The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards is a Middle English religious text containing statements by leaders of the English medieval movement, the Lollards, inspired by teachings of John Wycliffe. The Conclusions were written in 1395. The text was presented to the Parliament of England and nailed to the doors of Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral as a placard (a typical medieval method for publishing). The manifesto suggests the expanded treatise Thirty-Seven Conclusions (Thirty-seven Articles against Corruptions in the Church) for those that wished more in-depth information. Twelve conclusions The text summarizes twelve areas in which the Lollards argued that the Christian Church in England needed reform. First conclusion: state of the Church The first conclusion asserts that the English Church has become too involved in affairs of temporal power, led by the bad example of the Church of Rome. Second conclusion: the priesthood The second conclusion asserts that the ceremonies used for the ordination of priests and bishops are without scriptural basis or precedent. Third conclusion: clerical celibacy The third conclusion asserts that the practice of clerical celibacy has encouraged sodomy among the clergy. Fourth conclusion: transubstantiation The fourth conclusion asserts that the doctrine of transubstantiation leads to idolatrous worship of everyday objects (the communion wafers). Fifth conclusion: exorcisms and hallowings The fifth conclusion asserts that the exorcisms and hallowings carried out by priests are a sort of witchcraft and are incompatible with Christian theology. Sixth conclusion: clerics in secular offices The sixth conclusion asserts that it is inappropriate for men who hold high office in the Church to simultaneously hold positions of great temporal power. Seventh conclusion: prayers for the dead The seventh conclusion asserts that prayers for the souls of specific individual deceased persons is uncharitable, since it implicitly excludes all the other blessed dead who are not being prayed for, and that the practice of requesting prayers for the dead by making financial contributions is a sort of bribery that corrupts the Church. Eighth conclusion: pilgrimages The eighth conclusion asserts that the practices of pilgrimage and the veneration of relics at best are ineffectual for spiritual merit and at worst approach idolatry in their worship of created objects. Ninth conclusion: confession The ninth conclusion asserts that the practice of confession for the absolution of sins is blasphemous because only God has the power to forgive sins and because if priests did have that power it would