LOLLARDS, in ecclesiastical history, a religious
sect, differing in many religious points from the church
of Rome, which arose in Germany about the begin-
ning of the 14th century; so called, as many writers
have imagined, from Walter Lollard, who began to
dogmatize in 1315, and was burnt at Cologne: though
others think that Lollard was no surname, but merely
a term of reproach applied to all heretics who con-
cealed the poison of error under the appearance of
piety.
The monk of Canterbury derives the origin of the
word Lollard among us, from lolium, "tare;" as if
the Lollards were the tares sown in Christ's vineyard.
Abelly says, that the word Lollard signifies "praising
God," from the German loben, "to praise," and herr,
"Lord;" because the Lollards employed themselves
in travelling about from place to place, singing psalms
and hymns.
Others, much to the same purpose, derive lollhard,
tullhard, or lollert, tullert, as it was written by the
ancient Germans, from the old German word tullen, tol-
len, or tallen, and the termination hard, with which
many of the High Dutch words end. Tullen signifies
"to sing with a low voice," and therefore Lollard
is a singer, or one who frequently sings; and in the
vulgar tongue of the Germans it denotes a person who
is continually praising God with a song, or singing
hymns to his honour. The Alexians or Cellites were
called Lollards, because they were public singers who
made it their business to inter the bodies of those who
died of the plague, and sang a dirge over them in a
mournful and indistinct tone as they carried them to the
grave. The name was afterwards assumed by persons
that dishonoured it; for we find, among those Lollards
who made extraordinary pretences to piety and religion,
and spent the greatest part of their time in meditation,
prayer, and such acts of piety, there were many abo-
minable hypocrites, who entertained the most ridiculous
opinions, and concealed the most enormous vices under
the specious mark of this extraordinary profession. And
many injurious aspersions were propagated against those
who assumed this name by the priests and monks; so
that, by degrees, any person who covered heresies or
crimes under the appearance of piety, was called a Lol-
lard. Thus the name was used not to denote any one
particular sect, but was formerly common to all persons
and all sects who were supposed to be guilty of impiety
towards God or the church, under an external profes-
sion of extraordinary piety. However, many societies
consisting both of men and women under the name of
Lollards, were formed in most parts of Germany and
Flanders, and were supported partly by their manual lab-
ours, and partly by the charitable donations of pious
persons. The magistrates and inhabitants of the towns
where these brethren and sisters resided, gave them
particular marks of favour and protection, on account
of their great usefulness to the sick and needy. They
were thus supported against their malignant rivals, and
obtained many papal constitutions by which their in-
stitute was confirmed, their persons exempted from
the cognizance of the inquisitors, and subjected en-
tirely to the jurisdiction of the bishops; but as these
measures were insufficient to secure them from mole-
station, Charles duke of Burgundy, in the year
1472, obtained a solemn bull from Pope Sixtus IV.
ordering that the Cellites or Lollards should be rank-
ed among the religious orders, and delivered from the
jurisdiction of the bishops; and Pope Julius II. grant-
ed them yet greater privileges in the year 1506. Mo-
sheim informs us that many societies of this kind are
still subsisting at Cologne, and in the cities of Flanders,
though they have evidently departed from their ancient
rules.
Lollard and his followers rejected the sacrifice of
the mass, extreme unction, and penances for sin; ar-
guing, that Christ's sufferings were sufficient. He is
likewise said to have set aside baptism, as a thing of
no effect; and repentance, as not absolutely necessary,
&c.
Lollards &c.—In England, the followers of Wicliffe were called, by way of reproach, Lollards, from some affinity there was between some of their tenets; though others are of opinion that the English Lollards came from Germany.
They were solemnly condemned by the archbishop of Canterbury and the council of Oxford.