ABSTRACT
Lollardy was a complex phenomenon, and in examining its origins one has to look at various factors to explain why it arose, and why England, which had hitherto been singularly free of heresy, proved a suitable ground for it. Even more surprising was the development of a popular movement after Wyclif's condemnation; professors are not naturally revolutionary leaders. His first major controversy, with the Carmelite friar John Kenningham, which was concerned with the issue of the eternity of being, was in the early 1370s, when Wyclif was incepting in theology and was concerned with applying some of his metaphysical views to theological matters. When Wyclif was summoned before the bishops in 1377 to answer for his contumacy in attacking the episcopate, it was Gaunt who defended him, both by retaining the services of various doctors of divinity and by trying to overawe the Convocation at which Wyclif was cited to appear.
