The ''Ecclesiae Regimen'', also ''Remonstrance'', ''xxxvii Conclusiones Lollardorum'', or ''Thirty Seven Articles against Corruptions in the Church'', is a church reformation declaration against the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

of England in the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. It had no official title given to it when written and the author(s) did not identify themselves in the original manuscript. This public declaration by the English medieval sect called the

Lollards Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...

was announced to the English

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the end of the manifesto

Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards is a Middle English religious text written in 1395 containing statements by leaders of the English medieval movement, the Lollards, inspired by some of the teachings of John Wycliffe. The text was presented to ...

published in 1395.Compston, p. 739 Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards: The Twelfth Conclusion: Arts and Crafts '' And though these matters be here shortly knit they be in another book longly declared, and may another more, all in our language, the which we would were communed to all true Christian men. ''

The manuscript (usually associated with the name ''Ecclesiae Regimen'') is a medieval Latin undated handwritten text document containing church reform thoughts of

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

and the Lollards. The Roman Catholic Church reformation ideas identified as originally belonging to John Wycliffe was expounded upon by the Wycliffite party known as the Lollards. The purpose of the manuscript was to show the reader how corrupt the Roman Catholic Church was at the time and that it needed reform. Scholars attribute the original manuscript ideas to Wycliffe but that it was actually written by

John Purvey John Purvey (c. 1354 – c. 1414) was an English preacher, reformer, and sometime disciple of John Wycliffe. He is popularly associated with the "Later Version" Middle English translations of at least the New Testament of the Middle English Bi ...

Forshall, p. xxviii after Wycliffe's death in 1384 and sometime before 1395. The arguments for Purvey being the sole author are based on the similarity between this and the General Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible (often attributed to Purvey). Another argument is in the similarity and style of Purvey’s confession in 1400.

Remonstrance

This manuscript was edited by Josiah Forshall and published in 1851 by Mr. Longmans. The English title they ascribed to this manuscript was ''Remonstrance against Romish corruptions in the Church: addressed to the people and parliament of England in 1395'' - with a shortened name of just ''Remonstrance.''

Provenance

The provenance of the text manuscript emanates from November 1897 when it was purchased at a sale in London by Mr. J. J. Green of Godwyn Lodge, Clive Vale,

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

. There is no paper trail history on the document before this time. There are known to be three copies of the manuscript in existence. The

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

has one, the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

in Oxford has another, and the third copy is at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. The medieval document seems to have been written in the late fourteenth century or early fifteenth century, however most likely before 1395 since it was identified in the ''

'' affixed in the form of a

placard A placard is a notice installed in a public place, like a small :wikt:card, card, Signage, sign, or :wikt:plaque, plaque. It can be attached to or hung from a vehicle or building to indicate information about the vehicle operator or contents of a ...

to the doors at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

and

Old St Paul's Cathedral Old St Paul's Cathedral was the cathedral of the City of London that, until the Great Fire of London, Great Fire of 1666, stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Paul of Tarsus, Saint Paul ...

for the 1395 English parliament. The English treatise has been identified as being compiled by the same author as the later version of the English translation of the

Wycliffe Bible Wycliffe's Bible (also known as the Middle English Bible ''MEB Wycliffite Bibles, or Wycliffian Bibles) is a sequence of orthodox Middle English Bible translations from the Latin Vulgate which appeared over a period from approximately 1382 to ...

, that is to say the secretary and cohort of Wycliffe,

Description

The handwriting of the treatise is on two sheets of heavy paper. It is written on both sides of the paper which were stitched together with black thread at a much later time since the original gluing method had failed over time. The original black ink has washed to a light brown.Compston, p. 738 ''Ecclesia Regimen'', the Latin version, has chapter-headings for each of the thirty-seven English "Conclusions Lollardorum".

References

Sources

* ''The Church quarterly review,'' Volume 51; ''Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (Great Britain)''; Dr. Gasquet, article 1: ''Dr. Gasquet and the old English bible and other essays''; Spottiswoode, Jan 1901 * Compston, H. F. B., ''The English Historical Review,'' Vol. 26, No. 104 (Oct., 1911), pp. 738–749, Oxford University Press (JSTOR 549966) * Forshall, Josiah, ''The holy bible containing the old and new testaments with the apocryphal books in the earliest english versions made from the latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers edited by Josiah Forshall and Sir Frederic Madden'', Austrian National Library, University press 1850
Remonstrance against Romish corruptions in the Church: addressed to the people and parliament of England in 1395
History of Catholicism in England Lollardy Religious proclamations {{Proto-Protestantism

Contents

Remonstrance

Provenance

Description

References

Sources