ENGLAND AND THE EMPIRE: HERESY, PIETY AND POLITICS, 1 3 8 1 -1 4 1 6 DISSERTATION Presented n Part al Fulf llment of the Re)u rements for the Degree of Doctor of Ph losophy n the Graduate School of The Oh o State .n vers ty 0 y M i c h a e l J o s h u a V a n D u s s e n Ph. D., 2009 M. A., 2005 B. A., 2000 The Ohio State Universit 2 0 0 9 Dissertation Committee: A..roved b Professor Richard Firth (reen, Advisor Professor John N. King _______________ __________ A d v i s o r Professor Daniel Collins (raduate Program in 0 n g l i s h Professor Daniel ,obbins Co. right b Michael Joshua Van Dussen 2 0 0 9 A 0 S T R A C T This stud argues that medieval 0nglish .olitical alliances 1ith the ,ol Roman 0m.ire dre1 a variet o f 0nglish te2ts into 1ider continental circulation, and brought 0nglish res.onses to domestic heres into the orbit of international .olitics. I b e g i n 1 h e r e . o l i t i c a l alliance and reformist fervor meet, arguing that 0ngland4s res.onse to the (reat S c h i s m 5 1 3 8 8 -1418) and to W cliffite heres must be understood in terms of its broad cultural e2change 1ith Bohemia at the 0m.ire4s center . When in 1382 0ngland forged an alliance 1ith the 0m.ire through Richard II4s marriage to Anne of Bohemia in su..ort of t h e R oman .o.e, the O2ford theologian John W clif 1as escalating attacks on .a.al authorit . When W clif4s te2ts later end u. in Prague, do 1e conclude 5as man have) that Anne 1as someho1 im.licated? Did the Queen of 0ngland harbor and abet heres ? I sho1 ho1 0nglish authors from dis.arate ideological backgrounds co -o . t Anne4s authorit .articularl after her death, and ho1 their narratives have lingered on, giving Anne a long historiogra.hical legac . I re.osition Anne in the conte2t of 0nglish religious .olit ics, .resenting .reviousl unkno1n material from CAech archives. Then I demonstrate that the circulation of te2ts bet1een 0ngland and Bohemia 1as never limited to W cliffte 1ritingsB that Anglo -Bohemian cultural e2change initiall reflected the variegated reformist landsca.e in 0ngland 1hen W cliffism 1as still o.enl discussed among other reformist .rograms. 0ventuall this diversit of e2change 1ould be i i dominated b heretical communication Ca marked change from 1hat had once been the case. In the final cha .ters I illustrate ho1, as a result of the trafficking of W cliffite te2ts to Bohemia, the 0nglish .rosecution of heres came to intersect 1ith Anglo -I m . e r i a l di.lomac in the ears before the Council of Constance 51hich aimed to end the Schism), c o m . e l l i n g 0nglish officials to redefine their conce.t of 1hat had been considered an 0nglish heres . The .roDect de.arts from .revious e2aminations of Anglo -B o h e m i a n heretical communication b arguing that 1e see this heterodo2 e2change less for ho1 it .refigured the Reformation, and more for ho1 it .artici.ated in a 1idening of 0uro.ean cultural communication in the Schism .eriod, .articularl bet1een 0ngland and Central 0 u r o . e . i i i For Barbara i v AC1NO2LEDGMENTS This .roDect has benefitted from a number of .atient advisors, readers and su..orters as it develo.ed over the .ast si2 ears. I first of all thank Professor Richard Firth (reen, m doctoral advisor, for his generosit in s.ending count less hours discussing the .roDect 1ith me a t different stages, and for remaining a constant source of encouragement as it develo.ed. I have also valued m conversations 1ith man of the scholars of the medieval and earl modern .eriods a t Ohio State Univ er s i t . In .articular, Professors John King, Daniel Collins and Daniel ,obbins, all members of m dissertation committee, have shared kno1ledge of their res.ective areas of e2.ertise 1ith me, hel.ing this dissertation to develo. into the ver interdisci.li nar .roDect 1hich it has become. M readings in Old CAech 1ith Daniel Collins 1ere .articularl enDo able. At different stages, too, I have valued the .ers.ectives of Profes sor Alastair Minnis, m M. A. advisorB the encouragement and linguistic heft of Pr ofessors Christo.her Jones and Eeslie EockettB and the interest e2.ressed b all of the medievalists in the OSU De.artment of 0nglish, as 1ell as b others from the OSU communit . I am furthermore grateful t o the man scholars outside of the United States 1 h o have given generousl of their time as I researched this .roDect. In .articular I thank Professor Anne ,udson of the Universit of O2ford for her ideas, commentar and v encouragement on several .arts of this dissertation. Professors A. (. Rigg and (ret i D i n k o v a -Brunn 1ere also ver kind to meet 1ith me in Toronto to discuss matters of editing. Much of this .roDect 1as of course 1ritten and researched in Prague , 1here I met man kind and giving medievalists. M good friend and colleague Pavel Souku. at t h e Centrum MedievistickFch StudiG 5CMS) in Prague gave me access to the Centre4s 1onderful librar , and .rovided suggestions and guidance on numerous occasions. Also at CMS, Professor Jana H a c h o v I 1as kind to discuss 1ith me m transcri.tions of Anne o f B o hemia4s eulogies. David ,oleton, .rofessor at Charles Universit and a dear friend, s.ent man Wednesda evenings chatting 1ith me about medieval liturg , the ,ussites, and a range of other things throughout m ear in Prague. ,e and Professor Peter MorJe, also of Charles Universit , 1ere furthermore tremendousl hel.ful in granting me access to the BartoK Eibrar at the 0vangelickI TeologickI Fakulta. I also thank the staff of the NIrodnG Knihovna a n d t h e Knihovna Metro.olitnG Ka.itul in Prague , t h e N a t i onal Archives in Eondon, and the Lsterreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna for allo1ing me access to man of the manuscri.ts discussed in the coming cha.ters. I 1ould furthermore like to e2.ress m tremendous gratitude for the efforts of the OSU Interli brar Eoan staff, 1ho ke.t me su..lied 1ith electronic co.ies of elusive secondar scholarshi. on a 1eekl and often dail basis during m ear in Prague. A .roDect like this 1ould not have been .ossible 1ithout the generous financial su..ort I received f rom several fello1shi.s: a Foreign Eanguage and Area Studies 5FEAS) summer fello1shi. in 2006, a1arded b the OSU Center for Slavic and 0ast 0uro.ean Studies 5CS00S), 1hich funded intensive language stud in PragueB an v i a c a d e m i c - ear FEAS in 2008 -8 , a l s o a 1 arded b CS00S, 1hich funded a ear of research and language stud in the CAech Re.ublicB and an OSU Presidential Fello1shi. i n 2 0 0 8 -9, 1hich allo1ed me to devote m full attention to com.leting this dissertation. Finall , and most im.ortantl , I thank m 1ife, Barbara, for enduring and encouraging the difficult .rogress of com.leting this dissertation and si2 ears of graduate school, including moving to Prague for a ear. I dedicate this dissertation to ou 1 i t h l o v e . v i i 3ITA The Ohio State Universit , Columbus, Ohio Ph. D., degree conferred June 2 0 0 9 P h . D . c andidac conferred March 2008, 1ith letter of distinction Dissertation: N0ngland and the 0m.ire: ,eres , Piet and Politics , 1 3 8 1 -1 4 1 6 O Advisor: Richard Firth (reen M . A . , degree conferred June 2005 Focus: Medieval 0nglish Advisor: Alastair Minnis UniverAita Karlova 5Charles Universit ), Prague, CAech Re.ublic Institute of CAech S t u d i e s , October 2008 -J u n e 2 0 0 8 Theological Facult , October 2008 -J u n e 2 0 0 8 Institute for Eanguage and Pre.arator Studies , Jul 2005, Jul 2006 Ohio Wesle an Universit , Dela1are, Ohio B. A . , 0nglish Eiterature , degree conferred Ma 2000 Teaching Certification, grades 8 -1 2 P.0LICATIONS NBohemia in 0nglish Religious Controvers before the ,enrician Reformation.O The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, vol. 7: Papers from the Seventh International Symposium on the Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, Vila anna, Prague, Czech Republic, 21 -23 (une 2006 , edited b Hden Pk V. David and David R. ,oleton. P r a g u e , 2 0 0 9 . NConve ing ,eres : Qa certa ne student4 and the Eollard -,ussite Fello1shi..O V i a t o r 3 8 52008): 218 -2 3 4 . NBetokening Chastit : Marger Kem.e4s Sartorial Crisis.O Forum for ,odern anguage Studies 4 1 5 2 0 0 5 ) : 2 8 5 -2 8 8 . FIELDS OF ST.DY MaDor Field: 0 n g l i s h Area of 0m.hasis: Medieval v i i i TA0LE OF CONTENTS A b s t r a c t.............................................................................................................................................. ..... page ii Ac.nowledgments ............................................................................................................................................. v V i t a .............................................................................. ................................................................................. v i i i Introduction: Be ond Reformist ,istoriogra.h : To1ard a Wide Eate Middle Ages ...................................