#english_history 

## Growing discontent
Much like the [[The poor in revolt in Medieval England|discontent with the state]], the discontent with the Church also grew. During the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, one rebel priest had called for the removal of all bishops and archbishops, nobles.

## Reasons for discontent
### Greed
The Church was a feudal power, and often treated its peasants and townspeople with as much cruelty as the nobles did.
The growing [[Nationalism in England|nationalism]] and the fact that [[War of England with Scotland and France|Edward III's wars in France]] were beginning to make the English people conscious of their "Englishness", paying taxes to the pope, a foreigner, began to seem like a bad idea.
Since the pope had been driven out of Rome and was living in Avignon in France, taxes paid to the church probably helped the French in the war. So, the king reduced the amount of tax money the pope could raise in Britain.
### Power
King's actions (lowering Pope's taxes) didn't trigger the clergy to oppose the king, since they were English and came from noble families, sharing their political views. As such, the Archbishop of Canterbury, also the King's chancellor, was executed by the rebels during the Peasants' Revolt in **1381**.


## Spread of religious writings
The spread of religious writings, which were popular with an increasingly literate population, was a direct threat to the authority of the Church over the religious life of the population, as these allowed people to pray and think independently of Chruch control.
Although most people still supported the authority of the Church, some did not. At the end of the 14th century new religious ideas appearead in England, which were dangerous to the Church, and were condemnded as heresy.
This heresy was known as **"Lollardy"** (Latin - "to say prayers"). One of the leaders of the momvemnt was John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor. Because of his criticism of the Roman Catholic Church, he was dismissed from Oxford in **1381**. He believed that everyone should be able to read the bible in English, hence he translated it in English, but died before, so his assistant finished it in **1395**, but did not receive the permission to publish it.

If the Lollards had been supported by the king, the [[English Reformation]] might have happened earlier.
But Richard's sucessor, Henry IV (1399-1413), was an avid supporter of the Church, and in 1401 introduced into England for the first the idea of executing the Lollards by burning.
The movement went underground.