William Thorpe was a LOLLARD priest who was arrested
on April 17, 1407, for preaching Lollard ideology.
Thorpe wrote an account of his resulting
examination by Archbishop Thomas Arundel,
chancellor to Henry IV. Thorpe’s description of the
events gives a unique insight into the proceedings
of Lollard interrogation.
Little is known about the life of William
Thorpe. He was educated at Oxford and influenced
by the teachings of John WYCLIFFE and his
followers. It was probably through mutual Oxford
contacts that he met John Pollyrbache, the man
with whom Thorpe was arrested. Pollyrbache is
an alias and there is reason to believe he was also
known as John Pulverbatch, John Pollerpage, and
John Pullerbach (Jurkowski 2002).
Thorpe’s account is interesting in part because
of the political environment in which it occurred.
Arundel was hostile toward the Lollards and influential
in the 1402 statute that allowed the burning
of heretics. Thorpe and Pollyrbach were arrested in
Shrewsbury, a town in no position to oppose the
will of the powerful chancellor. Although Thorpe
and Pollyrbach had been given permission to
preach at the church, Shrewsbury was in a precarious
situation with the civil authorities.Affected by
the Welsh Revolt, the Battle of Shrewsbury, and
flooding, which led to erosion of the town’s walls,
the town had requested full tax exemption until
the end of the war.When the opportunity to oblige
Arundel in his heretic hunt arose, they quickly
turned over Thorpe and Pollyrbache to the authorities
under the 1406 anti-Lollard statute
(Jukowski 2002).
The account itself is important as a religious
tract because it gives additional written information
on the various beliefs of Lollardy. Thorpe
willingly admitted he preached the following:
loat loe sacrament of loe auter aftir loe consecracioun
was material breed; and loat ymagis
schulden in noo wyse be worschippid; and loat
men schulden not goon in pilgrimage; and loat
preestis haue now no titil to tilois; and loat it is
not leeful to swere in ony maner
(Hudson 1993)
That the Sacrament of the Altar after the consecration
was material bread; and that images
should in no wise be worshipped; and that
men should not go on pilgrimage; and that
priests have now no title to tithes; and that it
is not lawful to swear in any manner.
Although Arundel threatened Thorpe with burning,
Thorpe not only refused to recant his beliefs,
but he also said the people who had done so did it
at the peril of their souls and reputations.
William Thorpe’s account of his examination
under Archbishop Arundel is beneficial in its elucidating
the atmosphere of Shrewsbury during this
time of political turmoil, and, particularly, in its
presentation of a Lollard trial. As such, it also helps
illuminate Margery KEMPE’s depiction of her own
examination for Lollardy in her autobiography. No
one knows the details of Thorpe’s death, but he is
purported to have fled to Bohemia to join the Hussites,
since there are two Latin manuscripts of his
Testimony that were produced in Bohemia ca. 1420.
Bibliography
Jurkowski,Maureen.“The Arrest ofWilliam Thorpe in
Shrewsbury and the Anti-Lollard Statute of 1406,”
Historical Research: The Bulletin of the Institute of
Historical Research 75 (August 2002): 273–295.
Hudson,Anne, ed. Two Wycliffite Texts: The Sermon of
William Taylor 1406; The Testimony of William
Thorpe 1407. EETS 301. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1993.
Malene A. Little