England in the Age of Wycliffe [Hardcover]

George MacAulay Trevelyan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1978

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 380 pages
• Publisher: Ams Pr Inc; 3 edition (June 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0404566774
• ISBN-13: 978-0404566777
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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5.0 out of 5 stars The State against the Chuch; the wealthy few against the many poor, August 5, 2010

By 

Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: England In The Age Of Wycliffe (Paperback)

The conflicts between the secular and religious powers in England during the revolutionary period of 1368-1385 are masterfully explained by G.M. Trevelyan.

Real power in England (King, nobility, Church, Papacy)
The King and his government were powerless to enforce the law or to act against the nobility because their sole military resources were those commanded by the nobles themselves.
The Church was a giant privileged political, judicial and financial powerhouse. Being a part of the Catholic Church, the English Church transferred a big chunk of its revenues abroad (the Papacy, France - in war with England!).

The immorality of the Church
The Church treated sin and fear of Hell as a means of filling her coffers, preying on the vices it was supposed to correct. The sale of pardons and the venality of the confessors were in fact encouragements of sin.
Her enormous real estate wealth was the result of a custom of bequeathing land and/or money to churches and monasteries in order to secure the repetition of masses for the soul of the dead donors.

The poor
The Manorial System was based on serfdom. But, the System was undermined by the Black Plague (up to one half of the population died). The farm wages trebled and the serfs fled the manors in order to sell their labor to the highest bidders.

The Peasant's Rising of 1381
The sparkle which ignited the revolt was the levy of poll-taxes (three times in four years). The real causes, however, were the demands for a general charter of liberation of the serfs (complete personal and economic freedom) and the regulation of wages.
On the religious front, the peasants' leaders asked for a disendowment of the Church properties and the abolition of her hierarchy.
After the Rising, all socials concessions were shamelessly withdrawn by the wealthy few.

John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe supported England against the Papacy and the State against the Church. He accepted the rights of property and the performing of services even for sinful lords.
His main preoccupation, however, was the living conditions of the poor.
He pleaded for the disendowment of all religious properties, hoping that this measure would relieve the pressure of taxation on the poor. His backers within the nobility, however, saw here an opportunity to claim the restitution of the wealth given to the Church by their forebears out of fear of eternal burning. He also proposed to severe the link between the clergy and the State (State offices).
He called the religious regular orders (monks, friars = the Pope's agents for the sale of indulgences) useless and attacked the Transubstantiation theory.
With his impeccable reputation he could impose his moderate view against the call for bloody revenge from the nobility against the peasants after their Revolt.

Ultimate results
The spirit of liberty (also of thought) courageously shown by John Wycliffe, as well as the spirit of resistance to tyranny, continued to live among the population. They secured an early abolition of serfdom and feudalism in England.
The struggle against the power of the Church culminated into the changes imposed by Henry VIII.

This book, which read like a thriller, is must read for all those interested in English and medieval history. One easily understands why John Wycliffe was considered as a dangerous heretic by the Catholic Church.

N.B. I am not a professional historian. Some commentators consider G. M. Trevelyan as a partisan political (liberal) historian. Corrections on his vision are welcome.