John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe - The Morning Star of the Reformation

Nearly 700 years ago, probably in 1324, in Yorkshire, England, John Wycliffe was born. This was a period when great spiritual darkness lay across most of Europe. However, this brilliant man was used by God to influence greatly the spiritual life of England, and indeed much of Europe. Wycliffe has been called The Morning Star of the Reformation.

Wycliffe was born at an important time in the history of England. This country was becoming recognised 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.

Oxford University had achieved wide recognition and was considered by many to be the leading University in Europe. Academic qualifications were very highly valued and Wycliffe was greatly respected for his tremendous learning. However this was also a period when the power of the Papacy was very great. There was no true preaching of the Word of God. 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.

Wycliffe aimed to do away with the existing hierarchy and replace it with the "poor priests" who lived in poverty, were bound by no vows, had received no formal consecration, and preached the Gospel to the people.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.

When he was about thirteen, Wycliffe became a student at Merton College at Oxford. Sadly, rather than studying the Scriptures, men then spent their time studying writers such as Aquinas and Duns Scotus. However there had been one godly man who had been a professor at Merton College. His name was Bradwardine.

Bradwardine was finishing his career at about the same time that the young Wycliffe was starting his. Bradwardine was ready to accept what God had revealed in His Word. He saw the path that others missed. He taught the truth of the Gospel that God alone is able to save men from their sins by His sovereign grace. Light began to dawn across Europe because of this great man.

1348 saw the beginning of that terrible pestilence, known in history as the Black Death. This fearful plague started in Asia and spread westwards 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. Merle d'Aubigne records, "This visitation of the Almighty sounded like the trumpet of the judgement-day in the heart of Wycliffe." With desperate need he studied the Word of God that he might find a refuge from the judgement to come.

While Wycliffe was a brilliant scholar, he never held an important office in the University itself. He was, however, very highly regarded, and even his enemies agreed that he was "the flower of Oxford". His studies covered a wide range of interests, including the law of optics, chemical analysis, physiological genesis of sleep, geometrical and arithmetical rules, and national economics.

As well as Bradwardine, Robert Grosetete, Bishop of Lincoln, was another man whose writings were highly valued by Wycliffe. While such men were used by God to assist in Wycliffe's further knowledge, yet his understanding of the Scriptures was further advanced than theirs, and he was quite prepared to disagree with them when he felt it was necessary. Above everything else Wycliffe placed the Word of God, which was to him a beacon and a shining light in a world of gross spiritual darkness. (At this time there was no Bible written in English - it was only available in Latin.)

As soon as Wycliffe saw a truth he declared it and acted upon it. This inevitably led to conflict and the remainder of his life was one of toil and trouble, though his industry was greatly used by God for the furtherance of the true Gospel. Wise and learned men consider that he did more than any other man to change the course of English history. Some, including John Foxe, also consider that he was more responsible than Luther for the Reformation in England. Many believe that Wycliffe's place in history has not received the recognition which it should have done. Some scholars say that without a knowledge of the work done by him and continued by his followers, the Lollards, we could not understand the English Reformation.

Wycliffe's great strength was his adherence to the Scriptures. It was the faithful preaching and teaching from the Word of God which these men faithfully proclaimed which accomplished so much.

Wycliffe grew spiritually as he gained greater knowledge and understanding of what the Word of God was teaching. He came to see that the whole system of Rome was at variance with the Scriptures. Foxe says that Wycliffe thought about how he was to approach this matter. He decided that it "should be done by little and little." Therefore he started with small issues and so opened for himself a way to deal with greater matters. Thus "he came to touch the matters of the Sacraments, and other abuses of the Church."

John Wycliffe versus the Pope

Wycliffe advises King Richard II in his troubles with the pope and this leads to Wycliffe being called before the bishops at Lambeth. God protects him and Wycliffe continues to speak against the pope and the terrible errors of the Catholic Church.

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 practises 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 finish 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, Pope Urban V 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, led by King Edward III, 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.

Wycliffe wanted to see his ideas actualized – his fundamental belief was that the Church should be poor, as in the days of the apostles.King Edward called the parliament together and presented the pope's demands to them, and asked for their response. It is obvious 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 Edward is king or Urban is king. We make our choice. We accept Edward of England and refuse Urban 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. It would seem that 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, 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 Courtenay, Bishop of London, summoned Wycliffe to appear before him in St Paul's. Two very powerful friends, John of Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster) and Lord Percy (Earl Marshall of England) were with Wycliffe to lend him their support. Also 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 Courtenay and John of Gaunt. Indeed it became such an uproar that the trial was abandoned and Wycliffe returned home.

Even though Edward III and the Black Prince both died that year, the Black Prince's widow and mother of the new king, eleven-year-old Richard II, was very supportive of Wycliffe and was not afraid to make her views known. Parliament continued to seek the advice of Wycliffe in their dealings with the pope. This popularity of Wycliffe continued for a time.

However, it seems that after 1378 his popularity began to wane in political affairs. Nonetheless, his spiritual influence continued to grow and in God's providence he was able to accomplish much in the remaining years of his life.

Just as Luther's version had great influence upon the German language, so Wycliffe's english translation of the Bible, by reason of its clarity, beauty, and strength, influenced the English language as the King James Version was later to do.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. Despite his enemies' hatred, God was his protection.

David Fountain in his book, John Wycliffe, The Dawn of the Reformation, makes an interesting point. 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. He stated that the pope was the man of sin, "who exalteth himself above ... God", as II Thessalonians 2:4 tells us.

John Wycliffe and the translation of the Bible

Wycliffe bravely deals with his enemies, he works on the translation of the Bible into English and he sends out men to preach the Gospel.

Probably due to his increased workload and the numerous difficulties he had suffered, Wycliffe fell ill. When the friars heard of his illness they hurried to his bedside hoping that he would recant before his death. However Wycliffe was not going to change his mind. His response to them was, "I shall not die but live, and again declare the evil deeds of the friars." This prophecy was fulfilled and Wycliffe went on to the very important work of the translation of the Bible and the sending forth of his preachers, the Lollards.

John Wycliffe on his sickbed assailed by the friars at Oxford.When he declared his views on the errors of transubstantiation, he was expelled from Oxford and lost the support of John of Gaunt. His political influence waned but his usefulness in spiritual matters increased. He retired to Lutterworth. With the death of the Primate, Sudbury, in the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, Wycliffe's old enemy, William Courtenay, became the Primate. In 1382 Courtenay called a synod to try to punish Wycliffe. However the building where they were meeting began to rock and the whole city of London was shaken by a powerful earthquake. Despite the upset caused by this earthquake, Courtenay continued with the trial of Wycliffe.

The following year 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 but when the trial was over, he went back to his parish of Lutterworth and faithfully continued in the work to which God had called him.

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 recognised 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.

The History of the English Bible

The early history of the English Bible is one of the most fascinating chapters of church history and reads almost like a novel. The average English-speaking Christian today knows little about this glorious heritage, and it is crucial that each generation be re-instructed.

The Wycliffe BibleIt will be seen that the King James Bible is not merely another translation. Its heritage and the manner in which it was produced are unique in the history of Bible translation.

This history begins with John Wycliffe (1324-1384). The Scripture portions most commonly found among English people before Wycliffe were Anglo Saxon and French.

WYCLIFFE’S TIMES

In Wycliffe’s day Rome ruled England and Europe with an iron fist.

One hundred years earlier, Pope Innocent III had humbled King John of England. The king had done things that displeased the pope, so the pope excommunicated him and issued a decree declaring that he was no longer the king and releasing the people of England from obeying him. The pope further ordered King Philip of France to organize an army and navy to overthrow John, which Philip began to do with great zeal, eager to conquer England for himself.

The pope also called for a general crusade against John, promising the participants remission of sins and a share of the spoils of war.

In the meantime, King John submitted to the pope, pledging complete allegiance to him in all things and resigning England and Ireland into the pope’s hands. The following is an excerpt from the oath that John signed on May 15, 1213:

“I John, by the grace of God King of England and Lord of Ireland, in order to expiate my sins, from my own free will and the advice of my barons, give to the Church of Rome, to Pope Innocent and his successors, the kingdom of England and all other prerogatives of my crown. I will hereafter hold them as the pope's vassal. I will be faithful to God, to the Church of Rome, to the pope my master, and to his successors legitimately elected.”

The Scriptures was forbidden in the common languages of the people in Wycliffe’s day. One of Wycliffe’s enemies, Knyghton, a canon of Leicester, complained that by translating the Scriptures into English and thus laying it “open to the laity and to women who could read” Wycliffe was casting the gospel pearl under the feet of swine. This was the attitude that was typical of Roman Catholic leaders in that day.

WYCLIFFE’S DOCTRINE

Wycliffe was a Catholic priest but began to preach against Rome’s errors in his mid-30s. He did not reject Rome all at once but gradually grew in his understanding. There is a lot we do not know about his doctrine, as many of his writings have perished, but we do know that Wycliffe exposed many of Rome’s errors:

He rejected the doctrine that tradition is equal in authority with the Scriptures. He rejected transubstantiation and indulgences. He taught that the apostolic churches have only elders and deacons “and declared his conviction that all orders above these had been introduced by Caesarean pride” (Shelton, II, p. 415).

Wycliffe believed the Bible to be the Word of God without error from beginning to end. He testified, “It is impossible for any part of the Holy Scriptures to be wrong. In Holy Scripture is all the truth; one part of Scripture explains another” (Fountain, John Wycliffe, p. 48).

Wycliffe’s foundational doctrine was that the Bible is the sole authority for faith and practice and that men had the right to interpret Scripture for themselves before the Lord. He said, “Believers should ascertain for themselves what are the true matters of their faith, by having the Scriptures in a language which all may understand.”

Wycliffe was very bold against the pope, contending that “it is blasphemy to call any head of the church, save Christ alone” (Thomas Crosby, History of the English Baptists, I, 1740, p. 7).

Consider some other statements by Wycliffe on the subject of the papacy:

“It is supposed, and with much probability, that the Roman pontiff is the great Antichrist.”

“How than shall any sinful wretch, who knows not whether he be damned or saved, constrain men to believe that he is head of holy Church?” (Shelton, II, p. 415).

“Antichrist puts many thousand lives in danger for his own wretched life. Why, is he not a fiend stained foul with homicide who, though a priest, fights in such a cause?” (Eadie, History of the English Bible, I, pp. 46,47).

Wycliffe taught that men have the right to have the Bible in their own languages and was willing to endure the wrath of the Catholic authorities by translating the Scriptures into English. When Wycliffe began the translation work, the Pope in Rome issued “bulls” against him. Wycliffe’s reply was as follows:

Wyclifee is also known as "The Morning Star of Reformation"“You say it is heresy to speak of the Holy Scriptures in English. You call me a heretic because I have translated the Bible into the common tongue of the people. Do you know whom you blaspheme? Did not the Holy Ghost give the Word of God at first in the mother-tongue of the nations to whom it was addressed? Why do you speak against the Holy Ghost? You say that the Church of God is in danger from this book. How can that be? Is it not from the Bible only that we learn that God has set up such a society as a Church on the earth? Is it not the Bible that gives all her authority to the Church? Is it not from the Bible that we learn who is the Builder and Sovereign of the Church, what are the laws by which she is to be governed, and the rights and privileges of her members? Without the Bible, what charter has the Church to show for all these? It is you who place the Church in jeopardy by hiding the Divine warrant, the missive royal of her King, for the authority she wields and the faith she enjoins” (Fountain, John Wycliffe, pp. 45-47).

Wycliffe also taught that men had the right to interpret Scripture. “Believers should ascertain for themselves what are the true matters of their faith, by having the Scriptures in a language which all may understand.”

There is some evidence that Wycliffe rejected infant baptism, at least toward the end of his life. There is evidence of this from his own writings. Wycliffe taught that “baptism doth not confer, but only signify grace, which was given before.” This principle undermines the doctrine of infant baptism. The Martyrs Mirror, first published in Dutch in 1660, states that in 1370 Wycliffe issued an article “declared to militate against infant baptism” (p. 322).

There is also evidence of this from the Catholic authorities. Thomas Walden and Joseph Vicecomes claimed that Wycliffe rejected infant baptism and they charged him with Anabaptist views. Walden, who wrote against the Wycliffites or Hussites in the early part of the 1400s, called Wycliffe “one of the seven heads that came out of the bottomless pit, for denying infant baptism, that heresie of the Lollards, of whom he was so great a ringleader” (Danver’s Treatise, p. 2, 287, cited by Joseph Ivimey, History of the English Baptists, 1811, I, p. 72).

Even if Wycliffe did not entirely deny infant baptism, it is certain that many of his Lollard followers did. The term “Lollard,” like that of “Waldensian,” was a general term that encompassed a wide variety of doctrine and practice. While many of the Lollards retained infant baptism, it is certain that others did not.

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN WYCLIFFE AND THE WALDENSIANS

It is important to understand that there were already Waldensian, or separatist Anabaptist Christians, in England during the days of Wycliffe. We documented this in our study on the Waldenses in the Advanced Bible Studies Series course on Church History. Waldenses came to England in the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries.

The Martyrs Mirror describes the persecution of 443 Waldenses in England in 1391. At least one of these told the inquisitors that he had been a Waldensian for 30 years. That takes us back to 1361, when Wycliffe was only 37 years old and when he first began preaching against Catholic errors.

Anglican historian Joseph Milner notes the possible connection between the Waldensians and John Wycliffe: “The connection between France and England, during the whole reign of Edward III, was so great, that it is by no means improbable, that Wickliffe himself derived his first impressions of religion from [Raynard] Lollard [a Bible-believing Waldensian leader who was burned at the stake at Cologne]” (Milner, The History of the Church of Christ, 1819, III, p. 509).

Catholic writers connected Wycliffe with the Waldenses. “Thomas Walden, who wrote against Wickliff, says, that the doctrine of Peter Waldo was conveyed from France into England—and that among others Wickliff received it. In this opinion he is joined by Alphonsus de Castro, who says that Wickliff only brought to light again the errors of the Waldenses. Cardinal Bellarmine, also, is pleased to say that ‘Wickliff could add nothing to the heresy of the Waldenses’” (Jones, A History of the Christian Church, II, p. 91).

Joshua Thomas, in his History of the Welsh Baptists, describes some Baptists who lived in the 14th century in Olchon in Herefordshire, and he believes Wycliffe “received much of his light in the gospel” from these separatist believers (Ivimey, I, pp. 65-67).

Frederick Nolan, who diligently pursued the history of the transmission of the biblical text, says that the Lollards were disciples of the Waldenses (Nolan, Inquiry into the Integrity of the Received Text, 1815, p. xix, footnote 1).

WYCLIFFE’S BATTLES WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Wycliffe speaking to Lollard preachers.For his translation efforts and his biblical views, Wycliffe was hounded by the Roman authorities.

Wycliffe was forced to appear before the Catholic bishops in the first half of the year 1377 to give an account of his doctrine.

The bishops then appealed to Pope Gregory XI, and he issued five papal bulls against Wycliffe in May 1377.

From then on, Wycliffe had trouble with the Catholic authorities.

THE PROTECTING HAND OF GOD UPON WYCLIFFE

Wycliffe would have been cut off by the Roman Catholic authorities had he not, by divine intervention, been protected by certain powerful individuals and unusual events.

One of these was JOHN OF GAUNT, the Duke of Lancaster, who protected Wycliffe for many years. John was a large man and a bold warrior. His armor, which is displayed today in the Tower of London, is 6 foot 9 inches.

Another protector was QUEEN JOAN (1328-85). She was the wife of Edward (1360-76), also known as the Black Prince (so named because of his black armor). When Edward died in 1376, she became the Queen Mother to her son Richard II. In 1378, the enemies of Wycliffe called him to stand before a tribunal of bishops in Lambeth Palace. Wycliffe was accused of spreading heresies, but the bishops were frustrated in carrying out any sentence. “…Sir Richard Clifford entered with a message from the Queen Mother, the widow of the Black Prince, forbidding them to pass sentence upon Wycliffe” (Fountain, John Wycliffe, p. 33). The trial ceased.

QUEEN ANNE, the wife of Richard II (1367-1400), also assisted Wycliffe. She was daughter to the Roman emperor Charles IV and sister of Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia. Anne was only a teenager when she was brought to England to wed Richard. She brought versions of Scriptures in German, Bohemian, and Latin with her into England. She loved Wickliffe’s doctrine and sent copies of Wycliffe’s books into Bohemia by her attendants (Ivimey, I, p. 69). The godly queen died in June 1394, at the age of twenty-seven.

Further, in 1378 Pope Gregory XI died, and THE GREAT PAPAL SCHISM began, during which there were two (Gregory XII and Benedict III) and then three popes, and these were too busy hurling curses at one another to worry much about Wycliffe in England!

WYCLIFFE’S MISSIONARY ENDEAVORS

Wycliffe not only translated the Bible but he carried out missionary endeavors.

Wycliffe had a powerful influence through his extensive writings, which were widely distributed in England and even in Europe and created a dissident revival movement.

Wycliffe had a missionary heart and he trained and sent out preachers to proclaim the Gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ. These were called “Bible men” and eventually were also called Lollards, and they were hounded and bitterly persecuted by the Catholic authorities. (The term “Lollard” predated Wycliffe. It might have been derived from a Waldensian preacher named Walter Lollardus, an Englishman who was burnt for heresy in Cologne. See William Canton, The Bible and the Anglo-Saxon People, 1914, p. 42; and Joseph Ivimey, The History of the English Baptists, 1811, I, p. 64.)

Wycliffe also had copies of the hand-written Scriptures produced and distributed not only in England but also abroad in Europe. That these multiplied widely is evident from the record that still exists of the many copies that were confiscated by the authorities: “By reference to the Bishop’s Registers it will appear that these little books were numerous, as they are often specified as being found upon the persons of those accused. Sometimes the Gospels are spoken of either separately, or together; or it is the book of Acts, or the Epistle of James, or the Apocalypse that is specified. It appears also from these Registers, that many of those who possessed these little volumes were either servants or tradesmen” (Condit, History of the English Bible, p. 75).

THE END OF WYCLIFFE’S LIFE

John Wycliffe portraited in Bale's Scriptor Majoris Britanniæ 1548In 1381, just three years before his death, Wycliffe boldly proclaimed that the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation was false. He taught that the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper do not change substance and are merely symbolic of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Wycliffe’s protector, John Gaunt, refused to accept Wycliffe’s denial of Rome’s foundational doctrine. He warned Wycliffe to be silent about this, but Wycliffe refused, though he knew by his stand he would probably lose his protection from an earthly perspective. Gaunt did withdraw his guardianship, but Wycliffe put his trust in Someone who is larger than 6 foot 9 inches!

Wycliffe was expelled from his teaching position at Oxford at that time and was forced to withdraw to his parish of Lutterworth where he lived until his death.

In May 1382, Wycliffe was called before yet another synod of ecclesiastical authorities. This is called the Blackfriars’ Synod, because it was held in the monastery of Blackfriars in London (so named because of the black robes worn by the Dominican monks).

When the 47 bishops and monks and religious doctors took their seats, a powerful earthquake shook the city. Huge stones fell out of castle walls and pinnacles toppled. “Wycliffe called it a judgment of God and afterwards described the gathering as the ‘Earthquake Council’” (Fountain, John Wycliffe, p. 39).

The synod condemned Wycliffe, charging him specifically with 10 heresies and 16 errors. His writings were forbidden and the king gave authority to imprison all of those who believed the condemned doctrines.

Wycliffe died on December 31, 1384.