Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England Mistress Margery, A Tale of the Lollards, by Emily Sarah Holt. ________________________________________________________________________ This is a short book, but it was quite hard to transcribe on account of so much of it being in mediaeval English, with its inconsistent and uncouth spelling. Margery is a young woman of high birth, who goes one day to hear a sermon preached by one of the new Lollards, who advise people to read the Bible as recently translated by Wycliffe, and to believe only what they find therein. This was directly contrary to the view of the official church, which had made up all sorts of doctrines that could be seen to be not at all supported by the words of the Gospel. Margery can only get hold of a copy of the Gospel according to Saint John. Margery is very much struck with the words of the Gospel, despite the hostility of all around her. Everyone was far too afraid of the extreme punishment meted out by "Holy Church" to those who questioned its teachings. And Margery ends up by being burnt at the stake for her belief in the Gospel, as opposed to what was taught by the Church. But you will learn a lot about upper-class life in the early years of the fifteenth century, and if you can put up with the forms of speech, you will gain thereby. Not recommended for audiobook, since a great deal of editing, such as removal of footnotes, conversion of mediaeval speech to modern, and so forth. ________________________________________________________________________ MISTRESS MARGERY, A TALE OF THE LOLLARDS, BY EMILY SARAH HOLT. CHAPTER ONE. A REGULAR OF OXENFORDE. "Give me the book, and let me read; My soul is strangely stirred-- They are such words of love and truth As ne'er before I heard!" Mary Howitt.