William Sawtrey

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 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 [of 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 Despenser, 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.

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