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Henry IV's Suppression of the Lollards (1401)

Type Event Region Europe Time 1401

In 1401, England's Henry IV pushed Parliament to pass the statute De heretico comburendo, authorizing burning heretics and systematically suppressing…

Timeline

  1. 1390–1400Throughout England · EnglandAfter John Wycliffe's death, his critiques of clerical authority and advocacy of biblical authority spread through preachers (such as John Ball and John Ball) in towns and countryside, forming the Lollard movement. The church condemned it repeatedly in the 1390s, but lacked clear legal grounds for handing heretics over to secular courts for execution.
  2. 1401Westminster · LondonHenry IV pushed through the statute De heretico comburendo (on the burning of heretics), providing that those judged heretical by the church and unrepentant be burned by secular courts. This was the first time England established the death penalty for religious heresy in statutory form.
  3. 1401Smithfield · LondonOn March 2, 1401, the Prague-born Lollard William Sawtrey was burned at Smithfield in London, becoming the statute's first victim. England's suppression of the Lollards thereafter became institutionalized; the movement went underground but did not immediately disappear.

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