Lollards was the name given to followers of John Wycliffe and was a way of saying they were “mumblers” because they mumbled about their desire to have the Bible in the hands of everyday worshippers. Bibles for all was quite a radical thing in the late 1300s and early 1400s in England. Sir John Oldcastle, one of the chief Lollards, was hanged for his beliefs on December 14, 1417 and refused to acknowledge that he should confess to a priest. One of the seats of “Lollardism” was Kent where Sir Oldcastle’s old castle still stands.
