Editing Lollardy (section)

=== Eucharist ===
With regard to the [[Eucharist]], Lollards such as [[John Wycliffe]], [[The Testimony of William Thorpe|William Thorpe]] and [[John Oldcastle]] taught a view of the mystical real presence of Christ in Holy Communion known as "[[consubstantiation]]" but did not accept the formulation of [[transubstantiation]], which the Roman Catholic Church required the faithful not to deny.<ref name="Walker2013">{{cite book|last=Walker|first=Greg|title=Reading Literature Historically: Drama and Poetry from Chaucer to the Reformation|date=6 February 2013|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|language=en |isbn=9780748681037|page=152}}</ref><ref name="IIHornbeck2010">{{cite book|last=Hornbeck|first=J. Patrick |title=What is a lollard?: dissent and belief in late medieval England|date=10 September 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|isbn=9780199589043|page=72}}</ref> Wycliffite teachings on the Eucharist were declared heresy at the [[Earthquake Synod|Blackfriars Council]] of 1382, and later by the Pope and the [[Council of Constance]].

"[[The Plowman's Tale]]", a 16th-century Lollard poem, argues that theological debate about orthodox doctrine is less important than the [[Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist|Real Presence]]:<ref name=barr>{{Cite book| publisher = Boydell & Brewer| isbn = 978-0-85991-419-2| last = Barr| first = Helen| title = Signes and Sothe: Language in the Piers Plowman Tradition| date = 1994}}</ref>

{{poemquote|
I say sothe thorowe trewe rede
His flesh and blode, through his mastry
Is there/ in the forme of brede
Howe it is there/ it nedeth not stryve
Whether it be subgette or accydent
But as Christ was/ when he was on-lyve
So is he there verament.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last= McCarl |editor-first= Mary Rhinelander |date= 1997 |title= The Plowman's Tale: The c. 1532 and 1606 Editions of a Spurious Canterbury Tale |location= New York |publisher= Garland |pages= 21–40|quote= On the dating of "The Plowman's Tale", see Andrew N. Warn, "The Genesis of The Plowman's Tale, Yearbook of English Studies 2" 1972}}</ref>

[In modern English:]
I say the truth through true understanding: 
His flesh and blood, through his subtle works, 
Is there in the form of bread. 
In what manner it is present need not be debated, 
Whether as subject or [[Accident (philosophy)|accident]], 
But as Christ was when he was alive, 
So He is truly there.<ref>{{cite book|last= Hardwick |first=Paul |date= 2011|title= English Medieval Misericords: The Margins of Meaning |location= Woodbridge, UK |publisher= The Boydell Press |isbn= 9781843836599|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UjODkjR1aKgC&q=Wycliffe+I+say+sothe+thorowe+trewe+rede&pg=PA59 |page=60}}</ref>
}}

[[William Sawtry]], a priest, was reportedly burned in 1401 for his preaching that "bread remains in the same nature as before" after [[consecration]] by a priest. A suspect in 1517 summed up the Lollards' position: "Summe folys cummyn to churche thynckyng to see the good Lorde – what shulde they see there but bredde and wyne?"{{sfn|Hudson|1988|p=285}}<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Saint David's Univ. College| isbn = 978-0-905285-31-3| last = Crossley-Holland| first = Nicole| title = Eternal Values in Mediaeval Life| date = 1 January 1991}}</ref>

In the mid 15th century a priest named Richard Wyche was accused of false doctrine that corrupted the faith of Northumbrians, and left a letter detailing his version of the inquisitional proceedings, where a succession of theologians and others attempted to convince him of the Catholic position or to find some compromise wording that involved him not denying transubstantiation.<ref name=wyche>{{cite journal |last1=Wyche |first1=Richard |last2=Bradley |first2=Christopher G. |title=The Letter of Richard Wyche : An Interrogation Narrative |journal=Publications of the Modern Language Association of America |date=May 2012 |volume=127 |issue=3 |pages=626–642 |doi=10.1632/pmla.2012.127.3.626}}</ref> When asked about transubstantiation during his questioning, he repeated only his belief in the Real Presence.{{sfn|Hudson|1988|p=284}} When asked if the host was still bread even after consecration, he answered only: "I believe that the host is the real body of Christ in the form of bread". Throughout his questioning he insisted that he was "not bound to believe otherwise than Holy Scripture says" and resorted to various loopholes. Following the questioning, he claimed he had been allowed to swear an oath on his heart;<ref name=wyche/> later his inquisitors denied this, saying he had sworn a different oath, which would have actually freed him; his denial of having taken that oath was taken as a re-canting by the bishop, preventing his attempted appeal to the Pope, so he was excommunicated, defrocked, imprisoned and eventually executed.{{sfn|Hudson|1988|p=284}}<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Wipf and Stock Publishers| isbn = 978-1-59752-973-0| last = Stone| first = Darwell| title = A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist| date = 1 October 2007}}</ref>

Lollard teachings on the Eucharist are attested to in numerous primary source documents. It is the fourth of the ''[[The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards|Twelve Conclusions]]'' and the first of the ''[[Sixteen Points on which the Bishops accuse Lollards]]''. It is discussed in ''[[The Testimony of William Thorpe]]'', the ''[[Apology for Lollard Doctrines]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wycliffe |first1=John |last2=Camden Society (Great Britain) |last3=Todd |first3=James Henthorn |date=1842 |title=An Apology for Lollard Doctrines |url=https://archive.org/details/anapologyforloll00wycluoft |location=London |publisher=Printed for the Camden Society, by J. B. Nichols |access-date=6 July 2018}}</ref> ''[[Jack Upland]]'', and ''[[Opus Arduum]]''.{{sfn|Hudson|1988|pp=285–286}}