Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
JOHN WYCLIFFE AND THE LOLLARDS
Parallel with the social unrest of the 1370s were the demands for clerical reforms made by the
scholar and heretic
John Wycliffe
, whose ideas were keenly taken up by Londoners. A fierce
critic of the papacy and the monastic orders, Wycliffe produced the first translation of the Bible
into English in 1380. He was tried for heresy at Lambeth Palace, and his followers, known as
Lollards
, were harshly persecuted. In 1415, the Council of Constance, which burned the Czech
heretic Jan Hus at the stake, also ordered Wycliffe's body to be exhumed and burnt.
A decade later, the country was plunged into more widespread conflict during the
so-called
Wars of the Roses
, the name now given to the strife between the cousins
within the rival noble houses of Lancaster and York. Londoners wisely tended to sit
on the fence throughout the conflict, only committing themselves in 1461, when they
opened the gates to the Yorkist king Edward IV (1461-70 and 1471-83), thus helping
him to depose the mad Henry VI (1422-61 and 1470-71). In 1470, Henry, who had
spent five years in the Tower, was proclaimed king once more, only to be deposed again
a year later, following Lancastrian defeats at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.
Tudor London
he
Tudor
family, which with the coronation of
Henry VII
(1485-1509) emerged
triumphant from the mayhem of the Wars of the Roses, reinforced London's
pre-eminence during the sixteenth century, when the Tower of London and the royal
palaces of Whitehall, St James's, Richmond, Greenwich, Hampton Court and Windsor
provided the backdrop for the most momentous events of the period. At the same time,
the city's population, which had remained constant at around fifty thousand since the
Black Death, increased dramatically, trebling in size during the course of the century.
One of the crucial developments of the century was the English
Reformation
, the
separation of the English Church from Rome, a split initially prompted not by
doctrinal issues, but by the failure of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of
Henry VIII
(1509-47), to produce a male heir. In fact, prior to his desire to divorce Catherine,
Henry, along with his lord chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, had been zealously persecuting
Protestants. However, when the Pope refused to annul Henry's marriage, Henry knew
he could rely on a large amount of popular support, as anti-clerical feelings were
running high. By contrast, Henry's new chancellor, Thomas More, wouldn't
countenance divorce, and resigned in 1532. Henry then broke with Rome, appointed
himself head of the English Church and demanded both citizens and clergy swear
allegiance to him. Very few refused, though More was among them, becoming the
country's first Catholic martyr with his execution in 1535.
Henry may have been the one who kickstarted the English Reformation, but he was a
religious conservative, and in the last ten years of his reign he succeeded in executing as
many Protestants as he did Catholics. Religious turmoil only intensified in the decade
following Henry's death. First, Henry's sickly son,
Edward VI
(1547-53), pursued a
staunchly anti-Catholic policy. By the end of his short reign, London's churches had
lost their altars, their paintings, their relics and virtually all their statuary. After an
abortive attempt to secure the succession of Edward's Protestant cousin, Lady Jane
1422
1455-85
1476
1483
Riot ensues after victory
of City of London over the
City of Westminster in a
wrestling match
Wars of the
Roses
William Caxton sets up the first
printing press in the precincts
of Westminster Abbey
Death of the Princes in the
Tower, Edward V and his
brother the Duke of York
