The early years of Henry VIIF's reign witnessed some increase in that hostility to the established church which is loosely classified under the heading of anticlericalism. In the major incident associated with the case of Richard Hunne resentment of clerical privilege was expressed both by the citizens of London and by the House of Commons. A decade later, as Lutheran influence began to penetrate the country, anticlerical writing became common. The authors ranged from those who had a deep commitment to the new theology, such as Tyndale or Jerome Barlow, to those who expressed principally the negative aspects of criticism of the clergy, such as Simon Fish. Yet whatever their starting-point and approach, most of the writers shared in common at least two assumptions: that general reform within the church was necessary if it were once again to fulfil its true function of ministering to the faithful and that clerical immunities and privileges were one of the main obstacles to such reform and must therefore be abolished. Immunities and privileges included not only the legal advantages enjoyed by the clergy but also the secure possession of wealth. The reformers were already arguing that great wealth was not compatible with devotion to spiritual duty: ‘love of worldly things’, commented the lawyer Christopher St German, ‘strangleth the love of God’. An attack upon the riches of the church was also one of the best ways to rally support for the cause of reform; the cry that the clergy were too affluent, that they held in their hands a disproportionate part of the wealth of the realm, had an immediate appeal that needed no reference to any change in doctrine.