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William Sawtrey (died March 1401) was an English Roman Catholic priest who was executed for heresy. Sawtrey was born in Norfolk, England. He was a follower of John Wycliffe, the leader of an early reformation movement called Lollardy. Sawtrey was a priest at two churches, St. Margaret’s in Lynn and Tilney in Norfolk. ==Sawtrey's association with Lollardy== Sawtrey preached and endorsed Lollard beliefs, including the rejection of Catholic saints and the sacrament of Eucharist. Of the latter, he claimed that "after the consecration (the host ) by the priest there remaineth true material bread" (Trevelyan 334). As a result of spreading these views, Sawtrey was taken to Henry le Despenser on 30 April 1399. Le Despenser, a bishop then based in North Elmham, ordered an examination of Sawtrey. The examination lasted for two days. Sawtrey’s examiners claimed that he rejected free will, and that he did not believe in venerating images and embarking on pilgrimages. He was therefore charged with heresy and sent to an Episcopal prison. Sawtrey denounced Lollardy upon his release. He abjured privately at first, but then publicly in Lynn on 25 May 1399. He appeared before le Despenser in St. John’s Hospital the next day, and swore on the Gospels that he would never again preach Lollardy. He also promised to never hear confession without a license from le Despenser. In 1401, Sawtrey moved to London and began working as a parish-priest at St. Osyth’s, where he continued to preach Lollard beliefs. It is possible that he moved to London in order to distance himself from le Despencer, but he had not removed himself from the anti-Lollard sentiment of the Catholic Church. One year earlier, ''De heretico comburendo'' (''Statute of Heresies'') was passed. The statute called for the burning of heretics either plainly rejecting Catholicism, or accepting Catholic beliefs but returning to their previous heretical beliefs. Sawtrey was summoned to appear at St. Paul’s on 12 February 1401. Sawtrey appeared before Archbishop Thomas Arundel. Before convocation, Sawtrey was delivered the following heretical charges: failure to “adore the true cross” (National Biography 869), belief that a priest’s time spent in hourly prayers could be better spent preaching and spreading the word of God, his opinion on the temporalities of the church and on how the money could be put to better use, preaching on adoration of mankind over angels, and finally his belief in consubstantiation. Sawtrey resisted, and was once again charged with heresy. Sawtrey demanded a copy of his charges and was given 18 February to make an appeal. At his appeal before Parliament he defended his beliefs with quotes from St. John, St. Paul, and St. Augustine. His defence was heavily questioned by Arundel, who spent three hours questioning of the topic of the Eucharist alone, all the while trying to convert him back to Catholicism. Sawtrey resisted, and on 23 February charges were once again made against him. He was condemned and “through seven successive stages he was degraded from priest to doorkeeper, then stripped of every clerical function, attribute, and vestment”.〔 Vol. 50 p. 381.〕 870) Sawtrey was convicted and sentenced to death on 26 February 1401. In March, he was taken to Smithfield and publicly burned at the stake. He was the first follower of Lollardy to die for his beliefs. He and John Purvey, a friend and follower of John Wycliffe who also was tortured for his beliefs, were the two most egregious cases against Lollardy committed under the Statute of Heresy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Sawtrey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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