By the late 14th century AD, the Church had become extremely wealthy. In larger churches and cathedrals the clergy wore richly decorated vestments (robes), and used ceremonial vessels of gold and silver, encrusted with jewels. A new source of income had also appeared with the sale of indulgences: pardons for sins granted by the Pope.

Many local churches were humble places, of course, and their parish priests not much richer than their congregations. Even they, however, were set apart and above their congregation. The priest celebrated the central service of the Church, the mass, behind a screen, hidden from the people. The language of the services and the Bible was Latin. The government of the Church from the Pope at its head, through cardinals, archbishops and bishops was a powerful and rigid structure.

All these things contributed to anti-clerical feeling. During the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the Archbishop of Canterbury was killed by the London mob. The scholar John Wycliffe (died 1384) criticised the wealth of the Church and the unworthiness of many of the clergy. His writing inspired dissenters called the Lollards, who were against the authority of the Church and believed in an English Bible. These beliefs foreshadowed the Reformation of the 16th century.