Lollardy in Mum and the Sothsegger: A Reconsideration

Abstract

Many scholars believe that the anti-fraternal and overall anticlerical thrust of Mum and the Sothsegger indicates sympathies with Lollardy or Wycliffism, but this article argues that the poem’s anticlericalism is best explained with reference to alliterative Anglo-Saxon homilies and the Anglo-Saxon charters of ancient Benedictine monastic houses. Mum and the Sothsegger nostalgically draws from the Anglo-Saxon anticlerical critique in order to argue both for a return to older institutional arrangements, and for the rights of (Anglo-Saxon) kings to confer properties and privileges.