical beliefs after 1425, the Lollards were well known for their possession of books, quires, and pamphlets in English, and left behind a considerable body of literature discussing religious and political reform which remain the best source for understanding the Lollards and their beliefs.

Anne Hudson has gathered together a wide and varied selection of twenty-seven primary texts written between 1385 and 1425 by members of the Lollard sect in England, illustrating the variety of Lollard tracts, sermons, and satires, as well as the range of Lollard interests and preoccupations. The book is divided into four sections: The Nature of Wycliffite Belief; The Lollards and the Bible; Lollard Polemic; and Lollard Doctrine. The text is in Middle English with extensive supplemental notes.

Originally published by Cambridge University Press in 1978, this new MART edition comes with a newly revised and updated bibliography by the author.