John Wycliffe has been called the morning star of the English Refomation. He was influenced by the writings of Thomas Bradwardine, archbiship of Canterbury on the Doctrine of Grace. Then in the summer of 1348 the plague known as the "Black Death" came to England. It caused him "Very gloomy views in regard to the condition and prospects of the human race." Many of us will now understand that, after living through the Covid pandemic.

He became a leading philosopher at Oxford University. His attacks on corrupt clergy led to further criticisms of the powers of the clergy and the papacy and of the superstitions surrounding the eucharist. In his time, the Roman Catholic church was the only church and had tight control of who had a Bible and who was allowed to read it. In opposition to this Wycliffe firmly believed that Scripture should be made available to everyone. He is responsible for the production of the "Wycliffe Bible" the first produced in English, although his, role may have been more by way of inspiration, encouragement and supervision than actual translation.

Although Wycliffe initially had royal protection, he was eventually forced to leave Oxford. He became rector of Lutterworth. Wycliffe’s followers became known as Lollards and formed a chorus of dissent against the Roman Catholic Church that led into the Reformation of the 16th century., and the development of ideas of reform among The philosophical basis of Wycliffe’s criticism had a lasting influence in Europe, particularly among Czech scholars, where Jan Hus (1372-1415) is the best known..

BORN: 1330, Hipswell, Yorkshire, England.

DIED: 31 December 1384, Lutterworth, England