John Wycliffe's unintended audiences and the revolt of 1381

Decades ago, Wycliffe was thought to be the first mover of rebellion, but the idea that the great scholar was the ideologue of the revolt is now no longer defensible. The rising, as Anne Hudson 1 and many other medievalists have shown, was no concern of scholars; nor was it the outcome of Lollard sermons.

However, a clearer understanding of his doctrines, and his audiences, intended and unintended make it possible to assume the existence of a link between Wycliffe's doctrines, and the way his contemporary rebels had interpreted, and used them as motives for revolt.