The geography of dissent: Lollardy, popular religion, and church reform in late medieval York

Part religious reform, part social reform, part political reform, Lollardy was a complicated movement of diverse peoples with diverse aims. In this, it is representational of the complexity of the late Middle Ages in England. The picture of Lollardy becomes even more complicated when the geographical diversity of fifteenth century England is added to the puzzle. Lollardy began in a southern university (Oxford) but was initiated by a man of northern sensibilities (John Wycliffe) who was greatly influenced by the reform attempts of the northern churches.;Yet for all its northern attributes, Lollardy met with little success in the north. One cannot claim that Lollardy made no attempt to expand out of the south; although few in number Lollards were discovered in the north, and it was clear that movement made attempts to spread into that region. The resultant study follows two paths. First, what was the essential appeal of Lollardy, the main issues of the movement that either found a response or not? What were the problems of popular piety that the movement identified and solved? Second, was there a uniquely and identifiable northern culture that responded differently than the south to heresy and to religious concerns?;The north did, in fact, develop a different religious culture from the south. The established religious culture of the north, of both the organized church and the lay spirituality, was grappling with the same issues that concerned Lollards, but came up with solutions which were perfectly in keeping with the orthodox church without falling into heresy. In at least one notable case, the mid-fourteenth century reforms of Archbishop Thoresby, York identified the problems and found the solutions before Lollardy existed. Heresy was but one response to what were perceived as problems of the late Medieval spirituality; the church of York offered its own response to those problems. The city of York was more proactive than reactive, preventing heresy from taking hold in the city or diocese by presenting an actively reforming church.