The Repressor of Over Much Blaming of the Clergy

This two-volume work, published in the Rolls Series in 1860, is valuable for both religious and linguistic history. A vernacular text written in a period of division within the Church and widespread popular religious discontent, it provides a record of the arguments that fuelled this division. Reginald Pecock (c.1392-c.1459) recounts the attacks made by Lollard reformers and provides well-composed answers to them. A firm believer in papal supremacy, Pecock insisted on proving doctrine by reason, a position which laid him open to the charges of heresy that dogged his career and eventually led to his disgrace. Volume 2 deals with ranks and degrees of clergy, papal statutes and authority, and religious orders. It also contains related contemporary texts in Latin both attacking and vindicating Pecock and his position. These include John Bury's answer to The Repressor, Gladius Salomonis, and a report of Pecock's eventual downfall and abjuration.