Wycliffe, John

Wycliffe, John

(c. 1330–1384) British theologian, philosopher, and church reformer. He earned a doctor-of-divinity degree from Oxford in 1372. Named by Edward III to a deputation to discuss English differences with the papacy, he represented the government in its attempts to limit the church's power in England. His preaching against church policies, in which he argued that the church itself was sinful and should relinquish its possessions and return to evangelical poverty, attracted wide attention, and in 1377 the pope called for his arrest. In 1379 he began systematically attacking the foundations of Roman Catholicism, notably by repudiating the doctrine of transubstantiation and by denying that the church hierarchy represented a line of authoritative succession from Jesus. In 1380 he became involved in a translation of the Bible into English, seeking to bypass the church in making the law of God accessible to all literate people. His followers were known as Lollards. He was blamed by his ecclesiastical superiors for inciting the Peasants' Revolt (1381); many of his works were subsequently banned. His writings later inspired the leaders of the Reformation, most notably Martin Luther.

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Wycliffe, John 

(also Wiclif, Wyclif). Born between 1320 and 1330 in Yorkshire; died Dec. 31, 1384, in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. English reformer; proponent of the primacy of temporal power over ecclesiastical power. Professor at Oxford University; doctor of theology (1372).

Wycliffe was the author of numerous pamphlets and treatises, and he translated the Bible into English. His reformist teachings were an expression of the ideological struggle in English society that preceded the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.

According to Wycliffe, human society is the earthly church militant. God, as the supreme lord, has the right to rule over all the earth, but in his mercy he temporarily cedes his power to man in return for service to him. This service consists in the exact fulfillment of the law of god, which is obligatory for all men, regardless of social position. There is a division of responsibilities in society among the three estates: the clergy, the secular lords, and the common people. Postulating the primacy of temporal power over ecclesiastical power, Wycliffe proposed the subordination of the clergy to the king as god’s vicar on earth, the secularization of church property, the simplification of church rites, and the elimination of the clergy’s social privileges. Although his teachings were condemned by Pope Gregory XI in 1377, Wycliffe was protected by the English government.

Wycliffe’s teachings were perceived by the masses as a criticism of the feudal system as a whole, and his doctrines played an important role in the ideological ferment that led to the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. Wycliffe himself, however, did not go beyond the struggle against ecclesiastical feudalism, maintaining that the relationship between masters and servants had to be based on the strict fulfillment of mutual responsibilities. Wycliffe believed the uprising of 1381 was the result of violations of god’s law by the three estates, and he thought that limiting the amount of property an individual could hold would prevent further social conflicts.

In 1382 a council of English bishops condemned Wycliffe’s teachings as heretical, and in 1415 the Council of Constance declared Wycliffe a heretic. Wycliffe’s reformist ideas influenced the Lollards in England as well as J. Hus, M. Luther, and various figures of the English Reformation.

PUBLICATIONS

Shirley, W. W. A Catalogue of the Original Works of J. Wyclif. Oxford, 1865.
Selected English Works of Wyclif, vols. 1–3. Oxford, 1869–71.
The English Works of Wyclif Hitherto Unprinted. London, 1902.

REFERENCES

Saprykin, Iu. M. “Vzgliady Dzhona Uiklifa na obshchnost’ imush-chestva i ravenstvo.” In the collection Srednie veka, fasc. 34. Moscow, 1971.
Illarionova, E. V. “Zhizn’ i literaturnaia deiatel’nost’ Dzhona Viklefa.” In the collection Iz istorii zap.-evropeiskogo sredneve-kov’ia. Moscow, 1972.

LU. M. SAPRYKIN