“Lollards” is the name generally given to a heretical movement of late medieval England (ca. 1382-1430 CE) based on the ideas of Oxford theologian John Wyclif, although it was also used for a group of German sectaries. The origins of the name are unknown. Scholars speculate that it may have originated from the Middle Dutch word “lollaert” which means “mutter” or “mumble”, and which could be connected to the sect’s eventual style of worship, based on reading scriptures aloud. Other possibilities include a derivation of the word “lullaby”, which is related to canters, “lollium”, a word of Flemish origin that is related to hypocrisy, “lollen”, which is related to the English term “lull”, or even the verb “to loll”, meaning to idle, thus making Lollards…
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Citation: Sauer, Michelle M.. "Lollards, Lollardy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1467, accessed 26 April 2024.]
