John Wycliffe (1331 - 1384)

Born 1331 in Hipswell, North Riding, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Died 31 Dec 1384 at about age 53 in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England

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John Wycliffe]] was a Scholar, a Reformer and a Theologian, with a Doctor of Divinity degree from Oxford University in England who lived during the late Middle Ages. He lived until about 135 years before the offical start of the Protestant Reformation, and almost 70 years before the invention of movable type. He translated the Bible from Latin into English

Biography

John Wycliffe is Notable.

John Wycliffe]] was born in 1331, in Hipswell, North Riding of Yorkshire, Yorkshire, England, the son of Roger and Katherine Wycliffe, the Lord and Lady of Wycliffe. His family were nobility His brothers were William and Roger Wycliffe, but John chose a different life.

John Wycliffe was an early Reformer who disapproved of high-church formalities, ordination, and uneducated clergy. He wanted a poor clergy more responsive to the everyday person. He advocated an itinerant priesthood without ordination, and his followers were called Lollards. He helped influence later Reformers, especially John Hus.

Wycliffe lived during the Great Plague, but survived the epidemic. His experiences during the plague deeply affected him and helped him focus on the poor and needy.

Wycliffe wrote many articles about Christian philosophy, even as the Peasants were revolting in 1381. Wycliffe was blamed for inciting the rebellion by giving the peasants a sense of hope and empowerment through Christianity, and went into exile.

1382: William Courtney, Archbishop of Cantebury called a council. The 24 propositions by Wycliffe and his followers were condemned and a decree by King Richard II was obtained to stop them from being preached.^[1]

During his exile, Wycliffe bravely (but Illegally) translated the Latin Vulgate Bible into English in 1382-1384, with the help of his assistant John Purvey and several of his students. Their copies of the Bible were hand-written and distributed throughout Europe.

John Wycliffe died on December 31, 1384, after having suffered a stroke on December 28 while saying Mass. He was only 53 years old. Even after his death, John Wycliffe was hated by church and government authorities for having given people a Bible in their own language in defiance of laws restricting the scriptures to Latin only. His actions resulted in ordinances that were passed in 1401 and 1415 which mandated the persecuting of his followers and the burning of his writings.

Wycliffe was declared a heretic by the Council of Constance of the Roman Church on May 4, 1415. This church council mandated that Wycliffe's bones be dug up and burned as a warning to others who might usurp the authority of the Roman church and the English government. The church hoped he and his writings would be forgotten, but it didn't work.

Today, Wycliffe is remembered as the Morningstar of the of the Protestant Reformation. His early insistence of dependance on God's Word as proclaimed in the Holy Bible have made him a hero of Christian History.

• A modern society which translates the Holy Bible into languages from around the world is named the Wycliffe Bible Society in his honor.

• Copies of Wycliffe's Bible translations are available online today. Some of his words are archaic or have older spellings because of differences between the English of his day and the English of our day.

Sources

1. ↑ Buck, C. (1826). "Wickliffites," in Theological Dictionary, pp. 599. Philadelphia: Joseph Woodard. Google Books.

See Also:

• Geni.com profile of John Wycliffe - http://www.geni.com/people/Wyckliffe-Lord-of-Wycliffe-and-Ulvington/
• Wikipedia: John Wycliffe - includes images from time period.
• Rashdall, H. (1900). Wycliffe, John (DNB00). WikiSource.org.Wycliffe, John
• Holy Land Experience Scriptorium museum, Orlando, Florida - http://www.holylandexperience.com/
• John Wycliffe: The Morning Star - DVD https://www.visionvideo.com/dvd/4808D/john-wycliffe-the-morningstar

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