The convocation records of the Churches of England and Ireland are the principal source of our information about the administration of those churches from middle ages until modern times. They contain the minutes of clergy synods,the legislation passed by them, tax assessments imposed by the king on the clergy, and accounts of the great debates about religious reformation; they also include records of heresy trials in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,many of them connected with the spread of Lollardy. However, they have never before been edited or published in full, and their publication as a complete set of documents provides a valuable resource for scholarship.
This volume contains the acts of convocation during the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV, extensively reconstructed from the archbishops' registers [which are in disorder for much of this period] and other sources. The texts enable us to chart the evolution of the convocations to the point where they became virtually synonymous with provincial councils, and show how they dealt with the challenge posed by John Wycliffe and the early Lollards.