JOHN WYCLIFFE (1324–84) was an English theologian, lay preacher, translator and reformist. Wycliffe was an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers are known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement which preached a legalistic Gospel. He is considered the founder of the Lollard movement, a precursor to the Protestant Reformation (for this reason, he is called "The Morning Star of the Reformation"). He was one of the earliest opponents of papal authority influencing secular power.
The most prominent of the Reformers before the Reformation, Wycliffe was also an early advocate for translation of the Bible in the common tongue. He completed his translation directly from the Vulgate into vernacular English in the year 1382, now known as the Wycliffe Bible. It is believed that he personally translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and it is possible he translated the entire New Testament, while his associates translated the Old Testament. Wycliff's Bible appears to have been completed by 1384, with additional updated versions being done by Wycliffe's assistant John Purvey and others in 1388 and 1395.
Wycliffe was born at an important time in the history of England. The country was becoming recognized as a distinctive nation. The Norman Conquest had taken place in 1066, and the Frenchmen who had come to England with William the Conqueror, had been given lands there, and with their vast numbers of servants they had settled down. In consequence, there were people living in one country, but speaking two different languages. Gradually the English language grew out of a mixture of the old Saxon and the Norman French, and eventually by the time of Wycliffe, the two races had become united in one nation, speaking one language.
This was a period when the power of the Papacy was very great. Most people never saw a Bible, let alone one written in English, and, even if they had seen one they probably would not have been able to read it. Most people believed that they were in bondage to the Church and its sacraments. They thought that indulgences (gifts of money) could purchase forgiveness for sins. In every area of life, the Church exercised enormous control. An example of this control is shown by the fact that if a man died without leaving something to the Church in his will, the Church took over his affairs.
Vast sums of money went to the Vatican through direct taxation. As well, many English benefices were being given by the Pope to Italians, which meant that this money also found its way into the Vatican's coffers. A further aggravation to the English in this matter was the strong suspicion that much of the money was being used to help pay the armies of those with whom they were at war.
1348 saw the beginning of that terrible pestilence, known in history as the Black Death. This fearful plague started in Asia and spread westward across Europe. By August of that year it had reached England. There was enormous loss of life in London, and it caused the death of about half the nation's population. Wycliffe was deeply affected by this disaster.
If we remember that in England at that time there was no alternative to the Church of Rome, we begin to have some idea of the bravery of Wycliffe in attacking the institution which controlled the lives of every Englishman. Wycliffe began his attack on the Roman Church by exposing the wicked practices of the "begging friars". They caused much harm to the people and it was this which caused Wycliffe to speak out against them.
Since the time of King John, England had been trying to gain its freedom from Rome. Because of a dispute over the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury, King John had been excommunicated by the pope. In the end John had to submit unconditionally to the pope and to pay annually a large sum of money for the right to continue as King of England. This caused England much humiliation and is one of the reasons leading to the barons forcing John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215.
This payment lapsed, but in 1365, the Pope tried to reassert the Church's authority over England and he demanded the payment of this annual 'rental'. By this time, England was becoming more powerful. The enormous tactical defeat by the English Army, against the much larger French forces at the Battle of Crecy, in 1346, was still very much in the minds of Englishmen; so the Pope had chosen an unwise time to demand this money. Adding to the resentment was the well-founded belief that these taxes would be used to pay the armies of England's enemies.
The King called the parliament together and presented the pope's demands to them, and asked for their response. It is apparent from the replies (recorded by Wycliffe), which were given by the various members of parliament in reply to the King, that Wycliffe had already been widely consulted and his ideas were very acceptable to these people. The decision by parliament was to reject totally the Pope's claims. As Wycliffe wrote about this issue: "There cannot be two temporal sovereigns in one country; either XXXXXX is King or XXXXX [the Pope] is king. We make our choice. We accept XXXX of England and refuse XXXXX of Rome."
This struggle gave Wycliffe a wonderful opportunity to express widely his views on the papacy and enabled him to greatly undermine its influence on the English people. However, the battle for authority between England and Rome continued, and at one time John Wycliffe was sent as one of the commissioners to a meeting with the papal delegates to Bruges in the Netherlands. After two years Wycliffe returned to England feeling that mostly the time had been wasted. However, by meeting with those who were closely associated with the Pope, he came to a clearer understanding of the principles and motives which guided these men. He now spoke of the Pope as anti-Christ. The King rewarded his efforts at Bruges by appointing him Rector of Lutterworth.
Wycliffe's influence upon the nation was growing. He was widely respected at Oxford (where he taught), and he was influential with numerous members of parliament. The pope and his supporters were, of course, furious and sought by several means, including the issuing of papal 'bulls', to have Wycliffe imprisoned and punished for his 'heresy'.
In 1377, the Bishop of London summoned Wycliffe to appear before him in St Paul's. Two very powerful friends, the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl Marshall of England were with Wycliffe to lend him their support. A very large crowd had gathered to hear the proceedings, and it was with much difficulty that the three friends were able to make their way into the chapel where the meeting was being held. The bishop was angry when he saw the support Wycliffe was being given and there was a very heated exchange of words between the Bishop and the noblemen. Indeed it became such an uproar that the trial was abandoned and Wycliffe returned home.
Papal bulls were sent to England which allowed the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy the opportunity to call Wycliffe before them. This was done at Lambeth in April, 1378. A large crowd came with Wycliffe at this appearance, and the bishops were very aware of the support he was being given. During the proceedings a message arrived from the queen mother forbidding them to pass sentence on Wycliffe. This caused so much fear among the bishops and their supporters that they did not dare harm Wycliffe. He, however, made his position very clear in a lengthy written paper showing many of the errors of the papacy. He also pointed out the reforms which should be carried out if the Church was to be true to Christ and His commandments.
The pope wished to establish the Papal Inquisition in England. Wycliffe gave such wise advice to the government of his day that the pope was unable to do so. Even though English "heretics" were persecuted over the next 200 years, things would have been much worse if the pope had succeeded in his desire.
It was at this time that the Papal Schism took place with a pope at Avignon, France, and another in Rome. Both claimed to be infallible and each excommunicated the other. Added to all the other things which had been happening, Wycliffe came to see clearly that the whole papal system was anti-Christian.
When he declared his views on the errors of transubstantiation, he was expelled from Oxford and lost the support of the Duke of Lancaster. His political influence waned but his usefulness increased. He retired to Lutterworth. With the death of the Primate in the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, Wycliffe's old enemy, the Bishop of London, became the Primate. In 1382 the new Primate called a synod to try to punish Wycliffe. During the trial, Wycliffe appealed to Parliament and he called for many changes in the way the Catholic Church was administered. He presented his reasons clearly. The Commons supported Wycliffe and when the trial was over, he went back to his parish of Lutterworth to begin translating the Latin Vulgate into the first English language Bible.
Wycliffe only lived another two years but without his work commitments at Oxford, and with the assistance of others, he was able to complete the translation of the Bible into English. It is generally accepted that Wycliffe did the translation work on the New Testament, but Nicholas de Hereford and John Purvey translated the Old Testament under Wycliffe's supervision. (Not only should Wycliffe be recognized for his wonderful efforts in translating the Scriptures but many scholars believe that he should be accepted as the father of English prose.) Besides the work of translation he was enabled to develop, expound and publish his theological views as well as training and sending out his preachers. Despite these great tasks he acted as a true pastor to the congregation at Lutterworth. Copies of some of the sermons he preached there are still in print today.
Today it is taken for granted that we should be able to read the Bible in our own language, but in Wycliffe's day this was certainly not the situation. Until Wycliffe produced his translation, Jerome's Latin Vulgate was the only version of Scripture available for English people to read. Added to this was a prohibition on anyone other than the clergy reading the Scriptures. Wycliffe's work in making the Scriptures available to ordinary people was much opposed by the clergy and some years later the Church passed a decree which virtually prohibited the translation of the Bible.
Even with the translation completed, there still remained the enormous task of publishing. Every word had to be hand-written because the printing press had not yet been invented. Even today, after more than 600 years, there are about one hundred and seventy hand written copies still available. This gives us some idea of the great number of people who worked at this task for the even greater number who wished to have their own copy of the Scriptures. It has been estimated that it would have cost a man six month's wages to pay for a copy of the New Testament!
While all these things were going on, it was inevitable that his enemies would not be content to leave Wycliffe in peace, even though he had retired to Lutterworth. He was summoned to appear before the Pontiff in Rome but he suffered his first stroke and was unable to go. In his reply to the pope he said, among other things, that Christ has "taught me more obedience to God than to man." Despite his physical weakness, he continued with his preaching. During the worship service on December 29, 1384 he suffered his third stroke and died two days later. Over forty years later, by the order of a Church Council, his body and bones were exhumed and publicly burnt. His ashes were cast into the Swift River near Lutterworth with the idea that he would no longer have any influence, but the reverse was true. His teaching lived on and the Church of Rome was not able to silence him. As Thomas Fuller wrote, "And thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispensed all the world over."
Wycliffe came to deny all the distinctive beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. He wanted the Church of God to be freed from its entanglements with the State - to be separate and not to rely on the financial support of the government. He believed the free will offerings of the people should be the only revenue of the Church. Wycliffe believed that the translation of the Bible was absolutely essential, that people had to be able to read the Bible in a language they could understand.
Nearly a century and a half before Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, the seeds of that great movement had been sewn in England by John Wycliffe, "The Morning Star of the Reformation".
When someone said there was still a top ten poet/playwright left, I assumed this was whom they were talking about. Well, I was, at least.
onteVecchioFirenze.jpg
onteVecchioFirenze.jpg
I got mixed up in my categories and was talking about someone who would fit better in novel/short story. And Ozy was talking about someone else in the poet/playwright category. Not that this isn't a good pick--solid but will be very difficult to slot.
I got mixed up in my categories and was talking about someone who would fit better in novel/short story. And Ozy was talking about someone else in the poet/playwright category. Not that this isn't a good pick--solid but will be very difficult to slot.
