Religion in Medieval England

Last night I was in my favorite pizzeria reading Speculum, a Medieval Studies rag, when I came across this observation in a review of Church and Society in England, 1000-1500 by Andrew Brown.

Less familiar to the general reading audience is the reason why Continental
heresies did not appear in England. Brown makes a convincing argument for
lay influence on the growth of the English church and the challenge presented by
Lollardy. The English clergy, forced by financial necessity and
upper-class pressures, was responsive earlier to the concerns of the laity, and
consequently there was less dissatisfaction with the church. If his
premise is correct, this allows for new questions to be raised concerning the
English experience of the Reformation, which unfortunately falls outside this
work's scope.

This is talking about the deep roots of Anglicanism, which was born out of something deeper that the marriage plans of an English king thwarted by the political needs of a Roman pope. There are also implications for the state of any church, but particularly the Catholic Church, of today.