Beliefs very similar to those of the Waldenses were
entertained by John Wycliffe, (or Wyclif) master of an Oxford college and a
popular preacher. He, too, appealed from the authority of the Church to the
authority of the Bible. With the assistance of two friends Wycliffe produced
the first English translation of the Scriptures. Manuscript copies of the work
had a large circulation, until the government suppressed it. Wycliffe was not
molested in life, but the Council of Constance denounced his teaching and
ordered that his bones should be dug up, burned, and cast into a stream.
THE LOLLARDS
Wycliffe had organized bands of "poor priests"
to spread the simple truths of the Bible through all England. They went out,
staff in hand and clad in long, russet gowns, and preached to the common people
in the English language, wherever an audience could be found. The Lollards, as
Wycliffe's followers were known, not only attacked many beliefs and practices
of the Church, but also demanded social reforms. For instance, they declared
that all wars were sinful and were but plundering and murdering the poor to win
glory for kings. The Lollards had to endure much persecution for heresy.
Nevertheless their work lived on and sowed in England and Scotland the seeds of
the Reformation.
