155. A Lollard sermon

after hym; and ensaumple of siche deds exponeth best Cristis lawe. And thus bi process of tyme is the Chirche peyred, bi turnyng fro Cristis lawe and bi love of the worlde. And herfor seith Poul, that coveytise is roote of all yvelis that comen to Goddis Chirche. And comynge inne of freris that shulden quenche this synne makith it mor fervent, as water fier of smythis. And sith thei ben apostataes that gon abac in Cristis ordre, few or none of siche prestis ben clene of this heresye. For thei forsaken Crist in kepyng of his lawe, and Crist seith that man mot kepe it yif he love hym. But sith love of worldliche thingis drawith fro love of Christ, hou myche is love of prests drawe now fro God! Wantyng of workis of the gospel, and werkis of the world, dampneth our prestis in defaute of this love. And yit thei poudren blasphemye in among this apostasye, for thei seyen that thei haven mor power of Crist than ever he wolde yive to Petre or Poul. For in spiritual power they ben even with hem, and in worldliche power they passen hem; sith Petre seith he havede nether silver ne gold, and Poul laborede with hise hondis; and so her power, gederid togeder, in so myche passith power of Petre.

The following are some of the sayings of the Lollard preachers as reported by Knighton.

These are the opinions of another man whom I heard preach. That if an ecclesiastic failed in his duty and did not correct his fault, it was permitted to the secular lords to cut such a man's hair through his shoulders, even if his tonsure was large and newly cut, that is to say, to cut off his head. Similarly, if a temporal lord failed in his duty and did not correct his fault, it was permitted to the people to correct him.

On a certain Palm Sunday he preached that to multiply words of the lips in prayer is nothing but, in English, to "blabber with the lips."

That to pay money for saying the Psalter is of no avail.

That to pay money for celebrating mass is of no avail unless one has lived well; that if one has lived well he always prays, and that to live well takes the place of prayer.

Likewise he preached that the suffering of Christ which he suffered in his passion was greater than the entire suffering of hell.

In the same sermon he said that Christ never commanded any one to beg. And he preached this same thing in other places. Likewise, that Christ never said in the sacred scripture that he wished that a man should abandon all his property and retain nothing for himself.

Likewise that every saying of Christ is a command.

Likewise that no one ought to give alms to another who has better clothing and a better house than the one giving. Likewise that no one is truly a prelate nor fit to be one unless he is a learned man and a preacher. . .

The following anecdotes are taken from the large number recounted at the time, to show some of the common opinions and actions of the Lollards. William Smyth is one instance of many who recanted, these earlier heretics yielding readily and being usually excused with a light punishment.

Sir Cornelius

There was present at that sermon an old knight, by name 156. The Cornelius Cloune, who had been an especial favorer of such miracle of conclusions, both holding and teaching them, and he would Cloune not believe anything concerning the sacrament of the altar except that it was the mere material bread, according to the opinion of Wycliffe. On the eve of Holy Trinity that knight came to a meeting of the Preaching Brethren in London to hear mass; and it happened that he heard the mass of one of the students of that body, and in the elevation of the body of Christ he saw nothing except what he had been accustomed to see before, so that he firmly believed that there was there the mere material bread. But afterward he looked at a portion of the host and saw, with his corporeal eye, in the hands of the brother who was celebrating, true flesh, raw and bleeding, divided into three parts. Wondering at this and frightened he called his squire in order that he might see, but he saw nothing except what he had been accustomed to see before. The knight likewise in the third piece, which was to be dropped into the cup,

Anecdote of

preachers

saw the same color of white which he had seen before, but nevertheless he saw in the midst of this piece the name "Jesus" written in letters of flesh, raw and bleeding, which was wonderful to see.

And the next day, on the feast of the Holy Trinity, this same brother, preaching, announced this same thing to the people at St. Paul's cross. At the end of the sermon the knight there present told with his own lips the whole vision publicly and openly, to confirm our statement, and promised that he would fight and die in this cause, that in the sacrament of the altar there was the true body of Christ and not merely material bread, as he himself had believed before. . . .

A certain Master Richard Waytestathe, a chaplain, and William Smyth, who has just been mentioned, came together from time to time in a certain chapel of St. John the Baptist, just outside of Leicester, near the house of the lepers, where others of their sect often met and had conventicles and exchanged opinions on their wicked ideas; for it was a dwelling place and an inn for such as came there, and there they had a debating place for evil doctrines and opinions and intercommunication of errors and heresies. A chapel which had once been devoted to God was now become a receiving place and establishment for enemies of the church of Christ and for heretics.

These two, Richard the chaplain and William Smyth, became two Lollard hungry once upon a time for a dish of cabbage. And when they had obtained the cabbage they had no fire to cook it over, so one of them, looking around, in the corner of the chapel espied a certain old image, made and painted formerly in honor of St. Katherine, standing there; then he said, "Behold, my dear friend, God has already provided us with a fire to cook our cabbage in order that we may satisfy our hunger. This sacred image will certainly make us a holy fire, and thus by ax and fire she will suffer new martyrdom, and through the cruelty of new torments she may be able at length to come to the kingdom of heaven." The belief of the Lollard sect is such that they hate images and work against them, preaching that they are idols and despising them as if likenesses of the gods. And when any one mentions St. Mary of Lincoln or St. Mary

of Walsyngham, they call them in our tongue "witch of Lincoln" and "witch of Walsyngham." So one of them seized the ax, the other held the image, saying, "Let us find out whether she is truly holy; for if when the head is struck blood gushes forth, forevermore let her be adored by us as holy; but if no blood is drawn, she will make food for our fire in cooking our cabbage, by which our hunger will be appeased." Since they had lost their own sense of shame they were not able to conceal the thing, but, as if it were a joke, they told about this boast, but not with impunity; for quickly after this they were cast out of their dwelling place. . . .

Smyth

Certain other Lollards were cited and came together at Ox- Recantation ford and other places when the archbishop had summoned them, of William and, renouncing their superstitious errors and abjuring profane dogmas, they did public penance. William Smyth, concerning whom we have made frequent mention above, went through the market place at Leicester clad only in a linen garment, bearing in his right hand a cross with the image of the crucifix, in his left an image of St. Katherine, because he had formerly cut up the image of St. Katherine and burned it to cook some cabbage for which he was hungry, as we have told fully above.

The later Lollards were firmer in their faith, even when the punishment of burning at the stake had been introduced by law, as in the following case which occurred in 1401.

In this year was a parliament at London in the time of Lent, 157. The first where a blacksmith was accused of heresy. He held this con- burning for heresy clusion, that the sacrament of the altar is not Christ's body, in England but a thing without soul, lower than a toad or a spider, both of which have life. And when he would not renounce his opinion he was given over to the secular arm, to be placed in a cask in Smithfield and to be burned. Prince Henry had pity on the man and counseled him to forsake his false opinion, but he would not. Wherefore he was put in the cask, and when the fire burned he cried horribly. The prince commanded to withdraw the fire, came to him, and made him great promises, but he would not yield. Wherefore he suffered him to be burnt to ashes.

158. Law requiring the use of the

English lan

guage in the
law courts
(1362)

VII. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

The following statute, passed in the year 1362, indicates the position which the various languages in use in England had reached by that time. It is the first legal requirement of the use of English.

Because it is often showed to the king by the prelates, dukes, earls, barons, and all the commonalty, of the great mischiefs which have happened to divers persons of the realm, because the laws, customs, and statutes of this realm be not commonly known in the same realm, because they be pleaded, showed, and judged in the French tongue, which is much unknown in the said realm; so that the people which do implead or be impleaded in the king's court and in the courts of others have no knowledge or understanding of that which is said for them or against them by their sergeants and other pleaders; and that reasonably the said laws and customs the rather shall be learned and known and better understood in the tongue used in the said realm, and by so much every man of the said realm may the better govern himself without offending of the law, and the better keep, save, and defend his heritage and possessions; and in divers regions and countries where the king, the nobles, and others of the said realm have been, good governance and full right is done to every person, because their laws and customs be learned and used in the tongue of the country; the king, desiring the good governance and tranquillity of his people, and to put out and eschew the harms and mischiefs which do or may happen in this behalf by the occasions aforesaid, hath ordained and established by the assent aforesaid that all pleas which shall be pleaded in any of his courts, before any of his justices whatsoever, or in his other places, or before any of his other ministers whatsoever, or in the courts and places of any other lords whatsoever within the realm, shall be pleaded, showed, defended, answered, debated, and judged in the English tongue, and that they be entered and enrolled in Latin.