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YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

THE LIFE OE WICLIE.

John Knox and the Church of
England:
His Woek in her Pulpit, and his Influence upon
HER Liturgy, Articles, and Parties.
A Monograph founded upon several important Papers of
Knox never before published.
Bt PBTEK LOEIMER, D.D.

Bemy 8m, Cloth, price 12s.
 r-
" The author seems unquestionably to have added some very import
ant details to the history of the English Prayer-Book, and the facts
now for the first time made known to us ought to have an interest for
many besides theologians." — Academy.
"A very important volume. Every student of English Church
history must henceforward count this volume as an authority to be
consulted."- — Spectator.
C. KEGAN PAUL & CO.,
1 PATEENOSTER SQUARE, LONDON.

JOHN WICLIF

AND HIS

ENGLISH PRECURSORS

BY
PROFESSOR. LECHLER, D.D.
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPSIC

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES
BT
PETER LORIMER, D.D.
AUTHOR OF " JOHN KNOX AND THE CHURCH OF ENOLAND "
COKRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF SCOTTISH ANTIQUARIES, AND
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF BERG
IN THE PRUSSIAN STATES

VOL. L

LONDON

C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE
187 8

I

[The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved.^

AUTHOE'S PEEFACE.

Science is an international good. It is not confined
by territorial boundaries, nor restricted by the ties of
nationality. Nowhere does it stand written that only
an Englishman can suitably write the history of Eng
land or a portion of it. It may easily happen that a
German may have access to sources of English history
from which the Englishman may have less opportunity
to draw. It is from such sources that I believe myself
able to offer not a little which may serve to supple
ment and enrich, and even to correct, the knowledge
which has hitherto been current respecting the history
and the characteristic genius of Wiclif.
All the men whose Wiclif-researches have hitherto
acquired importance and authority, have in every in
stance been able to bring to light, and make use of
for the first time, fresh documentary materials. It was
so with John Lewis in the last century, who wrote the
first independent biography of Wiclif. The chief value
of that book — a value stiU fuUy recognised at the pre
sent day — ^hes not in its style of execution, but purely
in the mass of materials which it brought together and
published. In the present century, Dr. Robert Vaughan,

vi author's PREFACE.
by his works upon the same subject, increased our his
torical knowledge of Wiclif to such a degree, that these
works have been everywhere recognised as authorities,
and used as a storehouse of information. The chief
distinction of these writings was the extensive use
made in them, by quotation and otherwise, of Wiclif's
manuscript Tracts and Sermons. More recently, at
the suggestion of the late Professor Shirley, these Eng
lish writings of the Reformer have been published by
the Clarendon Press, which had already, in 1850, given
to the world a model edition of the Wiclif Translation
of the Bible. The Select English Works of John Wiclif,
edited in excellent style by Thomas Arnold, M.A., of
University College, Oxford, contains a complete collec
tion of the Reformer's English sermons, and a selection
of his English tracts, popular pieces, and fly-leaves — a
service to literature and religious history which calls
for the warmest acknowledgments.
It was as an integral part of the same projected
collection of Select Works of Wiclif that the author of
the present work brought out in 1869 a critical edition
of the Trialogus, upon the authority of a collation of
four Vienna MSS. of the work, accompanied by the
Supplementum Trialogi, which had never been in
print. It was the treasures of the Imperial Library
of Vienna which put him in a position to execute
that critical task. When at the beginning of the 15 th
century the Wiclif spirit took so strong a hold of
Bohemia and Moravia, Bohemian hands were busily
employed through several decades of years in multi-

AUTHOR S PREFACE. VU
plying copies of the books, sermons, iand tracts of the
Evangelical. Doctor. Hence there are still to be found
at the present day, not only in Prague itself, but also
in Vienna and Paris, and even in Stockholm, MSS. of
Wiclif's works, of which little use has hitherto been
made. In particular, the Imperial Library of Vienna,
owing to the secularisation of the Bohemian monas
teries under Joseph II., is in possession of nearly forty
volumes, which consist either entirely or chiefly of
unprinted Latin works of Wiclif, of which, in some
instances, not a single copy is to be found in England.
By the kind mediation of the Saxon Government
with the Imperial Government of Austria, I obtained
from the latter the leisurely and unrestricted use of
all those volumes of the collection which I required,
and which were sent to me from Vienna as I needed
them with the utmost liberality — a gracious further
ance of literary labours, for which, I trust, I may be
allowed in this place to express my most respectful
and most sincere thanks.
When I compare the two groups of Sources which
serve to elucidate the personality and the entire his
torical position of Wiclif, I come in sight of the fact
that the English sermons and tracts most recently
printed belong, almost without exception, to the four
last yeajs of his life (1381-1384). They serve, there
fore, to throw upon his latest convictions and efforts —
however comparatively well-known these were before
—a still clearer and fuller documentary light. The
Latin works, on the other hand, so far as they only exist

viii author's PREFACE.
in MS., were for the most part written at earlier dates,
some of them indeed going back as far as the year
1370. These latter, therefore, have a specially high
value, because we learn from them the thoughts and
doings of Wiclif during an earlier stadium of his life ;
and, what is most important of all, they open up to
us a view of his gradual development — of the progress
of his mind in insight and enlightenment.
I cannot allow the present opporttmity to pass of
expressing my conviction how much it is to be wished
that several of these earlier Latin writings of Wiclif
were printed and published. Not only would they be
made thereby more accessible to learned investigators ;
they would also be secured against the possibility of
destruction, in view of the fact that some of them
continue to exist only in a single copy. It is alarming
to think what an irreparable loss might be caused by
fire in a library rich in manuscripts. Should the
Clarendon Press determine to include in the series of
the Select Works an additional number of Wiclif's
Latin writings, I would, with aU submission, advise
that works of an earlier date than 1381 should be the
first to be selected. Most of all, the publication of the
De Veritate Sanctae Scripturae is to be recommended ;
and next to this a collection of forty Latin sermons, pre
served in the Vienna MS. 3928, and which reflect an
earlier stage of Wiclif's opinions. The book De
Ecclesior— the best MS. of- which is the Vienna MS.
1294, — and the De Dominio Civili, would also be
worthy of being sent to press.

author S PREFACE. IX
In the summer of 1840, I studied in the University
Library of Cambridge the MS. of Repressor — the
interesting polemical treatise of the rationalising Bishop
Pecock, directed against the Wiclifite " Biblemen " about
the middle of the 15th century. Twenty years after
I had made acquaintance with it, it was published by
Babtngton. By that perusal I was conducted into the
history of the Lollards ; and from them I saw myself
thrown back upon Wiclif himself. It was thus by a
retrogressive movement that the present work gradu
ally took shape, the main impulse to undertake it
having come from my good fortune in obtaining access
to the Vienna MSS. As I continued to be thus occu
pied with Wiclif's life and writings, my respect and
love for the venerable man — " the evangelical doctor,"
as his contemporaries were wont to call him — went on
ever growing. He is truly, in more than one respect,
a character of the genuine Protestant type, whose por
traiture it may not be without use to freshen up again
in true and vivid colours in the eyes of the present
generation. In the present English edition, several portions of the
original work have been omitted which did not appear
likely to interest English readers so much as what re
lates directly to England and Wiclif himself.
The Author can only congratulate himself that he has
found in Professor Lorimer a translator who, along with
a perfect acquaintance with German, combines so rich
a knowledge of the subject, and, what is not the smallest
requisite for the task, so enthusiastic a love for the

X author's PREFACE.
personality of Wiclif. He has given a special proof
of his love to the subject of this book, and of his
learned knowledge of it, in a number of "Additional
Notes." In these, with the help of medieval records and
chronicles which have appeared since the publication of
the German original (1873), he has been able sometimes
to comfirm, and sometimes to correct, the investigations
of the Author. And as, in my esteem, the truth is above
all else, I am able, without jealousy, to rejoice in every
rectification which the views I set forth may receive from
later researches among documents which were not acces
sible to me at the time of my own investigations.
May the Father of Lights, from whom cometh down
every good and perfect gift, be pleased to make His
blessing rest upon this English edition of my work, to
His own glory, to the furtherance of evangelical truth,
and to the weUbeing of the Church of Jesus Christ.
GOTTHARD LECHLER.

Leipzig, 11th February 1878.

TEANSLATOE'S PEEFACE.

Professor Lechler's work is not only a Biography
of Wiclif, but also a preliminary history of the Reform
ation ; beginning far back in the medieval centuries,
and carried down along the parallel lines of the Lollards
and the Hussites, to the first decades of the sixteenth
century. The two volumes extend to 1400 closely
printed pages ; and it was found impracticable to
carry out the original idea of publishing a translation
of the whole work.
My design was then reduced to the reproduction
of the Biography, and of so much of the preliminary
history as concerned WicHf's English Precursors. From
the English point of view, it seemed perfectly fitting
that the life and teaching of Wiclif should be presented
as a subject complete in itself, without implication
with the general history of the Church, either earlier
or later ; and it was found that a single preliminary
chapter would suffice to cummunicate all that the
Author had written respecting Grossetete, Occam,
and the rest of Wiclif's forerunners upon English
soil. Professor Lechler at once acceded to this re
duced programme of the translation, and not only pre
pared for my use a new arrangement of the original
text, so far as this was called for, but also made a

xii translator's PREFACE.
careful revision both of text and notes, for the present
edition. The whole original work is of much value and well
worth translation, but its chief importance lies in the
Biography of Wiclif himself. In the execution of this
kernel portion of his work, the Author had the immense
advantage of free and leisurely access to the Wiclif
MSS. of the Imperial Library of Vienna ; and he
has used this advantage to the utmost, and with the
best effect. Never before has the whole teaching of
the reformer, — philosophical, theological, ethical, and
ecclesiastical, been so copiously and accurately set
forth ; and never before has so large a mass of classified
quotations from all his chief scientific writings been
placed under the eyes of scholars.
It is a singular fact that 500 years should have
passed away before it became possible to do this
service of justice to the memory of so great a man —
the very " Morning Star of the Reformation ; " and
it is much to be wished that the University of
Oxford, Wiclif's Alma Mater, should complete the
service, by carrying out to the full her own noble
design, already considerably advanced, of a collection
of the " Select Works " of Wiclif — in the direction
of the suggestions offered by Professor Lechler in
the foregoing Preface.
The Author has referred in his Preface in the kindest
spirit to the " Additional Notes " which I have been
able to append to several chapters of the first volume.
It had occurred to me that it might be possible to

translator's preface. xiii
find some fresh collateral lights upon a medieval
subject, in several volumes of the "Chronicles and
Memorials" brought out under the superintendence
of the Master of the Rolls, which had appeared since
the publication of Professor Lechler's work. The
surmise was verified much beyond my hope. In par
ticular, it is a great satisfaction to me that these
sources supplied me with the materials of an argu
ment to prove, with a high degree of probability,
an unbroken connexion of Wiclif with Balliol College,
from the date of his entrance at the University,
down to his resignation of the Balliol Mastership.
This satisfaction has been much enhanced by Professor
Lechler's concurrence in the same view, upon the
ground of this fresh evidence ; and it would be
complete if I might hope to obtain also the con
currence of the eminent scholars who now preside
over that illustrious seat of learning — one of whose
chief historic distinctions must always be that it was
Wiclif's CoUege. THE TRANSLATOR.

English Peesbytebian College,
London, March 1878,

CONTENTS OF YOL. I.

PAGB
Introduction, . . . . . . . .1-17
Writers on Pre -Reformation History in the Sixteenth Century, . 5, 6
Writers in the Seventeenth Century, .... 6, 7
Writers in the Eighteenth Century, ..... 8
Writers in the Present Century, ..... 9-14
Notes to Introduction, ...... 15-17
CHAPTER L
English Precursors of Wiclif.
Section I. — Mixture and Consolidation of Races in the English People, 18-27
Section II. — Robert Grossetete, Bishop of Lincoln, . . . . 27-55
Section III. — Henry Bracton and William Occam and the Tone of
Church Life and Politics in the Fourteenth Century, . . 55
Section IV. — Richard of Armagh and the Mendicant Orders, . - 75-88
Section V. — Thomas of Bradwardine, his Teaching and Spirit, . . 88-96
Section VI. — The Vision of Piers Plowman, .... 96-107
Notes to Chapter I. ..... . 108-117
Additional Notes bt Translator : —
Note I.— Richard Fitzralph, Archbishop of Armagh, . . 117-118
Note II. — The Vision of Piers Plowman, . . . . 118-120
CHAPTER II.
Wiclif's Youth and Student Lite.
Section I. — Birthplace and Family, . . . _ 121-128
Section II. — Wiclif's Course of Study, • ¦ . . . 128-145 •
Notes to Chapter II. . . . . _ _ 146-149
Additional Notes by Translator : —
Note I. — Illustrations of the Educational Discipline of BaUiol
College in Wiclif's time, . . . _ •. . q

CONTENTS. XV
PAGlt
Note II. — Provisions of the Statutes of Sir Philip de Somerville
for the Study of Theology by the Fellows of Balliol College
in Wiclif's Time, ..... .149,150
Note III.— State of Philosophical Parties in Oxford in Wiclif's
Student Tears, . . .... 150, 151
Note IV.— Learned Fellows of Balliol in Wiclif's Time, . . 151
Note V. — Extract from Mr. Riley's Report on the Archives of
Balliol, . . . . . . ... 151, 152
CHAPTER IIL
Wiclif's Quiet Work in Oxford, a.d. 1345-1366.
Section I. — Wiclif as a Member of Balliol and Merton Colleges, . 153-160
Section II. — Wiclif as Warden of Canterbury HaU and Doctor of
Theology, ........ 160-181
Notes to Chapter III., ..... 182-184
Additional Notes bt Translator : —
Note I. — Wiclifs Connection with Balliol, . . . 185-190
Note II. — Identity of John Wiclif, the Eeformer, with John
Wiclif, Warden of Canterbury Hall, . . . 191, 192
Note III. — Wiclif-Researches of the late Prebendary Wilkinson, 192
CHAPTER IV.
Wiclif's First Public Appearance in the Ecclesiastico-Politioal
Affairs of England.
Section I.— Wiclit as a Patriot, ...... 193-198 ^
Section II. — Wiclifs Concern in the Rejection of the Papal Claim to
Feudatory Tribute, ...... 198-215
Section III.— Wiclif s Action in Public Affairs from 1366 to 1376— A
Royal Commissary at Bruges — Probably a Member of the
" Good ParUament," ... . . 215-246
Notes to Chapter IV. ... . . 247-250
Additional Note bt Translator on the Late Date at which
WicMf began his Attacks on the Mendicant Orders, . . 250, 251

xvi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
PAGE
Proceedings op the Hieraroht against Wiclif in 1377 and 1378.
Section I. — Wiclif Summoned before the Convocation, . . . 252-260
Section II. — Papal BuUs against Wiclif, .

Section III.— First Effects of the Five BuUs in England,
Section IV. — ^The Process against Wiclif,
Notes to Chapter V. . . . ¦
CHAPTER VL

. 260-267
. 267-274
. 274-278
. 279-282

Wiclif as a Preaches ; his Efforts for Reform in Preaching and foe
the Elevation of the Pastoral Office.
Section I. — Wiclif as a Preacher ; his HomEetical Principles, , . 283-297
Section II. — Wiclif's Itinerent Preachers, .... 298-315 '
Notes to Chapter VI. ..... . 316-321
Additional Note bt Teanslatoe on the Popularity of Wiclif and
1 his Earliest Disciples as Preachers ia London, . . . 322, 323
CHAPTER VIL
^ Wiclif as Bible Translator ; and his Seevicb done to the English
Language.
Section I. — ^The Novelty of the Idea of an English Translation of the
whole Bible, ....... 324-381
Section II. — How Wiclif came to engage in this undertaking, . . 331-340
Section IIL— The Wiclif Translation, ..... 340-348
Notes to Chapteb VIL, ...... 349-352

INTRODUCTION.

T^HERE now Hes between the commencement of the
Reformation and our own day an interval of 360 years,
a period of time considerable enough to allow of our taking
a tolerably free and comprehensive survey. We are thus
placed in a position to embrace in one view the whole
effects of the Reformation, in so far as these have as
yet developed themselves ; and it has also become possible
for us to attain a right understanding of the conditions under
which the movement took its rise, and of the manner in
which its way was prepared in the preceding centuries.
Our power of insight, indeed, in this matter as in others,
must have its limits. Beyond all doubt, a later time will
here also command a wider horizon and gain deeper reaches
of insight. For what the poet says of the past is not true
of it in every respect —
" Still stands the past for evermore."
On the contrary, the image of the past is for ever shifting
and changing with the conditions of the present in which it
is reflected. " The Hving man, too, has his right : " he has a
right to the inheritance of the generations which have gone
before him ; he has also the right to put the history of the
past in relations to the present — to study it in connection
with the events and the needs and the questions of his own
time — and thereby to arrive at the true vision and under-
VOL. L A

2 INTRODUCTION.
standing of it for himself. Only our own experience can
give us the interpretation of history. As a general truth,
the actual knowledge which we are able to acquire is com
mensurate with our experience, and the more thorough and
comprehensive the experience which any man has acquired,
so much the deeper and more correct is the understanding.
of the past which he is in a condition to attain.
On this ground the period of more than three centuries
and a half which has elapsed since the commencement of
the Reformation, both enables and calls us, in a much higher
degree than the generations which have preceded us, to
attain to a thorough understanding of its preliminary history,
or the long series of events and transactions by which its
advent was prepared. A beginning of such studies, indeed,
was made as early as the sixteenth century ; and even while
the Reformation itself was still in progress, there were
historical inquirers who cast back their eyes to men and
religious brotherhoods of the past who appeared to bear
some resemblance to the Reformers and Reformed Churches of
their own generation. These excursions into comparative
pre-Reformation history were of course of very different
kinds, and issued in the most opposite results, according as
they were undertaken by friends or foes of the Reformation
itself. When Luther received from the Utraquists of Bohemia one
of Huss's writings, and studied it, he was lost in astonishment,
for all at once the light dawned upon him that he and Stau-
pitz and all the rest had been Hussites all this while, without
being aware of the fact.^ A few years later, he became
acquainted with the writings of John Wessel, which filled
him with sincere admiration of the man, and with a wonder
ing joy; so much so that he felt himself strengthened as

INTRODUCTION. 3
Elijah was when it was revealed to him that he was not left
alone, for there were 7000 men still living who had not
bowed their knees to Baal. " If I had read Wessel before
now my enemies might have thought that Luther had taken
all his ideas from Wessel, so much are we of one mind."^
At a later date the Reformer gave his judgment on the sub
ject in a quieter tone, but not more correctly, when he
remarked that " Wiclif and Huss had attacked the life of the
Church under the Papacy, whereas he fought not so much
against the life as the doctrine." ' Still he sees in these men
his fellow-combatants of an earlier time, and men of kindred
spirit and principles to his own. When Luther, in 1522, wrote
an Anthology from John Wessel, and in 1523 prefixed an
appreciative preface to Savonarola's commentaries on the 31st
and 37th Psalms ; and when again, in 1525, the Trialogus of
Wiclif was published in Basel, the meaning of all these
incidents was to justify the Reformers of the sixteenth
century by the testimony of men of earlier ages who had
fought the same battle.
The case is altered, of course, when writers opposed to
the Reformation direct their inquiries to the same class
of facts, the results at which they arrive being always
unfavourable to the Reformers. In comparing the latter
with their precursors of earlier times, their uniform aim is
to throw them and their doctrines iuto shadow, either by
identifying Luther's principles with those of earlier heretics,
so as to place them under a like condemnation, or by attempt
ing to prove that Luther was even worse than his precursors
of like spirit. The former was what was aimed at, when the
Theological Faculty of Paris, in 1523, decided that the great
work against Wiclif, of the English Carmelite, Thomas of
Walden (f 1431), The Antiquities of the Catholic Faith, was

4 INTRODUCTION.
worthy to be printed and published, " because the same is ol
great use for the refutation of the destructive Lutheran
errors;" for herein the Parisian doctors declared the
doctrines of the Reformers to be essentially the same as
those of Wiclif and the Lollards. John Faber, on the other
hand, the South German polemic, who died Bishop of
Vienna in 1541, drew a comparison in a controversial work
of 1528, between Luther on the one hand, and John Huss and
the Bohemian Brethren and John Wessel on the other, in
which he reached the conclusion that the latter are all more
Christian and less offensive than Luther. He even goes so
far at the close of his treatise as to say that if it were pos
sible for all the heretics who lived in the Apostles' days and
afterwards, to rise from the dead and to come together face
to face with Luther in a general council or otherwise, they
would no doubt damn him as a godless arch-heretic, and
refuse to have any fellowship with him; so unheard-of, dread
ful, and abominable is the false doctrine which Luther has
put forward.*
These first attempts to bring into view the historical
parallels of earlier times, whether proceeding from the
Reformers or their adversaries, were all of a partial and
incomplete kind, and possessed no value beyond that of
occasional pieces. A more comprehensive treatment of the
Reformers before the Reformation, their doctrines and their
fortunes — a treatment under which the different individu
alities were exhibited in the fight of their unity of principle
and spirit — became possible only after the work of the Refor
mation had, in some measure at least, been brought to a close,
and admitted of being taken iuto one view as a completed
work. And this point was not reached till the middle of the
sixteenth century.

INTRODUCTION. 5
From that date important works of such a character began
to appear on the evangelical side. On the side of Rome
only one work has a claim to be mentioned in this connec
tion, viz., the Collection of Documents, Controversial Tracts,
and the like, relating to Pre-Peformation Persons and Parties,
published by Ortuiu Gratius of Cologne in 1535, in prospect
of the general council which had then been announced. He
was himself one of the Cologne " Ohscuri Viri," but was
favourable to Church Reform in the Catholic sense ; and it
was with this view that he selected and published these
pieces in the well known " Fasciculus." °
The corresponding works on the evangelical side divide
themselves into two groups, according to the point of view
under which they range the particular facts which they
embrace. The first group — and this is by far the most
numerous — views its subject as a history ot persecution, or
of evangelical martyrs. The second group handles the per
sonalities whom it introduces as witnesses of the truth, who
in earlier times opposed themselves to the Papacy and its
" superstition." The first group may be correctly described
as more or less belonging to the sphere of the history of the
Church, and the second as belonging to the history of doctrine.
The most important, and indeed almost the only repre
sentative of the latter group, is Matthias Flaclus of lUyricum,
properly called Matthias Vlatzich Frankowitsch. This
greatest of the historians belonging to the Lutheran Church
of the sixteenth century, the founder of The Magdeburg
Centuries, published in 1556 his Catalogue of Witnesses to the
Truth who opposed themselves to the Pope before our age, as a
work preliminary to the Centuries, which appeared in repeated
editions, and continued to receive considerable enrichments
even in the seventeenth century.'

6 INTRODUCTION.
The lead of tbe first group is taken by an Englishman,
the venerable John Foxe. The experiences of his own life
and of the church of his native country were what suggested
to him the plan of a church history, arranged under the lead
ing idea of persecution directed against the friends of evan
gelical truth. During the bloody persecutions which took
place under Queen Mary, many faithful men fled to the
Continent and found an asylum in the Rhine-lands and
Switzerland, — e.g., in Frankfort and Strasburg, in Basel,
Zurich, Geneva, and elsewhere. Among others John Foxe
repaired to Strasburg, and here appeared in 1554 the first
edition of the first book of his History of the Church and its
Chief Persecutions in all Europe from the times of Wiclif down to
the Present Age, a work which he had proceeded with thus far
before he left England, and which he dedicated to Duke
Christopher of Wurtemberg.'' He commenced the history
with Wiclif, partly, no doubt, from patriotic feeling, but
partly also because he regarded the measures adopted
against Wiclif as the beginning of the storm of persecution
which had continued to rage in England, Bohemia, and Scot
land down to his own day. Nor must we omit to mention
here that at the end of the sixteenth century and in the first
half of the seventeenth, Foxe's Book of Martyrs was a favourite
family book in many godly English households. Ladies were
wont to read it aloud to their children, and to their maidens
while at work ; and boys as soon as they could read took to
the much-loved book.« It helped in no small degree to^steel
the Protestant character of the Enghsh people in the seven
teenth century.
Foxe's work gave the key-note, and became a model for
many similar works in the German, French, and Bohemian
tongues ; and in most cases these writings, under the title of

INTRODUCTION. 7
Martyrologies, did not confine themselves, any more than Foxe
had done, to the domestic persecutions of the countries of
their several authors, but included Germany, France, and
England, and went back also to the centuries which preceded
the Reformation. When a ucav edition of Foxe was in pre
paration in 1632, the Bohemian exiles then living in the
Netherlands were requested to draw up an account of the
persecutions which had fallen upon their native church, with
the view ot its being incorporated with the English Book of
Martyrs, But the new edition was finished at press before
the narrative could be got ready, and the Bohemian work
remained in manuscript till it appeared in 1648 in Amsterdam
or Leyden, under the title, Historia Persecutionum Ecclesice
Bohemicce, which was subsequently translated into German
and Bohemian.
During the polemical period which reached from the last
quarter of the sixteenth down towards the close of the
seventeenth century, all that was done in the field of pre-
Reformation history and research was deeply tinged with a
controversial character — a remark which applies equally to
Germany, France, and England. The first Bodley librarian
at Oxford, Thomas James, was an instance in point. This
indefatigable scholar, one of the most learned and acute con
troversialists against Rome, published in 1608 An Apology for
John Wyclif.^ It was written with a polemical view — but at
that date it needed a learned and historical interest to be
uppermost in the mind even of a polemical writer to induce
him to take up the subject of a precursor of the Reforma
tion. Most men were so completely engrossed by the con
troversies of their own time, that they had neither inclination
nor leisure to make excursions into the history of the past.
It was not till the storm-waves of controversial excite-

8 INTRODUCTION.
ment subsided that the early Reformers began to awaken
a purer and more unprejudiced historical interest. From
that time, about the beginning of the last century, two facts
meet the eye of the observer. On the one hand, writers
occupied themselves with the lives and labours of single
men of pre-Reformation times, and generally in the way of
collecting and publishing materials which might serve the
purpose of making our knowledge of them more assured and
complete ; while, on the other hand, other writers put forth
reflections upon the different ways and means in and by
which the pre-Reformation movement had been carried on as
a whole. The first of these functions was undertaken by men such
as the industrious collector, John Lewis, a clergyman of the
Church of England, who published in 1720 the earliest regular
biography of Wiclif," a work full of material, which he had
brought together from public archives and manuscript sources.
His subsequent monograph on Bishop Pecock was designed
to be a sequel to the biography of Wiclif, and had the same
general character." Both works leave much to be desired in
point of literary execution ; but for their wealth of original
documents they are still of no little value.
Among German scholars, the man who rendered the most
meritorious services in the collection and publication of pre-
Reformation documents was Professor Hermann von der
Hardt of Helmstadt. His vast and masterly collection of
monuments, in illustration of the history of the Council of
Constance,^^ had for its chief object to establish by docu
mentary proof the necessity of Reformation which existed at
the time of that reforming counciL^^ The excellent example
set by Von der Hardt served as a spur to others, and stimu
lated, in particular, the younger Walch, to pubhsh his

INTRODUCTION. 9
" Monuments of the Middle Age," which began to appear in
Gottingen in 1757.^'' The work consists entirely of docu
ments relating to church reform, and all belonging to the
fifteenth century, being in part speeches which were delivered
in the Council of Constance, and partly treatises and trac
tates of John of Goch, John of Wesel, and others.
On the other hand, we find that since the commencement
of the eighteenth century, works began to appear conceived in
a purely historical and unprejudiced spirit, containing studies
or reflections on the Reformation movements viewed together
as a whole ; on the various means and ways which were made
choice of to promote them ; and on the different groups of the
Reformers. Walch calls attention in one place to the fact,
that there are two classes of witnesses to the truth, those
who complained of the vices of the clergy of all degrees, and
those who complained of the errors of the teachers. It is
well known that the number of writers belonging to the
second class is a small one ; but all the more highly must
the few works be valued in which Roman doctrines were
confuted. Among writings of this category Walch rightly
reckons John of Goch's tractate on errors in reference to
the Evangelical law.-'^
This distinction among the Reformers was not new; it
rests, at all events, upon the saying of Luther before men
tioned, that Wiclif and Huss mainly attacked the life of the
Popish Church, while he, on the contrary, attacked chiefly
its doctrine. But, though not new, this reflection, taken along
with others of a similar kind occurring in other writers of
that period, indicates a mode of regarding the subject far
removed from the bitterness of polemical feeKng, and dis
covering a certain elevation and freedom of historical view.
In the second and third decades of the present century,

10 INTRODUCTION.
when Protestant writers applied themselves to the production
of historical monographs with so much interest, and in such
a masterly style both of research and composition, it is at
first sight surprising that no one, for a long time, took for a
subject of portraiture any of the Reformation figures of the
middle age. Chrysostom and Tertullian, Bernard of Clairvaux,
and even Gregory VII. and Innocent III., all found at that
time enthusiastic biographers ; but no one had an eye for
Huss, for John of Wesel, and least of all, for Wiclif This is
explained in some measure by the circumstance, that the
historical branch of theology had to take a share in the
general aim of those years, and was called upon, before every
thing else, to contribute to the regeneration of Christian
feeling, and the new upbuilding of the kingdom of God, after
a long period of negation and deadness. This situation
determined the choice which was made of subjects for fresh
historical portraiture. Both writers and readers felt an in
ferior degree of sympathy for men in whom the critical spirit
had prevailed, and who had taken up a position of antagonism
to the Church-institutions and teaching of their age ; and,
perhaps, too, both writers and readers were less capable of
understanding them.
It was not till the commencement of the second quarter of
our century that due attention began again to be directed to
" the Reformers before the Reformation ;" and as, once before,
in the middle age itself, England was the country where the
first important precursor of the Reformation arose, so also, in
our century, England led the way in recalling the memory of
her own great son by the appliances of historical science,
and thereby setting an example which other countries
followed. Dr. Robert Vaughan published, in 1820, his Life
of Wiclif, a work founded upon a laborious study of the

INTRODUCTION. 11
manuscript writings of WicHf, especially of his English ser
mons and tracts.^' The way was now opened up, and other
explorers soon followed, partly at first under the influence of
national and provincial interest ; for the first writers, so far
as I can find, who followed Vaughan's example, as early as
1829 and 1830, were Netherlanders, who chose for their
subject the history of their countrymen, Gerhard Groot and
the Brethren of the Common Life.^'
But now German historical research appeared upon the
field, and without confining itself to its own nationality,
devoted to the precursors of the Reformation a sei'ies of
investigations which were equally conspicuous for thorough
ness and success. First in time, and most distinguished in
merit as a labourer in the field was Carl Ullmann, with his
monograph on John Wessel, which appeared in 1834, a work
which he expanded so much in the second edition by the
addition of accounts of John of Goch, John of Wesel, the
German Mystics, and the Brethren of the Common Life, that
he could give to the whole the title of Reformers before the
Reformation.^^ The first edition ot UUmann's work was
speedily followed by two works on Savonarola, by German
scholars, Rudelbach and Meier." And here I may be allowed
to add the remark, that in 1860 a third work on Savonarola
was published by an Italian, Pasquale Villari, a Roman
Catholic, which discovers able research, earnest feeling,
and deep veneration for his great and noble countryman.
And this instance of an improved manner of treating such
subjects, on the side of the Roman Catholic Church, does not
stand alone. It is a gratifying fact, which we are here very
happy to acknowledge, that much has been done in our own
time by writers of that church, to put the Reformation efforts
of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in their due light.

12 INTRODUCTION.
As instances, we may mention the work on the Reforming
Councils, by Herr von Wessenberg,^'' and the monograph of
Dr. Schwab of Wiirzburg, on John Gerson, a work of soKd
merit.^^ It cannot of course astonish any one that there
should be other writers of that church who still handle those
men of Reform with undisguised aversion, as has been done,
especially in the case of John Huss.^^
Returning to Protestant Church historians, the example of
Ullmann has stimulated many to similar researches in the
same field. On the subject in particular of the German
mystics of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries,
the labour of investigation during the last thirty years has
been so widely extended, that in order not to lose ourselves
in a useless enumeration of names and writings, we must
content ourselves with mentioning one man instead of many,
namely, Charles Schmidt, of Strasburg.^^ Nor would it be
just to pass over here in silence the services of Dr. Palacky
of Prague, in elucidating the history, not only of Huss, but
his precursors and successors. Not only as a historian,-but
also as a collector and editor of original documents of
history, Palafky has undeniable merits.^* His collection of
documents for the history of John Huss, in point of com
pleteness, criticism, and orderly arrangement, is a veritable
model.^° It is a fact which applies generally to the third quarter
of our century, that the labours of research among the
original sources of history, have been such as to issue in
the discovery and publication of a multitude of hitherto
concealed or scarcely accessible original documents, and
in the re-issue of several others which were known before
in a more critical and trustworthy form. To these belong
for example, the writings of Eckart, the speculative mystic,

INTRODUCTION. 13
edited by Franz Pfeiffer, the edition of the works of John
Staupitz, commenced by Knaake, and the pubhcation of the
collected Bohemian sermons and tracts of Huss, by Karl
Jaronier Erben.^'
In addition, Constantin Hofler, in Prague, has published a
series of Ihe Historians of the Hussite Movement in Bohemia.^''
Nor has England remained behind. Her most important
achievement on this field, and the fruit of the industry and
critical labour of many years, is the complete critical edition
of the Wycliffite versions of the Bible, edited by the Rev.
Josiah Forshall and Sir Frederick Madden.^^ Among the
numerous chronicles and documents bearing upon themediseval
history of England, which for a series of years back have
been pubhshed at the cost of the State, some of them never
before in print, and others in improved critical editions,
there are found many writings in the department of
ecclesiastical history, and especially such as have a bearing
upon pre-Reformation subjects.
To mention only some of these, the " Political Poems," edited
by Thomas Wright, contain a whole series of polemical and
satirical poems, which appeared for and against the Wiclif
movement in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.^' Fur
ther, of important interest for our object, is the correspond
ence of Grossetete, the celebrated Bishop of Lincoln, edited
by the Rev. H. R. Luard, of Cambridge.^" A highly rich
and acceptable new source for the history of Wiclif and his
followers, has been opened up in the Fasciculi Zizaniorum
Magistri Johannis Wyclif, collected without doubt by the
controversialist, Thomas Netter, of Walden, and published
for the first time in 1858, by Professor Walter Waddiugton
Shirley, of Oxford, with an Introduction and Notes full of
very valuable matter. At Shirley's suggestion, recommended

14 INTRODUCTION.
on the strongest grounds, the curators of the Clarendon and
University Press resolved to publish a selection of Wiclifs
works. Of this collection first appeared the Trialogus, with
a text critically amended from fom- Vienna MSS. of the
work; and next followed Wiclif's English sermons, and a
large number of his short English tracts, edited by the
Rev. Thomas Arnold, of Oxford.^"
Thus much has been done since the middle of the present
century to elucidate Reformation history, partly by the opening
up of new historical sources and the publication of original
documents, and partly by the monographic elucidation of
single parts of the subject. We venture to come forward as a
fellow-labourer in the same field, in undertaking to set forth
anew the life and teaching of Wiclif, according to the original
sources. John Wiclif appears to us to be the centre of the
whole pre-Reformation history. In him meet a multitude of
converging lines from the centuries which preceded him;
and from him again go forth manifold influences, like wave
pulses, which spread themselves widely on every side, and
with a force so persistent that we are able to follow the traces
of their presence to a later date than the commencement ol
the German Reformation. Such a man deserves to have a
historical portraiture which shall aim to do justice to the
greatness of his personality, and to the epochal importance
of his work.

NOTES TO INTRODUCTION. 15

NOTES TO INTRODUCTION.

1. Compare letter to Spalatin (Feb. 1520), in Luther's Letters, by De Wette.
Berlin, 1826. I., No. 20S, 425. Comp. No. 162. Letter to Staupitz, 3 Oct.
1519, p. 341.
2. Luther's Opera. Walch. Ed. XIV., 220 f. In the preface to one of the
earliest editions of Wessel's Farrago Rerum Tlieologicarum, Basel, 1522,
Melancthon speaks of Wessel in the same way ; he mentions him at considerable
length in his Postils, in the following terms, among others : — " De plerisque capi-
tibus religionis et'angelicce sensit idem quod a nobis nunc traditur, postquam nostra
cetate repurgatio ecclesice facta est."
3. Luther's Table Talk. Edited by Foerstemann. 1845. IL, 441 f. ; IV., 391.
4. llris rare tract has the titie : — " Wie sich Johannis Huss, der Pickarder, unJ
Johannis von WessaUa Leren und Biicher mit Martino Luther vergleiohen. Be-
schrieben duroh Doctor Johann Fabri." Preface dated " Prag in Beham. 1 Sep.
1528." Under the name " Pickhards," the author no doubt refers to the Wal
denses ; but, in fact, he treats iu this part of his tract, without knowing it, of
the Bohemian brethren, for he founds his remarks upon the Confession pre
sented by the latter to King Wladislaus.
5. FascicvXus rerum expetenda/rum ac fugienda/rum. Colon, 1535, fol. It was
not difficult for the English theologian, Edward Brown, to revise, with additions,
this collection in the interests of Protestantism. London, 1690, fol. In 2 vols.
6. Catalogus testium veritatis qui ante nx>stram aetatem reclamarunt Papae.
Basel, 1556, 8vo. 1562, foL Geneva, 1608, foL Frankf., 1666, 4to., with a
supplement, printed in Cassel, in 1667.
7. " Commentarii rerum in Ecclesia gestarum, madmarumque per totam Europam
persecutionum a Wiclivi temporibus ad banc usque aetatem descriptio. Liber I.
Autore, Joanne Foxo, Anglo. Argentorati. MDLrv." Small 8vo , 221 pp. The
second Latin edition, considerably enlarged, appeared at Basel, in folio, in 1559.
After his return to England Foxe published his work in English in 1563 ; and, after
his death, in 1587, a second English edition came out in 1610. But the completest
edition was that of 1684, in three large folios, with the title, Acts and Monuments
of Martyrs. Several editions have also appeared in our own time, the best being
that edited with copious and valuable notes, by Rev. Josiah Pratt, M. A. , and a
"Lite and Defence of the Martyrologist," by Rev. George Townsend, D.D.
8. E. g. Nicolaus Ferrar. Vide Mayor's Nicholas Ferrar. Two Lives. Camb.
1858.

16 NOTES TO INTRODUCTION.
9. An Apology for John Wiokliffe, showing his conformity with the now Church
of England. Collected chiefly out of diverse works of his in written hand, by God's
especial providence remaining in the PubKke Library at Oxford, of the Honorable
Foundation of Sir Thomas Bodley, Knight. Oxford, 1608, 4to.
10. The History of the Life and Sufferings of the Rev. and Learned John
Wiclif, D.D. London, 1720. New Ed., Oxford, 1820.
11. The Life of the Learned and Right Rev. Reynold Pecock, faithfully col
lected from records and MSS. London, 1725 and 1742. New Ed., Oxford,
1820. 12. Rerum Concilii Constantiensis. Tomi L-VI. Fol. 1696-1700.
13. Monimenta Medii aevi. Vol. I., faso. 1-4 (1757-1760). Vol II., fasc.
1-2(1761-1764). 14. Monimenta Medii aevi. Vol. I., fasc. 4. Prsefatio, p. xxxiv.
15. Life and Opinions of John de Wycliffe, D.D., illustrated principally from hia
unpublished Manuscripts. 2 vols. London, 1828. The second improved edition
appeared in 1831, and in 1853, Vaughan published a new work in one volume,
entituled, "John de Wycliffe: A Monograph.'' London, 1853. The merits
of Vaughan's labours on Wiclif consist of two things —(1.) In the copious informa
tion touching Wiclif obtained from manuscript sources. Vaughan was, in particular,
the first who communicated a fuller knowledge of Wiclif's English sermons . (2.)
In a certain degree of chronological order, which he introduced into the series of
Wiclif's writings — a circumstance of much importance, because thereby it became
possible to follow, in some degree, the gradual progress of the reformer's opinions,
and a comparison of the dates of his numerous writings served to exhibit his char
acter for consistency and firmness in a more honourable light. The chief defects of
Vaughan's work were that he manifested less interest in the speculative and strictly
theological element of Wiclif's writings than in their practical and religious ele
ment, and that he left almost entirely out of consideration his Latin works, being
of opinion that they were scholastic treatises of comparatively little worth. But, not
withstanding these defects, Vaughan's work must always take a foremost place
as the basis of all accurate knowledge of Wiclif, and it has, in fact, been drawn upon
by many later writers — e. g. , in England, by Le Bas, in his " Life of Wyclif, "1853;
in the Netherlands, by De Ruever-Gronemann, Diatribe in Johannis WicUiffe
Vitam, Ingenium, Scripta. Utrecht, 1837 ; in Germany, by Engelhard, "Wycliffe,
als Prediger, Erlangen," 1834 ; by Neander and Giesler, in their histories of the
Church ; and, further, in my Essay on Wiclif and the Lollards, Zeitschrift fUr
Histor-Tbeologie, 1853. Boehringerin his " Kirche Christi und ibre Zeugen," II.
4, 1856, has chiefly made use of the latter work of Vaughan— the Monograph.
16. So the two Clarisse — first the son and then the father — in two papers in the
" Archives of Church History," edited by Kist and Royaards, Over den Geest en
de Denkwyse Van Geert Groot, 1829. Also, Delprat Verhandeling over de Broe-
derschap van G. Groot. Utrecht. 1830.
17. Johann Wessel, ein Vorganger Lutheri. Gotha. 1834. The second edi
tion, in two volumes, appeared in 1841, under the titie, " Reformatoren vor de
Reformation, vornahmlich in Deutschland und den Niederlanden.'' English trans
lation by Rev. Robert Menzies. Clark, Edinburgh, 1865.

NOTES TO INTRODUCTION. 17
18. Rudelbach Hieronymus Savonarola und Seine Zeit, 1835. Fredr. Karl
Meier Girolamo Savonarola aus zum grossen Theile Handsohriftliohen Quellen
dargestellt. 1836.
19. Pasquali ViUari. Geschichte Girolamo Savonarola's und seiner Zeit.
Nach neuen Quellen dargestellt. In two volumes. The original appeared in 1 860
and 1861. We use the translation of Berduschek. Leipzig, 1868.
20. "Die grossen Kirchenversammlungen der filnfzehnten und sechzenten
Jahrhunderts, in Beziehung auf Barchenbesserung gesohichtlich und kritisch
dargestellt. 4 Bande, Constanz. 1840.
21, Johannes Gerson. Eine Monographie. Wiirzburg, 1858.
22. Von Helfert, Hns und Hieronymus, 1853. Hoefler, Magister Johannes Hus.
Prag., 1864.
23. Johann Tauler von Strassburg. Hamburg, 1841. Nicolaus von Basel.
Wien, 1866.
24. Geschichte von Bohmen. 5 Theile. Prag., 1836-1867.
25. Documenta Joannis Hus vitam doctrinam — Ulustrantia. Prag., 1860.
26. Published in Prague in three volumes, 1865-8.
27. Published in Vienna, 1856, in three volumes, as parts of the"Fontes
rerum Austriacarum. I. Division." Vol. 2.
28. The Wycliflate versions of the Holy Bible. 4 vols. 4to. Oxford, 1850.
27. Political Poems and Songs relating to English History. Composed during
the period from the accession of Edward III. to that of Richard III. Edited by
Thomas Wright. London, 1859. 2 vols.
30. Robert! Grossteste Episcopi quondam Lincolniensis Epistolse. Edited by
Henry Bichard Luard. London, 1861.
31. Fasciculi Zizaniorum Magistri Johannis Wyclif cum tritico. Ascribed to
Thomas Netter of Walden. Edited by the Rev. Walter Waddington Shirley, M. A.
London, 1858.
32. Joannis Wiclif Trialogus cum Supplemento Trialogi. Edidit Gotthardus
Lechler. Oxonii, 1869. Select English Works of John Wiclif. Edited by
Thomas Arnold, M.A., Oxford. Vol. I. 1869. Sermons on the Gospels for
Sundays and Festivals. Vol. II. 1871. Sermons on the Ferial Gospels and
Sunday Epistles. Treatises. VoL III. 1871. Miscellaneous works.

VOL. I.

CHAPTEE I.
ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF.
Section I. — Mixture and Consolidation of Races in the English
People,
TT is impossible to take a rapid survey of the course of
English history during the middle ages, without being
struck M'ith the observation how many foreign elements
mingled with it in ever varying succession, and how violent
were the collisions and deep-reaching the contests which
sprang from this cause.
We leave out of view, of course, the Romans who had
quitted the soil of Britain before the close of ancient history,
and had left the country to itself. In the middle of the fifth
century, the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons, all sea-going tribes
of lower Germany, effected a conquest of the land, and drove
back the Celtic inhabitants to its western borders. That
was an immigration of pure German races. Five centuries
later the predatory and devastating expeditions of the Danes
broke over the country. That was the Scandinavian invasion,
which took the form in the end of a personal union between
England and Denmark. But when, after two more centuries,
the long-settled Saxon population stirred itself again and
bestowed the crown upon one of its own race, Duke William
of Normandy intervened with a strong hand ; and with " The
Conquest" the Franco-Norman nationality gained the ascen-

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 19
dancy in England ; and it was not till two more centuries
had passed away that the Saxon element worked itself
up again into prominence and power.
What a piebald mixture of peoples I What changes of
fortune among the different nationalities ! And yet the result
of all was not a mere medley of peoples, without colour and
character, but on the contrary, a nation and a national
character of remarkable vigour, and extremely well defined.
For the numerous collisions and hard conflicts which occurred
among the different races served only to strengthen and
steel the kernel of the Saxon element of the population.
This effect can be clearly seen and measured in the language
and literature of the country, which are the first things
upon which every people stamps its own impress.
It is a fact that after the first and earliest efflorescence of
the Anglo-Saxon language, in the age immediately succeed
ing the conversion of the people to Christianity, a second
took place in the days of Alfred the Great ^ — not without
a deep connection with the elastic reaction of the Saxon
nationality against Danish despotism. And it is a circum
stance of the same kind that the new Anglo-Saxon dialect
developed itself from about the year 1100, — a fact which was
unquestionably owing to the Conquest which had taken place
not long before, and an indication that the old Saxon stock
was once more gathering up its strength in reaction against
the new Norman-French element. On the other hand, the
first development of the language which is called " Eng
lish," in distinction from Anglo-Saxon — old English, we
mean^ — ^belongs to the period in which a fusion began
to take place between the Norman families and the Saxon
stock, and that in the direction of an approximation
of the Norman nobiHty to the Saxons — not the converse.

20 LIFE OF WICLIF.
The former ceased to feel as Frenchmen, and learned to think
and speak as Englishmen.
We shall soon have an opportunity of convincing our
selves what an important share the religious interest had in
producing this change. Meanwhile so much as this is clear,
that the introduction of the Norman-French element, like
the Danish invasion of an earlier time, did not in the least
hinder, but on the contrary gave a stimulus to, the develop
ment of a compact and independent Saxon nationality.
It was in conflict with foreign elements and their usurped
power that the Saxon nation first of all maintained its own
individuality, and next developed itself into the English
people. When we turn our attention to the faith of the nation and
the religious side of their life, the antagonisms and the
successive changes which they present to view are scarcely
less abrupt. The British inhabitants of the country had
received the Gospel during the Roman occupation, but
apparently not from Rome, but rather, in the first instance,
from the shores of the Levant. When the Roman domination
of the island came to an end, the Britons had already for the
most part been converted to Christianity. On the other
hand, the Saxons and Angles, the Frisians and Jutes, when
they established themselves in the country, were entirely
ignorant of the Gospel. They brought with them the old
German Paganism, they drove back the British population
and Christianity along with it, and they stamped again upon
the land, as far as they might, a heathen impress.
Then arrived, at the end of the sixth century, at the
instance of Gregory the Great, a completely organised
Christian mission; and within the comparatively brief
period of less than a hundred years this mission accom-

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 21
plished the result of carrying over to Christianity the whole
of the related kingdoms of the Saxon heptarchy. And
now the old inhabitants of Celto-British descent and the
Saxons (as the Britons called the others) might have
joined hands as Christians, had it not been for an obstacle
which could not be taken out of the way.
The social and liturgical form in which Christianity was
planted among the Saxons in England was essentially dif
ferent from the ecclesiastical order and usage of the old
British Christians. Among the latter, to say nothing of
smaller liturgical differences, the ecclesiastical centre of
gravity was in the monasteries, not in the episcopate, in
addition to which they were under no subjection to the
Bishops of Rome — ^their church life was entirely autonomous
and national. The missionaries to the Saxons had been sent
forth from Rome, and the Anglo-Saxon Church was, so to
speak, a Roman colony ; its whole church order received, as
was to be expected, the impress of the Church of the West,
and in particular the government of the church was placed
in the hands of the Bishops, who in their turn were dependent
upon the See of Rome. The difference, or rather the opposi
tion, was felt on both sides vividly enough, and led to severe
collisions — to a struggle for victory, the prize of which on
the one side was the exclusive domination of the Roman
Church, on the other, if not the dominancy, at least the
continued existence of the old British ecclesiastical constitu
tion. On which side lay the better hope of victory it is not
difficult to estimate. A like contest repeated itself some
what later upon the German soil, where a missionary who
went forth from the young Anglo-Saxon Church opened fight
against the church which had been planted among the
Germans in part by old British missionaries, and at last

22 LIFE OF WICLIF,
bound the German Church so closely and tightly to Rome,
that it too was converted by Boniface very much into a
Roman colony.
It would be an error, nevertheless, to believe that Rome
obtained in England an absolute victory, or that the old
British Church, with its peculiar independent character, dis
appeared without a trace in the Romish Anglo-Saxon Church.'
It is nearer the truth to say, that the British Church made
its influence felt in the Anglo-Saxon, at least in single
provinces, especially in the north of England ; and perhaps
it was not without the operation of this influence that a
certain spirit of church autonomy developed itself at an early
period among the Anglo-Saxon people. It was not long
after this development began to inanifest itself, when the
Danes invaded the country. They transplanted into England
the heathenism of Scandinavia. The threatening danger
woke up the Saxon elasticity to a vigorous resistance.
The wars ol freedom under King Alfred were animated
by a Christian inspiration, and by the feeling that not only
the existence of the nation, but also of the Church of Christ
in the land was at stake.
But what a new spirit prevailed in church affairs after the
Norman Conquest I It was a genuine adventure of the
Norman type — an enterprise of bold, romantic daring, when
Duke WOliam, with a show of right, and availing himself of
favouring circumstances, seized upon the English crown.
But he took the step not without the previous knowledge
and approval of the Pope. Alexander II. sent him, for use
in the enterprise, a consecrated banner of St. Peter. The
Duke was to carry it on board his own ship. With the con
quest of England by the Normans, Rome hoped to make a
conquest for herself, and not without reason. In the noble

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 23
families of Normandy, the knightly lust of battle and
conquest was most intimately blended with knightly de
votion to the Church and the Pope. In point of fact, from
the moment of the conquest, the bond between Rome and
the English Church was drawn incomparably closer than
it had ever been under the Saxon dynasty.
The clergy, partly of Norman-French, partly of pure
Roman descent, to whom the English sees were now trans
ferred, could have no national sympathies with Anglo-Saxon
Christianity. Strangers, they passed into the midst of
a strange church. It was natural that they should take up
the position of abstract ecclesiastical right. Recall the
instance of Lanfranc, a born Italian, who, in 1070, four years
after the battle of Hastings, from being Prior of Bee, was pro
moted to be Archbishop of Canterbury. At the same date a
Norman became Archbishop of York. As a general rule, the
highest dignities of the Enghsh Church fell to Normans,
and these priests of the Continent were all supporters of the
new hierarchical movement, which began in the middle of
the same century — of those ideas touching the supremacy
of the Pope above the Church, and of the Church above the
State, of which Hildebrand himself had been the deliberate
and most emphatic champion. William the Conqueror,
indeed, was not the man to suffer in silence any encroach
ments of the Pope upon the rights of his crown, to say
nothing of the pretensions of any ecclesiastical dignitary in
his own kingdom. A serious discord, which took place
between the crown and the Primate, now Anselm of
Canterbury, arising out of the investiture controversy,
was only composed by the prudent concessions of Pas
chal IL to Henry L in 1106.
All the more formidable was the conflict between the

24 LIFE OF WICLIF.
royal and ecclesiastical powers under Henry IL, exactly a
hundred years after the conquest The quarrel in the main
concerned the limits of the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdic
tions—the right of exemption, e.g., from the jurisdiction
of the municipal courts, which was claimed for the clergy
by the Archbishop Thomas k Becket; and it may suffice
to remind the reader in passing how in the end the Arch
bishop was assassinated (1170) by several knights, not
without the indirect compHcity of the king, and how, in
consequence of that evil deed, Henry had to bow himself
down in most humiliating penance (12th July 1174) at the
grave of the now canonised champion of the Church's rights
and liberties — a penance far more ignominious even than
that of Canossa.* The hierarchy obtained a great victory,
as indeed had been in prospect for it ever since the Nor
man Conquest.
And yet this was not the culminating point to which the
power of the Church attained in England. It did not
reach that tiU forty years later. Innocent III. accomplished
what Gregory VII. had striven for in the Conqueror's
day in vain. King John, son of Henry IL, finding him
self in the greatest dangers, both from without and within
the realm, had had recourse to a desperate step. On the
15th of May 1213, he had surrendered his kingdom, in
favour of the apostles Peter and Paul and the Church of
Rome, into the hands of Innocent III. and his successors.
He received it, indeed, immediately back again from the
Pope in fief, but not before taking for himself and his
successors in all due form, the oath of fealty to the Pope
as his hege lord, and binding himself to pay an annual
tribute of 1000 marks sterling, in addition to the usual
Peter's pence. Thereby England became literally a portion

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICUB*. 25
of the Church-State, the king a vassal of the Pope, and the
Pope liege lord and sovereign of England. England entered
into and became a member of the Papal state system, which
already included Portugal, Arragon, the kingdom of Sicily
Hungary, Bulgaria, and other States — a relation to the
Papacy which was turned to practical account to the utmost
of the Church's power, by the levying of imposts from
the kingdom, as well as by the accumulation of English
church offices and dignities in the hands of Italians.
But from the moment when King John made over to the
Papal See a feudal supremacy in England, the moral in
fluence of the Papacy in the country began to stoop towards
its overthrow. The English nobility were the first to feel
the humiliation most deeply, and complained indignantly
to the king that he had brought what he had _found a
free kingdom into bondage." Within two years the con
dition of things for a considerable time was such that the
revolted barons held the chief power of the State in their
hands. And then it was that Magna Charta, the funda
mental charter of the nation's liberties, was negotiated
between John and his subjects (15th June 1215). In
this document, the importance of which was even then
universally felt, not a word was said of the liege-lordship
of the Pope, although only two years had passed since this
relation had been entered into, and no doubt this omission
was intentional on the part of the barons.
Still the whole movement which had been called forth in
ever-growing force against the despotic rule of the dis
trusted Prince, was also aimed, in the second instance,
against Rome. The. King himself, in a letter to Innocent
III. (13th September 1215), assures him that the earis and
barons of the kingdom publicly alleged as the chief cause

26 LIFE OF WICLIF.
of their revolt, his own act of submission to the Pope ; '' and
the Pope, on his side, considered the insurrection as directed
in part against himself. An important reactio a in the spirit of
the Anglican Church, and in its attitude towards the Roman
See, could not fail to be produced by the fact, that in that
celebrated state-treaty there was a guarantee given for all
the Hberties and rights of the national church, as well as
for all those of all other classes and corporations in the
kingdom.' While in the first instance, the great nobles
and hierarchy, the lower nobility and the municipalities,
all learned to feel their oneness as a nation, and to be
sensible of their interests in common, there was no less a
development in the ecclesiastical body of a national spirit.
The spirit of insular independence began to make itself
felt also in the religious sphere.
It had a powerful influence in the same religious direc
tion, that from the beginning of the 13th century .the
Saxon element of the nation was again steadily coming to
the front, and pressing the Norman element more and more
into the background. Already, in 1204, Normandy had fallen
to the crown of France. This loss had naturally' the effect of
first diminishing the immigration from Normandy, and then,
in time, of stopping it altogether. On the other hand, the
famihes which had previously immigrated — to say nothing
of the decimation which they had suffered in consequence of
the political movements under King John and his successor,
Henry III. — had in process of time drawn closer in many
ways to the Saxon population. The arbitrary oppression
which the nobles suffered at the hand of the kings brought
up the memory of the earlier rights and privileges of the
nobility under the Saxon kings. The barons began to claim
the like for themselves, and appealed to them in support of

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 27
their claim in their struggle with King John. The nobles
no longer felt themselves to be Normans, but English
men ; and all the more so, the more clearly men became
conscious how much in questions of freedom and popular
right was owing to the support of the lower nobility,
and even to the municipalities, especially to the citizens
of London.
This consolidation of the nation, in which the Saxon
population constituted the kernel, could not remain without
influence upon the self-consciousness and the hereditary
independent genius of the Anglican Church. A symptom of
this appeared in the secret combination of noblemen and
priests, which, in 1231, addressed threatening letters to the
capitular bodies and the abbacies, demanding of them to re
fuse payment to the agents of Rome of all imposts in money
and kind. Not only so ; but things, in fact, went so far that
a Romish cleric, who was in possession of an English prelacy,
was captured by the conspirators and not set at liberty again
till five weeks after the loss of all his goods, while in
country districts the full corn lofts of Roman parish priests
were plundered and emptied.^ In 1240 the cardinal legate
Otho himself was menaced most seriously by an insurrection
of students in Oxford. Such tumultuous proceedings were of
course not suffered by the government. But neither were
there wanting lawful measures directed against the Roman
usurpations. The nobles, in a letter to Gregory IX., put in a
protest in support of their violated rights of church patron
age; and even bishops and prelates submitted complaints,
sometimes to the papal legates, and sometimes to the Pope
himself.

28 LIFE OF WICLIF.

Section II. — Robert Grossetete, Bishop of Lincoln.
Of this state of feeling the most important and venerable
representative was indisputably the learned and courageous
Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Grossetete — a man who was held
in exceptionally high admiration by his contemporaries, to
whom England in the following centuries also deferred as a
high authority, and who was ever regarded by Wiclif in
particular (who refers to him on innumerable occasions) with
the highest respect. To such a man it is due that we should
here present at least in outline a sketch of his character
and career.^"
Robert Grossetete (in Latin Capito, in English Greathead)
was one of those rare men who so harmoniously combine
mastery in science with mastery in practical life, that they
may be termed princes in the domain of mind. As to
science, he united in himself the whole knowledge of his age
to such an extent that a man so eminent in genius as Roger
Bacon, his junior contemporary and grateful friend, said of
him that " The Bishop of Lincoln was the only man living
who was in possession of all the sciences." ^^ But, however
comprehensive and independent his knowledge was, it
would be a great error to think of him as a man who was
more than everything else a man of learning. On the
contrary, with all his scientific greatness, Grossetete was
still predominantly a man of action — a man full of character
in the highest sense, a churchman such as few have
ever equalled ; and, from the day of his elevation to the
episcopate, every inch a bishop.
But when I ask myself what was the moving-spring, the
innermost kernel of his aims and actions, I am able to name

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 29
nothing but his godly solicitude and care for souls. When
he carries on for years a law-suit with his chapter for the
right of episcopal visitation ; when he contends for " the
freedom of the church," apparently in a hierarchical spirit ;
when he repels with decision the encroachments of the Pope
and his legates ; when he brings sharp discipline to bear
upon careless and worldly monks and priests, and labours to
put a stop to the desecration of charities and churchyards ;
when he forms and draws out the young Orders of the
Franciscans and Dominicans, — in all this he has nothing
else in view but the good of souls. That is his last and
highest aim, in the pursuit of which the consciousness of
his heavy responsibility attends him at every step, while
a sincere fear of God imparts such strength to his mind as
to give him victory over all the fear of man.
How did Grossetete became the man he was ? Let us glance
at the course of his outer and inner life. There are at least
some original materials from which we can attempt to obtain
an answer to this inquiry .^^
It is an accepted date that Grossetete was born in 1175,
or one or two years earlier. For it is certain that at his
death, in 1253, he was a man of great age; and when the
learned Giraldus Cambrensis recommended him to the Bishop
of Hereford, William de Vere, which took place at latest in
1199 (for in this year the bishop just named died), he gave
him the title of Magister, so that he was already a Master of
Arts, and must have been a young man of from twenty to
twenty-five years; and this takes us back for his birth to
nearly the same date as before. He was a native of Strad-
brook, in the county of Suffolk, and according to some
chronicles, of humble extraction. The chronicle of Lanercost
has a notice, which is credible enough in itself, and siguifl-

30 LIFE OF WICLIF.
cant of his character,^' that on one occasion Grossetete
replied to an earl, who had expressed some astonishment
at his noble bearing and manners, that it was true he
was sprung of parents in humble station, but from his
earliest years he had made a study of the characters of
the best men in the Bible, and that he had formed himself
upon their model.
Of his student and travelling years we know little. Only
so much is certain that he studied in Oxford. It is less clearly
established, but not in itself improbable, that he completed
his studies in Paris. Later, as already stated, he was intro
duced by Giraldus to the Bishop of Hereford as a young
man who would be of service to him, not only in his manifold
public employment and judicial decisions, but also in the care
of his health. In addition to theology, therefore, Grossetete
must have prosecuted successfully the study of medicine and
canon law. But Bishop de Vere died in 1199, and Grossetete
betook himself again to Oxford, where he remained for the
next thirty-five years, in the course of which he became
Doctor of Theology and Rector scholarum. Several of his
writings, including his Commentaries on Aristotle and
Boethius, besides several theological works, no doubt had
their origin in lectm-es which he deKvered in the University.
Several church preferments were also conferred upon him,
such as a stall in the Cathedral of Lincoln, the Archdeaconry
of Leicester, etc. Oxford appears to have continued to be
his principal residence down to the year 1235, when he was
chosen by the Chapter of Lincoln to be their bishop.
Some years before this he seems to have experienced
something of the nature of a religious awakening. In the
end of October 1231 or 1232 he had a dangerous illness. On
his sick-bed and during his recovery his heart appears to

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 31
have been deeply moved. He took counsel with his con
science, particularly on the question whether it was right
before God for him to hold several livings at the same time.^*
It was, without doubt, at this time that, by the medium of a
pious man whose name has not come down to us, he sub
mitted to the Pope the question whether he could, with a
good conscience, retain the parochial charge which he held,
along with his sinecure prebends. The answer which was orally
communicated to him was thoroughly Roman, — by no means
could he retain such a plurality without a dispensation. But
this was a mode of arrangement which his awakened con
science forbade him to make use of, and without more ado he
resigned the whole of the benefices which he possessed, vrith
the sole exception of his stall at Lincoln. We learn this
from a letter of the year 1232 to his sister Inetta — a nun.^°
The sister by no means approved of her brother's self-denying
step. She feared that by his act of renunciation of income
he had reduced himself to penury. But his only feeling was
one of relief from a burden on his conscience, and he
endeavours to remove her anxiety on that score, and to
reconcile her to the resolution to which he had already
given effect. The conscientiousness and the concern for
his own soul, of which we have here a ghmpse, awakened
in Grossetete an earnest concern for the cure of souls at
large, of which from that time forward he gave ever
stronger proofs.
After the death of the Bishop of Lincoln, Hugh of Wells,
with whom he was on terms of personal friendship, Grossetete,
in the spring of 1235, was advanced to the bishoprick. As
Chancellor of the University of Oxford, as Archdeacon of
Leicester, and in other positions, he had already been suc
cessful in canying out many measures of a practical

32 LIFE OF WICLIF.
kind; and now he was advanced to a post in which his
action as an ecclesiastical ruler shone out conspicuously
far and wide.
This was in part owing to the importance of this particular
see. The diocese of Lincoln was then, and for some cen
turies afterwards, by far the largest and most populous in the
whole of England. More than once in his letters Grossetete
refers to its immense extent and numerous inhabitants.^' It
included at that day eight archdeaconries, of which only two
may here be mentioned, Oxford and Leicester, the former,
because the University was subject to the Bishop of Lincoln
as its ordinary, and the latter, because to the archdeaconry,
a century later, Wiclif, as parish priest of Lutterworth, be
longed. The Cathedral,!^ built at the commencement of the
Norman period, stands, with the older portion of the city,
upon a height, while the newer portion of the city de
scends the hill to the plain watered by the river
Witham. None of the English cathedrals has so splendid
a site as that of Lincoln; with its three towers it is seen
at a distance of fifty miles to the north and thirty to the
south, and is considered one of the most beautiful cathedrals
in the kingdom.
As soon as he was installed, Grossetete grasped the helm
with a firm hand, and took immediate steps for the removal
of abuses which had found their way into the diocese. His
first act was to address a circular letter to all his archdeacons,
in which he instructed them to admonish the parishes of
various evil customs which were on the increase, by which
Sundays, festivals, or holy names were desecrated. This
missive goes right into matters of practical life, and is
inspired by a high moral earnestness, by a conscientious
solicitude for the good of souls, and by a burning zeal for

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 33
the House of God.^' Nor was it only in writing or by inter
mediaries, but also directly and personally, that the new
bishop intervened. In the very first year after his admis
sion to office he commenced a ])ersonal visitation of the
monasteries of the diocese, which resulted in not fewer
than seven abbots and three priors being immediately
deprived. Nor was it Grossetete's intention only to interfere in cases
at a distance, and to shut his eyes to disorders which lay
nearer home. He took steps to visit and reform the chapter
of his own cathedral. But now his troubles began. The
chapter, consisting of not fewer than twenty-one canons,
took a protest against his proceedings, alleging that the
bishop was allowing himself in unexampled encroachments
of authority, and was touching their immemorial rights.
The chapter had an autonomy of its own, and was subject
only to its own dean ; only if the dean neglected his duty, or
himself appealed to the bishop, had the latter a right to say
a single word.^^ In 1239 the matter grew to a quarrel
between bishop and chapter. The dispute became known
all over the kingdom, and could not be healed either by the
Archbishop of Canterbury or by Otho, the Pope's legate.
Bishop Robert made a journey in November 1244 to Lyons,
where Innocent IV. was then residing. A commissioner of
the chapter was already there before him. The Pope's deci
sion on the main point — the right of visitation — was soon
obtained, and was entirely in favour of the bishop, and, this
gained, Grossetete lost no time in making use of his right
now finally set at rest, although he had still to encounter
difficulties in carrying it into effect.
Along with this business he carried forward with zeal his
visitation of parishes and cloisters. As the effect of this,
VOL. I. C

34- LIFE OP WICLIF.
several unworthy parish priests were removed, and many
priors who had been guilty of acts of violence resigned their
offices. Other bishops also were stimulated to do the like
by the persistency and emphasis with which Grossetete pro
secuted this visitorial work. It even appears as though
the estimation and influence of the vigorous bishop rose
higher and higher in proportion to the amount of conflict
which it cost him to carry through his plans for the well-
being of the church. In fact, his episcopal career was an
almost unbroken succession of collisions and conflicts. Long
before the affair with his own chapter had been brought to a
settlement, he became involved in differences with powerful
spiritual corporations — with the Abbot of Westminster, and
wdth the convent of Christ Church in Canterbury. Nay, the
heroic opposition to wrong which he was compelled from
time to time to undertake, rose higher still. In repeated
instances, sometimes single-handed, sometimes along with
other bishops, he stood forward in resistance to King Henry
III. himself; and what for a man in his position, and in
view of the spirit of his age, will be seen to amount to a vast
deal more — he remained true to his own convictions of duty
and to his own resolves, even against the Pope himself, and
that Pope a man like Innocent IV. But of this more in
the sequel.
In view of this multitude of spiritual conflicts we can
easily understand that his opponents accused him of a want
of heart and a love of strife. Even at this distance of time,
after the lapse of six centuries^upon a superficial consideration
of a life so full of contention, one might easily receive the
impression that this energetic man was all too fond of strife,
ff not even a hierarch of haughty and imperious temper.
But on a closer inspection the case stands quite otherwise.

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 35
A careful examination of his correspondence has forced upon
me the conviction that in entering into these numerous con
tentions Grossetete was influenced, not by a violent tempera
ment, but by the dictates of conscience. On one occasion he
writes as follows to the Abbot of Leicester : — " You accuse
us of iron-heartedness and want of pity. Alas ! would that
we had an iron heart, steeled against the flatteries of
tempters, a strong heart, proof against the terrors of the
wicked, a sharp heart, cutting off sins and hewing in pieces
the bad when they oppose themselves." -"
From this single utterance we may perceive that what he
did could not have been the outflow of mere natural tem
perament, but must have been the result of principle and
conviction. It was in this sense he replied to the dean and
chapter of Sarum, who admonished him to Uve in peace
with his own chapter. That peace, he said, was what he aimed
at beyond everything else, but the true peace, not the false ;
for the latter is only a perversion of the true God-appointed
order.^^ But that he was not led by a determination to have
everything his own way is plain, from the circumstance that
what he laid the whole stress upon in his conflicts was not
to have success in them, but to preserve in all of them a
good conscience. While he was still Archdeacon of Leicester
he had a difference with the Benedictine Convent of Reading
— but he was prepared to submit himself unreservedly to the
decision of an umpire whom both parties might be able to
agree upon.^^ And on a later occasion when he had
expressed himself at full length against an appointment
which Cardinal Otho had desired for a favourite of his, he
contented himself with having thus referred the matter to
the Cardinal's own conscience, and left it, in quiet, to his
own decision.^' It is his abiding sense of responsibility, and

36 LIFE OF WICLIF.
his fear of " Him who is able to destroy body and soul in
hell," which moves him in all cases when he is compelled to
place himself in opposition to personages of high influence
and place.
But does not, at least, the suspicion of hierarchical pride
still remain attached to him ? The answer to this is, that
however little Grossetete was inclined at any time to abate
aught of his episcopal right, whether in dealing with his
subordinates or his superiors, with the great men of the
realm, or with the supreme Head of the Church himself, in
every case the episcopal dignity and power was looked upon
by him not as an end but a means. The last end to him was
the good of souls. To that end, and to that alone, behoved
to be subservient both priestdom and patrondom, bishopdom
and popedom, the Church's liberties and the Church's wealth,
each in its own measure and after its own manner. When
in his official journeys he gathered around him the parochial
clergy of a rural deanery, and preached before them, he had
in his thoughts the whole of the congregations of these
parish priests, and used to say that "it was his duty to
preach the Word of God to all the souls in his diocese ; but
it was impossible for him to do so personally, considering
the multitude of parish churches and the immense population
of the diocese; and he could think of no other way of
helping himself than to preach God's Word to the priests
and vicars and curates of each deanery, assembled around
him in the course of his visitations, in order to do through
them, at least to some extent, what he found himself entirely
unable to do for the people in person." ^^
It is surprising, indeed, to hear a man of such sentiments
as these laying down, at an earher period of his life, to an
officer of State, the principle that civfl legislation behoves to

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. ?>1
conform itself to the laws of the Church, because temporal
princes receive from the Church all the power and dignity
which they possess ; that both swords, material and spiritual,
belong to St. Peter, with only this difference, that the
princes of the Church handle only the spiritual sword, while
they wield the material sword through the hands of tem
poral princes, who, however, are bound to draw it and
sheathe it under their direction.^^ That is quite the lan
guage of an Innocent III.
It looks as if Grossetete, in his later life, must have passed
over to the other camp. But that is not the true state of
the case.^* Even in his earlier life it was not the deepest
meaning of his thoughts to surrender up all unconditionally
to St. Peter's successor, or to claim plenary powers for the
episcopate for its own sake. It is true that he puts the law
of the Church on a footing of full equality with the com
mandments of God. It is true also, that he puts the State
decidedly under the Church, and denies its autonomy. But
he sees these things through the spectacles of his own
century, and is unable to set himself loose from its idea's.
StiU, neither the episcopate nor the papacy exists in his
view for itself; both exist for the glory of God and for the
good of God's kingdom . The whole conduct and action of
the man, not only in later but also in earlier life, justifies us
in so interpreting his innermost thoughts. We can see
from the rejoinder which he made to the statesman's reply,
which would appear to have been couched in a tone of
cutting irony, that our bishop had had no intention in his
first letter, to mount upon the high horse of hierarchical
pride.^^ K we look for the innermost kernel of all the thought
and effort of this man who had an incredible amount of

.38 LIFE OF WICLIF.
business to get through, we can find it in nothing else than
in his earnest soUcitude for souls. To this end he laboured
with special zeal for the moral and rehgious elevation of
the pastoral office. A doctor of theology, Wflliam of Cerda,
when he had himself been appointed to a pastoral charge,
found much more pleasure in carrying on his lectures in
the University of Paris than in taking personal charge of
his parishioners in England. But Grossetete reminds him
with equal tenderness and warmth that he should choose
rather to be himself a pastor, and to feed the sheep of Christ
in his own parish, than to read lectures to other pastors
from the chair .^' We see here how high a place he assigned
to the pastoral office, and that though he stood at the top
of the science of his time, he did not look upon science as
the highest thing, but upon life, and especially the devoted
cure of souls. What else but the reform of the pastoral
office was the drift of all the visitation work which Grossetete
undertook and carried through with such peculiar zeal?
And the sermons which he was accustomed to preach in his
visitation tours — at ordinations and consecrations of churches
before the assembled pastors of one or other of his seventy-
two rural deaneries, were nothing else but appeals of the
chief pastor of the flock to the under shepherds, designed to
quicken their consciences and to press the duties of their
office close upon their hearts. Some of these addresses
which have come down to us, form in fact a pastoral
theology in nuce.'^ When, in the course of his visitations,
he made use of his disciplinary powers to depose unworthy
priests upon the spot, and when he used his patronage to fill
vacant benefices with active, well-educated men, accustomed
to preach, he did his utmost to raise the character of the
pastorate. Add to this the watchful eye which he kept

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 39
upon the appointments made to parishes in his diocese by
private patrons and corporations, and even by the crown
and the papal court. In how many instances did he put off
the canonical admission of a presentee! and what a multitude
of unpleasant conflicts were brought upon him by his con
scientious vigilance in this respect! A considerable portion
of his correspondence is taken up exclusively with this
subject. Grossetete had scarcely taken possession of his see when
an officer of State, William of Raleyer (Raleigh), presented
to a parish a youth called William of Grana. The bishop
refused to confirm the appointment, partly on account of
his being under age, and partly on account of his inadequate
attainments; and the refusal was highly resented by the
patron. We have still the letter in whicfi the bishop stated
his reasons for the act, and he does so in a way which fills
us with high appreciation of his conscientiousness and piety.'"
And there were numerous other instances of a similar kind,
in which he withheld his consent to appointments on account
either of deficient age or inadequate scholarship, or both
together; or on the ground of conduct and deportment
wholly unbecoming the priestly office.
With no less vigilance did this faithful and watchful chief
pastor take heed to the manner in which parish priests after
their appointment fulfilled the duties of their office. As
may be easily conceived, he looked with no friendly eye
upon the accumulation of livings in the same hands— a
practice in which personal revenue was the only thing con
sidered, and the interests of parishioners were treated as
quite a secondary affair. More than once he opposed
himself to this pluralitas benefvciorum,^^
At the time of his awakening, about 1232, he had been

40 LIFE OF WICLIF.
strict with himself in this respect, and now he was also
strict with others. In repeated instances he insisted that
every one who was intrusted vdth the care of souls should
be resident in his parish. One of these was the case of a
Magister Richard of Cornwall, to whom he had given a
living on the recommendation of the Cardinal Egidius, and
who had manifested a preference for Rome as a residence, to
the neglect of his cure. The bishop sent to him, through
the Cardinal, a very peremptory injunction to reside in his
parish, begging him sarcastically not to refuse " to let him
self down from the height of Rome to the level of England,
in order to feed the sheep, as the Son of God had descended
from the throne of His majesty to the ignominy of the Cross
in order to redeem them." '^
Another matter which from time to time gave the bishop
much trouble, had a like bearing upon the elevation of the
spiritual offices of the church, viz., the resistance which he
opposed to the appointment of abbots and clerics to
judicial functions, and his efforts to bring back all offices
ordained for the good of souls to their purely ecclesiastical
and religious destination and use. In the year 1236 the
King appointed the Benedictine Abbot of Ramsey to be a
Judge in Council, an appointment which gave great distress
to the conscientious chief pastor. That an abbot should
undertake such a function appeared to him to be irrecon
cilable with the vows of his order, and with the clerical
office in general ; and this all the more that a judge might
easily find himself in the position of ha"\ung to pronounce
sentences of death. He therefore addressed himself to the
Archbishop of Canterbury to request him to use his influence
with the King to obtain, if possible, a recall of the appoint
ment. The Archbishop was of opinion that the question

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 41
of principle involved in the case ought to be referred for
decision to the next general council. But for the bishop it
became more and more urgently a question of conscience,
whether it was not sin in a monk to undertake the office
of judge.
It seemed to him clear that the question could only be
answered in the affirmative. But, if so, then it was also
certain that the bishop, who aUowed this to be done, was
likewise in sin. In a second letter, therefore, he begs and
conjures the Archbishop to give a plain and clear answer
to the question — whether, yea or nay, it is sin in a monk or
cleric to accept a judge's commission, and whether, yea
or nay, it is sin in a bishop to allow this to be done.^s What
the issue of the matter was cannot be learnt from the
correspondence, and is of less interest to us than the fact
that Grossetete laboured in this direction as well as in
others for the restoration of good order in all the spiritual
offices of the church.
But that both church and church-office did not appear to
him to be their own end and object, that in his eyes the
cure and the salvation of souls held a higher place than
the pastoral office taken by itself, is manifest beyond all
doubt, from the circumstance that Grossetete brought
forward the new Mendicant orders to the work of preach
ing and cure of souls. Already, in his earlier days while he
still worked in Oxford, he had entered into close relations
with the Franciscans, and had done his best to bring them
forward in the University .s* When he became bishop he
associated with himself both Franciscans and Dominicans
as his coadjutors in his episcopal officers. And not only so —
he gladly welcomed, protected, and promoted their activity
throughout his diocese at large, and did not shrink from

42 LIFE OF WICLIF.
openly expressing his opinion, that by preaching and the
confessional, by their example and their prayers, they were
doing an inestimable amount of good in England, and
compensating for the shortcomings and mischievous in
fluence of the secular clergy.^s In this matter Gros
setete differed widely in judgment from many of his
clergy, who looked upon it as an encroachment upon the
pastoral office when a Dominican or Franciscan preached
or heard confession in their parishes,^^ and did their utmost
to keep back their flocks from listening to such sermons,
or confessing to a begging friar. Bishop Grossetete, on
the contrary, wrote on one occasion to Pope Gregory IX.
as follows : — " 0, if your Holiness could only see with
what devotion and humility the people flock together to
hear from them (the Mendicant monks) the word of life,
and to make confession of their sins, and how much
advantage the clergy and religion have derived from the
imitation of their example, your Holiness would certainly
say the people who wandered in darkness have seen a
great light-''^^ Accordingly he sought to induce the
parochial clergy of his diocese to stir up their parishion
ers to frequent the sermons and the confessionals of
the friars, — a proceeding which shows clearly enough that
however highly he valued the pastoral office, and how
ever zealously he laboured to further and to elevate it,
he was still far from exalting it only for its own sake.
In his view, the fear of God and the salvation of souls,
as the ultimate ends which the spiritual office was designed
to subserve, were of immeasurably higher account.
Grossetete's whole views, religious and ecclesiastical,
are to be seen in their purest and truest expression in
a Memorial, in which he set down all his complaints

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 43
concerning the disorders of the church of his time, and
which he submitted in a personal audience to the Pope.
The occasion of the memorial was this. The practice of
what was called " appropriation " was becoming increas
ingly common, i,e., the practice of transferring church
tenures, tithe-rights, and glebe-lands, into the posses
sion of monasteries, knightly orders, &c. This was
a loss to local church property — an impoverishment of
the parochial churches concerned. The parish lands
were no longer in a condition to secure a living to the
parish priest. The consequence was that a priest could
no longer reside on the spot. The charge was only
supplied from without, either from a cloister or at the
cost of a knight commander, sometimes by one, sometimes
by another priest or monk. In short, the office was
neglected — the parish was spiritually orphanised. In his
later years. Bishop Grossetete observed in his visitations
that this evil was always on the increase. He saw in it
an injury, not only to the pastoral office, but to the souls
entrusted to it, which called for the most serious atten
tion. The first step he took to remedy the mischief
was to obtain a Papal authorisation, enabling him to
declare all transferences and compacts of this kind to be
null and void.
As soon as these fuU powers reached his hands, he caDed
before him all the monks of his diocese who had been pro
vided with these livings, and produced and read to them the
Papal rescript. He was resolved, he said, to take over
immediately into his own administration all those parish
church-lands, the acquisition of which, with the consent of
the Cathedral Chapter, the monasteries might not be able to
establish by written documents. But experience proved that

44 LIFE OF WICLIF.
the Papal authorisation was of little avail. It was only too
easy to obtain exemptions by means of corruption at the
Papal Court, and the well-meant intentions of the bishop
were frustrated. But Grossetete was not the man to give way
before such an obstacle. Regardless of his advanced age, he
determined to make a second journey to Lyons, where Pope
Innocent IV. was still residing, as he had been six years
before. In the year 1250 he crossed the Channel with a
numerous spiritual train. Arriving in Lyons, he experienced
from the Curia a much cooler reception than he had done on
the previous occasion, and in the main business which brought
him he accomplished as good as nothing. He remained,
however, the whole summer in Lyons, occupied with various
affairs. In an audience obtained by him, 13th May, he handed to
the Pope himself, and to three of the Cardinals in attendance,
copies of the Memorial referred to in which he gave utterance
to all that was in his heart. It was immediately read in the
Pope's presence by Cardinal Otho, who had lived in England
for some time as legate, and had come much into contact with
Grossetete. This Memorial has come down to us under the incorrect
title of a sermon.*" It is full of earnest moral zeal, and of
fearless frankness of speech. Grossetete begins with the
observation that zeal for the salvation of souls — the sacrifice
most well-pleasing to God — had brought down to earth and
humiliation the eternal Son of God, the Lord of glory. By
the ministry of his Apostles and the pastors appointed by
them among whom, above all others, the Pope bears the
image of Christ, and acts as his representative, the kingdom
of God came, and the house of God was made full. But at
the present day, alas I the Church of Christ is sorely diminished

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 45
and narrowed ; unbelief prevails in the greatest part of the
world ; in Christendom itself a considerable portion of it has
been separated from Christ by division,*i and in the small
remainder heresy goes on increasing in some quarters, and
the seven deadly sins prevail in others ; so that Christ has
had for ages to complain, '¦ Woe is me, for I am as when
they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape-gleanings
of the vintage. There is no cluster to eat, my soul desired
the first ripe fruit. The good man is perished out of the
earth, and there is none upright among men."
" But what is the cause of this hopeless fall of the church ?
Unquestionably the diminution in the number of good shep
herds of souls, the increase of wicked shepherds, and the
circumscription of the pastoral authority and power. Bad
pastors are everywhere the cause of unbelief, division, heresy,
and vice. It is they who scatter the flock of Christ, who lay
waste the vineyard of the Lord, and desecrate the earth.
No wonder, for they preach not the Gospel of Christ with
that living word which comes forth from living zeal for the
salvation of souls, and is confirmed by an example worthy of
Jesus Christ : and to this they add every possible form of
transgression, — their pride is ever on the increase, and so are
their avarice, luxury, and extravagance ; ^^ and because the
life of the shepherds is a lesson to the laity, they became thus
the teachers of all error and all evil. Instead of being a light
of the world, they spread around, by their godless example,
the thickest darkness and the icy coldness of death.
" But what, again, is the cause of this evil ? I tremble to
speak of it, and yet I dare not keep silence. The cause and
source of it is the Curia itself I Not only because it fails to
put a stop to these evils as it can and should, but still
more, because, by its dispensations, provisions, and coUa-

46 LIFE OP WICLIF.
tions it appoints evil shepherds, thinking therein only of
the living which it is able to provide for a man, and for
the sake of that, handing over many thousands of souls to
eternal death. He who commits the care of a flock to a man
in order that the latter may get the milk and the wool, while
he is unable or unwilling to guide, to feed, and protect the
flock, such an one gives over the flock itself to death as a
prey. That be far from him who is the representative of
Christ ! He who so sacrifices the pastoral office is a perse
cutor of Christ in his members. And since the doings of the
Curia are a lesson to the world, such a manner of appointment
to the cure of souls on its part, teaches and encourages all
who have patronate rights to make pastoral appointments of
a like kind, as a return for services rendered to themselves,
or to please men in power, and in this way to destroy the
sheep of Christ. And let no one say that such pastors can
still save the flock by the ministry of middlemen. For
among these middlemen many are themselves hirelings who
flee when the wolf cometh.
" Besides, the cure of souls consists not only in the dispensa
tion of the sacraments, in singing of " hours," and reading of
masses, but in the true teaching of the word of life, in
rebuking and correcting vice ; and besides all this, in feeding
the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked,
lodging the strangers, visiting the sick and the prisoners —
especially among the parish priest's own parishioners — ^in
order, by such deeds of charity, to instruct the people in the
holy exercises of active Kfe ; and to do such deeds is not at
all in the power of these middlemen, for they get so small
a portion of the church's goods that they have scarcely
enough to live upon.*^ In the midst of such evils men
might still have the consolation of hoping that possibly

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 47
successors might follow who would better fulfil the pastor's
calling. But Avhen parish churches are made over to
monasteries these evils are made perpetual. All such things
end not in the upbuilding, but the destruction of the church.
God defend that even the Holy See and its possessor should
act against Christ, and thereby incur the guilt of apostacy
and division ! Further, the pastoral office, especially of the
bishops, is at the present time circumscribed and restrained,
particiflarly in England, and this in three ways. First, by
the exemptions and privileges of monasteries, for when the
inmates of these addict themselves outside their walls to the
worst vices, the bishops can take no action against them —
their hands are tied by the privileges of the convents.
Secondly, the secular power puts obstacles in the way, in
cases where investigations are made into the sins of laymen,
in order to prevent other laymen from being sworn as wit
nesses. To which are to be added, thirdly, appeals to the Pope
or Archbishop ; for if the bishop takes steps according to his
duty to punish vice and depose unworthy pastors, protest is
taken, the " liberty " "of the church is appealed to, and so the
matter is delayed, and the action of the bishop lamed."
In conclusion, Grossetete invokes the Holy See to put a stop
to all disorders of this character, and especially to put a
check upon the excesses of its own courtiers, of which there
were loud enough complaints, to leave off the unevangeHcal
practice of using the interposition of the sword, and to root
out the not(jrious corruption of the Papal Court. It was to
be feared that the Holy See, unless it reformed itself without
delay, would draw upon itself the heaviest judgments — yea,
destruction itself. The Holy Father would not interpret as
presumption what the author of this Memorial had ventured
to lay before him in all devotion and humility, under many

48 LIFE OF WICLIF.
misgivings and tears, and purely at the bidding of dread of
the prophet's " Woe," and of a longing desire to see a better
state of things.
This utterance can only call forth the deepest respect for
the godly-mindedness of the author and for his burning zeal
for God's house, for the salvation of souls, and the reforma
tion of the church. But on the other hand, it can easily be
understood that such unheard-of freedom of speech was not
likely to obtain for the strong man who uttered it any
favour or influence at the Papal Court. When Grossetete
left Lyons in September, and arrived again at home at
Michaelmas 1250, he was for some time so much out of
spirits that he had some thoughts of resigning his episcopal
office. However, matters did not go that length. He
gathered up his strength again, and from that day forward
acted only with all the more emphasis, and with all the less
reference to the Pope and the Crown. His visitation of
convents and parish churches was taken up again with, if
possible, still greater strictness than before. Unworthy
pastors were set aside, and in all places where there was
need for it he appointed vicars in their room, who were sup
ported out of the revenues, in virtue of an authorisation to
that effect, which he at last obtained from the Pope.
In Parliament his voice carried with it decisive weight.
In a letter of 1252 which he addressed to the nobles of
the realm, to the citizens of London, and to the " Com
munity " of England, he expressed himself strongly enough
on the subject of the illegal encroachments of the Apostolic
See, by which the country was drained.
But in the year of his death there occurred an incident
which raised the name of the Bishop of Lincoln to the highest
celebrity. Innocent IV. had conferred upon one of his

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 49
grandsons, Frederick of Lavagna (the Pope was himself a
Count of Lavagna), a canonry in the Cathedral of Lincoln,
and taken steps to have him immediately invested with it
by a cardinal. From Perugia, on the 26th January 1253, an
apostolic brief was addressed, not to the bishop, but to an
Archdeacon of Canterbury, and to Magister Innocent, a Papal
agent in England, with the distinct injunction to put the
young man before named, in the person of his proxy, into
actual possession of that dignity and living. And that there
might be no delay, much less any obstacle put in the way,
the Papal brief expressly set aside, in this instance, aU and
sundry opposing rights and statutes, even such as had
received apostolic confirmation, nay, even all direct apostolic
concessions to whomsoever given, and howsoever worded.
Nor was this enough. In case any one should oppose him
self to the carrying out of this injunction, either by word or
deed, the Pope authorised his agents to call any such person
immediately before them, so as within two months he should
appear in person before the Pope and answer for himself to
the challenge of Frederick of Lavagna. This, it was thought,
had made failure impossible ; every imaginable means of
escape was cut off, every bolt was made sure, and yet the
measure issued in faflure after all.*^
The Bishop of Lincoln, though now eighty years old,
was not accustomed to allow himself to be frightened.
With all the energy which a sense of right springing from
the holy feeling of duty inspires, he stood forward to object
to the proceeding, and to withstand it ; and the document
in which he couched his opposition had not only an electric
effect upon the English nation at the time, but its influence
continued to be felt for centuries afterwards, and more than
all his learning— more than all the services of his long,
VOL. I. °

50 LIFE OF VnCLIF.
active, and fruitful life— it made the name of the God-fearing,
upright, and inflexible man popular and illustrious.
Grossetete had no thoughts of writing direct to the Pope
himself; " and this was not prudent merely, it was also due
to his own dignity. Innocent had intentionally passed by the
bishop, though the question related to a canonry in his own
cathedral, and it was therefore in every way suitable and
well considered, that the bishop on liis side should leave the
Pope entirely out of the game. He addressed himself
exclusively to the Archdeacon of Canterbury, and to
Magister Innocent.*^
In this celebrated paper he takes up the position, that in
opposing himself to the demand in question, he is giving
proof of his veneration and obedience to apostolic macdates,
and of his zeal for the honour of the Roman Mother Church.
For this demand is not an apostolical one, inasmuch as it
is in contradiction to the teaching of the apostles and of
Christ Himself It is also totally irreconcileable with apos
tolic holiness, and this upon a double ground — first, because
the "notwithstanding" {non obstante) of the brief, carries
along with it a whole flood of inconsistency, recklessness,
and deception, undermines truth and faith, and shakes to
the centre all Christian piety, as well as all intercourse of
confidence between man and man. In the second place, it
is a thing entirely unapostolic and unevangeHcal, abhorred
by Christ himself, and in the eyes of men nothing less than
a sin of murder, when men's souls, which should be brought
unto life and salvation by means of the pastoral office, are
destroyed by being deceived and defrauded in the matter of
that very office. And this is what is done, when those 'who
are appointed to a pastoral charge only use the milk and the
wool of the sheep to satisfy their own bodily necessities, but

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 51
have no wish or purpose to fulfil the ministry of their office for
the eternal salvation of the sheep of Christ. The most holy
Apostolic See, to which Clirist has given all power, " for
edification, not for destruction" (1 Cor. x. 8), can command
nothing which has such a sin for its issue. And a truly
devoted subject of the Holy See can in no wise give heed
to such a command, but must rather resist it with all his
might. Such thoughts as this contemplated appointment,
are in fact inspfred by "flesh and blood, and not by the
Father which is in heaven."
Such was the substance of this celebrated writing. The
installation of the Pope's grandson into the canonry and
prebend of Lincoln came to nothing, and the resolute bishop
remained unmolested. So much we know for certain ; and .
it may well be supposed that the men who were entrusted
with the execution of the Pope's mandate, in the mortal
difficulty which they were thrown into by the redoubtable
protest of Grossetete, knew of nothing better to do than to
forward it to Italy for the hand of the Pope, without a
moment's delay. Matthew Paris, the Benedictine abbot of
St. Alban's, who cannot, it is true, be accepted as an un
prejudiced authority, says in his chronicle that Innocent IV.
was almost beside himself with rage when he saw the
letter. Who, he exclaimed, is that crazy, foolish, and siUy
old man who has the effrontery to sit in judgment thus
upon my doings? Is not the King of England our vassal,
yea, slave, who at a wink from us can shut him up in prison
and send him to ruin? But the cardinals, and especially
the cardinal deacon, Aegidius, a personal friend of the
Bishop, are said to have quieted the Pope by representing
to him " that it was of no avail to take severe measures
against Grossetete, for to speak candidly, he was in the

52 LIFE OF WICLIF.
right, and no man could condemn him. The bishop was
orthodox, and a very holy man ; he was a more conscientious
and holy man than they, the cardinals, were themselves.
Among all the prelates he had not his match.^"
AVhatever may be the truth of this account, it is certain
that the bold answer of the bishop was ignored, and he was
left in peace. Perhaps it was also remembered that he was
now an old man, and that he could not much longer give
any trouble. And so, in fact, it befell. In October of the
same year, 1253, Grossetete had a serious seizure at
Buckden, and on the 9th of the same month he died. On
the 13th he was buried in the Cathedral of Lincoln.
Soon after his decease, it began to be reported that on
the night of his death, sounds of bells, indescribably beauti
ful, had been heard high in the air, and' ere long men heard
of miracles taking place at his tomb. Fifty years later it
was proposed that he should be canonized, and the proposal
came at one and the same time from the King, from the
University of Oxford, and from the Chapter of St. Paul's.
It was Edward I., in the last year of his reign, 1307, who
made the suggestion ; ^i and in so doing, gave utterance to
what was in the heart of the whole kingdom. But as
may easily be supposed, the proposal did not meet with the
most favourable acceptance at the Papal Court. The
nation's wish was never complied with by the Curia, but
none the less did the venerable bishop remain unforgotten
in England, and his memory continue to be blessed through
long centuries. His image was universally revered by the
nation as an ideal — as the most perfect model of an honest
Churchman. " Never for the fear of any man had he for
borne to do any good action which belonged to his office
and duty. If the sword had been unsheathed against him.

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 53
he stood prepared to die the death of a martyr." Such was
the solemn testimony borne to him by his own University
of Oxford, when it pleaded for his canonisation.
In the public estimation of England, Grossetete was, in
point of fact, a saint. In the following century he appears
to have been so regarded by Wiclif, who in numberless
passages refers to him under the name of Lincolniensis,^'
And there is reason to think that this estimate was one not
at all personal to Wiclif himself, but in harmony with the
feeling of his countrymen at large. We have the testimony
of Thomas Gascoigne, who died in 1457, that Grossetete
was commonly spoken of by the people as St. Robert." It
was natural, too, that when, at a later period, the whole of
western Christendom came to be strongly convinced of the
necessity of a " Reformation in Head and Members," the
memory of the bold and outspoken Bishop of Lincoln should
have flamed up again brightly among the English friends
of Church Reform.
At that period an Anglican member of the Council of
Constance, the Oxford divine, Henry Abendon, in a speech
which he delivered before the Councfl, 27th October 1415,
repeatedly referred as an authority to Dominus Lincolnien
sis ; and on one occasion made express mention of the
Memorial to the Pope which is mentioned above. As
late as the year 1503, an English monk, Richard of
Bardney, sung of Grossetete's life in a copy of Latin
distiches, which conclude with an invocation of him in
form as a canonised saint.^s A fact like this, that Grossetete,
in spite of the Papal refusal of his canonisation, continued
to live for centuries in the mouth and the heart of the
English people as " St. Robert," is a speaking proof of the
change which had already come over the spirit of the

54 LIFE OP WICLIF.
age; that the absolute authority of Papal decrees was
already shaken ; that the nimbus which surrounded the
Holy See itself was pahng. During the period when the
Papal power was at its zenith, we can as httle imagine
the case of a man being venerated as a saint in a con
siderable portion of western Christendom, where canonisa
tion had been positively refused by the Curia, as the
converse case of a design on the part of Rome to canonise
a churchman being upset by the opposition of a portion
of the Catholic Church — an event which actually occurred
when, in 1729, Benedict XIII. proposed to canonise Gre
gory VII., but was compelled to give up the idea out
of regard to the decided declarations of France and
Austria. As Protestants, we have both a right and a duty
to hold in honour the memory of a man like Grossetete.
His creed, indeed, was not the pure confession of the
Evangehcal Churches; but his fear of God was so earnest
and upright ; his zeal for the glory of God was so
glowing ; his care for the salvation of his own soul and
of the souls committed to him by virtue of his office was
so conscientious ; his faithfulness so approved ; his will so
energetic ; his mind so free from man-fearing and man-
pleasing; his bearing so inflexible and beyond the power
of corruption, — ^that his whole character constrains as to
the sincerest and deepest veneration. When, in addition,
we take into view how high a place he assigned to the
Holy Scriptures, to the study of which, in the University
of Oxford, he assigned the first place as the most funda
mental of all studies,^^ and which he recognises as the
only infallible guiding star of the Church ; ^^ when we
remember with what power and persistency, and with-

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 55
out any respect of persons, he stood forward against so
many abuses in the Church, and against every defection
from the true ideal of church-life; when we reflect that
he finds the highest wisdom to stand in this — " To know
Jesus Christ and him crucified " (1 Cor. 2-1) s" — it is certainly
not saying too much when we signalise him as a venerable
witness to the Truth, as a Churchman who fulfilled the
duty which he owed to his own age, and in so doing
lived for all ages ; and who, through his whole career,
gave proofs of his zeal for a sound reformation of the
Church's life.
Section III. — Henry Bracton and William Occam, and the
Tone of Church Life and Politics in the 14<A Century,
A JLiN of kindred spirit to Grossetete, though differing
fi-om him in important points, was Henry of Bracton, a
younger contemporary of the celebrated Bishop of Lincoln.
Bracton, the greatest lawyer of England in the Middle
Ages, was a practical jurist, but also a learned writer
upon Enghsh Common Law." Both as a municipal judge
and scientific jurist, he maintained the rights of the State
in opposition to the Church, and sought to define as
accurately as possible the limits of the secular and the
spiritual jurisdictions. In particular, he treated as en
croachments of the spiritual jurisdiction its claims of right
in questions of patronage. On this point, it is true
Bracton and Grossetete would hardly have been of one
mind; but none the less they both stood upon common
ground, in being decidedly national in their spirit and
views, and in offering strenuous opposition to the aggres
sions of the Court of Rome.

56 LIFE OF WICLIF.
Only a few years after Grossetete's death, contests arose
on constitutional questions, in which the opposition of the
barons was for some time in the ascendant. At the head
of this party stood Simon of Montfort, Earl of Leicester,
who had been a friend of Grossetete. In the year 1258,
the Parliament of Oxford appointed an administration,
which, while Henry III. continued nominally to reign, was
to wield all the real power of the State ; and it was by
no means only the great barons of the kingdom who
had a voice in this government. Earl Simon was the
champion and hero of the lower clergy and the Commons,
who stood behind him and his allied barons. The object
in view was to put an end to arbitrary and absolute
government, and to put in its place the rule of the
Constitution, of Law, and of Right. The movement found
its most powerful support in the Saxon population of
the country. It was directed, not least, against the
undue influence of foreigners upon public affairs.
Under the powerful Edward I. (1272-1307) the kingdom
again recovered its strength ; and after the feeble, un
fortunate reign of Edward IL, national feeling was again
roused by the French war of succession in the reign of
Edward III. (1327-1377), when the nation gathered up its
strength for the long wars with France, a struggle which
had a powerful effect in developing both the national
character and language.
'What the kingdom had chiefly stood in need of was a
higher authority and a more concentrated strength than had
obtained under Henry III., and Edward I. was exactly the
man to remedy that defect. He had made many concessions,
it is true, to the estates of his kingdom in the matter of
Parliamentary rights, under the repeated pressure of his

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF, 57
undertakings against Wales, Scotland, and the Continent;
but he had done this without any loss to the Crown. On the
contrary, the Crown had only been a gainer by the freedom
and rights which had been guaranteed to the nation. It
was now, for the first time, that the Crown entered into a
compact unity with the nation, acquired a full national
character, and became itself all the stronger thereby.
This immediately showed itself when Boniface VIII.
attempted to interfere with the measures of the King against
Scotland, as he had done a few years before in the transac
tions between England and France. In a bull, dated 27th
June 1299, Boniface not only asserted his direct supremacy
over the Scottish Church as a church independent of Eng
land, but also put himself forward, without ceremony, as
arbiter of the claims which Edward I. was then advancing to
the Scottish Crown. " If Edward asserted any right what
ever to the kingdom of Scotland, or any part thereof, let him
send his plenipotentiaries with the necessp.ry documents to
the Apostolic See ; the matter wfll be decided there in a
manner agreeable to right." '^
In resisting such assumptions the King found the most
determined assistance in the spirit of the country itself. He
laid the matter, with the necessary papers, before his Parlia
ment, which met in Lincoln on 20th January 1301 ; and the
representatives of the kingdom took the side of their King
without reserve. The nobles of the realm sent, 12th
February 1301, a reply to that demand of Boniface VIIL,
in which they repelled, in the most emphatic manner, the
attempted encroachment. No fewer than 104 earls and
barons, who all gave their names at the beginning of the
document, and sealed it with their seals at the end, declared
in it, not only in their own name, but also for the whole

58 LIFE OF WICLIF.
community of England, " that they could feel nothing but
astonishment at the unheard-of pretensions contained in the
Papal brief The kingdom of Scotland had never been a fief
of the Pope, but from time immemorial of the English
Crown ; they had therefore, after mature consideration, with
one voice resolved that the King should in no way acknow
ledge the Papal jurisdiction in this affair, yea, they would
not even allow the King to acknowledge it ff he were himself
disposed to do so. In conclusion, they implored his Holiness,
in the most respectful manner, to leave untouched the rights
of their King, a monarch who was entirely devoted to the
interest of the Church." ^^
It was not tfll later that Edward himself addressed a letter
of great length to Boniface, in which he confined himself to
a historical proof of his alleged rights to the Scottish Crown,
and referred to the Pope's claim of jurisdiction in the matter
only in the briefest way, and only to decline and protest
against it ; and, in point of fact, the King went forward in
his measures affecting Scotland without troubling himself
further in any way about the claims of the Papal Court.
It was thus that the English Crown, by an appeal to the
nation, successfully repelled the unrighteous aggression of
the Roman Curia ; and I know not if the fact has hitherto
been sufficiently recognised by historians that England set
an example in this business, which Philip le Beau of France
only imitated a year later in his dispute with Boniface VIII.,
when, in April 1302, he assembled a national Parliament.
It was also in imitation of the example of the English barons
that the French nobles and the Third Estate protested, in a
letter to the cardinals, against the Papal pretensions. If in
this case the leaning of the King upon the nation issued in
benefit to the Crown, no less, on the other side, did the

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 59
national attitude of the Government lend strength and
emphasis to the patriotic spii-it of the people. When Edward
I., in the last year of his reign, proposed the canonisation of
the universally venerated Bishop of Lincoln, he was only
giving utterance to what was in the heart of the whole
country, and the effect of the movement could only be to
heighten and strengthen the interest of the nation in eccle
siastical affairs.
The ablest and most strongly-marked representative of
this state of feeling in the first half of the fourteenth century
was a man who was born in England, and trained under the
influence of the English spirit, but who spent the later
portion of his life on the Continent, partly in the University
of Paris, and partly at the Court of the Emperor Louis of
Bavaria. We refer to William of Occam, a man who, as a
scholar, as a copious writer, as a dignitary of the Franciscan
Order, and finally, as a strenuous leader of the opposition
against the absolutism of the Papacy, took a position of
great prominence in his day. His philosophical nominalism
had a prophetic and national significance, inasmuch as it
prepared the way for that inductive method of philosophising
which was put forward several centuries later by able
countrymen of his own, such as Francis Bacon, Thomas
Hobbes, and John Locke.
But what chiefly concerns us here in Occam was his
character as a keen and independent thinker on matters of
the Church. It is not a little remarkable that along with
several other men, his personal friends of Italian birth, he
was brought into a position of bold opposition to the
Papacy, and came in sight of many great and free ideas,
entirely through his standing as a member and provincial
of the Franciscan order. It was a trifling question of the

60 LIFE OF WICLIF.
order, out of which was developed a grand world of
thoughts. In the year 1321 it came to the knowledge of a Domini
can Inquisitor in Narbonne, in the south of France, that
it was an opinion held by some that neither Christ nor
his apostles had ever, either as individuals or as a society,
been in possession of property. This proposition appeared
to the Dominican to be heretical ; but a learned Francis
can in that city, Berengar Taloni, maintained it to be
perfectly orthodox, and, ere long, the whole Franciscan
order, at a general chapter held in Perugia in June and
July 1322, declared for the same view. Thus the point
became a question of controversy between the two great
Mendicant orders.
On an appeal being carried to the Papal See in Avignon,
a decision was given on the side of the Dominicans.
John XXII. (1316-1334) in truth was as far removed
from apostolic poverty as the east is from the west. He
kept his eye so steadily upon the interest of the Papal
treasury, that twenty-five millions of gold crowns in coin
and jewels were found in it after his death. Of course,
such a chief of the Church could not be suspected to
look upon absolute poverty as a requirement of Christian
perfection. He woiild have preferred, indeed, to avoid
giving a decision on the question which was at issue
between the two Orders. But that was impossible. The
controversy would admit neither of silence nor delay. A
decision clear and round — yea or nay — was unavoidable.
In the year 1322-1324, the Pope pronounced against the
Franciscans in a series of bulls. The two first (Quia non-
nunquam, and Ad Conditorem Canonum), published in 1322,
were only of a preparatory character. The third constitu-

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 61
tion of 1323 (Cum inter nonnullos) contained the decision
upon the principle involved, declaring the proposition
that Christ and his apostles were never either singly or
collectively holders of property to be contrary to Scrip
ture and erroneous. And, last of all, in 1324 followed
two more bulls ; in the Constitution, Quia quorundam, the
Pope pronounced sentence of excommunication upon the
opposers of his determination; and in the bull, Quia vir
reprobus, he rejected the appeal of Michael of Cesena, the
general of the Order.
The majority of the Franciscan order now bowed to the
decision, and after some years elected another general.
But those who had stood forth as the firmest defenders
of the doctrine of apostolic poverty withheld their sub
mission. They left- Avignon; and William of Occam,
Michael of Cesena, and Bonagratia of Bergamo attached
themselves, in 1328, to the service of Emperor Louis the
Bavarian. Out of this conflict between the Papal Court and the
Minorites ideas developed themselves which were of the
greatest importance, and which made their influence felt
in succeeding centuries ; and of all the polemical writings
produced by the repulsed and banished Franciscans, those
of Occam were by far the richest in substance. While
Michael of Cesena confined himself chiefly to personal
polemics of defence and attack, Occam's writings, pub
lished several years later, though not altogether silent
on topics of this nature, are in the main occupied with
the substance of the great objective questions in dispute ;
and his investigations possess, in this way, a value and
width of bearing which far outgo what was of mere
ephemeral interest.

62 LIFE OF WICLIF.
This discussion, indeed, makes a highly mixed impression
upon an evangelical reader who follows it after the lapse
of more than 500 years. Who can miss seeing that the
Franciscan, in his deep contemplation of the life of Jesus
and the apostolic age, unconsciously looks at the Redeemer
and his apostles from the stand-point of the begging friar,
and conceives of them in a thoroughly monkish and ascetic
manner. In opposing such a view, John XXII. was not
without good ground to stand upon. But unquestionably
the Pope fell into an error very much greater himself. Not
so unconsciously, perhaps, as his opponent, he carried over
to primitive Christianity the conditions of his own age,
and influenced by his own interests, he allowed himself
to justify, by the example of the Redeemer and the pre
cedent of the apostles, the whole hierarchical system of his
own time, richly endowed and secularised in spirit as it was,
including even the territorial possessions of the Holy See,
and its well-filled treasury. And therein, no doubt, the
Pope was in the wrong, and Occam, his adversary, in the
right. The deepest ground, however, of the unsparing antag
onism of the Roman Court to the stringent principles of
the Franciscans was, in truth, no other than this, — that the
Popes felt that the spirit of world-abnegation which
animated these men, was a tacit censure of their own
spirit and habit of life ; from which again sprang " the
hatred of the evil conscience." But it was the very
persecutions which this hatred prompted which served,
in the course of time, to bring to full light and ripeness
all the principles touching the spirituality of Christ's, king
dom, which at first still lay in a deep slumber, and had
only dimly revealed themselves to the presaging feeling

.ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 63
of a few men of a better spirit than their contemporaries.
Occam's whole exposition on the subject of the kingdom
of Christ being not an earthly but a heavenly and eternal
kingdom— that Christ is indeed as to his Godhead, King,
and Lord over all, but, as God-man, only King of his believ
ing people, and in no respect the administrator of a worldly
government — is a Scriptural critique in effect of the
medieval hierarchy — an unconscious evangelical protest
against the Papacy in that form which it had assumed
since the days of Gregory VII.
But, on the other hand, Occam's protest against Papal
absolutism — against the assertion of an unlimited plenitudo
potestatis of the Pope — is the result of clear, self-conscious,
profound reflexion. He declares it to be totally erroneous,
heretical, and dangerous to souls, to maintain that the Pope,
by the ordinance of Christ, possesses unlimited power, both
spiritual and temporal. For if this were so, he might depose
princes at his pleasure — might, at his pleasure, dispose of the
possessions and goods of all men. We should all be the
Pope's slaves ; and in spiritual things the position would be
the same. In that case the law of Christ would bring with
it an intolerable slavery, much worse than the Old Testa
ment ever knew ; whereas the Gospel of Christ, in comparison
with the old covenant, is a law of liberty, In this connec
tion Occam opposes, in the most emphatic manner, the
assertion of some flatterers of the Roman Court, that the
Pope has power to make new articles of faith ; that he is
infallible ; that into no error, no sin of simony can he possibly
fall. He starts from the general principle, that the whole
hierarchy, including the Papal Primacy, is not an immediately
Divine, but only a human order. In one place he even gives
expression to the bold thought, that it would, to the general

64 LIFE OF WICLIF.
body of believers, be of more advantage to have several
primates or chief priests (summi pontifices), than to have
one only ; the unity of the Church does not depend upon
there being only one summus pontifex ; the danger of moral
corruption of the whole body is much greater with only
one head than with several.
In the event of a Pope becoming heretical, every man
must have the competency to be his judge, but his ordinary
judge is the Emperor. But the Church at large also has
jurisdiction over the Pope in such an event, and hence also
a General Council, as the representative of the whole
Church ; the bishops, in case of need, may even depose him.
Here we have a practical question anticipated, which some
sixty years later became a burning question in Christendom,
and not only raised but determined precisely as it was one
dav to be solved in actual fact.
Further, in solving the doubt, whether a Council, in case
of necessity, could assemble without Papal sanction, Occam
came upon thoughts entirely his own. Every society
(communitas) and corporation can enact laws for itself, and
elect individuals to act- for the whole body (vice gerani).
Now, all believers are one body and one society (Rom. xii.
5) ; it is competent for them, therefore, to choose representa
tives of the whole body. When those thus elected meet
together, they form a General Council of the whole of
Christendom. He conceives of the carrying out of such a
Council in this manner — that from every parish one or more
should be sent to the synod of the diocese, or to the
Parliament of the prince. This assembly proceeds to another
election, and the meeting of' all those chosen by the Diocesan
Synods, or the Parliaments, constitutes the General Council.
That is not a Papal Curial Synod, neither is it a church

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 65
assembly constituted upon hierarchical principles ; it is a
Synod framed upon the parochial principle.
And yet it is not Occam's meaning to advise a leap from
the ground of the absolute and sole domination of the Papacy
to that of an unconditioned parochial principle, as if this latter
contained in it all the safe-guards of truth and weal. No ;
only to the Church itself as a whole, but not to any part of it
(and every council is only a part of it), is the promise given
that it can never fall into any error contradictory to the
faith. Although all the members of a General Council
should fall into error, the hope would not need, on that
account, to be surrendered, that God would reveal His truth
unto babes (Matt. xi. 25), or would inspire men who already
knew the truth to stand forth in its defence. And such an
occurrence must issue in glory to God, for thereby He would
show that our faith does not rest upon the wisdom of men,
such as are called to a G eneral Council, but upon the Power
who has sometimes chosen " the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise" (1 Cor. i. 27). In another place
Occam expresses the thought that it is even possible that
on some occasion the whole male sex, clergy as well as
laity, might err from the faith, and that the true faith might
maintain itself only among pious women. We see where all
this is tending to. High above the Pope, and high above
the Church itself, in Occam's view, stands Christ the Lord.
" The Head of the Church and its foundation is one — Christ
alone." Occam is conscious that his contention is for Christ
and for the defence of the Christian faith.
It makes a touching and deeply mournful impression, to
look into Occam's heart, as he opens it in the following
confession : —
" The prophecy of the Apostle, 2 Tim. iv. 3, is now being
VOL. I. E

66 LIFE OF WICLIF.
fulfilled. Chief Priests and Elders, Scribes and Pharisees, are
acting now-a-days exactly as they did then when they put
Jesus on the cross. They have banished me and other
honourers of Christ to Patmos. Yet we are not without
hope. The hand of the Lord is not shortened yet. We live
in trust in the Most High that we shall yet one day return
with honour to Ephesus. But should the will of God be
otherwise, still I am sure that neither death nor life, nor any
other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, or draw us away from the defence of the Christian
faith." By the side of this testimony of pious, joyful trust in God,
we place a passage where Occam speaks of the value of his
own writings and their importance for the future. This
occurs in his. Dialogue, at the point where he passes on to a
discussicm which we may describe as a piece of political
philosophy. Here he puts into the mouth of the scholar in
the Dialogue the following words addressed to his master : —
" Although we are unable at present to produce a complete
work on the subject, as no treatise upon it, to my knowledge,
has ever hitherto been attempted by any other writer, still
it was useful not to be altogether silent upon a subject of so
much importance, that we may stir up others who have the
command of books, to produce complete works upon it. My
meaning is this, that by means of our essay men of future
times who are zealous for truth, righteousness, and the
common weal, may have their attention drawn to many
truths upon these matters which, at the present day, remain
concealed from rulers, councillors, and teachers, to the loss
of the common weal."
Nor, in point of fact, was this saying too much. For
Occam, along with the small group of like-minded inde-

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 67
pendent thinkers with whom he was associated, represents
a high flight of human thought which did not pass uselessly
overhead like a transient meteor, but Avorked upon the
minds of men with a kindling power. Out of a mere question
affecting a religious order, developed itself an uuinm"^ined
life-force, an antagonism to the Papacy as a centralising
world-power, still blended, it is true, with ascetic con
victions, and even deriving its moral strength from these,
and still only half conscious of the extent of its own bear
ings, but none the less an antagonism to the Papacy, which
in its positive kernel was a contention for Christ as the alone
Head of the Church. In this conflict of minds by thrust and
counter- thrust there were kindled sparks of evangelical
thought and feeling, and there were struck out new lights
of political truth, which proved of use and advantage to
succeeding generations, and rendered essential service to
progress in the direction of an evangelical renovation of the
Church. In the meanwhile, however, it will be easily understood,
that ideas and sentiments like these, so far outrunning the
current century, could not pass at once into the blood of the
existing generation. In the first instance, only what con
cerned the autonomy of the State, in opposition to the
Curia, was grasped and realised by the English nation during
the fifty years' reign of Edward III. (1327-1377). Even the
foreign wars, which fill up so large a portion of this period,
were constrained to help to this end. Not, indeed, the expe
ditions against Scotland, which followed one after another
during the first seven years, but none the less the French
wars of succession which Edward III. commenced in 1339.
These foreign relations had a reaction upon the domestic :
the wars rendered necessary increased subsidies, and these

68 LIFE OF WICLIF.
were voted by the estates of the realm represented in Parlia
ment, only at the price of assured poUtical rights and
franchises, as, e.g., in the Parliament of 1341. But the more
closely Crown and Parliament held together, the more
resolutely they opposed themselves to all foreign attempts.
This the Papal Court was compelled to feel acutely, and
all the more that the Court at Avignon was seen to be
dependent upon the same France with which England was
at war.
When Clement VL, immediately after his accession to
the Holy See, endeavoured to make peace between Edward
III. of England and Pliilip VI. of France, he succeeded,
indeed, so far as to bring about a truce for a time ; but as
early as Easter 1343, with the full assent of his Parliament,
Edward roundly declined all official intervention of the Pope
as head of the church; only as a private individual and
personal friend should Clement attempt a mediation.
But still more deeply felt than this declinature was the
determination with which King and Parliament repudiated
the Pope's nominations to English livings in favour of
foreign prelates and priests. It is well known that the
Popes of Avignon went far beyond the earlier Popes in
draining the finances of the national churches. But, on
the other side, there had also been no small growth of
courage and resolution in opposing such abuses. In Eng
land, at least, the provisions granted by the Pope to foreign
clergy were barred in the most effectual manner. When
Clement VI. had granted to two newly-made cardinals —
one of them his own grandson — provisions to English
dignities and incomes worth in all 2000 marks yearly,
the barons, knights, and burgesses of the realm, in Parlia
ment assembled at Westminster, 18th May 1343, joined in

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OF WICLIF. 69
an open letter to the Pope, in which they respcetfully, but
in a firm tone, begged for the removal of the scandal
which was given by reservations, provisions, and nomi
nations to Enghsh dignities and livings, and Avhich had
become greater under Clement than ever before. They
urged that the numerous rich endowments of their country
had been designed for the upholding of God's service, for
the fiirthering of the Christian faith, and for the benefit of
the poor parishioners, and were intended only for such
men as had been thoroughly instructed for their office,
and who were able, in particular, to hear confessions in
the mother tongue. On the other hand, by the appoint
ment of strangers and foreigners, in some cases even of
enemies of the kingdom, ignorant of the language of the
country, and of the conditions of those among whom it was
their duty to exercise the pastoral care, the souls of the
parishioners are put in jeopardy ; the spiritual cure is
neglected ; the religious feelings of the people impaired ;
the worship of God abridged ; the work of charity
diminished ; the means of bringing forward young men
of merit crippled ; the wealth of the kingdom carried off
to foreign parts ; and all this in opposition to the design
of the founders.^*
Nor did men stop at mere representations of the case.
When the cardinals referred to sent their agents to England
to exercise their new rights and collect the revenues, these
men fared badly enough. The population laid violent
hands upon them ; the king's officers put hindrances
in the way of their proceedings ; they were thrown into
prison ; and in the end were driven out of the country with
insult and shame. The Pope with his own hand wrote to
King Edward from Villeneuve, near Avignon, 28th August

70 LIFE OP WICLIF.
1343, complaining of these proceedings, and requiring the
King to interfere to put a stop to what was so " un
reasonable." "^^
But Clement had ill success in this step. The King sent
a reply which was by no means conciliatory, but called upon
the Pope with great emphasis to do away with the practice
of " Provisions." He referred to an urgent petition which he
had received from the last Parliament, praying that a speedy
stop might be put to " impositions " of that kind, which were
intolerable to the country ; it was no more than the fact, he
remarked, that these measures were fitted to inflict injury
upon the kingdom in more ways than one, which he pointed
out in terms partly borrowed from the Parliament's petition.
In addition, he brings into view the violation of right which
was involved in these provisions and reservations of the
Curia : the right of patronage and collation belonging to the
Crown and its vassals is thereby infringed ; the jurisdiction of
the Crown in questions of patronate right is ignored; by the ex
port of money, as well as by the deterioration of the priesthood,
the kingdom is weakened ; — on all which accounts he turns
himself to the successor of the Prince of the Apostles, who
received from Christ the command to feed the Lord's sheep,
and not to fleece them, to strengthen his brethren, and net
to oppress them, with the urgent entreaty that this burden
of " Provisions " may be taken away ; that the patrons may
have the use of their patronate rights ; that the chapters
may exercise, without hindrance, the right of election ; that the
rights of the Crown may remain without injury ; and that
the former long-descended devotion of England to the holy
Roman Church may again revive.''^
But iu Avignon men did not readily give ear to represent
ations of this sort, let them be ever so well grounded. The

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OP WICLIF. 71
abuse went on as before, as far as was practicable, and the
nation was at last convinced that the Papal Court was not
in the least disposed to abandon a practice which was so
profitable to itself. A resolution was come to to take the
matter into their own hand, and to put a stop to these
usurpations by the legislature of the kingdom. In 1350, the
King, -u-ith consent of his Parliament, enacted a severe penal
law against all who in any way should take part in the filling
up of church-offices, injuriously to the rights of the King, or
of the chapters or private patrons concerned. Every act of
this kind was declared null and void ; all offenders in this
sort were threatened with fines and imprisonment ; and all
appeals against the same to foreign tribunals prohibited.
This was the " Statute of Provisors ; " "' which was
followed three years later by another penal act, which is
commonly called simply the "Praemunire;"^' which among
other things was directed against the abuse of carrying
appeals to the Pope from the English courts on questions
of personal property. The law threatened offenders iu this
kiiid for the future with fine and imprisonment.
In connection with this legislation against "Provisions,''
we naturally recall again to mind the form of the venerable
Bishop of Lincoln, who, exactly one century earlier, had
manfully resisted the like encroachments, and whose spirit
seemed now to inspire the whole nation. It was the same
spirit, in fact, which animated Wiclif from the commence
ment of his public career — who attained to manhood just at
this time — the spirit of national independence boldly op
posing a course of proceeding which made use of church
affairs as a handle for other ends. It was no unchurchly
spirit which lay at the bottom of this opposition. The very
contrary was the truth. It was no mere phrase-making.

72 LIFE OF WICLIF.
still less any hypocritical dissimulation, when Edward III.,
at the close of the document quoted above, said of himself
and his subjects, " We all desire to render- to your most holy
person and to the holy Roman Church the honour which is
due from us."«s Only this honour rendered to the Church
was not blind and unconditioned : it was manly and dignified,
and was prepared, in case of need, to oppose the head of the
Church himself, not only in word but in deed, in matters
affecting the Church's temporalities.
In reference to this church-spirit of England, it is a
significant and important circumstance, that up to a period
later than the middle of the thirteenth century no sects and
divisions had ever arisen in the National Church, nor any
departures of any sort from the characteristic form of the
Church of the West. We find no certain trace to show
that during all the medieval centuries, down to that
time, any form of native heresy had ever sprung up upon
the English soil.'" Nor even were foreign heretical sects
ever able to find a footing in England, however much, in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries especially, these sects spread
and propagated themselves on the Continent. Only two
instances are mentioned by the chroniclers of such heretics
appearing in England, and in both cases they were immedi
ately put down and extinguished.
In the. first instance, under the reign of Henry IL, in the
year 1159, there arrived in the country a party of 30 persons
of both sexes, apparently Low Germans, under the leadership
of a certain Gerhard; but having soon fallen under suspicion
of heresy, they were imprisoned and tried before a Synod in
Oxford, by which they were found guilty, and delivered, over
to the secular arm. Their punishment was to be branded
upon the forehead, to be flogged through the streets, and

ENGLISH PRECURSORS OP WICLIF. 73
then, in their wounds and half-naked, to be driven out in
winter iuto the open fields, where, Avithout food and shelter,
outcasts from all society, and by all men unpitied, they
were left miserably to perish. But they met their fate
with joy not-^-ithstandiug ; they sang aloud, "Blessed are
ye that are persecuted for righteousness sake, for yours is
the kingdom of heaven." But the monkish chronicler, heart
lessly enough, makes the following comment upon the inci
dent : — " This pious severity not only purified the kingdom
of the plague which had already crept into it, but, by striking
terror into the heretics, guarded against any future irruption
of the evil." '^ Between forty and fifty years later, however,
at the beginning of the thirteenth century, under the reign ot
John, as a later writer briefly informs us, several Albigenses
came into England and were burnt alive.
That such merciless procedure should in the end act
as a deterrent may be easily understood ; and, in particular,
to the AYaldenses, who never seem to have made their way
into England. At least, Peter of Pilichdorf, who wrote in
1444 against the Waldenses, attests that, with some other
countries, England had always remained entirely pure and
free from the Waldensian sect.'s And I find an indirect
confirmation of this in the circumstance, that in all the
writings of Wiclif which I have searched through in
manuscript, I have never come upon a single trace to
indicate that either in his own time, or in earher centuries,
heretics of any kind had made their appearance in England.
Even the Waldenses are not once historically referred to
by him, or so much as named. It is without all support,
therefore, from original sources, when some writers put
forth the conjecture that there were secret disciples of
the Waldensian doctrines in England in Wiclif's time, who

74 LIFE OF WICLIF.
only came publicly into view when emboldened by his
movement and the number of his followers.
If there had been any foundation for this conjecture the
opponents of Wiclif and his party would certainly not have
omitted to make use of such a fact, which they could so
easily have turned to their own advantage. They would
in that case have pilloried the Lollards as the adherents
of a sect already long ago condemned by the Church.
But of this, too, there is not a single trace. On the con
trary, one of the earliest opponents of the Lollards, in a
polemical poem written soon after Wiclif's death, freely
admits that England, which now favours the Lollards, had
hitherto been free of all stain of heresy, and of every form
of error and deception.''^ In a word, it is irreconcilable
with the known facts of history to attempt to bring the
inner development of Wiclif or his followers into connection
with any earlier manifestation of heresy on the European
continent. And, in England itself, the history of the
centuries before Wiclif has not a single manifestation of
the heretical kind to show which was of any continuance
or of any importance.
It is no doubt true that in the intellectual, moral,
ecclesiastical, and political character of the period in
which Wiclif's youth and early manhood fell, there were
elements which exercised influence upon him, and received
from him in turn a further development. These, however,
were all elements which were compatible with true zeal
for the existing Church, and with a sincere devotion to
the Papal See ; being, on the one hand, a certain
national self-includedness, favoured by insular position,
but fostered still more by the spirit of Saxon nationahty,
which was evoked so powerfully during the thirteenth and

RICHARD FITZRALPH. 75
fourteenth centuries, till it stood out conspicuously in the
compact, united consciousness of the whole nation ; on the
other hand, a spirit of independence which did not shrink
from defending the rights and interests of the nation
and the National Church, even against all the power
of the Papal See, and to wage open war against the
abuses of the Church. In a word, there awoke in the Angli
can Church of the thirteenth, and still more of the fourteenth
centuries, "the true Reformation spirit which can never
die out in the Church, but must rather from time to time
break forth afresh with rejuvenescent strength, in order
to remove the ever recurring rust of abuses and mischiefs." «
Section IV. — Richard of Armagh and the Mendicant Orders.
We must at this point recall the name of an important man
in whom this Reformation spirit had a vigorous vitality — an
older contemporary of Wichf, to whom, as to Grossetete, he
often refers, and with whom he has sf)metimes been placed
in a closer connection than can, in our judgment, be histori
cally justified. We refer to Archbishop Richard, of Armagh,
Primate of Ireland, who had a high celebrity in his day.
Richard Fitzralph studied in Oxford, under Dr. John
Bakonthorpe, who was an opponent of the Mendicant Orders,
and in whose steps his disciple is alleged to have walked.*
Fitzralph was recommended to Edward III. as a man of high
ability, and was promoted to be Archdeacon of Lichfield;
in 1333 he became Chancellor of the University of Oxford;
and finally, in July 1347, Archbishop of Armagh. The only
side on which he is still known at the present day is as the
practical Churchman, especially in connection with his
* See Additional Note at the end of the Introduction.

76 LIFE OF WICLIF.
opposition to the encroachments of the Mendicant Orders.
But in his own age and in following times he was also held
in high honour as a master of theological science. The
reason why nothing is now known of him in this character
is, that none of his dogmatic and polemical writings have
ever been sent to the press.
But in addition to theological lectures delivered in Oxford,
he left important writings behind him. Among these we
are told not only of a commentary on the sentences of Peter
Lombard, originating in his Oxford lectures, but also of
several apologetico-polemical works, directed partly against
Judaism — De intentionibus Judceorum — partly against the
Armenian Church. The latter work, his nineteen books
against the errors of the Armenians, called also his Summa,
was the principal dogmatic work of " Kichard of Armagh,"
as he was commonly called, or simply " Armachanus ;" and
Wiclif himself cites the books against the Armenians with
extraordinary frequency. Richard composed this work
under Pope Clement VL, about 1350, at the request of
several Armenian Bishops. For since 1145, the Armenian
Kings had entered into transactions and connections with
Rome, which had for their aim a union of the National Church
of Armenia with the Roman Church of the west. At the
beginning of the fourteenth century several synods of the
Armenians were held in Sis, the ancient Issus, in 1307, and
in Atan (Adana) in 1316, with a view to this union. In this
connection the learned Englishman wrote the extensive work
referred to," at the instance of the Armenian .John, bishop-
elect of Khelat, and his brother Nerses, Archbishop of
Manaz-Kjerd. Richard accordingly threw his book into
the form of a dialogue. John, the bishop - elect, pro
poses questions, and brings forward objections. Richard

RICHARD FITZRALPH. 77
himself answers and solves them. In the first six
books are handled the Christological and Trinitarian
doctrines ; the seventh defends the Primacy of Rome ; four
books — 8 to 11 — are devoted to the Doctrine of the Sacra
ments; the 12th and foUoAving to the Doctrine of the Last
Things; the five remaining books closing with philosopliico-
theological investigations of a general kind, which form the
basis of the whole Avork.''*
We are told that Richard left behind him a translation of
the Bible in the Irish tongue, which would have been an
important fact if it had been well attested, but the allega
tion rests upon insufficient evidence.'^
But we have trustworthy information on the position
taken up by the Irish Primate against the Mendicant orders.
The folloAving circumstances gave rise to this incident as
related by himself: — Having occasion to come to London
on the business of his Archbishoprick, he found that learned
men there Avere engaged in animated discussions upon the
question of the poverty of the life of Jesus, and whether He
had even begged. This was no doubt an after effect of the
debate formerly maintained between Pope John XXII. and a
party of the Franciscans.*" The Archbishop was repeatedly
asked to preach in London upon the subject, and in the
church of St. Paul he deliArered seven or eight sermons in
English, in which he set forth and maintained the proposi
tions following : —
1. Jesus Christ, during His sojourn upon earth, was indeed
always a poor man ; but
2. He never practisedbegging as His own spontaneous choice.
3. He never taught any one to beg.
4. On the contrary, Jesus taught that no man should
practice voluntary begging.

78 LIFE OF WICLIF.
5. No man can either prudently or holily determine to
follow a life of mendicancy.
6. Mendicancy forms no part of the rule of the Franciscans.
7. The Bull of Alexander IV. (of the year 1255) against a
certain book (the Introductorius in Evangelium eternum) is
not directed against any of the above propositions.
8. For the purposes of confession, the parish church is
always more suitable for the parishioner than any church or
chapel of the begging monks.
9. For hearing confessions the parish priest is always
preferable to the begging monk.
These nine propositions evidently fall into two groups.
The first group — 1 to 7 — treats entirely of the moral question,
in what " Apostolical Poverty " consists ; in particular,
whether begging, in its proper sense, is permitted to Chris
tian men, and is in itself a virtue — yea or nay. The second
group, consisting of the two last propositions, relates to the
ecclesiastical question, whether it is advisable and right that
parishioners should confess in a conventual church to a
mendicant monk, instead of going to their parish church and
parish priest. In both respects the high-placed dignitary
expressed himself in opposition to the Mendicants, to their
principles and to their privileges. No wonder that he was
attacked in consequence. The Mendicant Orders raised
accusations against him at the Papal Court, and he found
himself obliged to undertake a journey to Avignon in 1357,
and to prosecute his defence in person before Innocent VI.
It is not improbable that the Irish Primate acted not only for
himself, but in name and by commission of several English
bishops ; at least Wiclif mentions the rumour that the bishops
in general had contributed to defray his travelling charges,
etc.'^ The address which he delivered at a solemn sitting

RICHARD FITZRALPH. 79
of the Council, 8th November 1375, in presence of the Pope
and Cardinals, affords us some insight iuto his ecclesiastical
views.'^ His contention is simply one for the rights of the
pastoral office as against the priAnleges of the Begging
Orders, by which these riglits were infringed — a contest
which was renewed in France about fifty years later, in
1409 and following years.''
The first and by far the larger half of the discourse must
be regarded as containing the main gist of the whole. It
is this part wliich has procured for it the title, "A Defence
of the Parish Priests ; " for the second part, only a fourth of
the whole, is taken up with the proof and justification of the
first seven propositions quoted above. The preacher lays
the main stress of his argument against mendicancy upon
the fact, which he proves in a very convincing manner, that
the Redeemer, during His life on earth, was neither a men
dicant Himself nor ever taught His disciples to be such. His
most Aveighty objection against the principles which he
opposes lies, if we are not mistaken, in the assertion that
the notion of voluntary mendicancy rests only upon ignor
ance of the Scriptures, or upon the covetous pretext that
the practice is conformable to the life of Christ.** But he
takes up first the two last of those nine propositions, i.e.,
the question of Confession and of the privileges of the
Begging Orders, and he gives his reason for doing so at the
beginning of his discourse. He does so, because a matter
which is of common interest to the whole priesthood, yea,
to all Christendom, takes precedence of a matter of private
interest, whereas the principle of mendicancy is only a
private affair of the Begging Orders. To guard himself, •
however, against misapprehension, as if he meant to assad
the Begging Orders on principle, he not only enters a caveat

80 LIFE OF WICLIF.
at the very commencement of his discourse against any
possible suspicions of his orthodoxy, but also against the
surmise that his aim was to attack the whole position of
the Orders Avhich had received the sanction of the
Church. What he aimed at was no more than this, that
these orders should be restored to the purity of their original
foundation.'^ In other Avords, it was their reformation he
sought, not their suppression.*"
With regard to confession, the archbishop shows most
convincingly that it is much more suitable, and, on moral
grounds, much more advisable that confession should be
made to one's own parish priest (sacerdos ordinarius) than
to a begging monk ; for the former stands much nearer than
the latter to any member of his own parish coming to con
fess, and has personal knowledge both of the man and his
previous sins ; and naturally such a man has more feeling
of shame before one whom he sees every day, than before a
stranger whom perhaps he sees face to face only once a-
year. It may also so easily happen, for want of personal
knowledge of people, that a monk receiving confessions
may absolve persons who are under the ban of excommuni
cation. The speaker attests that in his own diocese, where
perhaps there are not fewer than two hundred persons under
excommunication for murders, fire-raisings, thefts, and such
like crimes, there are only forty at most of these who come
for confession to him, or the confessors under him. People
of this description prefer to confess to the begging friars,
and are at once absolved and admitted to communion
by them.'^
On the other hand, the archbishop urges that the parish
priest is a more righteous judge, and less subject also to
suspicion of avaricious motives, for he has his parish living.

RICHARD FITZRALPH. 81
which the begging monk has not. Let it only be remem
bered that the Mendicant orders since the time when they
obtained the privilege of hearing confessions, have built
everywhere the most beautiful monasteries and truly
princely palaces, AA'hich, before that time, they were in
no condition to do. It is never heard that they impose
alms upon those who confess to them, for the repairs of a
parish church or a bridge, or for the upholding of a country
road; they prefer to impose them entirely for their OAvn
benefit and that of their order.
But he goes still farther. It is not only the abuse of
their priAaleges which is the cause of manifold moral mis
chiefs, but the very existence and normal effect of these
rights vicAved by themselves, and apart from all their
misuse. These rights are injurious to those who go to
confession, because such persons are less ashamed of their
sins before strangers, and pay no regard to contrition,
which is the chief part of the sacrament of penance, and
are led besides to undervalue their parish priests. They
are injurious to the parish priests, by estranging from them
their own parishioners to such a degree that the latter
soon cease to have any personal knowledge of them. The
mischief even extends to the spiritual order at large. For
the begging monks know how to draw to themselves young
men at the universities and elsewhere by means of the
confessional ; they entice them into their orders, and never
allow them to leave again ; even during the years of novi
ciate they permit them to have intervicAvs with parents
at most only in presence of a brother of the monastery.
One day not long ago, on going out from his inn to the
street, the archbishop met with a respectable English
gentleman who had made a journey to Avignon for no
VOL. I. F

82 LIFE OF WICLIF.
other purpose but to obtain from the Curia the surrender
of his son, whom the begging friars of Oxford had inveigled
last Easter, though yet only a boy thirteen years old. When
the father hurried to Oxford to rescue him, he was only
permitted to speak with his son under the eyes of several
monks. " What is this but man-stealing, a crime worse than
cattle-stealing, which is a penal offence?" And this with
mere children, before they have come to years of discretion !
And let it not be said such youngsters will serve God
afterwards with all the more devotion, and therefore it is
allowable to gain them by promises and lies. People " must
not do evil that good may come" (Rom. iii. 8). No lie,
in particular, is allowable for a good end, and no man, for
any reason of his own invention, is at liberty to set aside
any of the commandments. The theft, and the teaching
which helps to it, are both mortal sins. It has come to
such a pass in England that laymen no longer send their
sons to the universities, but prefer to make farmers of them,
rather than run the risk of losing them in that fashion ; and
hence it is that whereas in the preacher's time there were
30,000 students in Oxford, there are now no more than
6000. And this is a great mischief for the clergy in par
ticular, though in every faculty alike the secular students
(i.e., non-monks) are constantly on the decrease, while the
begging orders have been making no end of gains, both in
the number of their converts and their members.
Add to this that it is now almost impossible to purchase
good books at the universities, for they are all bought up
by the mendicants ; in all their convents are to be found
large and valuable libraries. The Archbishop himself had
sent three or four of his parish priests at a time to the
university, but in every instance one at least of these had

RICHAKD FITZRALPH. 83
left and come back again, because they found it impossible
to get a Bible to buy, or auy other tiieological book. And
thus, in the end, he thinks, there Avill cease to be any clergy,
and faith AviU entirely die out in the Church. In the creation
everything Avas ordered by measure, number, and Aveia'ht
(Wisdom of Solomon, xi. 22), but it is astounding how the
Mendicant orders go on increasing beyond all measure, in
the teeth of nature's law. How injurious the rights of the
begging order were to the Christian people, the preacher
depicts from the life. Already, says he, neither great nor
small can any more take a meal without the friars being
of the party ; and not standing at the door, as might be
supposed, to beg for alms, but pushing into the houses
without ceremony. Yes I and they not only eat with the
gTiests, but carry off bread, and meat, and cheese along
A\dth them ; and quite in the face of Christ's express com
mand, they go from hall to hall, from house to house.
But lastly, these privileges Avork mischief even to the
mendicant friars themselves. For they lead them into
disobedience of their OAvn Rules, and cause them to fall into
greed and avarice and ambitious aspiration after vain honours
and dignities. As to the first, the preacher instances several
violations of the original Franciscan Rule, which had all
arisen from their later-obtained privileges and exemptions.
But the friars are also guilty of avarice, for they have
acquired only such rights as enable them to accumulate
wealth. If it were not their aim to make money, they would
at least hand over the burial dues, when funerals occur among
them, to the parish churches and the parish priests ; but this
is what they never do, and their covetousness must be to
blame for it. The right of hearing confessions, too, they
exercise with the same view. They receive the secret con-

84 LIFE OF WICLIF.
fessions of women, even of princesses ; and there are even
instances of their finding their way into the boudoirs of
the most beautiful women of noble rank — scandals, these,
enough which come of the abuse of the Confessional.
Although these privileges have been conferred upon them
by Papal authority, they cannot continue to make use of
them without mortal sin. Neither can they sincerely repent
of these sins Avithout making restitution, as far as they can,
of the rights which they have taken away from the parish
priests. In this connection, as in support of all his other
representations, Richard of Armagh repeats the Bible-text
which he has prefixed to his whole discourse, " Judge not
according to the outward appearance, but judge righteous
judgment." The good man spoke out with frankness and courage.
He displays in his sermons much dialectical skill and culture,
and a solid and ripe theological erudition. But more than
all, he is penetrated by a spirit of intense moral earnestness
and of true manhood. Richard of Armagh has the spirit of
a Reformer, in the noblest sense ; he is a man who fights
against modern degeneracy and ecclesiastical abuses with
combined wisdom and zeal ; with eye uplifted to Christ, and
with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.'*
From this point let us cast a look backwards to Grossetete,
and another forward to Wiclif Richard of Armagh, and
Robert of Lincoln, were in many respects men of kindred
spirit, and yet in reference to the Mendicant orders all but
antipodes; for the former attacked them and the latter
patronised and promoted them. But let the times in which
they Kved be distinguished, and the two men come nearer
in character to each other. At the time when Grossetete
became a bishop — in the second quarter of the thirteenth

RICHARD FITZRALPH. 85
century, the Franciscans (Avith whom he came- into the
nearest connection) were in their first period, and were
animated by their first love ; they numbered among them
many men who were zealous and active for the good of
souls. The Bishop of Lincoln rejoiced to find in them
instruments and fellow-workers, fuU of insight and power.
That was why he honoured them with his confidence,
availed himself of their services, and extended to them his
support. A century passed away, and Richard of Armagh had
experiences of the Order of quite another kind. The Mendi
cants were caressed by the Bishops and Popes ; it fared with
them as with children who are the pets of their families —
they were spoiled. Distinguished by privileges, they be
came more and more pretentious and encroaching ; the
Order and its honour, its interests, and its revenues, became
now the chief objects of their aims, instead of the honour of
God, the good of the Church, and the salvation of souls.
Degeneracy, the moral corruption of both the Mendicant
orders, was an accomplished fact. In such circumstances, a
man who Avas an honest lover of goodness, and had a clear
eye for the real state of matters, must of course take up
quite a different position toward these Orders from a man of
the same gifts and of like spuit Avho had lived a hundred
years earher, when they were in their moral bloom and glory.
The difference of spirit, therefore, between the two men is
more apparent than real.
But we also cast a look forward from Richard of Armagh
to John of Wiclif. It has been conjectured that the latter,
in the matter of the Mendicant orders, followed immediately
in the footsteps of the former. This conjecture was favour
ably received, and for a long time has passed as a histori-

86 LIFE OF WICLIF.
cal fact. • What led to this was the circumstance that
Wiclif, in several of his writings, made repeated and
very severe attacks upon these orders. But the writings
referred to belong not to the earliest, but precisely to the
latest which he produced. In his earher and earliest
pieces I find none of this severe antagonism to the Mendi
cant monks, but, on the contrary, in many places a senti
ment of recognition and high esteem. This will be pointed
out more fully hereafter. We have no warrant, therefore,
to suppose that Wiclif took up immediately the threads
which had dropped from the hands of Richard of Armagh,
Avhen, after several years' residence in Avignon, he died
there in December 1359. One thing only is certain that
"Wiclif, in his earnest and persistent warfare against church
evils and corruptions — a warfare which he too carried on
from love to Christ the Church's Lord, and with the
weapons of God's Word — had Richard Fitzralph, in parti
cular, as one of his "nearest precursors.
The discourse of the Archbishop of Armagh called forth
a reply from a Franciscan doctor of theology in Oxford,
Roger Conway, '^ which appeared at latest in 1362, but
probably some years earlier, in the Archbishop's lifetime.
This production is a very different one from the Arch
bishop's, both in form and in spirit, for it is not a
spoken discourse, but a treatise of twice the bulk, and
the whole gist of the monkish doctor is the exact opposite
of the Prelate's. The Franciscan's standpoint is entirely
that of the scholastic divine and the Church lawyer. In his
mode of treating his subject, the pulsation of personal
feeling is scarcely ever perceptible, which makes so pleas
ing an impression in the Archbishop'. He asserts over and
over again that the discourse of the Archbishop, whom

RICHARD FITZRALPH. 87
be treats, however, with great respect, is nothing but a
bill of accusation against the begging orders. What he
puts in the forefront himself is the view-point of Law
and Right. It is more the " Decretalist," the master of
Church law, whom Ave listen to than the theologian ; where
as in Richard Fitzralph the feeling of the devout Christian,
of the true pastor, of the zealous Church prince pulsates
throughout. But this purely legal posture of the defender
of the Mendicants makes the inevitable impression that,
however unconsciously, yet in substance and, effect it is
only the selfish interests of the orders that he undertakes
to defend.
Here, too, we think we ought to mention another writing
which dates from this century, more precisely from 1356,
and which, so far at least, deserves to be put side by side
with Richard Fitzralph's discourse, as both pieces are directed
against the evils and abuses of the Church. We refer to
the much-discussed, but as it seems to us, more discussed
than known tract, Of ihe Last Age of ihe Church, which
was long ascribed to Wiclif himself, and given out for a
juvenile piece of his, but upon inadequate grounds, and
in disregard of weighty reasons which make against the
attribution.* The short essay is in substance u'^thing more
than an indictment against the sins of the priests, and par
ticularly against their traffic in offices (simony). This abuse
the author considers to be the Thii-d Trouble which comes
upon the Church. The first consisted in the Persecutions,
the second in the Heresies, the third in Simony. There
is now only one more trouble to follow, viz., the Devil at
broad noonday— i.e., the Antichrist. This view, and a
great deal more in the tract, the author borrows from the
* Vide Article I. in the Appendix.

88 LIFE OF WICLIF.
writings of Abbot Joachim of Flore, but he bases it as
Bernhard of Clairvaux also does in his sermons on the
Song of Songs, (33), upon Ps. 95, vv. 5 and 6.
It is not difficult to discover that the author views the
Church disorders of the time in a very narrow manner. He
has an eye only for abuses and sins attaching to those of
the clergy who are in possession of tithes and landed endow
ments. This shows that his position in the Church is one
different from theirs — a position from which this particular
side of the Church's evils falls directly upon his eye ; that is
to say, he seems to belong to one or other of the Mendicant
orders, like the last-named Roger Conway. The author,
besides, in his whole style of mind, is a man of narrow
views ; his mode of thinking is apocalyptic in the meaner
not grander sense, and he hangs entirely upon authorities
such as Abbot Joachim, or rather the pseudo-Joachim
writings. This last circumstance helps us to trace with
certainty his connection with the Franciscans, particularly
with that portion of the Order which was attached to
Joachimism, and specially to the apocalyptic views of the
so-called " Eternal Gospel." At all events, this produc
tion was entirely destitute of any strong, living germs of
principle from which any future development could spring.
Section V. — Thomas of Bradwardine — His Teaching
and Spirit.
Vert different is the case with the teaching of an important
contemporary of the foregoing writer, who, like him, belongs
to the period immediately preceding Wichf's public career.
We refer to Thomas of Bradwardine, a Christian thinker,
who knew nothing higher and holier than to do battle for

THOMAS BRADWARDINE. 89
" the cause of God," and especially to bring into recognition
the free and unmerited grace of God as the one only source
of salvation, in the face of an age whose strong leaning,
on the contrary, was to build its salvation upon human
merit." Nor did he entirely fail in gaining the age's con
currence in his teaching. His contemporaries held him in
high esteem ; they gave him the honourable title of the
"Profound Doctor" (Doctor profundus). ^^ The lectures de
livered in Oxford, in which he expounded his doctrine,
found such high acceptance that many of his auditors,
including men of high position, made repeated requests to
him to embody his views in a work for publication. And
Wiclif in particular, who could scarcely have known him
personally, was frdl of esteem for him, which he manifests
upon every mention of his name, although he strongly
opposes some of his dogmatic views. We believe that
we are not mistaken in maintaining that the prin
ciples which lay at the basis of Bradwardine's teaching
were not without important influence upon Wiclif. In
the fifteenth century, also, his credit stifl stood very
high. A man like John Gerson (tl429) often quoted
him as an authority in his work on The Spiritual Life
of the Soul,
At the period of the Reformation he seems to have been
little known, but at the beginning of the seventeenth cen
tury George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury (1610-1633),
revived the memory of his celebrated predecessor, and had
the merit of suggesting and promoting the pubhcation
of his principal work, which was prepared for the press
by Henry Savile, Warden of Merton College, upon the basis
of a collection of sis manuscripts.^" But this service to his
earlier fame came too late, for Bradwardine and his work

90 life of WICLIF.
have never obtained, in later times, the high consideration
to which they are entitled.^-*-
Thomas of Bradwardine "^ was born near the end of the
thirteenth century, but where and in what year cannot be
determined with certainty.'^ He takes notice himself, on
one occasion, that his father lived in Chichester.^* As, how
ever, it appears, from Oxford documents of the year 1325,
that he then held the office of a Proctor of the University,
it is concluded, on good grounds, that he must have been
born in 1290 at the latest. Further, we have certain know
ledge that he went to Oxford as a student, and was there
admitted into Merton College, which had been founded in
1274. Here he studied not only scholastic philosophy and
theology, but also mathematics and astronomy, with such
success as to obtain the highest reputation in all these
branches of learning.
It was at this period, also, that an incident occurred
to him which gave a decisive turn to his inner life, and
which we fortunately learn from his own pen. His
narrative is as folloAvs : — " I was at one time, while still
a student of philosophy, a vain fool, far from the true
knowledge of God, and held captive in opposing error.
From time to time I heard theologians treating of the
questions of Grace and Free Will, and the party of
Pelagius appeared to me to have the best of the argument.
For I rarely heard anything said of grace in the lectures of
the philosophers, except in an ambiguous sense ; but every
day I heard them teach that we are the masters of our own
free acts, and that it stands in our own power to do either
good or evil, to be either virtuous or vicious, and such like.
And when I heard now and then in church a passage
read from the Apostle which exalted grace and humbled

THOMAS BRADWARDINE. 91
free-Avill,— sucli, e.g., as that word in Romans ix., ' So then
it IS not in him that AA-illetii, nor in him that runneth, but in
God that showetii mercy,' and other hke places,— I had no
liking for such teaching, for toAvards grace 1 Avas still unthank
ful. I believed also with the Manicheans, that the Apostie,
being a man, might possibly err from the path of truth in
any point of doctrine. But afterAvards, and before I had
become a student of theology, the truth before mentioned
struck upon me like a beam of grace, and it seemed to me
as if I beheld in the distance, under a transparent image ot
truth, the grace of God as it is prevenient both in time and
nature to all good deeds — that is to say, the gracious will
of God Avhich precedently wills, that he who merits salva
tion shall be saved, and precedently works this merit of
it in him, God in truth being in all movements the primary
Mover. Wherefore, also, I giA^e thanks to him Avho has
freely given me this grace (' Qtci mihi hanc gratiam gratis
dedit ')." "«
From this interesting testimony from his own lips, it
appears that BradAvardine, while still a student, and even
before he had begun the regular study of theology, had
experienced a spiritual awakening Avhich brought him off
from the Pelagian way of thinking, and led him to the
conviction that the Grace of God is prevenient to all God-
pleasing action, instead of being acquired by such action
preceding. This awakening had evidently occurred in con
nection with such utterances of St. Paul as that in Romans
ix. 16, which had suddenly struck upon the young man's
soul with a clear light and arresting force, insomuch that
from that day forward the all-determining poAver of grace
became the central truth of his Christian thinking.
It has been already mentioned that Bradwardine held

92 LIFE OF WICLIF.
a University office in 1325. We next hear of him deliver
ing lectures for some time as a Doctor of Theology in
the University, by which he laid the foundations of his
theological reputation, and at a later date he became
Chancellor of St. Paul's in London. When the war with
France broke out, and Edward HI. made the campaign
in person, John Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury (1333
— 1348) proposed him to the King for war chaplain and
confessor. In this capacity he accompanied the king in
his campaigns in 1339 and subsequent years, and so
great was his religious and moral influence upon Edward
and his army, upon whom he knew how to press the
claims of humanity, that many historians of those wars
Avere convinced that the English victories were more due
to the holiness of this priest than to the warlike virtues
of the King and the valour of his troops.
In 1348 Archbishop Stratford died, and the Chapter of
Canterbury chose Bradwardine to be his successor ; but
the King's attachment to him was such that he could
not make up his mind to release him from attendance
on his person. But upon the death of John Ufford,
who was nominated in his stead in May 1349, before
receiving consecration, and the chapter haA'ing a second
time made choice of Bradwardine, the King at length
gave his consent to the arrangement. Thomas of Brad
wardine was nominated Archbishop by King and Pope,
was consecrated in Avignon in the beginning of July,
and returned immediately to England to assume his
office. But only a few weeks after, 26th August 1349, he
died in the Palace of Lambeth.
Bradwardine's theologicaj views are exhibited in a
systematic form in the work already named. It bears

THOMAS BRADWARDINE. 93
the title Of the Cause of God, for the author has the
consciousness of appearing like an advocate in defence of
God's honour, in standing forward to oppose Pelagianism,
and to exalt the agency of God's fi-ee and unmerited
grace in the couA^ersion and salvation of man. tie by
no means conceals from himself that in so doing he is
SAA-imming against the current of prevailing opinion, for
it is his OAvn remark that "the doctrine is held by many
either that the free will of man is of itself sufficient for
the obtaining of salvation ; or if they confess the need
of grace, that still grace may be merited by the poAver
of the fi"ee Avill, so that grace no longer appears to be
something undeserved by men, but something meri
toriously acquired. Almost the whole world," he says,
" has run after Pelagius and fallen into error." But
BradAvardine does not allow himself to be disheartened by
this state of things. He knows for certain that one
man, if the Lord is with him, will be able to chase a
thousand foes, yea to put twelve thousand to flight.
(1 Sam. xviii. 7).
This joyful courage in conflict, this devout confidence
of victory in pleading the cause of God's grace as the
alone source of salvation, cannot fail to remind us of
the Reformers, who were essentially heralds of the same
grace, and opposers of the delusion that salvation can
be earned by human merit. The method, it is true,
which the scholastic divine followed was different from
theirs, owing to the peculiar character of mediseval
culture. The Reformers went to work theologically, Brad
wardine philosophically. He gives as his reason for
adopting this method, that the later Pelagians had
asserted that Pelagius had been overcome purely by

94 LIFE OF WICLIF.
church authority and by theological proofs, but iu a
philosophical and rational way it had never been possible to
confute him. Bradwardine's design, therefore, is to make
use mainly of philosophical arguments and authorities. In
regard to authorities he adheres, in fact, so closely to
his declared design, that he gives more space to the
sayings of philosophers, old and new, and attaches more
stress to them, than he does to his own independent
reasonings. However, he also elucidates the question
theologically, namely by arguments of Scripture and
appeals to the Fathers and Scholastics, with the view,
as he says himself, of showing the right sense of many
passages of Holy Scripture and the Fathers, which had
often been misunderstood and perverted by the Pelagians
of ancient and later times.
Waiving, for Avant of space, auy analysis of the doc
trinal contents and reasonings of a work so bulky and
profound, it may be observed, in general terms, that the
scientific success of the performance is less satisfactory
than the religious and moral spirit with which it is
imbued. For the absolute determinism which Bradwar
dine sets forth, labours under an inappropriate mixing up
of metaphysical and physical ideas with an ethical question,
and thus rests the doctrine that salvation is grounded
exclusively upon grace upon an insecure foundation.
But the spirit which animates him is worthy of all
recognition. He is filled with a moral pathos— a lofty
earnestness of Christian piety, which cannot fail to make
the deepest impression."' His drift is to exhibit grace
as a free and unmerited gift of God, and to strike down
every imagination of human merit in the work of con
version. It is for this reason that he controverts ui

THOMAS BRADWARDINE. 95
particular the favourite dogma of the Scholastics that
man can qualify himself to receive grace, in other Avords,
that he can deserve grace, if not to the strict extent
of full AA'orthiness (de condigno), still in the sense of meet-
ness and suitableness (de congruo). To acquire merit
before God, BradAvardine holds to be impossible for mau
in any sense whatsoever."* He who affirms the contrary
turns God, in effect, into a poor trafficker ; for he who
receives grace on the footing of any kind of merit, has
purchased the grace and not received it as a free gift.
BradAvardine sets out, in fact, as pointed out above,
from his own experience — from actual life — and he keeps
actual experience ever in his eye. And in regard to
the authorities for the doctrine of unmerited grace to
whom he cares most to appeal, he is thoroughly alive
to the fact that it was by their own living experience
that they too were brought to the knoAvledge of that
grace. The apostle Paul, for example, was " a chosen
vessel of grace," inasmuch as, at a time when he Avas
not thinking of good works at all, nor was even standing
aloof from deeds of wickedness : at a time when he was
thirsting for Christian blood, and Avas even persecuting
the Lord himseff, suddenly a light from heaven shone
round about him, and the grace of Jesus Christ at the
same instant preveniently laid hold upon him. He
speaks of the Apostle as emphatically a child -of grace,
who, in gratitude for the same, makes devout and honour
able mention of this grace — his mother — in almost all
his epistles, vincMcating her claims, particularly in his
Epistle to the Romans, where he makes grace the subject
of a large and acute investigation "^ which fills the
epistle almost from beginning to end. And quite in a

96 LIFE OF WICLIF.
similar spirit he remarks upon Augustine that, "like the
Apostle, he was at first an unbehever, a blasphemer, and
an enemy of the grace of Jesus Christ, but after the
same grace had converted him with like suddenness, he
became, after the apostle's example, an extoller, a magni
ficent and mighty champion of grace."^^' And like the
Apostle Paul, like Augustine the great church-father of
the west, Thomas BradAvardine too became, by the light
from heaven which shone upon him in his youth, an extoller
and champion of the grace of God, in opposition to the
Pelagian and self-righteous spirit which prevailed in his
time. It was by no means his intention, indeed, in so doing,
to place himself in antagonism to the Church of Rome.
On the contrary, he declares expressly his steadfast belief
in the doctrinal authority of the Church. He submits his
writings to her judgment ; it is for her to determine
what is orthodox in the questions which he has investi
gated ; he wishes with all his heart to have her support
where he does battle with the enemies of God ; where
he errs, to have, her correction ; where he is in the right,
to have her confirmation.^^'' But still, in the last resort,
he consoles himself with the help of God, who forsakes
no one who is a defender of His cause.-'^'

Section \1.—The Vision of Piers Plowman.
While the learned Doctor was defending God's cause with.
the weapons of science, and seeking to bring back his age
from the paths of Pelagian error into the one only way of
salvation, the same cry for grace was also heard from the

PIERS PLOWMAN. 97
conscience of the common people, in their feeling of the
ui-gent need of a better state of things.
About twelve years after Bradwardine's death, this feeling
of society found expression in a great popular poem, Avhich
yet remains to be noticed by us as a speaking sign of the
times. We refer to The Vision of Piers Plowman, Avhich
reveals to us, not so much by the social position of its
author, as by the circle of readers for Avliom he wrote and
the spirit of which the work is full, the deep ferment which
at that time was spreading through the loAvest and broadest
stratum of the Enghsh people. The author himself un
doubtedly belonged to the educated class, or rather to the
learned class, which was then almost identical with it. He
is familiar with the whole learning of his time ; he knows
the Classics and the Fathers, the Scholastics and the
Chroniclers, and also the Canon LaAv ; he quotes the Bible
according to the Vulgate and the " Glossa ; " quotes like
wise Latin Church hymns in the original ; in short,
he was a scholar, and probably a monk. In the sixteenth
century the tradition existed that his name was Robert
Longland or Langland, born at Cleobury Mortimer, in
Shropshire, educated in Oxford, and then admitted a
monk in the Benedictine Priory of Great Malvern, Wor
cestershire. Several allusions to localities, such as the Malvern Hills
and the like, point to the fact that he must have lived in
the west of England, on the borders of Wales. Perhaps
he sprang from the agricultural population ; at all events, he
shared their feelings, and wrote for them and from their
point of vicAv ; and this he did to such good purpose, that
his poetry went straight to the people's hearts, and con
tinued to be loved by them and committed to memory, and
VOL. I. G

98 LIFE OF WICLIF.
frequently imitated, for several generations, down to the
middle of the fifteenth century.
From the first appearance of this poem, the figure of
Piers Plowman became, and long continued to be, a favourite
one with the friends of moral and religious reform. The
great popularity of the work is attested by the very con
siderable number of manuscripts of it which still exist, most
of them written towards the end of the fifteenth century."'
Add to this the circumstance that these manuscripts are
seldom Avritten in a beautiful hand, and are- scarcely ever
adorned with illuminated initials, which is a pretty plain
proof that they were not intended for the higher ranks of
society, but for the middle class. A highly remarkable
document of the time of the Peasants' War, under Richard IL,
viz., the "Call" of the ringleader, John Ball, to the people
of Essex, contains several manifest reminiscences of Piers
Plowman.^^' The poet himself, however, was as little a
sower of sedition as he was a heretic. He preaches con
stantly the duty of obedience to the higher powers. But
the pleasure he takes in lowering the great in the estimation
of the people, and in raising the credit of the lower classes,
could not fail to make him a great favourite with the multi
tude. And although he did not attack a single doctrine of
the Church, yet his unsparing exposure of the sins of the
clergy must have aided the growing public sentiment in
favour of reform.
In view of the oppression which prevailed among the
nobility, the corruption among the clergy, and the dishonesty
among the tradesmen, the simple heart of the peasant
appears to the poet to be the only remaining seat of in
tegrity and virtue. It is the husbandman in his mean
position, not the Pope and his proud hierarchy, who exhibits

PIERS PLOWMAN. 99
upon earth an image of the humble Redeemer. In its language
and poetical form, too, the work has quite a popular cast.
With the exception of the Latin citations, and some Norman-
French phrases which occasionally occur, the language is
pure iMiddle-English ; while in form it is the most beautiful
example extant of old Anglo-Saxon verse. For it is not
rhyme, properly so called, AA'hich is here used, but what is called
alliterative rhyme. Instead of the Anglo-Saxon alliteration,
the Normans, since the twelfth century, had introduced the
romaunce rhyme, which continued in prevailing use till the
middle of the thirteenth century. Later, we find in use a
combination of rhyme and alliterative in one and the same
line. Still, it is not improbable that during the whole of
that time the pure Saxon alliterative continued to maintain
itself along Avith the Anglo-Saxon tongue among the lower
strata of the population. Its coming up again to the sur
face, about the middle of the fourteenth century, appears to
be only one aspect of the great social and national move
ment before referred to which took place at that period.
Seen from this point of view, in the literary history of the
country, Langland's poem has a special claim upon our
attention. The old Saxon alliterative verse was now so much again
in favour that it was used in long romances like William and
the Werewolf, a position which it continued to hold as late
as the fifteenth century, at which date it found imitators
even in Scotland. The author of Piers Plowman is well
acquainted indeed, it is true, with common rhyme, and
he introduces it occasionally, but only in Latin of the
ecclesiastical type. But in his own English composition he
employs exclusively alliterative rhyme; his constant usage
being the following, that in every connected couplet of lines

100 LIFE OP WICLIF.
(each line having two rising and two falling accents), the
two most important words of the first line begin with the
same letter, while in the second line the first accented word
also begins with it.^^^
The poem belongs to the allegorical class, and consists of
a long series of visions, in which the poet has revelations
made to him in the way of dreams, of the condition of
human society, and of various truths relating to it. The
date of the composition admits of being fixed pretty exactly.
That dreadful plague, which, under the name of the Black
Death, laid waste the half of Europe in 1348 and following
years, was alreadj' scA'cral years past. Mention is made
more than once of the " Pestilence ; " it forms, so to speak,
the dark back-ground from which the figures stand out.
But a second " sickness " is also referred to which raged
in England in 1360-62, and with this agrees the circum
stance that the lines, beginning with number 1735, contain
an undoubted allusion to the peace of Bretigny, which was
concluded in the year 1360, and formed an important incident
in the history of the English and French war. Further, the
poet touches in vv. 2499 f. upon a great storm from the
south-west, which occurred on a " Saturday evening;" to
which he alludes also in vv. 4453 f We know from
chronicles that this tempest, which threw down towers
and high houses, and almost all the great trees, took
place on 15th January 1362,123 and the exactness with
which the date of that event is fixed by the poet warrants
us in assuming that the poem must have been written no
long time thereafter, perhaps at the end of 1362.^^*
The poet goes forth, in the warm summer time, to wander
into the wide world. On a May morning, already fatigued
by his walk, he lays himself down on the Malvern Hills

PIERS PLOWMAN. 101
beside a well, and falls asleep. There, in a dream, he sees
wonderful things — upon a hill in the east a tower, built
with great art, the tower of truth ; in the west the fortress
of care, where dw^eUs the Avicked fiend. Upon a charming
plain between the two he sees a multitude of men of all
ranks and conditions, rich and poor, going about their
different works and Avays. Clergy, too, are not wanting,
begging friars, preachers of indulgences, priests in the
service of the King or the nobles, and so forth. AVith this
begins the first of the poet's visions, of which the work,
closely examined, is found to contain ten, although this
number does not at once meet the eye ; for the usual
division of tbe text into twenty passus taken from the
manuscript copies is rather a superficial one. The visions
have a tolerable amount of connection with each other,
though by no means a very close one.
A variety of allegorical figures step upon the scene ; some
talking, some acting, and occasionally a sort of drama
developes itself. First appears an honourable lady — the
Church — and instructs the poet in the significance of the
spectacle before him, and especially on the point that truth
is the truest of all treasures, and that the chief subject ot
truth is nothing else but love and beneficence. Then enters
in dazzlingly rich array the lady " Reward," i.e., earthly
reward. To her all ranks and conditions of men do
homage. She is on the point of being betrothed to " False
hood," instead of to "Truth." Then "Theology" puts
forward his claim to her hand, and all parties repair to
Westminster to bring the matter to a judicial decision ;
but " Truth " huiries on before to the king's palace, and
speaks in the ear of the Knight " Conscience." The knight
speaks with the king, and the king gives command to put

102 LIFE OF WICLIF.
" Reward " in prison as soon as she arrives. But in prison
she fares by no means amiss. The judges in Westminster
gain the palace for her cause, a begging friar visits her,
hears her confession, and giA'es her absolution. At last the
King sends for her to his presence, gives her a reprimand,
and sets her at liberty upon her promises of amendment;
he even proposes to wed her to his knight " Conscience,"
but the knight, while thanking him in the most courtly
terms, draws a picture of her character in the blackest
colours. She defends herself in a way to win for her the
king's grace, whereupon " Conscience " appeals to " Reason,"
and in the end the king takes " Conscience " and " Reason ''
to be his councillors.
The poet awakes, but soon falls asleep again, and now
begins the second vision. He sees again the same plain
full of people, to whom " Reason " is preaching a sermon,
in which he tells every rank and condition of people his
mind. The sinners before him are seized with remorse.
They fall upon their knees, and " Penitence " gives them
absolution. And now thousands rise to their feet and set
out on a pilgrimage to " Truth." But nobody knows the
way. At last a ploughman calls out that he knows the way.
It is here that Piers Plowman comes upon the scene. He
offers to show the pilgrims the road in person if they will
only wait till he has ploughed- and sown a bit of ground,
and in the meantime several help him at his work. When
it comes, however, to the ears of " Truth " that Piers pur
poses to make a pilgrimage to her, she sends him a letter of
indulgence, desiring him to stay at home and work, and
informing him that the indulgence is applicable to all who
assist him in his work, a message which awakens among
all the greatest joy. But, in the end, nothing more is found

PIERS PLOWMAN. 103
in the brief of indulgence than these two lines, "And those
who have done good shall go into everlasting hfe, but those
who have done evil, into everlasting fire" (Matt. xxv. 46).
Then the poet awakes again ; he reflects upon his dream,
and he is convinced that " Do Good " will be better in the
last judgment than a Avhole pocketful of indulgences, or
letters of fraternity.
From the third to the tenth vision the representation
principally turns upon the three allegorical persons, "Do
Good," "Do Better," and " Do Best." The allegorical acti(-n
passes over more and more into didactic poetry, "the
Plowman" coming repeatedly upon the scene, but in such
a way that imder the transparent veil of that figure the
Redeemer Himself is here and there to be recognised. '
The whole diift of the poem is to recommend practical
Christianity. The kernel of its moral teaching is the pure
Christian love of our neighbour — love especially to the
poor and lowly; a love of our neighbour reaching its
highest point in patient forbearance, and love towards
enemies — a love inspired by the voluntary passion of Christ
for us. As the " Luxenburgers " (a false coin then circulating
widely in England) resemble a " sterling " in the stamp, but
are of base metal, so many nowadays bear the stamp of the
heavenly King and His crown, but the metal — the soul — is
alloyed with sin. The poet accordingly lays bare, on the
one hand, the evil works and ways of all ranks and conditions
of men, dealing castigation round among all classes with
the lash of his satire ; while, on the other hand, he commends
the good wherever he finds it. That he is by- no means a
heretic has already been remarked. He assumes without
question the whole body of Church doctrine: the doctrine
of transubstantiation, e.g., he takes for granted as something

104 LIFE OF WICLIF.
self-evident ; and however much value he attaches to the
conscience and the natural understanding of man, he is by
no means a despiser of learning, and especially of theology.
But what he demands is, that the seven liberal arts and
every science' should be cultivated in no selfish spirit, in
order to acquire wealth ; nor from a motive of vanity, in
order to be styled " Magister ; " otherwise men only lose their
time in them ; but from love to our Lord and to the people.
In other words, learning has value in his eyes only when
benefit accrues from it to mankind ; and therefore he thinks
it a practice to be censured, when mendicant-friars and
masters of arts preach to the people about matters above
human comprehension, instead of speaking to them of the
Ten Commandments and the seven sins. Such men only
wish to show off their high learning, and to make a boast
of it ; they do not act from sincere love to their neighbour.
On the other hand, he commends all princes and nobles,
bishops and lawyers, who in their dignified places are useful
to others, and render real service to the world. But "Truth"
gives her " brief and seal," not only to men of learning and
rank, but also to men of trade and traffic, to assure them
that they shall not come short of salvation, if with all their
diligence in trade and money-making, they give out of
their gains for the building of bridges, the feeding of the
poor, to help in sending children to school, or teaching them
a trade, or in setting out poor young women in marriage, and
in promoting the cause of religion. Industrious and honest
married people are also highly commended ; it is they who
hold the world together, for from marriage spring both kings
and knights, emperors and servants, father-confessors, holy
virgins and martyrs. Evidently Piers the Plowman is
made the chief figure of the poem, not merely on account of

PIERS PLOWMAN. 105
his humble condition in Hfe, but also to do honour in his
person to labour, joined with the fear of God. Both points
of view are inseparably connected in the poem. Undoubtedly
there is something of a democratic spirit in the teaching of
the author, but it is a Christian democracy, like that word
of the Redeemer, " To the poor the Gospel is preached."
More than once it is remarked by the poet, hoAv much better
off in that respect people in low condition are than the
high-placed and the educated. The seven sins are far more
dangerous for the rich than for the poor. Augustin him
self (the most enlightened doctor and the greatest of the
four, Ambrose, Augustin, Jerom, and Gregory the Great), is
appealed to as a witness for this, for the poet has read in
one of his sermons the passage, " Behold the ignorant them
selves take the kingdom of heaven by violence."
That none come into the kingdom of God sooner than the
poor and lowly is a thought which he dAvells upon in several
parts of the poem. For the Church the poet cherishes deep
veneration, but this by no means prevents him from speaking
openly of her faults. In one place, he makes the general
remark, that Avhile uprightness and holiness spring from the
Church by the instrumentality of men of pure character and
life, who are the teachers of God's law, all sorts of evil, on
the other hand, spring from her, when priests and pastors
are not what they ought to be. What he has chiefly to
censure in the priesthood of his time is their worldliness,
their sins of selfishness and of simony. Other shortcomings
and failings, indeed, are also mentioned, as when the ignor
ance of many priests is satirized by the introduction of a
curate who knows nothing of the cardinal virtues, and never
heard of any cardinals but those of the Pope's making, or
when indolence owns fi-ankly that he has been priest and

106 LIFE OF WICLIF.
parson for more than thirty winters, but can neither sing by
notes nor read the lives of the saints. He can hunt horses
better than tell his parishioners the meaning of a clause in
Beatus Vir, or Beati Omnes in the Psalter.
But it is the worldliness of the clergy that the satirist
chiefly lashes. His complaint of the abuse that foreign priests
should have so much office and power in England, reminds
us vividly of Grossetete's demands, as well as of the measures
which King and Parliament, twenty years before, had
adopted against Papal provisions and reservations. Hardest
and bitterest of all are his complaints of the self-seeking
and avarice which prevail in the Church.
"Conscience" complains before the king's tribunal of the
Lady Reward, on this as well as other grounds, that she has
infected the Pope with her poison, and made evil the holy
Church. She is in the confidence of the Pontiff, for she and
Master Simony seal his bulls ; she consecrates bishops, be
they ever so ignorant ; and she takes care for the priests to
let them have liberty to keep their mistresses as long as they
live. Time was when men lived in self-denial and privation,
but nowadays men value the yellow gold piece more than
the cross of Christ, which conquered death and sin. When
Constantine endowed the Church with lands and lordships,
an angel was heard to cry aloud in Rome, This day the
Church of God has drunk venom, and the heirs of St. Peter's
power " are a-poysoned all."
" If possessions be poison,
And imperfect them make,
Good were to discharge them
For holy Church sake.
And purge them of poison
E'er more peril befall."
The suggestions of this passage take the form in another

PIERS PLOWMAN. 107
place of a prophecy — the prophecy of a coming king, who
will punish with heavy blows all monks and nuns and canons
who have broken theii- rules, and, in league with his nobles,
will reform them by force.
" And yet shall come a king
And confess you all
And beat you, as the Bible teUeth,
For breaking of your rule.
And amend you monks and menials.
And put you to your penance.
Ad pristinum statum ire.
And barons and their bairns.
Blame you and reprove."
If it is the " monks possessioners," or landed orders, who
are here meant, neither are the Mendicant orders spared in
other places, as, e.g., in the passage where a begging friar
visits the all-fascinating Lady " Reward " in person, and
gives her absolution in return for a horse-load of wheat,
when she begs him to be equally obliging to noble lords and
ladies of her acquaintance who love to wanton in their
pleasures. "And then," says she, " will I restore your church
for you, and build you a cloister-walk, and whiten your walls,
and put you in painted windows, and pay for all the work
out of my own purse; so that all men shall say I am a
sister of your house."
It is thus that the Visions of Piers the Plowman attack,
not indeed the doctrine of the Church of that age, but in
the most outspoken manner, all the prevailing sins of the
clergy from the highest to the lowest, and in so doing,
render distinguished service in helping forward the work
of reform.

108 LIFE OF WICLIF.

NOTES TO CHAPTER L

NOTES TO SECTION I.
1. Thomas Wright, Biographia Britannica literaria. Anglo-Saxon Period.
London, 1842, p. 384 f.
2. Compare C. Friedrich Koch, Historische Grammatik der Englischen Sprache.
Vol. 1, p. 8. Max MiiUer's Lectures on the Science of Language, p. 349.
3. Ranke, Englische Geschichte vornehmlioh in xvi. and xvii. Jahrhundert.
Vol. I., p. 16.
4. Compare the carefully accurate representation given in Renter, Geschichte
Alexander's III., and der Kirche Seiner Zeit III., p. 188 ; also pp. 713-724,
" Zur Kirohengeschichte England's in den Jahren, 1171-4.
5. Constantine Hoefler has the merit of having been the first to call attention to
what he has called the Papal State System in his " Anna von Luxemburg," p. 6 ;
and in " The Avignon Popes." Vienna, 1871, p. 7 f.
6. The complaint against King .Tohn, made by the barons, " quod suo tempore
ancillavit regnum quod invenit liberum," is given by Abbot William iu his
Chronicle of the Monastery of St. Andrew in d'Aohery's Spicilegium, Vol. II.,
p. 853.
7. Rymer, Foedera. Vol. I., Part 1, p. 138.
8. So the Chm'ch was called even thus early — e.g., in Magna Charta itself—
Rymer, 1, 132. Comp. .Pauli Geschichte von England, vol. IIL, pp. 898, 909.
9. Matthew of Paris, Historia Major — in truth, Roger of Wendover's Flores
Historiarum in Matthew of Paris. London, 1686, p. 313 f. Comp. Roberti
Grosseteste Epistolae. Luard. Lend. 1861, p. 22.

NOTES TO SECTION H.
10. What follows is a revision of my "Programm," Robert Grosseteste, Bishop
of Lincoln. Leipzig, 1867, 4to,
11. Opus tertium. Ed., Brewer, 1869, pp. 31, 91.
12. Of Grossetete's numerous works nothing more than a few pieces have as yet
been published. At the beginning of the sixteenth century his Commentaries on
the works of Aristotle, and on the Mystical Theology of the Pseudo Dionysius were
printed, the latter iu Strasbvirg in 1502 ; but these subjects have very little
interest for the present age. In the seventeenth century one of his successors in the
See of Lincoln, John WUliams (1612-1641), who died Archbishop of York in 1649,

NOTES TO CHAPTER I. 109
conceived the design of publishing his collected works in 3 folios, and he had
already made collections and preparations with tliat view ; but the outbrealc of
the civil war prevented the execution of the design. Towards the end of the
same century, Edward Bro^Ti pubhshed in his appendix to the Fasciculus Rerum
Expetendarum, etc., several pieces of Grossetfite, especially several of his sermons,
theological thoughts, iuid a portion of his correspondence. This correspondence
has recently been edited more critically and in a complete form by Luard of
Cambridge, in the collection of "Rerum Britannicarum Medii aevi Scriptores, "
published at the cost of the English Government, uuder the title "Roberti
Grossteste, episcopi quondam Lincolniensis Epistol(e. London, 1862." This valuable
correspondence is the most trustworthy source for learning the development of the
mau and his character. Repeated attempts have been made to furnish a Biography
of Grossteste, but several of these never got beyond the stage of the collection of
materials. So it befell Bishop Barlow of Lincoln, Samuel Knight, Anthony Wood,
and Edward Brown. It was not till the end of last century that a biography of
the venerable man was prepared and sent to the press — Samuel Pegge's " Life of
Grossteste." Lond., 1793. But the book was an iU-starred one ; most of the
copies are said to have perished in a fire which broke out in the priuting office.
The fact is certain, that the book is a very rare one even in England, and that
there is hardly a single copy of it to be found in all the libraries of Germany.
Luard, in his preface, has thrown some fresh light upon the life of Grossteste.
13. In Luard's Roberti Grossteste's Epistolse. Preface, p. xxxii.
14. Grossetete alludes to this question having been put by him in a letter to the
Cardinal-Legate Otho, written in 1239, — Ep. 74 of Luard's Coll., p. 242 ; and I
know of no incident in his hfe with which I can more suitably connect it than with
that given in the text.
15. Epistolse, p. 43 f.
16. Epistolse 40, p. 132 ; 41, p. 134 ; 50, p. 146 ; 88, p. 275.
17. Dugdale, Monasticum Anglicanum. New ed. by Caley, EUis, and Bandiuel,
1830 fol., V. 6, p. 1266, with plan and 4 views of the Cathedral.
18. Epistolse 22, p. 72 f.
19. Epistola; 73, p. 235 f.
20. Epistolse 55, p. 170.
21. Epistolae 93, p. 290 f .
22. Epistolse 4, p. 32.
23. Epistolae 74, p. 241 f.
24. Epistolae 50, p. 146. "The Sermones ad Clerum,'' published by Edward
Brown in 1690, were no doubt made use of by the Bishop in his visitations in
addressing the clergy of the different rural deaneries.
25. Epistolae 23, p. 90. Comp. his Letter to King Henry III. No. 124, p. 348.
26. Comp. Brown's Appendix ad Pasciculum, p. 322.
27. Epistol^ 24, p. 95 f.
28. Epistohe 13, p. 57 f. Comp. 51, p. 147 f.

110 LIFE OF WICLIF.
29. E. g. Sermo ad Clerum, in Brown. Monitio et persuasio pastorum, on the
text, " I am the Good Shepherd," p. 260 f.
30. Epistolae 17, p. 63 f. Comp. 11, p. 50 f., where his feeling of responsibility
for the salvation of the souls committed to his episcopal charge is strikingly
expressed. 31. Epistolas 26, p. 102. Ep. 19 and 71, pp. 68 and 204.
32. Epistolae 74, p. 241 f. With special earnestness he appeals in this matter
to the conscience of a certain Hugo of PateshuU (Ep. 25, p. 97 f.), who died in
1241, Bishop of Lichfield.
33. Epistolae 46, p. 130 f.
34. Epistolae 27 and 28, pp. 105 f. and 108 f., and still more fuUy in Ep. 72, p.
205, 13.
35. Comp. Pauli's Programm on Grossteste and Adam of Marsh. Tiibingen,
1864. 36. Epp. 40 and 41, pp. 131 f. ? 133 f.— the former addressed to the General of
the Dominicans, the latter to the Franciscan General, both pretty much in the
same terms.
37. Epistolae 34, p. 121.
38. Epistolffi 107, p. 317.
39. EpistoliE 58, p. 180.
40. In the " Circulars " to the Archdeacons above referred to. Ep. 107, p. 317.
41. Sermo Roberti, etc., in Brown. Appendix, pp. 250, 257. The state of the
text of which, however, leaves much to be desired.
42. An allusion to the Greek Church.
43. We confine ourselves to the simplest outlines of the course of thought.
The way in which he gives expression to his thoughts, while making use of the
most powerful rebukes of the inspired prophets, is sometimes such as must have
made the hearers tremble.
44. Here he comes to speak of the evil state of matters which was the occasion
of his undertaking the journey to Lyons.
45. Non obstantibus privilegiis, etc. — the clause so often made use of when the
Pope of the day evaded, or rather set aside, ad hoc, the ordinances of hia prede
cessors or even his own, stUl in legal force, in favour of a special case, or in behalf
of some favoured individual.
46. The Papal Brief has been printed in full by Brown in his Appendix, p. 399,
and in Luard, p. 432 f., note.
47. This is indeed the view commonly taken. Even Luard in his Preface, p.
Ixxix. f., and Pauli in his Programm on Grossetete, and Adam von Marsh, p. 24,
assume that the letter was addressed to the Pope. The superscription, also
which Luard has given to the letter, no doubt on MS. authority, indicates that
the letter was addressed to the Pope himself. Nevertheless, this superscr'ption
is in my judgment erroneous and ungenuine. For in the first place the style,
discretio vestra, is quite unsuitable to the Pope. Grossetete himself makes use of

NOTES TO CHAPTER I. Ill
sanctitas vestra in the two Epp. 110 and 117, pp. 323 and 338, which were cer
tainly addressed to the Pope — a circumstance which was not unnoticed by Brown.
But next, the fact is :•, decisive one that toward the end of the letter, the
address, rerereiidi domini occvlvs, which imdeniably presupposes a plurality of persons
addressed. Besides, the tone of the letter, on the supposition that it was
addressed to the Pope, wmld have been quite unaccountable. The fact is not
ignored by Luard, that tlie style of this letter differs greatly from that of the
two which were, without doubt, intended for the Pope, Preface Ixxix. f. But what
he brings forward to account for this difference is not quite satisfactory, if we
suppose that this letter, too, was addressed to the Pope. StiU, however, Brown
is right in maintaining that the letter was intended for the eye of the Pope,
whether it came to his hands directly or indirectly. Undoubtedly so, and for this
reason, it required no Uttle courage and good conscience to write to both the
Pope's commissaries in such a strain ; whereas we should be compelled to think
far otherwise of the tact and good taste of the writer if it were certain that he had
meant his words directly for the eye of the Pope himself. The mistake, however,
is explained in some measure by the circumstance, that the Pope's agent. Innocent,
bore the same name as the Pope himself.
49. This celebrated letter is to be found in Brown, p. 400 f. ; in Oudin's Com-
mentaria de Scriptoribus Eccles. Antiquae, vol. IIL, p. 142 f. ; and in Luard, Ep.
128, pp. 432 f. Luard tells us that it occurs times without number in the MSS.
Among those who have referred to it, I have to name Wiclif himself. He was not
only weU acquainted with its contents, but he has also in one place reproduced it
almost entire — I mean in his stiU unprinted work, De C'iiili Dominio, lib. I., c.
43, MS. 1341, of the Imperial Library of Vienna, side by side with the Pope's
two letters. And Wiclif not only incorporated the letter with his own work, but
also added to it a kind of commentary in the way of justifying its contents,
in which he states precisely its principal thoughts, and adopts them as his own,
Huss also knew the Bishop's Epistle, and cited it in part in his work, De Ecclesia,
c. 18, Opera, 1558, v. I., p. 235 f. As to the state of its text, it is by no means free
from errors in the Wiclif MS. just named, but still in some places this MS. supplies
readings materiaUy superior to those of Brown and Luard. May I add in this place
one more remark in conclusion. Luard has observed, p. xU., that it is not known
when or by whom the coUeotion of Grossetete's letters was made. Now, as the
MSS. used by Luard, which comprise the whole coUection or the greater part of
it, are of no higher age than the fifteenth century, and as only single letters were
found in copies dating from the fourteenth century, I do not think it superfluous
to mention that I find in Wiclif, who more than once gives accurate citations from
other letters of Crossetete besides the one mentioned above, exactly the same
ordering or numbering of the letters which Brown gives, and which is retained also
by Luard. As now those writings of Wiclif, which contain accurate quotations
from the letters of GrossetSte, belong to the year 1370-78, the fact becomes certain
that even as early as that date the collection existed the same in extent and
order as we now know it. And as Wiclif quotes the letters by their numbers, and
assumes this order to be already known, we may very well infer that the
collection is at least fifty years older, and may even be carried back in date to the
thirteenth century.

112 LIFE OF WICLIF.
50. Matth. Paris, Hist. Maj. Angliae. Edit., W. Wats, p. 872.
51. The letter of Edward I. to Clement V., of 6th May 1307, is to be found in
Rymer, Foedera II., p. 1016, and in Wood, Hist tJniv. Oxon., Vol. I., p. 105.
52. Wood, Hist, et Antiquit. Univ. Oxon., Vol. I., p. 105, from a MS. of
Gascoigne. The Oxford Declaration does not belong to the year 1354, as Luard
seems to suppose, p. Ixxxiv., but was first made in 1307, in connection with
the proposal for the canonisation of the Bishop. Wood introduced this subject under
the year 1254, merely because Grossetete's death had occurred immediately before.
53. EspeciaUy in the passage quoted above from De Civili Dominio, Wiclif
calls the Bishop of Lincoln a Saint, ex isiis .... istius aancti. . , . primo
sequitur. 54. In the same passage in Wood, Vol. I., p. 106, which has already been used
immediately above.
55. Printed in Walch, Monimenta medii aevi. Vol. I., Faso. 2, p. 181 f. Comp^
especiaUy pp. 190, 192.
56. Precor, O pater alme, Roberte, etc. The whole is printed, with few omis
sions, in Henry Wharton's Anglia Sacra. Lond., 1691. Vol. II., pp. 325-341.
57. Comp. Hase, Handbuch der Protestantischen Polemik. First Edit., p. 315.
58 Epistolse, 123, p. 346 f.
59. Hao sola ad portum salutis dirigitur Petri navicula. Ep. 115, p. 336. The hac
sola answers completely to the Reformation principle — verbo solo — which consti
tutes the formal principle of Protestantism.
60. Epistolai p. 85, 269.

NOTES TO SECTION HI.
61. His work in five books, De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Anglice, written
in the years 1256-59, ranks among jurists, not only as the earUest, but .also as the
foremost scientific treatment of English law in the middle age. Comp. Karl
Jiiterbock's Henricus de Bracton und sein Verhaltniss zum Riimischen Recht.
BerUn, 1862, p. 40 f.
61a. PauU, Geschichte von England, vol. IIL, pp. 713-724.
62. Rymer, Foedera, vol. I., p. 907 f. Dated Anagni, 27th June 1299.
63. Rymer, Foedera, I., p. 928 f.
64. John Foxe, Acts and Monuments. Lond., 1870. Vol. IL, 689 f.
65. The Brief is printed in Walsingham's Historia AngHcana. Ed., RUey, 1863,
L, 259 f.
66. The King's reply also in Walsingham, I., 255.
67. A Statute of Provisors of Benefices in Rufihead, the Statutes, 1786, 4to,
pp. 260-64.
68. The word prcemunire (instead of praemonere) does not stand in the text of
the law itself, but used to be employed in the writ of the sheriffs appointed by the

NOTES TO CHAPTER I. 113
Law to issue ; vide Barrington's Observations on the more Ancient Statutes. Lon
don, 1796, 4to, p. 279.
69. In Walsingham, as cited above, p. 258.
70. A letter, numbered 113, in VoL xxiv., p. 1208, of the Biblioth. Maxima,
P.P., from Peter de Blois, Archdeacon of Bath, to the Ai-chbishop of York, calling
upon him to arrest the progress of the enemies of the Church by Councils and severe
penalties, might seem to prove a different state of matters, if the description of the
heretics referred to were a Uttle more exact. These are manifestly described as
Catfiari, but as to their doings and proceedings nothing definite whatever is stated.
It is possible that the reference may be to imported Catharism, of which mention
is to be made immediately.
71. Chronicle of the Augustinian Canon, WiUiam of Newbury, in Yorkshire,
+1208. Historia Rerum AngUcarum WiUelmi Parvi, ad fidem codd. MSS., rec.
Lond. 1856. 8vo., Vol. I., 120 f.
72. Henry of Knighton, Canon of Leicester, in the second half of the fourteenth
century, Chronica de eventibus AngUae, in Twysden's Historiae AngUcae Scriptores.
Lond., 1652. T. IIL CoL 2418.
73. Petri de PiUchdorf contra sectam Waldensium tractatus in BibUoth. Maxima
Patrum, Lyon 1677, xxv., especiaUy c, 15, p. 281. Here the author's drift is to
show to the Waldenses a number of " peoples and races and tongues," where, by
God's grace, aU are orthodox in the faith, and have remained utterly untouched by
this sect, vM omnes homines sunt immunes a tua secta penitus conservati ; and
among these he mentions England first of aU, then Flanders, etc.
74. Flathe, Geschichte der Vorlaufer der Reformation. II. p. 159 f., 184, 193.
75. The poem is printed in the coUection, " PoUtical poems and songs, relating
to English History," ed. Thomas Wright, Vol. L, pp. 231-249, under the title added
by the editor. Against the Lollards. The date assigned to it, 1381, I cannot for
weighty reasons regard as correct. In the seventh strophe, says the author,
0 terra jam pestifera,
dndum eras puerpera
omiiis Sanaa scientise,
haeresis labe libera,
omni eiTore extera,
exsors omnls fallacise.
76. I make use here intentionaUy of the words of DoUinger, Kirche und
Kirchen, Papsthum und Kirchenstaat. Milnchen, 1861, xxx. f.

NOTES TO SECTION IV.
77. When King Leo IV. of Lesser Armenia appUed to Pope Benedict XII. for
assistance against the Saracens, the latter repUed, in 1341, that before he could do
anything for this object, the Armenians must renounce their many errors. A
schedule of these errors was appended to the Brief, extending to the number of 117.
From that time attention was dkected in the west of Europe to the differences in
VOL. I. H

114 LIFE OF WICLIF.
doctrine and usage of the Armenian Church. Hence the subject and title of
Eiohard's work, De Erroribus Armenm-um.
78. Vid. Dr. Karl Werner's Geschichte der Apologet und, Polemiach. Literatur
der Christi. Theologie. Schaffhausen, 1864. III., 409 f. Comp. Hefele's Con-
cUiengeschichte, IV., p. 569 f., p. 425 f.
79. Joh. Bale, Scriptorum Britannicorum Centurite, p. 246.
80. Trialogus, IV., c. 36. Ed. Lechler, p. 575.
81. Defensorium curatorum contra eos qui privUegiatos se dicunt, printed in
Goldast's Monarchia, IL, pp. 1392-1410, with a better text in Brown's Appendix
ad Fasciculum rerum expetend, etc., V. II., pp. 466-486. This speech, however, is
said to have been printed in Lyons as early as 1496, and in Paris in 15U, along
vrith a tract in reply to it, to be mentioned further on ; vid. d'Argentrg CoUectio
judiciorum de novis erroribus, 1-379.
82. Schwab, Joh. Gerson, p. 459 f.
83. Unde non video, qualiter ista opinio de observantia mendicitatis spontaneae
fuerit introducta, nisi ignorando scripturam, aut fingendo earn esse Chnsti vitce con-
formem, ut per ipsam qucestus amplior haberetur ; vid. Brown, p. 486.
85. Brown's Fasciculus, etc., p. 466.
85a. Ibid., p. 468.
86. Of course, the Mendicant orders themselves, as a deeply interested party,
could not be expected to give an impartial judgment on the proceedings of the
archbishop. We learn from the History of the Franciscans, by Lucas Wadding,
how they sought to explain such an opposition on his part. The archbishop, it was
alleged, had set his heart upon getting for his own palace an ornament belonging
o a neighbouring convent of the Order, and when this was refused him, and the
magistrates of Armagh had taken the monks and their rights under their protec
tion, the Archbishop conceived a malicious feeling against them, and now did aU
he could to increase the opposition which had already begun to be stirred up
against the Order in England. — Annates Minorum, IV., p. 62.
87. His name is written Gonnovius or Chonoe. The piece is entitled Defensio
Religionis Mendicantivm, and is printed in Goldast's Monarchia, pp. 1410-1444.

NOTES TO SECTION V.
88. In what foUows, I present a revision of my Essay, De Thoma Bradwar
dine Commentatio. Lipsise, 1862-4.
89. It seems to me very probable that this epithet may have been suggested to
his admirers by his frequent use of the word profound, e. g., profundissima haec
abyssus. De Causa Dei, p. 808.
90. Thomse Bradwardini Archiepiscopi olim Cantuariensis De Causa Dei, et de
Virtute Causarum Libri tres. Lend., 1618, fol. Edited by Henry SavUe, Head
of the same CoUege in Oxford (Merton) where Bradwardine had once been a student
and f eUow.

NOTES TO CHAPTER L 115
91. In Germ.iny, Schroeckh, it is true, in his " Kirchengeschichte," gave a
pretty long extract from the " Causa Dei," v. 31, pp. 226-240. But from his
time down to the present day, if I am not quite mistaken, all our most learned
Church historians have bestowed little attention upon the work, or as good as none
at aU. Neiinder, at least, in his General History of the Christian Religion and
Church, has passed over Bradwardine in profound silence ; while Gieseler, though he
gives several important passages from him (Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte,
3 Edit., II., p. 239), has entirely misconceived the fundamental principle of his
teaching; as Baur also does, in his " Christliche Dogmeugeschichte," p. 265,
2 Edit. 92. The most reUable account of his life is contained in Savile 's Preface to the
" Causa Dei."
93. The small viUage in the county of Hereford, not far from the borders of
Wales, from which Thomas took his second name, is stfll caUed Bradwardine.
94. De Causa Dei, III., u. 22.
95. Ingrata mihi gratia displicebat. The word-play here cannot be imitated in
English. 96. De Causa Dei, Lib. I., c. 35, p. 308. — Postea vero adhuc nondum Theologiee
facias auditor; prcedicto argumento velut quodam yratice radio visitatus, sub
quodam tenui veritatis imagine videbar mihi videre a longe (i. e., e longinquso) gratiam
Dei omnia bona merita prcecedentem tempore et natura, scilicet gratam Dei volunta-
tern, qui prius utroque modo vult merentem salvari et prius naturaliter operatur
vieritum ejus in eo, quam ipse, sicut est in omnibus motibus primus Motor j unde et ei
gratias refero qui mihi hanc gratiam gratis dedit.
97. In proof of this, I point to the fervent prayer with which Bradwardine
towards the close of the whole work, begins Cap. 50 of Book IIL, p. 808. He
invokes the Redeemer thus : — " Good Master, — Thou my only Master, — my
Master and Lord, Thou who from my youth up, when I gave myself to this work
by Thy impulse, hast taught me up to this day aU that I have ever learned of the
truth, and aU that, as Thy pen, I have ever written of it, — send down upon me, also
now, of Thy great goodness, Thy Ught, so that Thou who hast led me iuto the
profoundest of depths, mayst also lead up to the mountain-height of this inacces
sible truth. Thou who hast brought me into this great and wide sea, bring
me also into the haven. Thou who hast conducted me into this wide and
pathless desert, Thou my Guide, and Way, and End, lead me also unto the end.
Show me, I pray Thee, Thou most learned of aU teachers, show to Thy little child,
who knows no outlet from the diflBculty, how to solve the knot of Thy Word so
hardly knit. . . . But now I thank Thee, serenest Lord, that to him who
asketh. Thou hast given ; to him that seeketh. Thou hast shown the way ; and to
him that knocketh, Thou hast opened the door of piety, the door of clearness, the
door of truth. For now when Thou liftest the Ught of Thy countenance upon Thy
servant, I beUeve I see the right understanding of Thy word," etc. In one place,
after he had been warmly defending Augustin against a misinterpretation of
Peter Lombard, and had subjected the scholastic to a somewhat sharp critique,
maintaining that the latter interpretation is in direct opposition to the meaning of
that Father (Lib. IL, c. 10, p. 502), he is ahuost alarmed at his own boldness, and

116 LIFE OF WICLIF.
pleads iu excuse for himself " the zeal for the house of God and cathoUc truth,
which fills him with a vehement ardour against the error of the Pelagians ; for it
is not against Lombard himself that he has said a word, but against his error,
because it is so nearly akin to the false teaching of Pelagius.
98. De Causa Dei, I., o. 38, p. 319. Compare c. 39, p. 347.
99. Ibid. I., c. 43, p. 392, f.
ICO. Ibid. I., 0. 35, p. 311. — Factus est gratice laudator, gratia: magnificus ac
strenuus propugnator.
101. Ibid. Bradwardine's Preface, p. 7 f. Also the end of the work, III.,
c. 53, p. 872 f.
102. Ibid. p. 8.

NOTES TO SECTION VI.
103. In the British Museum there are eight of these MSS., from ten to twelve
in the different Ubraries of Cambridge, and as many in those of Oxford, etc.
104. In Walsingham's Historia Anglicana, under the year 1381. Ed., Riley,
II., p. 33 f.
105. Comp. Introduction of Pickering to his edition of Pierce Plowman.
London, 1856, I., xxviii. f
122. E.g. Vs. 1901 f. The command of God to Saul in his war with the
Amalekites, to put every man, woman, and child to death, as weU as the cattle, is
expressed thus : — " Burnes and testes,
bren hem to dethe,
widwes and wyves,
women and children."
123. Walsingham, Historia Anglicana. Ed., KUey, I., 296.
124. Our citations are from the newest edition of the poem, 1856, by Thomas
Wright, 2 vols. 8vo., London. This is properly a second edition, following upon
that which was prepared by Pickering. The Introduction, from which we have
derived several of the facts mentioned above, was drawn up by Pickering, after
whose death Thomas Wright, the weU-known historian of literature, took charge
of the new edition. As early as the sixteenth century two different editions of the
Vision appeared — the first, pubUshed in 1550, was edited by Crowley, and went
through three editions in a single year. Crowley belonged to that estimable class
of publishers who in the sixteenth century united in themselves the character of
the scholar and author with that of printer and bookseUer, and who deserved so
weU of literature. The other edition, which appeared in 1561, was also pubUshed in
London by a famous printer, Owen Roger. In 1813 Whitaker published an edition
of the book, upon the authority of a MS. which exhibits a pecuUar recension of
the text.
125. Passus XV., v. 10, 607 ; 10, 659. The poet proceeds upon the mediaeval
tradition of the Donation of Constantine. Comp. DoUinger, the Pope-Fables of

ADDITIONAL NOTES TO CHAPTER I. 117
the Middle Age. Mimich, 1863, p, 61. Like the poet of our "Visions," Dante,
m the "Inferno," canto xix., v. 115, curses that Donation as the source of all the
avarice and simony in the Church —
" Alii Costantin, di qnanto mal fa matro
Kon la tua conversion, ma quella dote,
Che de te pere il primo ricco patre I "
The legend in particular of the angel's voice, "Hodie effusum venenum in
ecclesia, " is found in the scholastic divines, chroniclers, and poets of the thirteenth
century. See DoUinger, as above.

ADDITIONAL NOTES TO CHAPTER L, BY THE
TRANSLATOR.
(1.) Richard FrrzRALPH, Archbishop of Armagh — •
There are two weU authenticated facts in the earlier life of this remarkable prelate
left unmfentioned by Professor Lechler, which it is desirable to bring into view.
The first of these is his early connection with Balliol College, of which he was for
some time a FeUow. This fact is distinctly stated in the following passage of
Anthony Wood's History and Antiquities of the Colleges and Halls in|,the Uni
versity of Oxford. Having stated the chief provisions of the original statutes of
the coUege — those of the Lady DevorginUa — he goes on to say, that " the said
statutes were for divers years kept inviolable, yet not so much but that divers of
the said scholars, about forty years after, having raised some doubts from them,
would not content themselves to study the liberal arts — only such that were per
formed in the schools of arts by artists according to the aptest sense of the statutes,
but also would ascend to higher faculties, though prohibited so to do by the then
extrinsic masters or procurators named Robert de Leycester, D.D., a Minorite,
and Nicolais de Tingwyke, Doctor of Physic and Bachelor of Divinity. At length,
the matter being controverted among them a, considerable time, was in 1325
referred, with the procurators' consent, to two doctors and two masters that were
formerly feUows of this house, Drs. Richard de Kamsale and Walter de Hock-
stow, who then, after both parties were heard, decided this matter in the Common
HaU thus : That no FeUow of this house, whether Master or Scholar, learn any
Faculty, or give his mind to it, either in fuU term or vacation, besides the Uberal
arts that by artists are read and practised in the School of Arts." The coUege
incident here referred to occurred only about ten years befon: the coming of
WicUf to Oxford and his probable admission to BaUiol, and will be found in the
sequel to have a bearing upon the course of study through which Wiclif passed as
a member of the University of Oxford. ( Vide Additional Note to Cap. III. —
WicUf's connection with BaUiol CoUege.) As Fitzralph was undoubtedly a man of
enlightened views, which were considerably in advance of his age, his connection
with BaUiol in the first quarter of the fourteenth century, taken along with Wiclif's
in its second quarter, may serve to suggest that BaUiol, then one of the youngest
of the coUeges of the University, was also one of the most free and liberal in its
ideas ; and probably, too, the remarkable impatience of divers of its scholars of

118 LIFE OF WICLIF.
being limited to the studies usually included in arts, and their eager desire to read
in "the higher faculties," may be taken to indicate, in these young men, a more
than ordinary amount of inteUectual Ute and ardour. The archives of BaUiol con
tain a brief Latin record of the conclusion arrived at by the four referees to whose
decision the question was submitted, and a f uU transcript of this record is given in
the recent report of Mr. Riley on the BaUiol Papers to the fioyal Commission on
Historical MSS. This interesting document will be found below in the Additional
Notes to Chap. II., note 5. The other fact in the career of Archbishop Fitzralph
remaining to be mentioned is that he, as well as Bradwardine, was for some time
private chaplain to the famous Richard de Bury, bishop of Durham, who was con
secrated 19th December 133?, and died 14th April 1345. This bishop was the
greatest book-lover and coUector of his time, and wrote a work on his favourite
subject, entitled " Philobiblos." His Ubrary was one of the choicest in England;
and passed, after his death, to Durham College, in Oxford. His name comes
into connection with some matters of Balliol College during his episcopate, as wiU
appear in the sequel, these matters having an interesting bearing upon the early
academic life of Wiclif. ( Vide Additional Note to Cap. III.) His high apprecia
tion of two such men as Fitzralph and Bradwardine may perhaps be taken as an
indication of his own spirit and bearing on the great Church-questions of the time.
For the fact of their connection with him as his chaplains, see Introduction to
Registrum Palatinum Dunelmense, edited by Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy, Deputy
Keeper of the Public Records.
(2.) " The Vision of Piers Plowman."
Professor Lechler's numerous quotations from Langland's Poem, only a few of
which we have thought it necessary to reproduce for English readers, are all
taken from the text of the two editions brought out by Thomas Wright in 1842
and 1856. But it may be useful to mention here, for the benefit of English
readers who would like to look farther into this really great moral and religious
allegory of the age of Wiclif, that in 1867, 1869, and 1873, three editions of the
poem, representing the three distinct forms which its text assumed successively
under the author's own hand, were brought out by Rev. W. W. Skeat, in con
nection with the early English Text Society. This work of Mr. Skeat is charac
terised by Professor Henry Mori ey, in his "Library of English Literature," as
singularly thorough. He publishes, with a special introduction, each of its three
forms separately, as obtained from a collation of MSS., with various readings and
references to the MSS. containing each form. A fourth section is assigned to the
General Introduction, Notes, and Index. Besides this work on the whole Poem,
Mr. Skeat has contributed to the Clarendon Press Series the first seven Passus
of " The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman, by WiUiam Langland,
according to the version revised and enlarged by the author about A.D. 1377, with
Introduction, Notes, and Glossary," as an aid to the right study of early English in
colleges and schools, and also as a guide to the reading of the whole Poem by
those to whom its English, without such help, would be obscure." Mr. Skeat's
thorough study of the Poem from all points of view makes him our chief authority
in any question concerning it.
Professor Morley himself has given a long and lucid analysis of the whole Poem,
extending to twenty-five pages double-columned in the second department of his

ADDITIONAL NOTES TO CHAPTER I, 119
" Library of English Literature " (CasseU's), devoted to the literature of religion ;
and his high appreciation, both of the Poem and the Poet, may be gathered from
the closing paragraph of his extremely painstaking account :  " So ends the vision,
with no victory attained, a world at wai-, and a renewed cry for the grace of God ;
a new yearning to find Christ, and bring with Him the day when wrongs and hatred
are no more. The fourteenth century yielded no more fervent expression of the
purest Christian labour to bring man to God. Langland lays fast hold of aU the
words of Christ, and reads them into a Divine law of love and duty. The ideal of
a Christian life shines through his poem, whUe it paints with homely force the evUs
against which it is directed. On points of theology he never disputes, but an iU
life for him is an ill life, whether in Pope or peasant. He is a Church Reformer
in the truest sense, seeking to strengthen the hands of the clergy by amendment of
the Uves and characters of those who are untrue to their holy caUing."
It is gratifying to meet with so hearty a sympathy with aims so evangeUcal and
holy as those of " Piers Ploughman," in a Uterary critic of our time of such mark
as Professor Morley. Nor can we deny ourselves and our readers the pleasure of
bringing up again into view, side-by-side with the appreciations of a German
scholar and divine who has so much sympathy with Wiclif and aU his English
precursors as our learned author, the noble words in which the illustrious historian
of Latin Christianity hiis put on record his estimate of the author of Piers Plow
man's vision: — "The extraordinary manifestation of the religion, of the languao^e,
of the social and poUtical notions, of the English character, of the condition of
the passions and feelings of moral and provincial England, commences, and with
Chaucer and WicUf completes the revelation of this transition period, the reign of
Edward III. Throughout its institutions, language, reUgious sentiment, Teutonism
is now holding its first initiating struggle with Latin Christianity. In Chaucer is
heard a voice from the court, from the castle, from the city, from universal Eng
land. In TViclif is heard a voice from the University, from the seat of theology
and scholastic philDsophy, from the centre and stronghold of the hierarchy — a voice
of revolt and defiance, taken up and echoed in the pulpit throughout the land
against the sacerdotal domination. In the Vision of Piers Plowman is heard a
voice from the wild Malvern hUls, the voice, it should seem, of an humble parson,
a secular priest. He has passed some years in London, but his home, his heart, is
among the poor rural population of central mercantile England. . . . The
visionary is no disciple, no precursor of Wiclif in his broader religious views. The
LoUer of Piers Plowman is no LoUard — he appUes the name as a term of reproach
for a lazy, indolent vagrant. The poet is no dreamy speculative theologian — he
acquiesces, seemingly with unquestioning faith, in the Creed and in the usages of the
Church. It is in his intense, absorbing, moral feeling that he is beyond his age.
With him outward observances are but hoUow shows, mockeries, hypocrisies, with
out the inward power of religion. It is not so much in his keen, cutting satire on
aU matters of the Church, as his solemn instaUation of Reason and Conscience as
the guides of the self-directed soul, that he is breaking the yoke of sacerdotal
domination. In his constant appeal to the plainest, simplest, scriptural truths,
as in themselves the whole of religion, he is a stern Reformer. The sad, serious
satirist, in his contemplation of the world around him, the wealth of the world and
the woe, sees no hope but in a new order of things, in which, if the hierarchy shaU

120 LIFE OF WICLIF.
subsist, it shall subsist in n. form, with power, in a spirit totaUy opposite to that
which now rules mankind. . . . The poet who could address such opinions,
though wrapt up in prudent aUegory, to the popular ear, to the ear of the
peasantry of England ; the people who could Usten with delight to such strains,
were far advanced towards a revolt from Latin Christianity. Truth, true reUgiou
was not to be found with, it was not known by Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, Clergy,
Monks, Friars. It was to be sought by man himself, by the individual man, by
the poorest man, under the sole guidance of Reason, Conscience, and the Grace of
God vouchsafed directly, not through any intermediate human being or even sacra
ment, to the self-directing soul. If it yet respected aU existing doctrines, it
respected them not as resting on traditional or sacerdotal authority. There is a
manifest appeal throughout, an unconscious instaUation of Scripture alone, as the
ultimate judge. The test of everything is a moral and purely religious one — its
agreement with hoUness and charity." — (Dean Milman's History of Latin
Christianity, xvi., p. 536. Ed. 1855.)

CHAPTER II.
wiclif's YOUTH AND STUDENT LIFE.
Section I. — Birth-place and Family,

"YTTE are always more accurately informed of Wiclifs
birth-place than of the date of his birth, and we owe
this information to a learned man of the sixteenth century,
John Leland, who has been called the father of English
antiquarians.^ In his Itinerary he has inserted a notice of Wiclif's
birth-place, which, though only obtained from hearsay, yet
as the earliest, and recorded only about 150 years after the
great man's death, must always be regarded as of high
authority. Leland's remark runs as follows : — " It is reported
that John Wiclif, the heretic, was born at Spresswell, a small
village a good mile off from Richmond." ^
This notice, it is true, has its difficulties. The first is,
that Leland himself appears to contradict his present state
ment in another of his works, for he says in his Collections in
mentioning " Wiyclif " in the county of York, that " Wiyclif "
the heretic sprang from that place.^ These two statements
appear, at first sight, to contradict each other, and yet, when
looked at more narrowly, they are easily reconciled ; for in the
first-named work Leland is speaking of Wichf's birth-place
proper ; while, in the other, he is rather making mention ot
the seat of his family. But there is a more considerable
difficulty in the circumstance, that in the neighbourhood of
the town of Richmond, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, no
village of the name of Spresswell has ever, by the most

122 LIFE OP WICLIF.
reliable accounts, been known to exist. This fact has given
rise to various conjectures, e.g., that Leland, in the course
of his inquiries, had heard of a place called Hipswell or
Ipswell, and had mistaken its name for Spresswell, or that
Spresswell may have been the name of some manor-house
or estate of the Wiclifs. It was also thought by some
that Leland could not have personally travelled through
that district of the county; for, in giving its topography,
he has fallen into many mistakes.*
But very recently Leland's credit for accuracy on this
point has been redeemed, and his account has received a
confirmation which sets the subject 'itself in the clearest
hght. The same scholar. Dr. Robert Vaughan, who, since
1828, has rendered important services to the history of
Wiclif, has, by means of correspondence with other scholars
in the north of England, established the following facts : —
Not far from the River Tees, which forms the boundary
between the North Riding of Yorkshire and the county of
Durham, there was formerly a town of the name of
Richmond, of higher antiquity than the existing Richmond,
and which is to be found in old topographical maps under
the name of Old Richmond.
About an English mile off, from Old Richmond, there was
still in existence in the eighteenth century, close to the
Tees, a small village or hamlet called Spresswell or Spess-
well. An old chapel also stood there, in which were
married the grandparents of an individual living in that
neighbourhood, who vouched for the truth of this infor
mation. These were, however, the last pair married in the
chapel, for it fell down soon after, and now the plough
passes over the spot where it stood.^
Only half a mile from Spresswell lies the small parish

BIRTH-PLACE. 123
of Wycliffe,^ the church of which still stands on the level
bank of the Tees, without tower, and in part grown over
with ivy. Upon a high bank, not far from the little church,
is a manor-house, which formerly belonged to the family of
Wycliffe of Wyclifle. From the time of William the Con
queror down to the beginning of the seventeenth century,
this family were lords of the manor and patrons of the parish
church. In 1606 the estate passed, by marriage of the
heiress, to the family of Tunstall. Another branch of the
family, however, carried on the name, and only about
sixty-four years ago the last representative of the family,
Francis Wycliffe, died at Barnard Castle, on Tees. The
tradition both of the locality and the Wychffes of Wycliffe
has always been, that it was from this family that the
celebrated forerunner of the Reformation sprang.
It no longer, then, admits of a doubt that Wiclif was
born at Spresswell, not far from Old Richmond. His birth
place belongs to the district which, though not a county
itself, but only part of one, is commonly called Richmond
shire, forming the north-western portion of the great
county of York, or, more exactly, the western district of
the North Riding, a hilly, rocky highland, with valleys and
slopes of the greatest fertility. The valley of Tees in par
ticular, and especially that part of it where Spresswell was
situated, is described as a region of great and various
beauty, and presenting landscape scenery of equal grandeur
and softness.'
It was a country of strongly marked character upon
which the eyes of Wichf rested in his childhood -and boyish
years ; but we should lose ourselves in the domain of
poetry if we endeavoured to paint the kind of influence which
was rained upon Wiclif's development by the characteristic

124 LIFE OP WICLIF.
features of the region in which he was born and grew up.
We have a surer foothold for the history of the man in
the peculiar character of the population of those northern
counties of England. In Yorkshire especially, though also
in other counties of the north, as Northumberland, West
moreland, and Cumberland, the Anglo-Saxon element main
tained itself with greater purity, tenacity, and force, than in
the south of England. In the centuries next succeeding the
Norman invasion, much more of the old English nature con
tinued to keep its hold in those parts of the kingdom than
in the midland and southern counties.' It is said that there
are still families there at the present day, who have remained
in uninterrupted possession of their estates from the time of
the Norman invasion, and almost even from the period of
the Saxon immigration; these old Saxon families, it is added,
belonging not to the higher but the lower nobility, those
who are called " the gentry," in distinction from the nobility.
The country people at the present day, in the whole of
Yorkshire, and most of all in the remote dales of the
interior, still speak an ancient dialect, which, like the
Scottish tongue, bears an unmistakeable German impress.
The whole nature of the Yorkshire people has an antique
cast about it. In the rest of England, the Yorkshireman
passes for a robust, stout-hearted, and honest man — who
is every inch a man.
It was from the bosom of this tenacious old Saxon people
that Wiclif sprang ; and the more it holds true that it was
precisely the German element of the English population
which formed the strength of the national movement of
the fourteenth century, the more full of importance, unques-.
tionably, is the circumstance that a man like WicHf, who
rendered, in particular, such important services to the

THE WYCLIFFES OF WYCLIFFE. 125
development of the Enghsh language, should have be
longed to a province and people who had always been
distinguished by faithful and persistent adherence to old
Saxon nature and ways. And it appears that the family
of Wiclif belonged precisely to those families of the lower
nobUity in Yorkshire who have persistently preserved for
centuries, not only their estates, but also the characteristics
of then- Saxon descent.
The family of the Wichfs must at one time have been
numerous, and of many branches ; for documents of the
second half of the fourteenth century give information of
different men of this name.^" In 1368 we find mention of
Robert of Wycliffe, as priest of a chapel in Cleveland, in
the diocese of York, probably the same priest who, in 1362,
was made parish priest of Wycliffe, and in 1363 made an
exchange of this office for another. Besides him, we know,
from church documents, of another priest of the same
period, who bore the same name as our Reformer, written
" John Wycclyve," who, on 21st July 1361, was appointed
parish priest of Mayfield by Archbishop Islip, that being
an estate of the See of Canterbury. He remained priest
there for nearly twenty years, and in 1380 was made
rector of the parish of Horsted Kaynes, where he died in
1383, one year before his more illustrious namesake. We
shall have occasion, below, to retm-n to this second John
Wycclyve.^^ It is, moreover, a remarkable fact, that the family of the
Wiclifs, after the death of their most celebrated member,
and in particular from the Reformation d"wn to their
extinction, was always distinguished for special fidelity
to the Church of Rome. In 1423, a certain Robert Wyclif,
parish priest of Rudby, in' the diocese of York, made

126 LIFE OP WICLIF.
will which leaves no room for doubt that the testator
was very far from sharing the views of John Wiclif. At
the commencement of the document he commends his soul
to " Almighty God, to Saint Mary, and to all Saints ; " he
passes over the Redeemer in entire silence ; he makes more
than one provision for masses for the repose of souls ; and
he leaves several legacies in favour of nuns and Mendicant
monks, etc. From the circumstance that such soul masses
are to be said, not only for himself, but also for the souls of
his father, mother, and all his benefactors, it is plain that
the parents of the testator must also have been strict
Romanists. Among the four churches, for the repair of
each of which he left forty shillings, is named the church
of " Wyclyf," and to the poor of the same parish is also
left a sum of forty shillings. These two latter dispositions
are unquestionable indications that the testator was con
nected by birth with that locality .^^
It looks as if Wiclif's family, feeling themselves exposed
to danger by his keen assault upon the Church of Rome,
had become all the more devoted to the Papacy on that
account. At all events, even after the English Reformation,
the Wiclifs remained Roman Catholic, and along with them
about a half of the inhabitants of the village — a division
which still continues at the present day. The old church
on the bank of the Tees belongs to the Anglican Estabhsh-
ment, while the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Wycliffe
repair to a chapel built at the side of the manor house on
the neighbouring height.
Touching the date of Wiclifs birth,i^ no direct docu
mentary information has come down to us. John Lewis
was the first who fixed upon the year 1324; and he has
been followed in this date by the great majority of

DATE OF BIRTH. 127
writers without further inquiry, although he never makes
even an attempt to produce documentary evidence in
support of it. But it may be conjectured that he pro
ceeded upon the fact that when ^^'iclif died at the end
of 1384, he may have been a man of sixty, and counting
back from that year, he arrived at 1324 as the approxi
mate year of his birth .i-* But we have no voucher for the
fact that Wiclif at his death was exactly sixty years of
age. Younger than that he could hardly have been, but
he might easily have been older. We know that during
the last two years of his life he suffered from the effects
of a paralytic attack, as he afterwards died from a
repetition of the shock. If we assume that 1324 was his
birth-year, he must have had a stroke at fifty-eight, a
comparatively early age ; whereas all the notices which
we have of his latest life are far from leaving the impres
sion that his vigour had been broken at an unusually
early period. This circumstance taken alone makes it
probable, that when Wiclif died he had reached a more
advanced age than is usually supposed, and was, at least,
well on towards seventy. Add to this, that some expres
sions in his writings, where he speaks of his earlier years,
when taken without bias, naturally produce the impression
that the man who could so express himself must have
been pretty well advanced in life. Thus, he says in one
of his Saints' Day sermons, — " When I was still young,
and addicted myself to a great variety of favourite pur
suits, I made extensive collections from manuals on optics,
on the properties of light," etc. That does not sound as
if we should take the speaker for a man of only fifty-
four or fifty-six years, but rather for a man considerably
older ; and as those sermons, by sure marks, could not

128 LIFE OF WICLIF,
have been delivered later than 1380, and not earlier than
1378, Wiclif could not have been more than from fifty-
four to fifty-six years of age, if the common date of his
birth is correct. All these indications make it appear
probable, in our view, that when Wiclif died he must
have been considerably older than is usually supposed.
He must, in that case, have been born at least several
years earlier than 1324; but we have no positive data
for fixing with precision that earlier date.
Section II. — Wiclif's Course of Study.
We have as little historical information on the subject
of Wiclif's earliest education as on that of his birth-year;
and it would answer no good purpose to fill up this
blank with the suggestions of our own fancy. But so
much is implied in the nature of the case, that in the
years of his childhood and early youth, he grew up
vigorously into the old Saxon pith of the family stem
to which he belonged, and of the vsrhole people among
whom he was brought up. No doubt, also, the historical
recollections and folk - traditions which lived among the
population of Yorkshire, especially in their connection with
certain localities, had very early made a deep impression
on the susceptible soul of the boy, and become all his own.
For I find the writings of Wiclif so full of allusions and
reminiscences of the early times of his fatherland, as to
justify the assumption that from his youth up he had been
familiar with patriotic scenes and pictures. The boy, no
doubt, received the first elements of instruction at the hand
of some member of the clergy. Probably the parish priest
of Wycliffe was his first teacher, and taught him the

EARLY TRAINING. 129
rudiments of Latin grammar ; and doubtless, too, the
youth, Avho must from childhood have had a lively and
inquisitive genius, spent his whole time at home till he
removed to Oxford. For as yet there were no schools
in existence to prepare youth for the universities, except
the cloister and cathedral schools. The universities them
selves had rather the character of Latin schools and gym
nasia than universities proper ; at least a multitude, not
only of growing young men, but even of mere boys, were
to be found in Oxford and Cambridge, and that not as
the pupils of schools collateral to the university, but as
proper inembers of the university itself. We know, e.g.,
from the loud complaints of Richard Fitzralph, arch
bishop of Armagh, that many young people under four
teen years of age were already considered to be members of
the university. The importance of the universities in the
middle ages was a great deal more comprehensive than in
modern times. While the universities of the present day, at
least on the Continent, are essentially of use only to young
men above eighteen in acquiring for several years the higher
education, — ^whereas grown-up men ordinarily belong to the
academic body only as teachers or officials, and in compara
tively small numbers, — the mediseval universities included in
their structure an additional storey, so to speak, both above
and below — an upper storey, what we might call an aca
demy in the narrow sense — and a lower storey, a species
of grammar school and gymnasium. As to the former, the
number of grown-up men who belonged to the mediseval
universities, not exclusively as teachers of the student youth,
but in the general character of men of learning, and as full
members of the self-governing corporation (Magistri Re-
gentes) was very large and important. The English uni-
VOL. I. I

130 LIFE OP WICLIF.
versifies are now the only ones in Europe which have
preserved this feature to a great degree unimpaired, in the
fellows of colleges, whose numbers are considerable. On the
other hand, in the lower storey, the mediseval universities
included a multitude of young people who were not as yet
out of boyhood, and who for the present could only enjoy
the benefit of a preparatory learned training. This latter
circumstance must especially be kept in view, when we
meet occasionally with statistical notices of the attend
ance at universities like Oxford, which astonish us by their
enormous figures.
In view of this last fact, it would be in itself quite con
ceivable that Wiclif might have gone to Oxford even as a
boy. But it is not probable, notwithstauding. For his
home, close on the northern boundary of Yorkshire, was
so far distant from the University that the journey, in the
fourteenth century, must have been an affair of no incon
siderable time and fatigue and even danger. Prudent and
conscientious parents would hardly be able to bring them
selves to the resolution of sending a son upon such a
journey before his fourteenth or sixteenth year; indeed, to
let him pass away for ever (for this was necessarily involved
in it) from their parental oversight.i^ It is more probable
that Wichf was already a youth at least from fourteen to
sixteen years old when he went to Oxford. Positive testi
monies as to the exact date are wholly wanting, but assuming
that he was born in 1320, and that he did not repair to the
University before his fifteenth year, we would be brought to
1335 as the approximate year.
At that fime, of the twenty colleges and more which
exist to-day in Oxford, there were five already founded,
viz., Merton, founded in 1274 ; Balliol, 1260-82 ; Exeter,

A STXn)ENT AT OXFORD. 131
1314; Oriel, 1324; and University College, 1332. These
foundations were originally designed purely for the support
of poor scholars, who lived under the oversight of a Presi
dent, according to a domestic order fixed by the Statutes
of the Founders. It Avas only at a later period that they
became, in addition to this, boarding-houses for students
in good circumstances. Queen's College was not erected
before 1340. It took its name from the circumstance
that Phihppa, Queen of Edward IIL, contributed towards
its foundation. The proper founder, however, was Sir
Robert Egglesfield one of her court chaplains. It has
been commonly accepted as a fact that when Wiclif
went to Oxford he was immediately eutered at Queen's
College. This he could only have done on the supposi
tion that he did not come up to the University fill the
year 1340. But we have already shown that an earlier
date for that incident is more probable. Apart from
this chnmological consideration, there is a Avant of
all sure grounds for the assumption that Wiclif entered
into any conection with Queen's College at so early a
date. The oldest records of the College go no farther
back than the year 1347 ; and the name of Wiclif does
not occur in them earlier than 1363 ; and even then he
appears not properly as a member of the College, but
only as a renter of some chambers in its buildings;-'' a
relation to it which appears to have continued for nearly
twenty years — down to the time when Wiclif's connection
with the University as a corporation entirely ceased.
If the question thus recurs, into what college Wiclif was
received when he first came to Oxford, we must fairly confess
it is one to which, in the absence of all documentary evi
dence we are unable to supply any distinct or confident

132 LIFE OP WICLIF.
answer. We know that in the course of years he became a
member, and sometimes head of several colleges or halls.
Merton and Balliol, in particular, are named in this con
nection, to say nothing at present of a third hall of which
we shall have to speak hereafter. But all the notices we
have of this kind relate to a later period — -not to Wiclif as a
young scholar, but to his mature years. If mere conjectures
might be allowed, nothing would appear to us more pro
bable than that he must have been entered at Balliol on his
first coming to the University. For this college owed its
foundation (1260-82) to the noble family of Balliol of Barnard
Castle, on the left bank of the Tees, not more than five
miles from Spresswell, Wiclif's birth-place; and that there
existed a connection of some kind between the AViclif family
and Balliol College, appears froni the circumstance that two
men, who were presented to the parish of Wycliffe, by John
Wycliffe of Wycliffe, as patron, in 1361 and 1369, were mem
bers of Balliol College— the one William Wycliffe, a fellow,
and the other John Hugate, then Master of the college.^'
But here we must confess we are only hinting at a possi
bility which, however, will be raised to a probabihty in
an investigation which we shall have to enter into at a
subsequent stage.
But if the college iuto which Wiclif entered as a scholar,
does not admit of being determined with certainty, there is
none the less certainty, on the other hand, in regard to the
"nation" in the University, to Avhich from the first he
belonged. It is well known that all the universities of the
middle ages divided themselves into " nations," according to
the countries and provinces, sometimes even the races, to
which their members belonged. Thus, in the University of
Paris, from a very early period, there were four nations—

THE NORTHERN "NATION." 133
the Frenc;h, the English (at a later period called German),
the Picard, and the Norman. The University of Prague had,
in like manner, from its foundation, four nations — the
Bohemian, Bavarian, Pohsh, and Saxon. In the University
of Leipzig, the division with Avhich it started at its founda
tion in 1409 as a colony from the University of Prague, info
the Meissniau, Saxon, Bavarian, and Polish nations, con
tinued down to the year 1830 ; ^° and even at the present
day this ancient arrangement continues to be of practical
moment in many respects, in relation, e.g., to particular
endowments. It was the same with the English Univer
sities in the middle ages, but in Oxford there were only two
such "nations," the northern and the southern (Boreales
and Australes), The first included the Scots, the second
the Irish and Welsh. Each nation, as in the universi
ties of the Continent, had its own self-chosen president
and representative, with the title of Procurator (hence
Proctor), That Wiclif must have joined himself to the northern
"nation," might of course be presumed; but there is express
testimony to the fact that he was a Borealis,^^ And this is
not without importance, inasmuch as this " nation " in
Oxford, during the fourteenth century, was the chief re
presentative, not only of the Saxon or pure Germanic
folk-character, but also of the principle of the national
autonomy. But this connection of Wichf with the " northern
nation" had a double effect. It had, first of all, a deter
minative influence upon Wiclifs own spirit and mental
development ; and on the other hand, as soon as Wiclif had
taken up an independent position, and began to work upon
other minds, he found within the University, in this nation
of the Boreales, no inconsiderable number of men of kindred

134 LIFE OF WICLIF.
blood and spirit to his own, to form the kernel of a self-
inclusive circle — of a party.
And now, as respects the studies of Wiclif in the years of
his scholar-life, the sources here also fail of giving us as full
information as we could have wished. We are especially
left in the dark as to the men who were his teachers. It
would have been of great importance to know Avhether he
was personally a hearer of Thomas Bradwardine and of
Richard Fitzralph. The latter point is. quite possible, so
far as date is concerned, as Richard was, in 1340 and following
years, still resident in Oxford as Chancellor of the Univer
sity, and was still, without doubt, delivering theological
lectures ; for it was not till 1347 that he was made Archbishop
of Armagh. On the other hand, it seems very doubtful
whether, at the time when AViclif was a student, Thomas
Bradwardine was still in Oxford, and was not rather already
in France, in the train of Edward HI., as a military chaplain.
Wichf, indeed, more than once makes mention in his writings
of the doctor profundus, but he does this in a way which
decidedly leads us to infer only a knowledge and use of his
writings, not a personal acquaintance with himself.
But if we are left in the dark on the subject of Wiclifs
principal teachers, we are not altogether without light on
the question as to what he studied and how. The know
ledge which we possess at the present day of the character
of the mediseval universities and of the scholastic philo
sophy is sufficient of itself to give us some insight into
these points. For one thing, it is beyond all doubt, that the
more the middle ages made exclusive use of the Latin tongue
(not, it is true, in its classical form) as their exclusive
scientific organ, they were all the less familiar with' the
Greek language and literature. It may, with full warrant, be

COURSE OF STUDY. 135
maintained, that the scholastic philosophers and divines were,
as a rule, ignorant of Greek, and attained to any knowledge
they had of what was contained in the Christian and classical
literature of the Greek tongue, only by means of Latin trans
lations; and, in part, only by the medium of Latin tradition.
Men like Roger Bacon, who had some acquaintance with
Greek, are rai-e exceptions to that rule.22 It was only in
the course of the fifteenth century, that, as a consequence of
certain well-known events, the study of the Greek language
and literature was diffused. But even at the beginning of
the sixteenth century, Greek scholars and teachers like
Erasmus and Philip Melancthon were rare enough. Mani
festly the re-rising of the sun of Hellenic speech and culture
on the horizon of western Europe, was one of the chief
causes of the advent of the modern epoch ; as on the other
hand, the prevaOing ignorance of the Greek language and
of any direct acquaintance with Greek literature, was one
of the most essential momenta which conditioned the one-
sidedness and narrowness of medlaBval science.
This want, in point of fact, we recognise also in Wiclif.
His writings supply manifold proofs of his total ignorance
of Greek. This is shown, not only by very frequent mistakes
in the Avriting of Greek proper names and other words, the
blame of which, it might well be thought, lay at the door of
the copyists, not of the author himself, but also by the
etymological explanations of Greek terms which Wiclif not
seldom introduces, which for the most part are beside the
mark, and erroneous.^^ He is always more successful when
on questions which pre-suppose a knowledge of Greek, he
leans on the authority of others, as, e.g., on Jerome, as
linguarum peritissimus, De Civili Dominio iii., c. 11. When
Wiclif quotes a Greek writer, it is his custom, quite frankly.

136 LIFE OF WICLIF.
to give, at the same time, the name of the Latin source from
which he drew his knowledge of the Greek Avork. In
short, it is quite plain that in all cases he looked at the
Greeks only through Latin spectacles. But this defect Avas,
no doubt, entirely owing to the education which AViclif had
received in his youth, especially as a scholar in Oxford.
If there had been any possibility at that time of acquiring a
knowledge of Greek in the University, AA''iclif was just the
man who would certainly not have neglected the oppor
tunity of acquiring it. For how ardently he thirsted after
truth, and Avith what unwearied industry he sought to obtain
a many sided culture for his mind, we shall immediately
haA'e occasion to conA'ince ourselves.
Another point is, the course of study which Avas pursued in
the middle ages. This differed from the course of modern
university training, as the latter has developed itself on the
Continent, in one very important respect : that much greater
stress was laid upon, and in consequence, much more time
was devoted to general scientific culture ; whereas, in
the present day, professional studies have the preference,
and certainly more so than is wise and good. For at that
time a large space was occupied by the study of the
" Liberal Arts." And these seven artes liberates, from which
the Faculty of Arts took its name, behoved to be completed
in a strict order and course : first, the Trivium, including
grammar, dialectics, and rhetoric; then the Quadrivium,
embracing arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.
The Trivium was also named compendiously the Artes
Sermocinales or Logic, and not Avithout reason, inasmuch as
"kliyoi designates equally speech and thought; those who
AA'ere engaged in this stadium of study were called Logici,
To the Quadrivium, on the other hand, was given sometimes

ARTES LIBERALES. ] 37
the collective name of " Physics," in the comprehensive
ancient sense of science of nature, and sometimes the name
of the Mathematical Arts.--*
That AA'iclif possessed a special faculty and taste for
natural philosophy we shall immediately point out ; but first
let us dwell a little longer upon his logical studies. AA^e know
from the communications of the talented John of Salisbury,
AA'ho died in 1180, that in the tAvelfth century many who
devoted themselves to the sciences never got beyond the
Trivium, and especially dialectics ;-'•' and this is all the more
conceivable the more it Avas usual in the scholastic age to
look upon dialectic as the science of sciences, and even, in a
certain degree, as the philosophy of all science (Wissen-
schaftlehre). In the logic and dialectic of the middle ages,
the formal schooling and discipline of scientific thought
joined itself partly to a kind of philosophy of speech, partly
to a metaphysical ontology, or to what Hegel has called
speculative logic. If we consider, however, tlje imposing
role which was played in the scientific life and action of the
middle ages by the Public Acts of Disputation, those tour
naments of the learned world, we may weU conceive what
an unnameable charm dialectic, as the art of disputation,
must have had for the men of that time. How close to
hand lay the temptation to forget or to hold cheap every
thing compared with dialectic, and to look upon it as a
world in itself, revolving round itself as its own absolute
self-end !
To these logical and dialectical studies Wiclif, without
doubt, devoted himself in his student days with the greatest
zeal, as is attested by the numerous writings of this charac
ter produced in his matm-e age, which he left behind him.
Indeed we may say that all his writings, upon whatever

138 LIFE OF WICLIF.
subject and of Avhatsoever content, not excepting even his
sermons, confirm this attestation, inasmuch as all of
them are everyAvhere stamped Avith the dialectic genius of.
the author. But even if this testimony had not been forth
coming, it was the unchallenged and universally admitted
brilliancy of his dialectical genius which acquired for Wiclif
his high scientific fame, and without which it would never'
have been his.
But he Avas still far from overvaluing the arts of logic,
as if these alone and by themselves constituted science.
The mathematical sciences of the Quadrivium had also an
extraordinary attraction for him. It is worthy of all con
sideration how often in his writings, and Avith how much
love, he refers precisely to this department of science. At
one time it is arithmetic or geometry which must do him
serAdce in illustrating certain truths and relations ; at another
time it is physical and chemical laws, or facts of optics or
acoustics, Avhich he applies to illuminate moral and religious
truths. And not only in scientific essays is that the case, or
only in sermons preached before the University, but even in
his English sermons he makes unhesitating use of such illus
trations. ^^ But it Avas not in his riper years that AViclif
first began to apply himself to such natural studies : he had
begun to do so in his youth, while he was still a student in
Oxford. This is probable in itself, and is expressly confirmed
by his OAvn testimony, which we quoted on a preceding
page. The reference there, indeed, is limited to collections
which he had made in his younger days from works upon
optics, but it is an obvious enough inference to suppose that
he had occupied himself with other branches of natural
science as well, quando fuit junior. No doubt it was under
the instructions and by the personal example of some teacher

PHYSICAL STUDIES. 139
in the University that his sense and taste for these studies
were first aAvakened and kindled; but who this teacher
was Ave ask in vain. Neither the tradition of contem
poraries or m.en of later times, nor any occasional expres
sions of AA^^iclif himself, afford us any knoAvledge upon the
subject. It may, hoAvever, with some reason be conjectured
that at the time of ^^'ic]if's student hfe some disciples of the
gifted Roger Bacon, who lived long in Oxford and survived
till 1292, may still have been Avorking there, and that the
enthusiasm for natural science, which we are so often sensible
of in AAlcKf Avas derived to him by this medium and from that
great mind, who VA'as called, not Avithout reason. Doctor Mira-
hilis, and AA'ho, anticipating his namesake, Francis Bacon, had
already, in the thirteenth century, grasped and exemplified the
experimental method of science. It is matter of fact that
among the learned men who were the ornaments of Oxford
in the first half and in the middle of the fourteenth century,
not a few were distinguished by mathematical, astronomical,
and physical knoAvledge. Thomas Bradwardine, e.g., who died
in 1349, mentioned above as a theological thinker, was held
in high estimation as a mathematician and astronomer ; John
Estwood, at one time a member of Merton College, was cele
brated about 1360 for his astronomical attainments ; as Avas
also William Rede, who built the library of that college, and
in 1369 became Bishop of Chichester.^'' These are only a
few names selected out of a greater number of contempor
aries Avho were all members of the University of Oxford as
scholars, or masters and doctors. AA'^e are not, then, too
bold if we conclude from such facts that in the first half of
the fourteenth century there prevailed in that University a
special zeal for mathematical and physical studies, which
also laid hold of Wiclif.

140 LIFE OF WICLIF.
But the natural sciences could as Httle enchain him, ex
clusively and for ever, as logic and dialectic had been able to
do so. AA^iclif passed over from the seven liberal arts to
theology. This was, no doubt, the design with AA-hich his
parents had from the first determined him for a life of study.
He was to become a cleric, for the priestly calling was still,
in the public opinion of that age, the highest in human
society ; and if the AA''iclif family cherished perhaps some
ambitious Avishes for the talented scion of their house, it was
a course of theological education and the standing of priest
hood, which in that age, and especially in England, formed
the surest stepping-stones to the highest dignities of the
State. But we find no Avarrant either in his life or in his Avrit-
ings to attribute such ambitious designs to himself. What
dreAv him as a young man to theology was, in our judgment,
neither an ambition which looked upon the science only as
the means of attaining selfish ends, nor a deep religious
need already aAvakened and consciously experienced, which
sought the satisfaction of its own cravings in the Christian
theology. It rather appears to us, in so far as the personal
self-revelations scattered here and there in his writings
justify a retrospectiA'-e inference touching his student life,
that the motive which impelled him, apart from all external
considerations, to devote himself to theology, Avas entirely of
an intellectual and scientific character. His passion for
knowledge and his thirst for truth drew him to theology
with all the more zeal, the more it Avas still regarded as the
highest science of all, or the queen of the sciences. His in
dustry as a student of DiAdnity Avas assured by the general
studies Avhich he had already passed through, and he devoted
himself Avith indefatigable diligence to all the different
branches iuto which theology was then divided, as is evident

THEOLOGICAL STUDIES. 141
from the contents of his oAvn Aviitings. The scholastic
theology, it is true, Avas entirely Avanting in the historical
discipline of A'arious kinds of our modern tlieology, and it
kncAV only a small part of practical and exegetic theology, or
the Avide field of Biblical science, Avhile almost the Avhole body
of theological science took the form of systematic theology.
That had been the case since the second half of the twelfth
century — i.e., since the Sentences of the Master xar' i^oyjiv,
the Lombard, Peter of Novara, had become the manual
of dogmatic instruction.
But Ave should greatly err, if we were to suppose, on this
account, that the theological studies of the middle ages com
prehended, as a general rule, only a narrow amount of scien
tific matter. On the contrary, they extended themselves to
large fields of knowledge, of Avhich the Protestant theology,
at least of later and the latest times, takes little or no
account. In particular, the Canon Law, since the time
when it was collected and sanctioned, formed an extremely
comprehensive and important subject of the theological
course. Nor must we undervalue the reading of the
Fathers, e.g., of Augustin, and of the Doctors, i.e., the
Scholastics, which at the same time occupied, in some
degree, the place of dogmatic history. Nor was the
practice amiss of dividing the theological course into two
stages, Avhich we may briefly describe as the Biblical and
the Systematic. The former came first in order. It con
sisted in the reading and interpretation of the Old and
New Testaments. The interpretation took the form of
Glosses, as in fact the whole of mediseval science developed
itself from Glosses — Dialectics from Glosses on the writings
of Aristotle — ^Law from Glosses on the Corpus Juris — Theo
logy from Glosses first on the Bible and then on the Sen-

142 LIFE OP WICLIF.
tences of the Lombard. That the original text of the
Bible, in all this process, remained a book sealed with
seven seals, and that only the Latin Bible, the Vulgate,
could be the subject of translation, need not be dwelt
upon after what has been said above. To interpretation
proper (expositio), which consisted in explanations more or
less short, verbal or also substantial, sometimes aphoristic
in form, and sometimes running on at large, succeeded
learned investigations, in the scholastic manner (qucestiones),
in the form of disputational excursus.
As already hinted, the prefixing of a Biblical course to
the dogmatic one was in itself commendable and suitable
to the object in Adew, for the students in this way were
taken, before everything else, to the fountain-head, and
obtained possession of a knoAvledge of sacred history
and Bible doctrine, if only this Biblical instruction was of
the right kind. But there Avas lacking immediateness of view.
Men looked into the Bible text only through the coloured
spectacles of the Latin version. And that was not all : men
were, at the same time, so entirely bound and pre-occupied
by the whole mass of ecclesiastical tradition, that the pos
sibility of an unprejudiced interpretation of the Scriptures
was out of the question. The Biblical course, besides, was
looked upon, not as that which laid the foundation of,"and
gave law to all the rest, but rather as an entirely sub
ordinate preliminary discipline to theology properly so
called. This appeared in the division of labour which
was made in the matter of theological lectures ; for bachelors
of theology of the lowest degree were allowed to deliver
lectures on the Bible, and usually this work was left to
them alone ; whereas bachelors of the middle and highest
degrees (baccalaurei sententiarii and formati),^^ as well as the

SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY. 143
doctors of theology, read on the Sentences of Peter Lom
bard, and sometimes on "sums" of their oavu. The "doctors"
would have thought it beneath their dignity to lecture on
the Bibhcal books ; the bachelors AAdio Avere relegated to this
work Avere called in a depreciatory tone only biblici, in con
trast to sententiarii. AA'hen AA^iclif, then, Avent forward from
this stage to what passed for the higher one, in which he
studied Avhat is noAv called systematic theology, it was
chiefly, as already said, lectures on the Sentences of the
Lombard Avhich he had to listen to. And here, too, that
mode of treatment prevailed which began by glossing the
text of the master, and then followed this up with different
'• Qusestiones." In addition, the numerous '' Disputations "
which were ahvays held, served to promote the culture of
the students. To which was added the reading of patristic
and scholastic works. Among the latter, at the time when
Wiclif studied, the works chiefly in faA'Our, in Oxford at
least, were the Summa of Thomas Aquinas, the writings
of Bishop Robert Grossetete (Lincolniensis), and the compre
hensive work of Archbishop Richard Fitzralph (Armachanus)
against the errors of the Armenians. Beyond all doubt,
AA^ichf was a diligent reader of all these works, which he
makes so frequent use of in his writings, in his student
years. Further, as no one could have the credit of being
a true theologian who was not at home in Canon Law,
AViclif came up to this last requirement in a degree which
is best evinced in his yet unprinted works, in which he
shows himself to have been quite a master of Canonical
Jurisprudence ; and that he had laid the foundations of this
learning, even as a student, we assume with all confidence.
When LcAvis adds that AA''iclif also studied Roman LaAv,'^
and the Canonical Law of England, the assumption is

144 LIFE OF WICLIF.
indeed a probable one that he Avas no stranger to either
of these branches of laAv, as is shown, not only by many of
his writings, but also by the practical share Avhich he took at
a later period in ecclesiastico-political affairs; but Avhether
he had thrown himself into the study of these subjects
in his youth, is a point which ^we must leave in a state of
uncertainty. We have no positive data to shoAV to what length of time
Wiclif's student course extended ; we can only arrive at a
probable judgment upon the point Avith the help of our
general knoAvledge of university usages in that age. AVe
know that in England, as well as on the Continent, uni
versity life in the middle ages was accustomed to claim a
far longer period of study than at present. It has been
truly said that " men were not then misers with their
time." 30 To study for ten years was by no means un
common ; for two years, at least, were alloAved to the
Trivium, and as many to the Quadrivium, so that fom-
years at the shortest were taken up by the general
sciences in the Faculty of .Arts. But the study of
theology in its two stages lasted for seven years as a
rule, not seldom CA^en longer, although in some cases
also not so long, but even then for five years at the
least. We shall, therefore, scarcely err if we suppose
that Wiclif gave six years to the study of theology, and
it can scarcely be too high an estimate if avo reckon up
his whole term of study to a decade of years. And if we
were right in our conjecture above, that he entered the
University about the year 1335, the end of his curriculum
woidd have to be placed about the year 1345. Later data
of his life say nothing, at the least, against this computation.
At all events, we must assume that he had already taken all

GRADUATION EST ARTS AND THEOLOGY. 145
the academic degrees in order, up to that time, with the
single exception of the theological doctorship. Thus, with
out doubt, he had become baccalaweus artium, and two or
three years later magister artium. And again, after an
interval of several years, he must have become bachelor
of theology, or, as it Avas then expressed, bachelor of the
sacra pagina, AA'hether before the year 1345 he became
licentiate of theology must be left undetermined. Here-
Avith we leave AA'iclif's student years, and pass onward to
his manhood.

VOL. I. K

NOTES TO CHAPTER IL

1. Leland had received iu 1533, from Henry VIIL, the commission to examine
the libraries and archives of aU cathedrals and monasteries, coUeges and cities, and
he employed six years in travelling aU over England and Wales, in order to coUect
materials for a history of the kingdom. He spent other six years in working up
these coUections into an account of the antiquities of England, but the work was
never finished, for his excessive labours brought on disease of the brain, and he
died in 1552. His Itinerarium, however, in nine volumes, was pubUshed iu Oxford
1710-1712. 2. Itinerarium V., 99. [They say} that John Wyclif Hcereticus [was borne at
Spreswel, a poore village a good myle from Richemont.~\ I quote from Lewis, His
tory of Wiclif, p. 1, note a. The words between brackets do not stand in Leland's
original MS., but only in a transcript of Stowe. Vide Shirley, Fasc. Zizan.
Introd. X., note 3.
3. Unde Wigclif hsereticus origenem duxit. Collectanea, I., 2, 329. Cited by
Vaughan, Life and Opinions, I., 232, note 8.
4. Shirley, Introd. XI. ; Vaughan, Life and Opinions, I., 233 ; and John
WycUflte, a Monograph, 1854, p. 5 f.
5. AthenEcum, 1861, 20th April, p. 529.
6. In 1853 the population of the Uttle vUlage did not reach 200 souls.
7. Vaughan's Monograph, p. 2 f.
8. Dibdin, Observations on a Tour through almost the whole of England.
London, 1801, 4to, L, 261 f.
9. Kohl, Reisen in England and Wales, 1841, IL, 50 f, 123, 165, 178. E.g.,
people say tig instead of lie ; to spier anybody (aufspuren), instead of to ask or
inquire ; / do not henn, instead of know.
10. In 1362 a certain Robert of WycUffe was made parish priest of WycUffe by
Catherine, widow of Roger WycUflFe ; and in the foUowing year we find a WUUam
of WycUffe presented to the same place. In the interval, however, the patronage
had changed hands, for the patron in 1363 is John of WycUffe, who, we may con
jecture, was the son, now come to his majority, of Catherine and her deceased hus
band, Roger Wycliffe.
11. Whitaker, History of Richmondshire, I., 197, quoted by Vaughan, Mono
graph, p. 5 ; and Register of the Archbishop of Canterbury, also quoted by
Vaughan, p. 548.

NOTES TO CHAPTER H. 147
12. Vide the Documents from the Episcopal Register of Durham, in Vaughan's
Monograph, p. 545 f.
13. On the orthography of the family name WicUf, I may here introduce the
foUowing remarks :— There was an endless variety of ways of spelling it in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and some of this variety has reappeared among
English writers iu recent times. Vaughan states that the name is written in nearly
twenty different forms, but this is far from being a high enough estimate. I have
found as many as twenty-eight varieties in the usage of these centuries. They
divide themselves into two chief classes, according as the vowel used in the first
syUable is i or y. The explanation is to be found in the geueraUy wretched con
dition of orthography in the middle ages, which prevailed speciaUy in the names of
places, and in surnames taken from these. It was not merely that every author
adopted at his own pleasure his own way of spelling such names, whUe preserving
uniformity of usage after choosing it, but one and the same author or copyist
aUowed himself unbounded Uberty and caprice in the writing of the same name, as
Walsingham, the chronicler, does in the ease of Wiclif, who writes the name in at
least eight different forms. Vide the Critical Edit, of Riley, I,, 335 f ; II., 50 f.
As to the question of the best way of writing the name at the present day, this
can best be decided, no doubt, upon the authority of documents nearest in date to
Wiclif's own age. Now the oldest document of a strictly oflScial character is the
Royal Commission of 26th July 1374, in which Edward III. nominates the commis
sioners who were to negotiate with the Papal legates at Bruges. Wiclif was one
of these commissioners, and the King's edict names him Magister Johannes de
Wiclif, Sacrae Theologiae Professor. Rymcr's Foedera, VII., 41. The same mode
of writing the name I find not nnfrequently occurring in other documents and
MSS. of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, though for the most part in
capricious variation with other spellings. The recent usage of most English
scholars is to speU the name with y in the first syllable — e.g. , Wyclif (Shirley and
Thomas Arnold) ; Wycliffe (Vaughan) ; or Wyckliffe (Todd) ; and it must be con
fessed that with Englishmen of the fourteenth century the y was an extraordinary
favourite, and was often unjustifiably used, not only in foreign words, Uke hysteria,
dyaconus, peryodus, etc., and in proper names, like Ysaac, Yoseph, Hyspanise,
Lyncoln, etc., but even in pure English words, as kyng, infyrmytyes, even in ys, yt,
instead of is, it. In making use, since 1853, of the contemporary speUing Wiclif,
we employ an orthography which has not been antiquated but rather confirmed
by the later development of the language, and which, at the same time, seems the
simplest and most obvious.
14. Comp. Shirley, Fasc, Zizan, XI. f.
15. Quumfui junior, et in ddectadone vaga magis solicitus, collegi diffuse pro-
prietates lucis ex codicibus, perspective, etc. No. 53 of the Sermons on Saints'
Days (EvangeUa de Sanctis), MS. 3928 of the Imperial Library of Vienna.
Denis, No. CD., fol. 106, col. 1.
16. Buddensieg (Zeitschrift fur Historische Theologie, 1847, p. 302 f) foUows
Shirley in adopting a later rather than an earUer year than 1324 for Wiclif's birth,
perhaps 1330, founding upon the age of his antagonist, the Carmelite friar, John
Cunningham. But on the only point of importance to the vaUdity of this argument

148 LIFE OF WICLIF.
viz., the relation of the birth year of Cunningham to that of Wiclif, all positive evi
dence is wautiag, so that what is gained by this combination is by no means clear.
17. Comp. Vaughan, John de WycUffe, a Monograph, p. 16 f, where travelling
and intercourse in England during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are
graphicaUy described on the authority of ancient sources.
18. Vide Extracts from the Bursars' Accounts of Queen's College as given by
Shirley in an Excursus to the Fasciculi Zizaniorum, p. 514 f. Vaughan, indeed,
has maintained in his Life and Opinions of John de Wycliffe, and also in his more
recent " Monograph,'' that Wiclif's name occurs in a, list of the -original members
of the coUege, who entered it in 1340, immediately after its foundation. But
Shirley, who lived in Oxford, gives the most positive assurance that no list of
members of so early a date exists among the papers of the coUege, p. xiu.
19. Comp. Wycliffe, his Biographers and Critics, an article of Vaughan, in the
British Quarterly Review, Oct. 1 858. Printed separately, p. 26 f.
20. The Book of Statutes of the University of Leipzig for the first 150 years
after its foundation. Edited by Friedrich Zarncke. Leipzig, 1861, 4to, 3, 42 f.
21. The Chronicler of St. Albans, Thomas Walsingham, commences his account
of Wiclif under the year 1377, with the words, " Per idem tempus surrexit in
Universitate Oxoniensi quidam Borealis, dictus Magister Joannes Wyclef," etc.
Edited by Riley, I., 324.
22. It has been usual to ascribe to Gerbert in the tenth, and to Abelard and
John of Salisbury in the twelfth century, a knowledge of Greek, but Schaarschmidt,
in his Johannes Saresberiensis, 1862, p. 108 f., has proved convincingly that they
had no claim to this praise.
23. Greek proper names are often written in the Bohemian MSS. of WicHf's
works so erroneously as to be almost unrecognisable, e.g., Pictagerus instead of
Pythagoras. De veritate Sacrce Scripturce, c. 12. And who would guess that
"cassefatum" in the same MS. was meatft to be nothing else but xccxotpaTuv?
But the false writing of a Greelt word is not always to be put to the account of the
copjrist, for in one place, e.g., the mis-written word apocrisus (instead of apocryphus)
is immediately foUowed by an etymological remark which presupposes s to have
been written instead of/; the word, it is remarked, comes from apo = de, and
crisis = secretum, because the subject is the secrets of the Church, or, according to
others from a^os = large, and crisis = judicium. De Veritate Scripturae, c. II.
Another etymological attempt is no better — elemosnia is alleged to be compounded
of efemojiia = misericordia, and sina, or of elia, which comes from Eli= God, and
sirea=mandatum ; it signifies, therefore, God's command. De Civili Dominio, III.,
o. 14, MS.
24. E.g., Wiclif, Tractatus de, statu innocentise, u. 4, quoad artes mathematicas
quadruviales. Vienna MS., 1839 f, 244, col. 2-245'. Roger Bacon is also wont
to include the sciences of the Quadrivium under the general term Mathematics.
25. Comp. Renter Johannes von Salisbury. Berlin, 1842, p. 9 f. Schaarschmidt
Johannes Saresberiensis. Leipzig, 1842, p. 61.
26. So in the 26th of his sermons on Saints' Days (EvangeUa de Sanctis).

ADDITIONAL NOTES TO CHAPTER H. 149
Vienna MS., 39CS ; ,ilso in the 51st sermon of the same collection, and in the
24th sermon of another collection, included in the siime MS. vol. Explanations of
this kind ai-e not uncommon in his leai-ned treatises, e.g., in the De Dominio
Divino IL, c 3 ; De Ecclesia, o. 5, etc.
2". John Lewis, History of the Life of Wiclif, foUowing Leland's De Scrip
toribus Britannicis.
2S. Comp. Thm-ot, De I'Organisation de I'Enseignement dans I'Universite de
Paris an Moyen-age, 1S50, p. 137 f.
29. John Lewis, History of the Ufe of John WicUf, p. 2.
30. Matter in Article, Sorbonne, in Herzog's Theol. Eealencylopadie.

ADDITIONAL NOTES TO CHAPTER IL, BY THE
TRANSLATOR.
1. Illustkations of the Educational Discipline of Balliol College in
Wiclif's tuie.
By the fundamental statutes of Devorguilla, which were stiU in full force in
Wiclif 's student days, it was provided as foUows : —
" That the scholars speak Latin in common, and whoever acts anything against
it, shaU be rebuked by the principal If they mend not after twice or thrice
admonition, they are to be removed from common table, and eat by themselves,
and be served last. If incorrigible after a week's space, to be ejected by the
procurators. " Every week a sophism to be disputed and determined in the house among the
scholars by turns, so that they both oppose and answer ; and if any sophister
profiteth so much that he may deserve in a short time to determine in the schools,
then shaU the principal teU him that he shaU first determine at home among his
feUows. At the end of every disputation the principal shall appoint the next day
of disputing ; and shaU moderate and correct the loquacious ; and shall appoint the
sophism that is next to be handled, and also the opponent, respondent, and
determiner, that so they may the better provide themselves for a disputation."
Vide Wood's History and Antiquities of the CoUeges and Halls in the University
of Oxford, p. 71.
2. Provisions of the Statutes of Sik Philip de Somekville foe the Study
OF Theology by the Fellows of Balliol College in Wiclif's time.
These Statutes came into operation in 1341, and assuming, as a high pro-
babiUty (the grounds of which wiU be found stated in an additional note at the end
of Chap. III.), that Wiclif became a student of Arts and Theology at BaUiol on his
first coming to Oiford, these Provisions throw an interesting light upon the
probable course of his theological studies. The Statutes empowered the Fellows,
now increased from 16 to 22, to elect six of their number to hold Theological
Fellowships, which they should continue to enjoy till, in due course, they obtained
the usual degrees in Theology ; and the cnrriculum of study laid out for them was

150 LIFE OF WICLIF.
a singularly liberal one. The men elected ad intendendum sacrae theologiae were
to become opponents in the theological disputations in the sixth year of then:
studies, and were to continue to oppose for one year, or if it seemed expedient to
the society, during two years. In the ninth or tenth year they were to read the
Book of Sentences ; and in the twelfth or thirteenth year they should be held
bound to commence, incipere, in the same faculty, unless hindered by legitimate and
honest cause. If, as is highly probable, WicUf became one of these Theological
FeUows of BaUiol, his whole course of study in Arts and Theology must have
extended, allowing four years for his Arts course, to sixteen or seventeen years,
viz., from 1335 to 1351 or 1352.
The utmost care was to be taken in the election of men to these Theological
FeUowships ; under the sanction of a solemn oath, none were to be chosen, "praeter
honestos, castes, paoifioos et humiles, ad scientiam habUes ac proficere volentes,"
and none who were not already " Regents in Arts."
3. The foUowing extract from Anthony Wood's " History of the CoUeges and
HaUs iu the University of Oxford," Vol. I., sub-anno 1343, gives us a curious glimpse
of the condition of philosophical parties in the University at the time when Wiclif
was engaged in the profound study of the philosophy and theology of his age : -
A.D. 1343. — "Clashing controversies in disputations and writings among the
learneder sort, especially the followers and disciples of the authors of the Nominals
and Reals (Occam and Scotus), both which sects were now so fixed in every house of
learning that the divisions between the northern and southern clerks were now as
great, if not more, as those before. Those of the north held, as 'tis said, with Scotus,
and those of the south with Occam, and in all their disputations were so violent, that
the peace of the University was not thereby a little disturbed. . . . Now,
forasmuch as these controversies were frequent in Oxford, causing thereby great
emulation, which commonly ended in blows, the statutes for the election of the
ChanceUor were, without doubt, made ; for whereas about these times great
variance feU out in the election of that ofiScer, some aiming to hare him a northern,
others a southern man, divers statutes and injunctions, chiefly reflecting upon such
disorders, were, I say, this year enacted, of which was that concerning two scrutators
in the elections, — that is, that one should be a northern, the other a southern man,
lest underhand dealing should be used, and consequently parties injured."
For further information concerning these two parties or factions in the Univer
sity, see additional note at the end of Chap. III. Wiclif took side with the
Scotists or Realists in these subtle disputations and " clashing controversies," and
it ia curious to reflect how much this philosophical preference may have been
owing to fte accklent of his having been born a Borealis instead of an Austrdlis.
John Se^us Erigena himself was, of course, a north-countryman, and all north-
counti-ymen in Oxford appear to have belonged to his foUowing. The BaUiol
scholars in particular were the natural alUes of the great Realist, f6r they claimed
him to have been a BaUiol man l)efore he connected himself with Merton. For, as
Savage dryly observes in his BaUio-fergus, " There is as much contending for the
breeding-place of this rare man as hath been for the birth of Homer. We conjecture
him to have been of this College of BaUiol, inasmuch as he was by county of
Northumberland, and of Duns there, as might be seen not only in Fitsaeus, but

ADDITIONAL NOTES TO CHAPTER H. 151
before every volume of his works in MSS. in our library, of the gift of Bishop
Gray, but torn off in the time of the late war; and for that in Northumberland was
the first endowment of our College. He lived anno 1300, which was after Devor-
guilla's Statutes, but before those of Sir Philip Somerville, yet not after the time
when it was granted by the Pope that the scholars might live in the house after
they became Masters of Art ; and therefore he might, for that reason, depart from
this to Merton CoUege.''
4. The foUowing names of learned FeUows of BaUiol CoUege in AViclif 's time
are given by Savage in his BaUio-fergus, and we probably discern in them two of
the partners of the Reformer's studies in philosophy and divinity : —
"WiUiam WUton, professor in his faculty, which could be no other than
divinity, by the statutes of this house made by Sir Philip de SomervyU, after
which he Uved here and wrote many things : —
Super Priora Aristotelis.
Quaestiones de Anima.
Super Ethica.
He was ChanceUor of the University in 1373.
" Roger AVhelpdale, feUow of this house, afterwards Provost of Queen's, lastly
Bishop of CajUsle, a great mathematician. He wrote many books, whereof in our
CoUege Ubrary are there — - Summulamm logicaUum.
De UniversaUbus.
De Aggregatis.
De Quanto et Continue.
De Compositione Continui.
De Rogando Deo.
He Uved in the time of Edward III., and was the first who enriched the library
with MSS., besides those of uncertain donation."
5. The recent " Report " of Mr. Riley npon the Archives of BaUiol, pubUshed
by the "Royal Commission on Historical MSS.," 1874, has put us in possession
for the first time of the foUowing document : "a small parchment deed, in good
preservation, with four seals appended in a mutilated state," which "throws light,"
as he remarks, " upon the studies of the house some forty years after its foundation,
and is otherwise a very interesting document." It is quite in place here, as it
describes a state of things which stiU prevailed in the CoUege when WicUf, in aU
probabUity, became a student of it in 1335, or even later, in 1340. It reveals also
a state of dissatisfaction with existing arrangements and restrictions which had a
great deal, no doubt, to do with the drawing up of the new statutes of 1341,
which, as we gather from themselves, were not dictated by the College benefactor,
Sir Philip de SomervyU, but had been agreed upon by mutual deliberation between
him and the Master and FeUows, and had, no doubt, been suggested to him by
them for the increased usefulness of the house. The substance of the document
has been already given from Wood in Note I. of Additional Notes to Chap. I.
" Tenore praesentium pateat universis quod anno domini Moocxxv. in Festo
Sanctae Margaritae Virginis, dubitatione suborta et quaestione mota inter
Bcholares domiis de BaUiolo in Oxonia, an hceret sociis ibidem commorantibus

152 LIFE OF WICLIF.
aliam scientiam audire quam artes Uberales, prout artes liberales inteUiguntur,
quae in Scholis Artistarum ab Artistis legi possunt ; auditis et pensatis
motivis hino inde, ac sufficiente deliberatione praehabita, demum declaratura
extitit, et diffinitum hujusmodi auditionem nullo modo licere, prout apparuit,
secundum intentionem fundantis domum praedictum, immo totaUter fore contra
mentem ejusdem, necnon et contra oonsuetudines laudabUes per socios domus
ejusdem hactenus approbatas et diutius usitatas. Et ideo inhibitum fuit et inter-
dictum per Magistros Robertum de Leycestria de ordine Fratrum minorum Sacrae
Paginae Professorem, et Nicolaum de Tyngewick Doctorem in Medicina et Bacca-
larium Sacrae Theologie, tunc Magistros extraneos domus antedictae, ni aliquis
socius domus ejusdem, Magister vel Scolaris aUquam facultatem audiat, seu eidem
intendat in pleno termino seu vacatione, praeter artes Uberales quae ab Artistis in
Scolis artium de jure legi possunt, prout superius est expressum. Acta sunt ista in
aula de BalUolo, coram tota communitate ipsa non reclamante, die Sanctae Mar-
garetae Virginis anno supradicto, praesentibus Magistris, Sacrae Theologiae pro-
fessoribus, Magistro Ricardo de Camsale, et Magistro Waltero de Horkeslaw, una
cum Magistris Ricardo filio Radulphi et Ricardo de Retford qui omnes quondam
dictae domus socU extiterunt ; quibus omnibus et singuUs dicta diflSnitio et
inhibitio justa simpUciter videbatur. Et si aliquis contra istam inhibitionera aut
injunctionem verterit, ac legitime monitus per Prinoipalem dictae domus desistere
noluerit tanquam rebelUs Statutis et Constitutionibus domus praedictae, arbitrio
magistrorum qui pro tempore f uerint, merito puniatur. Et ne istud factum postea in
dubium revocetur, Sigilla praedictorum Magistrorum Roberti et Nicolai, una cum
SigiUis Domini Cancellarii Universitatis Oxoniae et Decani ejusdem viUae sunt
apposita. Et nos CanceUarius Universitatis Oxoniae et Decanus ejusdem villae
SigiUa nostra ad rogatum dictorum magistrorum apposuimus in perpetuam me-
moriam praeraissorum. Scriptum Oxoniae in festo Sancti Jacobi ApostoU anno
superius praedicto."
" The above-named Richard Fitzralph was afterwards the celebrated Arch
bishop of Armagh, also known as St. Richard of Dundalk, the antagonist of the
Mendicaiut orders."

CHAPTER III.
WICLIF'S QUIET WORK IN OXFORD — 1345-1366.
Section I.— TT7c/(/as a Member of Balliol and Merton,
TN commencing this period of AA^iclif's life with the year
1345, we have before us two full decades of years during
which he in no way appeared, as yet, upon the stage of
public hfe, either in Church or State. That is the reason
why, in those chronicles which record the history of England
in the fourteenth century, there does not occur the slightest
mention of his person during these years. In fact it is not
till ten years later still, that the chroniclers mention him ibr
the first time (1377). It is for this reason that we designate
this stage of his hfe, the period of his quiet work. And
Oxford was the exclusive field of his work during all these
twenty years.
We have to think of AA^iclif at this time as a member in
full standing of a college (socius, fellow), as one of the Regent
Masters (magistri regentes), i.e., as a man taking an active
part in the independent, and in some sense republican
government of his own college and of the whole academic
body — a position to which he had been in due order ad
mitted, after passing through certain stages of academic
study, and after he had acquitted himself of certain learned
tasks (disputations and the like).
The college, indeed, of which AA''iclif became a Fellow, is a
question which hes under as much uncertainty as that other
which has been . discussed in the last chapter, viz. : what

154 LIFE OF WICLIF.
college it was with which he had been previously connected
as a scholar.
Since the appearance of Lewis's life in 1720, the common
understanding has been that he was first a Fellow of Merton
College, and afterwards, about the year 1360, was promoted
to the presidency of Balliol College.^ In support of the first
point, there exists a single documentary proof, but this a
proof not absolutely free from question. It consists of an
entry in the Acts of Merton College, according to which, in
January 1356, " John AViclif" held the oflSce of seneschal or
rent-master of the college.^ This has hitherto been under
stood of our Wichf, without hesitation; but Shirley maintains,
on the contrary, that that notice probably refers to his
namesake and contemporary, John AA''iclif or Wyclyve, who,
according to trustworthy documents, was parish priest of
Mayfield. The grounds upon which this scholar relies are
the following : — The fact is certain beyond challenge, that
the Reformer Wiclif and no other was Master of
Balliol in 1361. Now, the relations which existed between
this college and the AViclif family, make it natural to pre
sume that he belonged to Balliol from the first ; while, on the
other hand, it is in the highest degree improbable that the
members of the college would have chosen for their Master
a man who was a member of another college (Merton).'
The diflBculty presented by this last remark will find its
solution in an inquiry which we shall enter upon immedi
ately ; and as to Shirley's first ground of doubt, it is obvious
to reply that John Wiclif of Mayfield is still also a Wiclif,
and therefore stands , as nearly related to Balliol College as
our Wiclif, and to Merton College no nearer than he.
Thus the most important element of the question still con
tinues to be the established fact, that our Wiclif was Master

FELLOW OF merton. 155
of Balliol in 1362. We are unable, for our part, to recognise
any decisive weight in the critical observations of Shirley,
in opposition to the view which has hitherto prevailed, that
AA''iclif for some time was a member of Merton. On the
other hand, we believe that we are able to throw some new
Hght upon a subject which has hitherto been somewhat
obscure, and this, not by means of mere conjectures, but of
documentary facts.
The difificulty lies chiefly here, that it has been found hard
to explain the frequent change of colleges through which
Wichf is alleged to have passed, inasmuch as according to
the older tradition, he was first admitted into Queen's, then
transferred to Merton, and was soon thereafter made Master
of Balliol ; or, in case we set aside Queen's College (as the
mention of it in connection with AViclif's student-life is
unhistorical), and prefer to assume that he belonged from
the first, as a scholar, to BaUiol, then it becomes almost
stranger still to suppose that Wichf should have afterwards
left this college and become a member of Merton, and then
should have returned again to Balliol, and that too in the
capacity of Master. But precisely here is the point upon
which we think we are able to throw light, from a document
which, till now, has hardly been considered in relation to
the subject. We refer to the Papal Bull of 1361, first pub
hshed by Lewis, not indeed in the original, but in extensive
extract, in which the incorporation of the parish church of
Abbotesley with Balliol Hall (so the college was then called)
is approved and sanctioned.* This apostolic writ makes
reference, at the same time, to the representation which the
members of Balliol had submitted to the Papal See in support
of their petition for the confirmation of the incorporation.
From this representation we see pretty clearly what had

156 LIFE OF WICLIF.
been the financial condition of the college up to that time.
For it states that by means of the pious beneficence of the
founder of the college, there are indeed numerous students
and clerics in the hall, but aforetime each of them had only
received* — farthings weekly; and as soon as they became Masters
of Arts, they had immediately to leave the Hall, so that, on account
of poverty, they were no longer able to continue their
studies, and found themselves, in some instances, obhged to
have recourse to trade for the sake of a Hving. Now,
however, Sir William Felton, the present benefactor of
the foundation, formerly patron of Abbotesley, but who had
already, in 1341, transferred his right of collation to Balliol
College,^ has formed the design, out of sympathy with its
members, to increase the number of scholars, and to make
provision for their having the common use of books in all the
dififerent faculties ; and also, that every one of them should
have a sufificient supply of clothing and twelve farthings
a -week ; and further, that they should be at liberty to remain
quietly in the Hall, whether they were masters and doctors or not,
until they obtained a sufficient church-living, and not till then
should they be obliged to leave.
From this it appears as clearly as we could possibly desire,
that up to the year 1360 the extremely limited resources of
Balliol had made it necessary that every one belonging to the
foundation should leave as soon as he obtained his Arts degree,
and that the incorporation of the Church of Abbotesley, accord
ing to the intention of the benefactor, was designed, among
other things, to provide that in future the members of Balliol,
even when they became masters or doctors, might continue
to live in the college as they had done before. If, therefore,
* The blank here should be fiUed up with the number 8 ; vide Additional Note I.
at the end of the chapter.

master OF BALLIOL. 157
AA^iclif, as we have reason to presume, was received into
Balliol as a scholar, the cucumstauces of the college at
that time must have obliged him to leave it as soon as he
graduated. As now the above-mentioned notice in the
papers of Merton mentions John AA'ichf, in 1356, as seneschal
of the college, there is not only nothing any longer standing
in the way of identifying this '¦ AVyclif" with our AA^iclif,
but we have even the satisfaction of learning from this
source what had become of him since the time when, as
we may now presume, he was obliged to leave BalHol as a
promoted magister. And as it was customary in the colleges
that every one behoved to be for some considerable length
of time a Fellow before he could undertake such a function
as that of seneschal, the inference may be allowed that Wiclif
had been for several years a member of Merton before he
entered upon the office, and in all probability since the date
of his graduation as a master. The circumstances just men
tioned serve to show, in addition, how easily it might
come to pass that AA'^ichf, although he had left Balliol, where
he had originaUy studied, might yet at a later period be
caUed back again to that college, and even be placed at its
head ; for as his leaving was by no means a spontaneous act
of his own, but was entirely due to the financial situation of
the college, every surmise that it may have given rise to
some feeling to his disadvantage is entirely out of the ques
tion, whereas, under other circumstances, such a feeling
might have stood in his w^ay to his subsequent promotion to
the headship of the house.
We have thus been able, we believe, to clear up a point
which has hitherto been obscure. But however this may
be, the fact at least stands perfectly firm that Wiclif was
Master of Balliol in the year 1361. This appears from four

158 LIFE OF WICLIF.
difierent documents which are preserved in the archives of
this college, and which have all a bearing upon the fact
that Wiclif, as "Magister seu Custos Aulas de BalHolo,"
takes possession, in name of the college, of the already men
tioned incumbency of Abbotesley in the county of Hunting
don, which had been incorporated with the foundation.^
From these documents it appears that AViclif must already
before this date have been Master or Warden of BaUiol ; and
yet it cannot have been long previously that he acquired the
dignity, for in November 1356 the name of Robert of Derby
occurs as master. Nor was even he Wiclif's immediate pre
decessor, but another whose name was William of Kingston.
Three of these documents, dated 7th, 8th, and 9th April
1361, have immediate relation to the Act of Incorporation
itself, while the fourth document, dated July in the same
year, is that along with which Wiclif, as master, sent to the
Bishop of Lincoln, John Gynwell, the Papal buU wherein
the incorporation was sanctioned. But before this last date
Wiclif had been nominated by his college, 16th May 1361,
to be Rector of Fillingham. This is a small parish in the
county of Lincoln, lying ten miles north north-west from
the city of Lincoln. This appointment did not imply that
Wiclif immediately thereafter left the University and lived
entirely in the country, in order to devote himself to pastoral
duties. This does not appear to have been contemplated in
the nomination. Agreeably to law and usage prevalent at
the period, he remained after as before, a member of the Uni
versity, with all the powers and privileges belonging to him
as such ; and without doubt he continued, for all important
purposes, to reside in Oxford. What provision he made for
the work of the parish, perhaps by the appointment of a
curate, and whether, perhaps, during the recesses of the

RECTOR OF FILLINGHAM. 159
University he resided regularly in Fillingham, in order to
discharge his pastoral duties in person — these are points
which we are obliged to leave undecided. But it is matter
of fact that an entry exists in the Acts of the See of Lincoln,
to which diocese Fillingham belonged, from which it appears
that Wiclif applied for and obtained in 1368 the consent of
his bishop to an absence of two years from his parish
church of Fillingham, in order to devote himself to the
studies of Oxford." It may be conjectured that he had
obtained simUar leave of non-residence on previous occa
sions, in each instance for a like period of two years.
On the other hand, his nomination to the rectorship of a
landward parish made it a necessity that he should relinquish
the mastership of BaUiol. That this took place in point of
fact may be inferred from a circumstance of which docu
mentary proof stiU exists in the account-books of Queen's
College, that Wichf, in October 1363, and for several years
afterwards, paid rent for an apartment in the buildings of
that college. AA'e know, besides, from other sources, that in
1366 a certain John Hugate was Master of Balliol.
During the twenty years which we have in view in the
present chapter, AViclif s work in Oxford was twofold, partly
scientific, as a man of scholastic learning, and partly practi
cal, as a member, and for some time president of a college,
and also as Magister regens in the general body of the
¦ University. That he did not apply himself continuously
to pastoral labours in FUlingham (from 1361) may be
assumed with certainty. With respect to his scientific la
bours, he commenced while yet only a master in the faculty
of Arts by giving disputations and lectures on philosophical
subjects, particularly in Logic. From many passages of his
extant manuscript works it appears that he gave courses

160 LIFE OF WICLIF.
of such lectures with zeal and success. But from the time
when he became Bachelor of Theology, he was at liberty to
deliver theological lectures in addition— i.e., only, in the first
instance, on the Bibhcal books, not on the Sentences of the
Lombard, which latter privilege was reserved exclusively
for the higher grades of Bachelorship and the Doctors of
Theology. But the Biblical lectures which he delivered,
it may be conjectured, proved of the greatest use to him
self, for, in teaching the Scriptures to others, he first learned
the true meaning of them himself (docendo discimus) ; so that
these lectures unconsciously served as a preparation for his
later labours as a Reformer.
But Wichf had also the opportunity of acquiring practical
ability, and of making himself useful, by taking part as a
Fellow of Merton College in the administration of that
society. Doubtless, the fruitfulness and utility of his
activity in this position contributed essentiaUy to bring
about his appointment to the headship of Balliol. What was
chiefly valued in him in this relation appears in the clearest
manner from the document by which the Archbishop of Can
terbury, Simon Islip, an earlier fellow-student of his, ap
pointed Wiclif to the Presidency of " Canterbury Hall."
The archbishop gives as his reason for this nomination,
apart from Wiclif's learning and estimable hfe, his practical
qualifications of fidelity, circumspection, and diligence.'
Section II. — Wiclif as Head of Canterbury Hall and
Doctor of Theology.
In the meantime, as has just been mentioned by anticipa
tion, Wiclif had been appointed to the headship of a smaU
newly-founded coUege. But this position also, without any

CANTERBURY HALL. 161
blame on his part, proved to be one of only short duration.
AA"e mean the position of AA'arden of Canterbury Hall —
a point in his biography, however, which is attended with
more than one historical difficulty. Up till 1840 it was the
universally received understanding that \\'iclif was for some
time head of this new hall.
Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, founded a Hall
in Oxford which should bear the name of the Archi-
episcopal See. Its flrst warden was a monk of violent
character named AA'^oodhall, under whom there was no end
of contention among the members ; to remedy which the
Archbishop removed AA'oodhall from the headship, and re
placed three other members, who were monks, by secular
priests. In 1365 he appointed '• John of AA'iclif" to be second
warden, and entrusted to him the oversight of the eleven
scholars, who were now all seculars. But in the following
spring (26th April 1366), the active Archbishop Isiip
deceased; and was succeeded, as Primate of England, in
1367. by Simon Langham, a man who had previously been
a monk, and continued to cherish a thoroughly monastic
spirit. By him AAHclif was deposed from his wardenship,
and the three members who had been introduced along
with him were removed from the college. Langhani
restored AVoodhall to the headship, and the three monks
who had been deprived along with him were once more
made members. AA'iclif and the three Fellows appealed from
the Archbishop to the Pope, but the process proved an
uncommonly protracted one, and ended in 1370 with the
rejection of AA'iclif and his fellow-uppellants, and with the
confirmation of their opponents in their several places.
The termination of this affair exceeds by several years the
limit of the present period of AA^iclif's life; but for the sake
VOL. L L

162 life of wiclif.
of connection we shaU dispose of the whole subject in the
present place. From the fourteenth century down to our own
time, this chapter of Wiclif's history has been turned to
polemical use against him by his literary adversaries. They
knew how to attribute his antagonistic tendencies, and
especially his attacks upon the Pope and the monastic
system, to motives of petty personal revenge for the losses
which he had incurred on this occasion, and thus to damage
his character and fair fame. We shall, therefore, have to
inquire whether this imputation is well-grounded or not,
keeping before us, however, here as always, the truth as our
highest aim.
We might, indeed, have entirely dispensed with the
elucidation^ if it could be shown that this whole account
had been smuggled into the biography of the precursor of
the Reformation only by confounding him with another
individual of the same name. This view of the subject has,
in fact, been recently entertained and defended with no
inconsiderable amount of learning and acutenesss. It is
due to truth, however, at once to state that it was by no
means the design of the scholars whom we have now in our
eye in this investigation, to offer any defence against these
imputations, but simply and solely to bring to the light the
historical facts of the case as they really occurred.
The historico-critical difficulties which have here to be
solved, may be comprised in two questions : —
1. Is John AViclif, the AVarden of Canterbury Hall,
identical with AA^iclif the precursor of the Reformation, or
is he not?
2. Was the appointment of Wiclif to the headship of the
Hall, and of those three secular priests or members of the
same, contrary to the terms of the foundation, or not ?

JOHN WrCLYVE of jiayfield. 1(13
AVe shall be obliged to distinguish these two questions, but
we cannot keep them mechanically separate iji our incpiiry.
In August 1841, there appeared an article in the Gentle-
mans Maaadne, whose anonymous author was professedly
a member of the Court of RsmVlvy—Courthope. This article
first made the attempt to show that " John AA^yclyve " the
AVarden of Canterbury Hall, was a person to be carefully dis
tinguished from the celebrated AVichf.i^ The writer had been
led to this conclusion in the course of drawing up a local
history of the Archbishop's Palace of Mayfield, in Sussex.
He discovered, that is to say, in the Archives of Canterbury,
that on the 20th July 1361, a "John Wyclyve" was ap
pointed parish priest of Mayfield by Archbishop Islip
— the same prelate who, four years later, was to nominate
John AA'yclyve to the presidency of Canterbury Hall ; and,
what is remarkable, the deed of this later nomination is
dated at Mayfield, 9th December 1365, where Islip seems to
have had his ordinary residence since. the time when he
appointed "John of Wyclyve" to the parish. Further, the
tone in which the Archbishop speaks in the deed, of the
learning and excellent quahties of the man whom he
nominates to the v.'ardenship, presupposes intimate personal
acquaintance, and does not leave the impression that this
commendation was mere language of form.^^ In addition
lo all this, it seerned to the critic to be a circumstance worth
consideration, that the name itself in both documents, viz.,
in the deed of appointment to the parish, and in that ot
appointment to the wardenship, is written with clyve in the
second syllable, whereas the name of our AA'iclif and tho
AVarden of Balliol is found in all documents written with
lif ox liffe. Last of all, the critic lays stress upon the fact
that the Archbishop shortly before his death, in April

1(54 LIFE OF WICLIF.
1366, was taking steps to allocate the income of the parish
church of Mayfield to the support of the AVarden of the
Hall, which, however, was prevented by his death. But aU
this appears decidedly to imply that it was the parish priest
of Mayfield who was promoted to the Wardenship of the
HaU; he was, however, in 1380 transferred to the neigh
bouring parish of Horstedkaynes, and received a prebend
in the cathedral church of Chichester. He died in 1383,
only one year before our AA'iclif.
This learned and acute investigation attracted much
attention. On the one hand it commended itself to many,
and there were not wanting men of learning who went
even farther, and undertook to prove that three or even
four men of the name of John AA^iclif, and aU belonging
to the clerical order, lived at the same time. This last
assertion we leave on one side as resting upon a mis
understanding. But all the less ought we to accept,
untested, the view that it was John Wiclif, parish priest
of Mayfield, and afterwards of Horstedkaynes, and not the
celebrated AViclif, who was promoted by Islip to the Warden-
ship of the New Hall in Oxford, deposed by the Archbishop's
successor, and thereby occasioned to carry on a process
before the Roman Curia. For this view has been accepted
and supported with additional arguments by other investi
gators, and especially by the late Professor of Ecclesias
tical History in Oxford, Walter Waddington Shirley .^^ The
latter is also of opinion that that John AVyclif, who is
mentioned as member and seneschal of Merton College
in 1356, must likewise have been the Wyclyve of Mayfield,
and not our AA'iclif. To this last point, which we believe
we have already disposed of by what was said upon it above,
we shall, however, have occasion once again to return. But

WICLIF OF MAYFIELD NOT WARDEN. 165
the question Avhether John AA^iclif, the head of Canter
bury HaU, is, or is not, one and the same person with our
AA'iclit, is one which (if we mistake not) still remaiiiw to-day
undecided, inasmuch as Shirley and others answer it in the
negative, while A'aughan and the loavnod editors of the
AVichf Bible, Rev. Josia ForshaU and Sir Frederick Madden,
affirm it in tbe most decided manner.
Let us first examine the grounds which are alleged
against the identity of our \A'iclif, and in support of the
identity of the less celebrated AA'iclif of Mayfield, with the
AVarden of Canterbury Hall. 1. The argument founded upon
the form of the name is converted, upon closer examination,
into an argument in favour of the identiflcation of our Wiclif
with the AA'arden of Canterbury HaU. By careful investiga
tion among documents of the period, the late Prebendary
AA'ilkinson estabHshed the fact that the name of the parish
priest of ilayfleld is always written AA'hitchff, or AVhytclyfe,
etc., i.e., is uniformly written with t in the first syllable, while
the name of our AA'iclif and of the AA'arden of that Hall never
appears with t in the first syllable. 2. The argument
founded upon the circumstance that the Archbishop's deed
of appointment is dated at Alayfield is a precarious one, for
this fact, taken by itself, by no means necessarily leads to
the inference which has been drawn from it. 3. Hence this
second ground is combined with a third, viz., that the terms
of the deed imply a personal acquaintance of the Archbishop
wdth his nominee. This is undoubtedly the case. But it
does not follow from this that the Archbishop's nominee
was the parish priest of Alayfleld, with whom, of course,
from his frequent residence tliere for several years, he was
perfectly well acquainted. For it is certainly quite possible
that the Archbishop was also personally acquainted with our

166 LIFE OF WICLIF.
AViclif; and if it is true, as from what has been said above
there is no reason to doubt, that the AViclif known to fame
was for several years after his student course a member of
Merton CoUege, it is extremely probable that he and the
said Archbishop, who was also of the same college, were from
that time on a footing of mutual acquaintance and regard.
The other points alleged in support of the same view, we
leave aside as of less importance; but the observations
already made warrant us, we beheve, to maintain that the
grounds which have been alleged against the identity of
our AViclif with that personage of the same name who
was for a short time at the head of Canterbury Hall, prove
absolutely nothing.
On the other hand, if we are not quite mistaken, the
positive testimonies in favour of the identity are entirely
I decisive. 1. The oldest testimony in support of it is that
' of a younger contemporary of Wiclif. The learned Francis
can and Doctor of Theology, William Woodford, who wrote
against, AA'iclif while he was still living, and of whom Wiclif,
so far as I can find, speaks with genuine respect, in a
controversial treatise, entitled Seventy-Two Queries concerning
the Sacrament of the Altar, of the year 1381, mentions, as a
well-known fact, the circumstance, that Wiclif was driven
/by prelates and endowed monks from his position in Canter
bury Hall. Still further, AA'oodford brought Wiclifs subse
quent antagonism to the endowed orders into a connection
of his own suggestion with that incident of his life.^* This
testimony seems scarcely to leave room for any remaining
doubt, because its date reaches up to Wiclifs own life
time. It has been attempted, notwithstanding, to diminish
the weight of Woodford's testimony by the- observation
that he could not have had any personal recollection of

TESTIMONY OF WOODFORD. 167
that incident, for as his latest writing ocera-s in the year
1433, he must have been still a boy at the time of the
event in question ; besides which, these Serenfy-Two Queries
were written, it is alleged, in great haste, and in a time of
strong excitement and zealous controversy, when every
damaging story about AA'iclif might be expected to find will
ing ears; last of all, AA'oodford never repeated this allega
tion in his later writings, and his scholar, Thomas of AValden,
never once touches upon this story in his great polemical
work — from which it may be concluded that Thomas of
AA'alden had no behef in its truth.^' To all which we reply
that though Woodford was a younger man than AViclif, he
must yet have lived iu Oxford with him for some consider
able time, as is manifest, from the language of Wiclif in
the passage quoted in note 15, last referred to. He could
very well then have an exact and certain knowledge of the
whole affair ; and his manner of referring to the subject
coiTesponds well "with this, for it is no more than a short
incidental allusion to a well-known fact, introduced chiefly
for the sake of the alleged connection between the fact and
AViclif's polemics against the endowed orders. Nor can the
circumstances that AA'oodford does not recur to the subject
in his later writings, and that Thomas of AValden, who wrote
after him, never once mentions it, be of any avail as proof
against the truth of a fact vouched for by such testimony. It
is well known how precarious arguments a silentio are wont
in general to be. AA'e are, therefore, still prepared to assign
to the testimony of AVoodford a decisive weight in support
of the fact that our AA'iclif was nominated to the headship
of Canterbury Hall, but before two years had passed away
was again driven from his position.*
* Vide additional note 2, at the end of the chapter.

168 LIFE OF WICLIF.
2. It is remarkable that in Wiclif's own writings a pas
sage is found where he treats of that affair; and it is not
in the nature of a passing allusion, as in AVoodford, but a
pretty fuU investigation of the subject. But Wiclif handles
the matter so much upon the merits, and so Httle as a per
sonal affair, that at first sight it might admit of a doubt
whether he had himself really taken any part in the business.
In fact his manner of speaking has even been thought to
admit of being used as a testimony against the identity of
his person with that of the head of the Hall so often men
tioned. AVith all the more exactness must we look into the
language which he employs, having regard to the whole
connection of the passage.^" In the section of his book, De
Ecclesia, containing the passage, ha is treating of the property
of the Church, and the question in chap. 16, is whether the
provision of landed property for the Church is really a
necessity and a benefit for her, and not rather a mischief.
In particular, the author investigates the question, assuming,
as he does, the pretended Donation of Constantine to be a
historical fact, whether Silvester did right in accepting that
Donation. This question Wiclif answers in the negative.
But he also brings under review all the arguments adduced by
opponents against this negative. Among others, he brings
into view the fifth objection laid against his opinion, viz., that
if Bishop Sylvester in Rome committed a sin in accepting the
permanent endowment of the Church with lands, then in like
manner the colleges in Oxford have sinned in accepting gifts
of temporal estates for the support of poor clerics, and it
must consequently be the duty of the members of these
colleges spontaneously to forego the continued possession
of such lands ; yea, they ought in strict propriety to sohcit
their promoters and patrons to take back' again these

wiclif's own TESTIMONY. 169
dangerous rights and properties. But by such a course
essential injury AvoiUd be done to the religious liberality of
the people, and not only to tlie income of the clergy derived
from such foundations, but also to the provision made for the
poor. The indirect mode of proof used by his opponents takes
the form of reasoning per deducens ad familiare inconveniens,
i.e.. they are fain to deduce from AA'iclif's contention a conse
quence which touches very nearly the interest both of him
self and the corporation to which he belongs (familiare), and
the intolerableness of which or its practical mischievousness
(inconveniens) must at once be obvious.
In his reply AViclif denies the pretended logical exigency
of this reasoning, as if it followed from his premises that all
. endowments for the benefit of the University were sinful .
which is by no means the case ; but he urges that it is stiL
pr)ssible for a sin of inadvertence to creep in, not only in a
thing which is good in itself, but also in a transaction which is
morally good in respect to the personal motive from which it
proceeds. And this he will make plain in familiariore exemplo,
in an example lying still nearer to himself, or touching him
self stUl more closely.^' But this example is none other than
the incident of the foundation of a college in Oxford by
Archbishop Islip. He does not mention Canterbury Hall
by name, but that this college and no other is meant cannot
admit of the slightest doubt. WicHf mentions two chief
particulars in relation to this Hall : flrst, its original founda
tion by Simon Islip, audits endowment with landed property;
and next, the upsetting of that foundation by Archbishop
Simon Langham, to whom he gives the name of Anti-Simon,
because, with the same baptismal name as Islip, his way of
proceeding was antagonistic. To the founder he ascribes a
pious motive in his provision for the ccUege, even a more

170 LIFE OF WICLIF.
pious intention than had found place in the provision of
any of the monasteries of England ; but AA'iclif was ot
opinion, notwithstanding, that Islip had acted in the matter
not without sin, for the incorporation of a parish church, or
the alienation of an estate in mortmain, has never taken
place without sin, both in the giver and the receiver.^' But
as to Islip's successor in the primacy, who had completely
upset his arrangements in reference to the college, AA'iclif
maintains, in the most distinct manner, that he sinned in
so doing, much more than Islip himself. Now, the circum
stance that AViclif in this passage does not bring his own
person into view in a perfectly unmistakeable manner, as one
who was concerned in the college and the change which it
underwefit, is insuflScient to shake our conviction that he had
this personal concern in it notwithstanding. The objective
mode of speaking in the third person we are familiar
with in other instances; and that the incident had a
special relation to his own person, he gives us clearly to
understand in his use of the words familiaiius exemplum.
Fully ten years had passed away, when he wrote thus, since
his removal from the position of AA'"arden of Canterbury HaU,
for the hook De Ecclesia, -which contains the statements before
us, was written, as we undertake to show with precision, in
the year 1378. The affair had long ceased to give pain ; and
although at the time he had felt it keenly, the author was
now able to speak of it with perfect coolness, and simply
as a matter of fact. Like his opponent AA'oodford, however,
AA'ichf speaks of the incident in a manner which implies that
it was one weU known to aU ; for, with the exception of the
founder himself, he does not mention a single name— neither
that of the College nor that of Langham, nor even a single
name of any of the members of the College earlier'or later.

wiclif's own TESTIMONY. 171
And it is only a few features of the business which he brings
into prominence, and these only such as were of substantive
importance. On the one baud, that the design of the endow
ment of the foundation was a truly pious one; that the
statutes and arrangements of the house were worthy of
praise, and fitted to be of advantage to the Church ; and
that only secular clerics — i.e., learned men not belonging to
any of the monastic orders — were meant to devote themselves
therein to science. On the other hand, AA'iclif mentions no
more than that, after Islip's death, his instructions were
frustrated, the members who were in the enjoyment of the
foundation dispossessed, and several people introduced who
were by no means in need of it, but on the contrary in very
comfortable circumstances. But it is not mentioned that the
latter were monks exactly, and members of the Benedictine
foundation of Canterbury, although this comes out indirectly
fi-om the connexion ; while it is plainly told that the whole
change in the membership of the College had been carried
through by means of false representations (commenta mendacii,
fucus), and not without simony besides (symoniace).
This occurrence, AA'iclif thinks, must be a warning to the
Bishop of AA'inchester, to use foresight that a similar fate
may not befall his own foundation. AA'illiam of AA'ykeham,
one of the most leading prelates and statesmen of Eng
land in the fourteenth century (t 1404), had occupied him
self since 1373 with the foundation of a great college in
Oxford ; he had already formed a society in that year, for
whose maintenance he provided; in 1379 he concluded his
last purchases of ground for the building of the house ; and
on the 13th of April 1386, several years after Wiclif's death,
took place the solemn consecration of " St. Mary's College of
AVinchester in Oxford," which soon afterwards received the

172 LIFE OF WICLIF.
name of New CoUege, under which it stiU flourishes at the
present day. The way in which AA^iclif speaks of this
foundation of AVykeham shows clearly that the fact was
not yet a completed one, but was still only in the stage of
preparation. Otherwise, the advice which he modestly gives
the bishop (consulendum videtur domino Wyntoniensi, etc.)
would have 'come too late.^"
Let us now proceed to examine the second question,
AVas the appointment of AA'iclif as AA'arden of Canterbury
HaU, and of the three secular priests, William Selby, WiUiam
Middleworth, and Richard Benger to be members of the
same, contrary or not to the provisions of the foundation f
The opponents concerned answered this question, of
course, in the affirmative. They represented the matter
in this light : that the statutes of the College prescribed,
as a flxed principle, that a Benedictine of the chapter of
Canterbury must be warden, and that three monks in
addition from the same chapter must be members ; imply
ing that AA^iclif and those associated with him had put
forward unwarranted claims in demanding that the govern
ment of the College should lie in the hands of secular
priests, and that Wiclif should be made head. It was
Wiclif and his friends, they alleged, who had carried
through the proceeding of excluding from the College
Henry Woodhall, the then warden, and those members
wlio, like him, were Benedictines of Canterbury.^"
According to AViclif's showing, the exact opposite of all
this was the truth, viz., that Archbishop Islip had ordained
that secular priests alone should study in the College ; it
was only after the. death of the founder that members of
the archiepiscopal chapter, in contrariety to his will, had
placed themselves in possession. These two statements are

JUSTIFlCATltiN OF WICLIF'S ArP01NT:\lENT. 173
so directly contradictory as to nullify each other. It is
necessary to look about for information from other sources
in order to arrive at clearness on the subject. And fortu
nately such information is available in the ciglit documents
relating to this business, Avhich Lewis obtained from the
archiepiscopal archives, and has published in the Appendix
to his Hfe of AA'iclif. Two royal edicts in particular are here
of importance. In the first, dated 20th October 1361,
Edward HI. grants his consent to the proposal of Arch
bishop Simon Islip to found a Canterbury Hall in Oxford,
and to attach fo and incorporate with this hall, as soon as
it is erected, the Church, i.e., the Church revenues of
Pagham in Sussex. The second royal ordinance, of 8th April
1372, contains the confirmation of the Papal judgment of
1370, by which Wiclif and his associates of Canterbury Hall
were finally excluded. In both these decrees mention is made
of two classes of members of the college, who, according to
the intention of the founder, were to live together in it
— monks and non-monks ; ^^ and in the second decree, con
sistently with this, a charge of departure from the terms of
the original royal confirmation is laid equally against the
determination of the founder himself, by which he subse
quently set aside the monkish members, so that only non-
monks should remain in the College, and against the Papal
decision, in virtue of which, in all time coming, monks alone
from the Benedictine Convent of Canterbury should be
members.^^ But notwithstanding this charge, Edward
III. in the latter edict grants remission for these viola
tions of the fundamental statute of Islip, but not without
requiring the Prior and Convent of Canterbury to pay
into the King's treasurer beforehand 200 raarks,23 a
naive condition, which confirms in the fullest manner the

174 LIFE OF WICLIF.
accusation which, as we saw, AViclif himself makes, that
simony had had a part in the game. Thus, it appears
that the royal confirmation of the foundation originally
proceeded on the assumption that two classes of members
should be united in the CoUege, monks and non-monks.
This confirmation, however, was set forth before the new
hall was actually founded, when the archbishop had first
determined upon its plan, and was desirous of paving .the
way for carrying it out by obtaining the necessary consent
on the part of the State. The document, therefore, allows
conclusions to be drawn from it only in regard to the origiual
intentions of the founder, but gives no assurance that when
Islip, a year later (1362), actuaUy completed the foundation
and carried it into effect, that two-fold description of mem
bership was ordained in the statutes of the foundation. In
this connection it is in the highest degree worthy of atten
tion that the archbishop himself, in his deed of 13th April
1363, wherein he gifts to the hall his estate of Woodford,
refers, indeed, to the number of the members as twelve, who
should form the College, but does not, in a single word, give
it to be understood that part of the places therein must
be filled with monks.^* The deed of nomination, it is true,
has a different sound, wherein, on 13th March 1362, the
Prior and Chapter of Christ Church in Canterbury propose
to Archbishop Islip for the headship of the new-founded
Canterbury HaU in Oxford three of their brethren of the
Benedictine Abbey (Henry AA'oodhall, Doctor of Theology,
Dr. John Redingate, and WiUiam Richmond), from among
Avhom he may himself appoint a warden. In this document, in
fact, they refer themselves to an order made by the archbishop
himself, in virtue of which this nomination should be made
by them.25 There is no room, therefore, to doubt that the

.TUSTIFICATION OF WICLIF'S APPOINTMENT. 175
archbishop, in the first instance, desired that at least tlio
head of his CoUege should be taken from the Benedictine
order, and more specilically from the chapter of Christ Church
in Canferbuiy, and that he secured this by his statutes.
But it does not appear that any provision was made by
the deeds of foundation that, in addition to the dignity of
the headship, three places of the membership must also be
filled with monks ; -'' but, as a matter of fact, there were
found in the haU, during the flrst stage of its existence, in
addition to Henry Woodhall, who was its flrst warden, three
additional monks from the Benedictine monastery of Canter
bury. How it came to pass that a change in this respect was
introduced does not clearly appear. The monk party repre
sent the course which things took in this manner : that
AA'iclif and his associates (Selby, Middleworth, and Benger),
in an overbearing spirit, and without warrant, put forth the
claim that the government of the College behoved to be in
the hands of the secular priests, and in particular that John
AA'iclif ought to be warden ; and so they had expelled the
said warden, Henry AA'oodhall, and the other Benedictines,
from the College, and taken the property of the foundation
into their own possession.-'^ But that this rejsresentation is
in contradiction to the actual course of the affair is evident,
beyond any doubt, from the royal edict of 8th April 1372,
before produced, in which it is said, in plain terms, that it was
the archbishop himself who displaced the existing warden
and those members who were monks, and aUowed only those
scholars who were not monks to remain, and who had ap
pointed one man of the same category to the wardenship.^s
The testimony of this royal warrant is all the more trust
worthy from its apparent impartiality, for with these words

176 LIFE OF WICLIF.
is immediately joined the inculpatory remark, that this
measure of the archbishop was in contradiction to the
original approval on the part of the State ; and the words of
the document sound indeed as if Islip had not merely
intervened in a passing act, but had put his hand to an
essential alteration of the statutes. And it is at this point
that the remark of AA''iclif (De Ecclesia, c. 16) comes in,
that Ishp had appointed that secidar clerics alone should
study in the CoUege, which also took effect. Taken by
themselves, his words might, indeed, lead one to think
that Wiclif is speaking of the original statute. But this
is not the true sense : he is speaking rather of the last
ordinance of the archbishop, making an alteration on the
first statute ; and the term ordinance can undoubtedly have
this meaning. If we so take the words, the contradiction
disappears which at first sight exists between Wiclif's repre
sentation of the proceeding and that contained in the
royal edict. But the representation of the opposite party
exhibited to the Papal curia, as gathered from the mandate
of. Urban V., is irreconcilable with both these representa
tions, and must be characterised as a manifest misrepresenta
tion of the facts and a malicious calumny. The result of our
investigation, therefore, is the following : — That the appoint
ment of AViclif to the headship of Canterbury Hall was con
trary to the original foundation-statutes as approved on the
side of the State, but it proceeded upon an alteration of the
first statutes subsequently made by the founder himself.
On 9th December 1365, Wiclif was nominated AA'arden of
1 Canterbury Hall by Archbishop Ishp, Five months from
that date were not yet full when the worthy archbishop died
(26th April 1366). His successor, Stephen Langham, was
enthroned 25tli March 1367, and on the sixth day thereafter

CANTERBURY HALL. 177
(31st Alarch) he nominated John Redingate to bo AVarden
of the Hall. AA'iclif of course, must have been previously
deposed. The new AA'arden was a Benedictine of Canter
bury, and one of the original members of the hall. Three
weeks later, however (22nd April 1367), the archbishop re
called this nomination, and re-appointed the earlier head of
the haU, Henry AVoodhall, to the wardenship, to whose
authority AA'iclif should now, along with the other members,
be subjecf.29 But even so much as this reduced position in
the college was not allowed to him. On the contrary, the
restoration now destined by the monkish archbishop for
Canterbury HaU, led to the exclusion of all the secular mem
bers. AA'iclif and his feUows appealed from the archbishop
to the Pope ; but as Langham, in the next year after his
being made archbishop, was promoted to the cardinalate, and
went to Avignon, the issue of the appeal was a judgment
by which AA''icHf and his fellows were definitively expeUed,
and the college was thenceforward exclusively filled with
monks of Christ Church in Canterbury.
This decision was at all events stiU more opposed to
the original meaning and intention of the foundation, than
that the hall should have been for a time exclusively in
the enjoyment of men who were not monks. For from the
first the secular element had at least outweighed the
other, even if we assume, what is by no means proved, that,
according to the original statutes, four members of the
twelve behoved to be monks ; still more if the only point
fixed by the statutes was that the Head of the house
should be a Benedictine of Canterbury, while the introduc
tion of three other Canterbury monks was possibly not pre
scribed in the statutes, but had only proceeded from the
free determination of the founder. Wiclif himself, as we
VOL. I. M

178 LIFE OF WICLIF.
have seen, uses very strong language respecting the contrast
in which the measures of the new archbishop stood to the
ordering (more accurately the last ordering) of his predeces
sor (ever sum est tarn pii patroni propositum. Anti-Simon, etc.).
And the government decree itself appears to look upon the
last re-constitution of the college as a much more serious con
tradiction to the original foundation approved by the State
than the alteration which was made by Islip himself; for of
this latter it is only said that it was done prceter licentiam
nostram supradictam — beyond or in excess of our foresaid
licence — whereas the exclusion of all secular members is
declared to be contra formam licentice nostra supradictce — in
the teeth of our licence, and not merely beyond or in excess
of it. This difference of language is plainly intentional,
and it will certainly be allowed that the latter expres
sion is the stronger and more decisive of the two.
Here the original statute is the only standard of judg
ment, for in this decree, issued by the Government, it is
only the legality of the different acts in question which is
dealt with.
But AA'iclif does not apply to the question this low formal
standard only, but forms his judgment of the last organic
change which had been made, upon its substantive
merits in point of congruity with the ends contem
plated by the foundation. And here his judgment is
one of entire disapproval, because the newly-appointed
members being already over-richly provided for, were by no
means in need of the bounty of such a foundation. He has
here in his eye the extensive landed possessions belonging
to the Benedictine monastery of Canterbury, which was
organically connected with the Archiepiscopal Cathedral,
while the coUeges in Oxford, as in Paris and other univer-

wiclif's DOCTORATE IX THEOLOOY. 179
sities, were originaUy and principally intended for the sup
port of the poorer class of students, and of masters without
independent means. This language of A\'iclif, however,
as before remarked, is used in a purely objective sense, and
by no means in such a tone as would warrant us to assume
that the painful experiences which he had had to endure in
his relations to the oft-mentioned college, may have had a
determining influence upon his ecclesiastical views and work.
It is only, however, a thorough exhibition of his public
conduct that can throw light upon the question, whether
there is any truth in the hostile allegation that the position
of antagonism taken up by AA'iclif against the Church, and
especially against prelates and monastic orders, took its rise
in injury done to his own private interests, and was thus
inspired by low motives and personal revenge.
Canterbury HaU no longer exists in Oxford as an inde
pendent foundation, for after the Reformation the buildings
of the haU passed over to the stately college of Christ
Church, founded by Cardinal AA'olsey.
Returning now to the year 1366 — the limit of the period
assigned to the present chapter, and which we have been
led to exceed by four or six years in order to flnish the .
topic now discussed — this year was possibly the date at '
which Wiclif reached the highest degree of academic dignity,
that of doctor in the Theological Faculty. Since the six
teenth century it has been assumed, on the authority of a
statement of Bishop Bale, that Wichf became doctor of
theology in 1372.'° In assigning this date. Bale, it may be
conjectured, proceeded upon the fact that in the royal
ordinance of 26th July 1374, which nominated commis
sioners for negotiations with the Papal Court, AA'iclif is
introduced as sacrce theologiee professor, at which date, there-

180 LIFE OF WICLIF.
fore, he must have been already doctor.^i And here let me
remark by the way, that the title of professor of theology
given to Wiclif, has generally been misunderstood, as though
it meant that he had been appointed to a professorial chair.
But this rests upon an anachronism. The medieval
universities, down at least to the fifteenth century, knew
nothing of professors in the sense of modern universities.
The title sacra pagince, or theologiee professor, denotes in the
fourteenth century, not an university office, to be thought of
in connection with particular duties and rights, and especially
with a fixed stipend, but only an academic degree ; for it is
equivalent to the title of doctor of theology. Such an one
had the full right to deliver theological lectures, but was
under no special obligation to do so, nor, apart from some
trifling dues as a member of the Theological Faculty, had
he any salary proper, except in cases where, along with the
degree, some church-living might be conferred upon him.'^
So much as this we know from the royal document just
mentioned, that Wiclif was a doctor of theology in the year
1374. But it is only the latest possible date which is thus
fixed; and Bale conjectured with good reason, that Wiclif
must have become a doctor some considerable time before,
and suggested the year 1372.^3 Shirley, on the other hand,
beheves that he is able to make out, with some probaljUity,
that Wiclif was promoted to this degree as early as 1363.
He supports this view upon several polemical pieces of the
Carmelite John Cunningham, directed against AViclif, which
he has himself published. And it is indeed worth remarking,
that that monkish theologian in his first essay, as well as in
the introduction to it, speaks of WicHf exclusively under the
title of magister, whereas in the second and third, he uses
the titles magister and doctor interchangeably.'* But now

DATE OF wiclif's DOCTORATE. 181
the first of these essays where the latter title never once
occurs, has reference to a tract of AA'iclif, in which he men
tions that it is not his intention to go, for the present, into
the question of the right of property (de dominio) ; '* while a
fragment upon this question, which Lewis gives in his
appendix to the life of AA'iclif,'" was probably written in
1366, and the larger work of AA'iclif, De Dominio Divino, from
which that fragment, it is likely, was taken, was written at
latest in 1308. Hence Shirley believes that he may perhaps
indicate the year 1 363, as that in which AViclif received his
degree. AA'e are unable, however, to concur in this conjecture,
because we have positive testimony to show that in the
end of the year 1365, AA'iclif was only master of arts, and
not yet doctor of theology. For Archbishop Islip describes
him in the document of 9th December 1365, in which
he nominates him to the headship of Canterbury Hall, as
magister in artibus, whereas'^ the whole connection shows
that he would certainly have laid stress upon the higher
academic degree, if AA'iclif had already possessed it.
The fact then stands thus, that Wiclif, in 1374, was a
doctor of theology, but not yet in 1365. In the intervening
period between these two dates he must have taken that
degi-ee ; but to fix the time with precision is impossible, for
lack of documentary authority.

NOTES TO CHAPTER IIL

1. John Lewis, History, etc., I. 4. Vaughan, Life and Opinions, I. 241. Mono
graph, p. 39 f.
2. Compotus Ric. BiUmgham, bursarii 30 Edward III., Rot. in thesaurario CoU.
Merton, as referred to by the Editors of the Wiclif Bible, p. 7.
3. Shirley, Fasciculi Zizaniorum, p. 511.
4. Lewis, History, etc., p. 4.
5. Comp. Sam. Lewis, Topographical Dictionary, 5 ed., Lond. 1842; 4to.
Abbotsley. 6. Shirley gives an exact account of these documents in notes 4 and 5 on p.
XIV. of the " Introduction." [Several of them are transcribed in " BUey's Report
to the Royal Commission on Historical MSS. on the Archives of BalUol CoUege."—
Translator. ]
7. The entry in the Episcopal, Register of Lincoln, Bishop Bokyngham's, 1363- ,
1397, is as foUows : — "Idibus Aprilis, anno domini millesimo CCCmo. LXVIII.
apud parJcum Stowe concessa fuit licentia magistro Juhanni de Wycleve, rectori
ecclesim de Fylingham, quod posset se absentare ab ecclesia sua insistendo literarum
studio in Universitate Oxon. per biennium.''
8. The remarks made by Buddensieg in opposition to this view (Zeitschrift fUr
Historische Theologie, 1874, p. 316) rest upon what I consider to be an erroneous
interpretation of the entries in the account-books of Queen's CoUege, communi
cated by Shirley in the " Fasciculi," p. 614 ; for these entries manifestly refer, not
to short stays in the college rooms, but to rents of rooms paid by the year, with
which sense alone agrees the recurring mention of Wiclif's camera. In a passage
of his paper further on, Buddensieg himself understands all the entries in ques
tion of a two years' rental.
9. Lewis History, Appendix No. 3, p. 290.
10. The substance of the article is given in the appendix to Townsend's
edition of Foxe's Acts and Monuments, III. 812, and in the appendix to
Vaughan's Monograph, p. 647 f. In the latter, however, the year 1844 is
printed by mistake for 1841.
11. "Ad -vitae tuae et conversationis laudabilis honestatem, literarumque
scientiam, quibus personam tuam in artibus majjistratam Altissimus insignivit,
mentis nostra oculos dirigentes, ac de tuis fideUtate, circumspectione et industria
plurimum confidentes in custodem Aulae nostrse Cantuar — te Prsefecimus," etc. —
Wood's History and Antiquities, Oxon., I. p. 184 ; Lewis History, etc., p. 290.
12. In a long Excursus to his edition of the Fasciculi Zizamiorum, p.
r.13-528.

NOTES TO CILVPTER m. 183
13. WicUf caUs him Doctor mens Rererendus Mr. WiUehnns Wodford in his
work i>e Civili Dominio, iii. w. IS, \'ienna J!SS., 1340, fol. 141, col 2. He says
of him—'- A7-guit contra hoc compendiose ct subtil iter mcn-e suo. Et rcreraobligaciorct
amplius huic doctori mco, y«o in divcrsis gradibus ct actibas scolasticis didici ex ejus
exercitaiione modesta muXtas mihi notabiles reritates."
14. Of this writing, which hixs never been printed— Septuaginta duo QuEes-
tiones de Sacr:uuento altaris— there is preserved a MS. in the Bodleian, No. 703.
Harl. 31, fol 31. Under Quoestio 50 the author speaks of the polemic of Wiclif
against the monks in the foUowing style: — "Et hiec contra reUgiosos insania
generata est ex oorruptione. Nam priusquam per religiosos possessionatos et
prselatos expulsus fuerat de aula Monachorum Cantuariae, nihil contra possession-
»tos attemptavit quod esset alicujus ponderis. Et prius quam per relii^iosos
Mendicantes reprobatus fuit publico de heresibus in Sacramento altaris, nihU
contra eos attemptavit, sed posterius multipUciter eos diffamavit ; ita quod doc-
trinse suae malae et infestse contra reUgiosos et possessionatos et Mendicantes
generate fuerunt ex putrefactionibus et melancoUis." — Shirley, p. 517 f.
14. Shirley, as above.
15. Shirley was the first to call attention to this passage, and he has given it,
though not at fuU length, in the " Note on the two John Wiclifs,'' at the end of
the Fasciculi, p. 526. I had found the passage before I observed that he had
already given an extract from it. But I found it necessary to reproduce the
context with somewhat greater fulness. Vide Appendix III.
16. The words in familiariori exemplo cannot be understood in any other
sense. The comparative here points back to the preceding positive, familiare
inconveniens. Opponents h:ul pointed to the endowments of the University and
its coUeges as matters nearly affecting Wiclif's interest, but WicUf repUes by
pointing to something which touched his personal interest more nearly and more
directly stUl ; and it is this comparative familiariori exemplo — not Shirley's reading
of the il S. /amiZJari — which is of decisive importance for our inquiry.
17. Wiclif here no doubt alludes, in addition to the estate of Woodford, to the
church of " Pageham " (Pagham in Sussex, on the coast of the C'hannel) which
the archbishop had incorporated with the foundation ot his hall, as appears from
several documents which have come down to us. ( T'/(ie Lewis, pp. 286, 293.
Shirley is right in referring the aUeged sin of Archbishop Islip to this act of
incorporation, whereas Dr. Vaughan, in an article in the British Quarterly Review,
October 1S58, erroneously refers Wiclif's censure to the circumstance that the
Primate had, in the first instance, introduced into his foundation both monks and
seculars. 18. Robert Lowth, Life of WiUiam of Wykeha/m, Bishop of Winchester, 17":8,
pp. 93, 176 f.
19. The identity of our Wiclif with the warden of Canterbury Hall is in
directly confirmed by the circumstance that Benger, Middleworth, and Selby, who
were members of the hall under John Wiclif, 1366-66, had previously been mem
bers of Merton College, like WicUf himself, and were afterwards, with the
exception of Benger, members of Queen's College, with which WicUf also, as is

184 LIFE OF WICLIF.
weU known, stood in a certain connection. — Fide Buddensieg ; Zeitschrift, &c., as
above p. 336.
20. We learn that this was the representation of the case made in the com
plaint addressed by Wiclif's opponents to the Papal See, from the mandate of
Urban V. of 11th May 1370, by which the process was decided.— Fide Lewis, p.
292 f, for the documents.
21. Aula {Cantuariensis) in qua certus erit numerus scholarium tarn religiosorum
quam secularium, etc. — No 1 in Lewis, p. 286 ; No. 8, p. 297, 301.
22. Prwter licentiam nostram supradictam. Contra formam licentice nostra;
supradietce. — Lewis, pp. 298, 299.
23. De gratia nostra speciali, et pro ducentis marcis quas dicti prior et conventus
nobis solverunt in hanaperio nostra, perdonavimus omnes transgressiones f actus, etc.
—Lewis, p. 229.
24. Q,uam (aulam) pro duodenario studentium numero duximus ordinandam.
25. Juxta formam et effectum ordinationis vestrie factae in hac parte. — Lewis,
287, No. 2.
26. Lewis, No. 4, p. 290.
27. The latter was maintained by Wiclif's opponents in their representation to
the Curia ; but that the matter was not placed beyond doubt is plain from the
language of the deed, which intentionaUy left it indeterminate.
28. Falsa asserentes, dictum collegium per clericus seculares regi debere, dictum
Johannem fore custodem coUegii supradicti. Monachos de ipso collegia exduserunt. —
Lewis, No. 7, p. 292.
29. Amotis omnino per praedictum archiepiscopum — Custode et cseteris Monachis
Bcolaribus — ab aula praedicta, idem archiepiscopus quondam scolarem (secularem ?)
custodem dictae Aulse, ac caeteros omnes scolares in eadem seculares (so to be
read instead of scolares) duntaxat constituerit, etc. — Lewis, No. 8, p. 298.
30. Lewis, No. 6, p. 292. An extract from a document of the archiepiscopal
archives. 31. Deorevit et declaravit solos Monachos pr^dictae ecclesiae Cant, secularibus
exclusis, debere in dicto collegio perpetuo remanere. — Lewis, No. 7, p. 295.
32. So Vaughan in his latest work on WicUf, the Monograph, p. 138.
33. Lewis, in Appendix No. 11, p. 304.
34. Comp. Thurot De I'Organisation de V Enseignment dans I'Universiti de Paris
au mcyyen Age, p. 158.
35. Shirley, Fasciculi, Sec, pp. 4, 14, 43, particularly pp. 73 /and 88/. Comp.
Introduction, p. xvi.
36. Do. p. 453.
37. Do. p. 456.
38. Lewis, No. 30, p. 349.
.S9. Lewis, No. 3, p. 290. Personam tuam in artibus magistratam, — so it should
be read with Anthony Wood, not magistratum, as Lewis has it.

ADDITIONAL NOTES TO CUxVPTER IU. 185
ADDITIONAL NOTES TO CHAPTER 111., BY THE
TRANSLATOR.
NOTE I. — wiclif's CONNECTION WITH BALLIOL COLLEGE.
On looking recently into the Rci/istrum Palatinum Dunelmense, issued in 1873,
under the editorship of Sir Thomas Hardy, Deputy Keeper of the Public Records,
my attention was attracted by a document (Vol. III., p. 381) entitled " Appro
priation of the Church of Jliklebenton to the Master and Scholars of Balliol HaU
in Oxford, by PhiUp de SomerviUe, and Statutes for the Regulation of six new
Fellows of the said HaU, a.d. 1340." The date being nearly coincident with that
at which WicUf must have begun his coUege career iu Oxford, and his mastership
of BaUiol only twenty years later being a matter of indisputable record, it at once
occurred to me that the document might possibly have some collateral bearing on
the question of Wiclifs connection with BaUiol at an earlier stage than his Master
ship. Nor was I disappointed in this surmise. I found, on a careful perusal, that
this deed of Sir PhiUp de Somerville suppUed some links which had hitherto been
missing from the reasonings of Wiclif's biographers on the interesting question of
the place and the course of his earUest studies in the University.
There are two copies of this deed given in the Registrum, the one fornung part
of the Register itself, the other printed in the Appendix from the original preserved
among the archives of BalUol CoUege. The editor printed the latter "becauss in
many instances it appears more correct than the transcript in the Register, and
gives clauses which are there omitted. In. some case.% however, the last-named MS.
contains what are apparently better readings." The original deed is signed and
sealed by the Bishop of Durham (Richard de Bury), at Aukland, 18th October
1340 ; by the Prior and Convent of Durham, 24th October 1340 ; by the Chan
ceUor of the University of Oxford on the day after the Purification of the Blessed
Virgin, 1340 ; and by the Master and scholars of Balliol on the same day.
On turning next to the Histories of the University and its coUeges, by Anthony
\Vood, and his predecessor Brian Twyne, and to the work entitled " Ballio-Fergus,"
a Commentary upon tJie foundation, founders, and affairs of Balliol College, by
Henry Savage, Master of BalUol, published in 1668, I found not only that Sir
Philip de SomervUle's Statutes had been in print for two centuries, but that a good
many other facts in the annals of BaUiol and the University were equally available
as side Ughts for the elucidation of WicUf's early University career ; not indeed to
the extent of determining anjrthing connected with it with absolute certainty, for
which we have not the attestation of express record, but to the effect of making it
appear that there is a high degree of probabUity that instead of having ever been
connected at any period of his University life, prior to his mastership of BalUol,
either as a commoner with Queen's, or as a Postmaster or FeUow with Merton, he was
aU along a BaUiol man, from his first coming up to Oxford in 1335 (taking Lechler's
approximate date) to his election to the mastership of his coUege.
In bringing together the materials of our argument, we begin with the date of
WicUf's mastership, which has recently been ascertained to have been as early at

186 LIFE OF WICLIF.
least as a.d. 1360. The year usually assigned hitherto was 1361, but Mr. Riley,
in his recent "Report to the Roj'al Commission on Historical Manuscripts," 1874,
states that Wiclif's name and style as " Master of the Hall called Le BaiUo halle
in Oxford" occurs in a Latin memorandum, existing among the College archives,
having reference to a suit brought against the college in the matter of some house
property belonging to it in the parish of St. Lawrence, Jewry, London, in the
34th year of the reign of King Edward the Third — i.e., a.d. 1360.
No man, however, could be elected Master of BaUiol unless he was at the time
one of the Fellows ; for it was one of the fundamental statutes of the house that
the FeUows should always choose the Principal or Master /'om their own number.
The statute stands thus in the original statutes of DevorguUla, a.d. 1282 : —
" Volumus quoad scholares nostri ex semetipsis eligant unum principalem cui ceteri
omnes humiliter obediant in his quae officium principalis contingunt, secundum
statuta et ccmsuetudines inter ipsos usitatas et approbatas.''
Nor was this fundamental statute afterwards changed by any of the additional
or altered statutes which were successively introduced. The statutes of Sir Philip
de Somerville, which were added in 1340 to those of Devorguilla, contained a pro
vision " that nothing was to be done under the former contrary to the provisions
of the latter." Though nothing therefore is said in these new statutes to the effect
of restricting the choice of the Fellows in the election of the Master to their own
number, the very reason of this omission \vfas that this provision had been clearly
laid down in the fundamental statutes. And it is a strong confirmation of the
fact that the original principle of election was not departed from under Sir
Philip's new statutes, that when the statutes were revised in 1364 by the
Bishop of London, the provision for the election of Master remained stiU the
same — ' 'Qui de se ipsis habeant unum magistrum ; " and again in 1433, when a
further modification of the statutes was made by the authority of another Bishop
of London — the same restrictive words were continued in force — " Qui de se ipsis
habeant unum magistrum.''
Wiclif, then, was unquestionably a FeUow of BaUiol before he was elected Master,
and if a FeUow or Postmaster of Merton of the same name had not appeared upon
the records of that college in the year 1356, who has for centuries been identified
with the master of Balliol, the inference from the fact of his having held a BaUiol
FeUowship, would have been natural and easy, that he had all along from the
first been a member of that House, up to the date of his election to the Master
ship. But in view of that Merton record, such an inference is attended with
great difiiculty, to surmount which we must either adopt the opinion of the late
Professor Shirley, that John Wiclif of BaUiol was a diflPerent man from John
V^clif of Merton ; or if we stiU hold them to be the same, we must conclude
that as WicUf the Reformer was a FeUow of both houses, he must either have
surrendered his Fellowship of BalUol to go to Merton, or have been elected for the
first time a Fellow of BalUol when he ceased, some time before his election to the
Mastership of the latter, to be a FeUow or Postmaster of Merton.
To enable us to choose between these alternatives of two different Wiclifs and
one only, there are several important facts avaUable, touching the relations of
these two coUeges to one another, and touching the financial conditions of BaUiol
CoUege in pa,rticular, which, so far as we know, have never yet been brought into

WICLIFS CONNECTION WITH BxVLLIOL COLLEGE. 187
view in connection with the question of Wiclif's relation to either or both of these
andent seats of learning.
If it be supposed that Wiclif could pass easily during the first twenty years cf
his university life in Oxford, from BalUol to Merton, and from Merton to BalUol,
or could be in official connection with both at the same time, no supposition could
be more contrary to aU probability, in view of the actual and well-ascertained
relations of the.ee two colleges at that very time. These two houses were the
headquarters of the two great antagonistic factions of the University during the
fourteenth century. Both the chief historians of O.xford, Brian Twyne and
Anthony Wood, give us ample and graphic information of these rival parties of the
Boreales and the Australes — the north countrymen and the south countrymen of
the University ; and if Merton stands out prominently in their accounts as the
centre and head of the faction of the south, it is not difficult to discover that
BalUol was the chief focus of the faction of the north.
To what a pitch of 'violence the contests of these factions had reached in 1334 —
the year preceding that on which Wiclif is conjectured by Professor Lechler to
have come up to Oxford, wiU appear from the foUowing passage of Wood's His
tory and Antiquities of the University of Oxford, vol. i., p. 426.
" This year several students of the University, as well as masters, bachelors
and scholars, did, under colour of some discord among them, and upon some pre
tences sought after, depart hence to Stamford in Lincolnshire, and there began or
rather renewed or continued an academy in the months (it should seem) of May,
June, and July. Camden and Mr. Twyne say that that university, or rather
school of Stamford, began from a discord that happened between the northern and
southern clerks of Oxford, the first of which having the worst, retired to the said place
and began there to profess letters ; yet when this controversy began they tell us not.
That such controversies between the northern and southern men have often
happened, is evidently apparent from what is before delivered ; and that also they
were now on foot, I doubt it not, forasmuch as the members of Merton College
refused, at this time and before, to elect northern scholars into their society, because
they and the University should be at peace ; as from several complaints of the church
of Durham against the Mertonian'i, is apparent."
The sources which Wood here refers to are Registrum diversarum
Epistolarum de officio Cane. Monachorum Eccl. Dunelmensis, fol. 18 et 48.
" Et in quodam parvo Registro in Cesta CEconomiea in Scacc. Coll. Mert., p. 19."
I had hoped to find these ancient epistles among the extant archives of Merton
CoUege, but a recent visit to the strong vaulted chamber in which these are de
posited, with aU the hearty aid of the coUege bursar, Mr. Edwardes, failed to bring
the documents to Ught. Nor do they appear to have met the practised eye of Mr.
RUey, when he drew up his recent report upon the Merton papers.
This secession from the University continued till 1336 — when the opposition
schools at Stamford were forcibly suppressed by the authority of the King, and the
secessionists were under the necessity of returning, no doubt with the worst grace,
to Oxford. Who can doubt that the passionate grudges engendered by sucli a
high quarrel, must have continued to embitter the life of the University for many
years to come, and that the north countrymen in particular must long have cher
ished resentful memories of a struggle which had been marked on their side by

188 LIFE OF WICLIF.
such violent contrasts of proud disdain and ignominious submission. And this
was the state of feeling which Wiclif found to exist in the University in the
earliest years of his membership — a feeling with which, as a Borealis himseU, he
could scarcely fail to sympathise. Under date, A.D. 1343, Wood has the foUowing
entry : — " Clashing controversies."
But it was in the year 1349, when Wiclif had been probably fourteen years in
Oxford, that the southern faction, headed and organised by the Merton men, reached
the climax of violence and outrage. " But no sooner, " says Wood, " was that quarrel
(among the junior scholars) finished, but another happened among the masters con-
ceruing corrupt elections made aljout the office of ChanceUor the last year. Mr.
John WUIyot, lately Fellow of Merton CoUege, was designed to that office by the
generality, but some discovering an opposition caused all the quarrel, and at length
divided the University into parties ; for while Mr. WUlyot and his men were
plotting and contriving to bring their designs to pass, his antagonist would do
the Uke, and take all advantages to draw off, or at least lessen his -party. The
said factions continuing to the beginning of the year, WUlyot's party about
the end of March entered rudely into St. Mary's Church, at the time when the
Chancellor was to be elected, and there with clamour and shoutings cried him up
to be their ChanceUor, and on those that did oppose them they laid violent hands,
beat, kicked about, and cudgelled, till some were severely wounded and others in
a manner killed. At length after much ado, WUlyot's party had the better, in
stalled him, and put the fasces of authority into his hand, and caused Robert
Ingram, the northern proctor, who was a great opposer of WUlyot's party, to be
banished Oxford. In this riot one of the University chests was broken open, and
the common seal, with money, books, and certain chattels therein, were taken away,
and divers insolences relating to other matters committed. These things being
done, the particulars came to the King's knowledge, who forthwith sent his letters,
dated 2nd April, to Mr. John Willyot, Philip Codeford, William Hayes or Hues,
Robert de Wotton, Richard de Bellyngham, Michael Kyllegrew; John Banbury,
Richard Wanwayne, and Richard de Swyneshead, the chief leaders of the said
riotous election, and most of them, as also those before -mentioned, Merton CoUege
men, that they should under pain of forfeiting all that they have or enjoy, restore
tbe said seal and goods and other things taken away into the proctor's hands, to be
by them put in their usual place, and to have the chest sealed up as it was before.
" At the same time also, another command was sent to the said Mr.
Willyot, denoting that whereas he and his accomplices had proceeded against
the customs and statutes of the University in their late election of Chan
ceUor, and had banished one of the proctors with other persons, and had im
prisoned divers, that he forthwith upon the sight thereof cause them to be
recalled and restored to their liberty, to let them rest quietly without the dis
turbance of any person in the University ; and withal that neither he nor
any of his party hold any meetings, conventicles, congregations, etc., to the
disturbance of the peace, under forfeiture of all that they were worth. Not long
after, several commissioners were sent to Oxon. to examine or make search
into the said riot, and after they had so done, were to settle a right under
standing between the said parties. But in their proceedings, finding much wrong
to have been committed, they punished divers persons, and would have removed

wiclif's CONNECTION WITH BALLIOL COLLEGE. 189
Mr. WUlyot from his place had they not feared the scholars, whom they saw
ready (notwithstanding the King's letters for the conservation ot the peace) to
vindicate theii- late actions. So unanimous were they to defend what they bad
done, either by argument or blow, that rather than their man shoujd be put by,
they would venture their greatest strength, and if that would not do, then they
were resolved to to relinquish the University and settle themselves elsewhere to
study, and so by that means draw aU the southern men after them."
Such was the state of University factions in 1349. Merton was one of the
two foci of faction, and no doubt BalUol was the other, as a north country college
drawing most of its men and revenues from the country north of the Humber.
By recent additions to its revenues and the number of its members, its Master
and FeUows were now on a footing of full equality with those of Merton in point
of income and social standing, and would be regarded as the natural leaders of
all the Boreales of the University, including the Provost and FeUows of Queen's
CoUege, then newly founded and not yet very rich. Wiclif in 1349 was one of
its twenty-two FeUows, and for fourteen or fifteen years had doubtless been an
energetic sharer in aU the inteUectual and social excitement of the academic life.
Is it Ukely, then, that a FeUowship at Merton could ever have been an object of
ambition to a BaUiol man like him ? Or if it could have been so, is it in the least
probable that the Merton men would have been disposed to gratify him in that
point ? Only a few years before, as we have already seen, the Merton authorities
had been systematically excluding north-country men, and had drawn upon them
selves the remonstrances of the powerful Monastery of Durham ; and the offence
taken at Durham must have been felt even more strongly ui Durham CoUege in
Oxford, which was a, branch house recently founded of the great Benedictine
Monastery of the north, and with which BalUol had been brought into a close
administrative connection by the SomervUle Statutes. These two CoUeges were
no doubt as closely united in feeling against Merton and its proceedings as they
now were by statutory ties. It is in the highest degree improbable, therefore,
that Wiclif, if already a FeUow of BaUiol, would have sought to exchange that
position for a Postmastership of Merton ; or that the Fellows of Merton would
have admitted him to the membership of their society. And it is quite incredible
that if he had left his own coUege to go to Merton, which could not have faUed,
at a time when party feeling ran so high, to be condemned as an act of treachery
to his party, the Fellows of BaUiol would, a few years afterwards, have elected
him to their Mastership — the highest post of honour which they had to bestow.
To explain what is meant by the administrative connection between Balliol and
Durham CoUege just now refen'ed to, let me add here, as briefly as possible, that
the SomerviUe Statutes provided that the Prior or Warden of Durham CoUege7
set over it by the Prior of the Monastery of Durham, should have an effective
voice in the confirmation of the election or removal of the Master of BaUiol ; and also
in the confirmation of aU Fellows who were elected to the Theological FeUowships,
founded under those statutes, who must always be presented to him after their elec
tion, to be by him either confirmed or rejected as he might see cause. What influences
led to this singular statutory tie between Balliol and the Durham monks in Oxford I
do not find anywhere stated, but it is a curious subject of inquiry. The Durham
CoUege was a royal foundation of Edward IIL, the fulfilment of a vow made to

..lOO LIFE OF WICLIF.
the Virgin on the eve of his battle with the Scots at HomUdon HUl, near Berwick ;
and in the execution of his design he probably acted under the advice of
Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham, and Chancellor of the kingdom, who had
been his tutor ; and this advice had no doubt the aim of strengthening the interest
of north-country scholars in the University. " Durham College " was one of the
youngest institutions of the University, and it was apparently judged to be a good
way of giving it prestige to bring it into a vital connection with one of the oldest ;
and the consent of BaUiol to such an arrangement, so unusual and so open to
objection, is, on the face of it, a strong proof of the zeal of that anciefat house
for the north-country interest, and a collateral confirmation of its claim to be
regarded as the head-quarters of that interest in the University.
The financial conditions of BalUol, at the period of Wiclif's connection with it,
are equally unfavourable to the notion that he ever left it to go to Merton.
Precisely at this period its revenues had been brought into a condition of com
parative ease and affluence by two benefactions from Sir William Fenton and Sir
Philip de Somerville. The year 1341 was the date of both of these, and whether
Wiclif came up to the University in 1340 or in 1335, he entered at Balliol just
in time to be helped in the long progress of his studies in Arts and Theology by
these new endowments. Till these additional revenues accrued, the scholars or
fellows of the college were limited to sixteen in number, receiving a weekly allow
ance which was inadequate, and were obliged to leave the house as soon as they had
taken their Master's degree ; and no provision existed to aid them in prosecuting
their studies in the Theological Faculty. But the new joint-endowments brought
up the number of Fellows to twenty-two, increased the weekly aUowances by an
addition of one-half more, and provided for the support of six Theological FeUows
chosen out of the twenty-two, who were to continue in residence tUl they took
the degree of Bachelor in Theology. These ample provisions made it quite un
necessary for any Balliol man " of mark and likelihood " to remove to any other
college of the University in order to obtain the means of prosecuting his studies.
The Merton men themselves were in no respect better off. When Professor
Lechler suggested that Wiclif may have exchanged BaUiol for Merton on account
of the stringency of the fundamental statute of DevorguiUa, which required men
to leave the house on their taking their Master's degree, he wrote under the
impression that Sir William Felton's benefaction did not become available till
1361, whereas it accrued in fact in 1341 ; and he was not aware of the benefac
tions and the accompanying statutes of Sir Philip de Somerville of the same year.
These new statutes, intended to regulate the administration of the increased
f venues of the college, were a windfall for Wiclif and other young theologues
the favoured house. BaUiol from that red-letter year became a nursery not
only of Arts but of Scholastic Theology ; and we no longer need to doubt that
it was under the hospitable college roof of the Lord and Lady Balliol of Barnard
Castle that the great Reformer grew up, during a long residence of a quarter of
a century, to be one of the most consummate phUosophers and divines of his
nation and age.
Full details in regard to both these benefactions and their accompanying
statutes wUl be found in Henry Savage's Balliofergus, Oxford 1668 ; and in
Anthony Wood's History and Antiquities of the Colleges and Halls in the University
of Oxford, Oxford 1786.

ADDITION.\L NOTES TO CHAPTER IH. 191

NOTE H. — IDENTITY OF JOHN WICLIF THE REFORMER WITH JOHN
WICLIF THE WARDEN OF CANTERBURY HALL.
Dr. Lechler has omitted to bring forwai-d a material argument in support of the
Identity of Wiclif with the Warden of Cantei-bury Hall, which is supplied by one
of the original chronicles of the period, an omission which may have been owing to
the discredit thrown upon the authority of the chronicle by Professor Shirley in
his Note r.n the Two John Wiclifs, appended to the Fasc. Zizaniorum. This
omission can now be suppUed with more effect than it could have been four years
ago, owing to the recent discovery of the original Latin Chronicle, the contents
of which were only partially known before from tbe fragment of an old EngUsh
translation of it made in the 1 6th century, which was pubUshed in the Archac-
ohgia, xrii., p. 253.
This Chronicle has recently been given to the world in the series of Chronicles
and Memorials of Great Britain anil Ireland during the Middle Ages, brought
out under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, under the foUowing title :
Chronicon Anglice, ah anno domini 1328, usque ad annum 1388 ; Auctore Monacho
quodam Sancti Albani. Edited by Edward Maunde Thompson, Assistant
Keeper of the MSS. of the British Museum, 1874.
It is printed from a MS. of the Harleian CoUection, No. 3634, written on
veUum towards the close of the fourteenth century, which has hitherto escaped the
notice of historians. The MS. once belonged to Archbishop Parker, and was
lent by him to Foxe, the martyrologist, who several times refers to it under the
title of " Chronicon Monachi D. Albani." In one place his reference is in this
form, " Ex Historia Monachi D. Albani, ex accommodate D. Matth. Archiepis.
Cant." John Josceline, the archbishop's secretary, in his " Catalogus Historico-
rum " described it thus : " In ea multa continentur de WicUfFo, PapaU Schismate
et de magna Rusticomm rebeUione, quae facta fuit per id tempus." " It contains,"
says its discoverer and editor, Mr. Thompson, " an important detailed history of
the close of Edward Third's and the beginning of Richard Second's reign, which is
now printed in its original shape for the fitst time, and which has hitherto been
considered lost. The former existence of a Latin original for the translation used by
John Stow in his Chronicle of England [the same translation printed in the
Archaeologia] has been generaUy admitted by historians. The only writer who
has thrown any doubts upon it is the late Professor Shirley, in his edition of the
FascicuU Zizaniorum. The translation being one of the authorities brought for
ward in support of a tradition that WicUf held the Wardenship of Canterbui^''i
Hall at Oxford, Mr. Shirley rejects its testimony on the ground of its being a
compilation of the sixteenth century, while admitting, however, that the author
had before him one, or perhaps two, contemporary authorities which he has indo
lently interwoven with his ^arrative, without changing one even of those expres
sions which most clearly reflect the image of passing events." All this criticism is,
of course, superseded by the facts that we have now before us the original Latin
text of the Chronicon Anglice in a MS. dating from the last quarter of the
fourteenth century ; and that this was indisputably the work of a cotemporary

192 LIFE OF WICLIF.
historian. What, then, is the testimony of this cotemporary of WicUf, who evi
dently shared largely in aU the ecclesiastical passions and prejudices of his time,
upon the point of the Reformer's connection with Canterbury HaU? It is con
tained in the foUowing passage of his Chronicon : —
" Dux (referring to John, Duke of Gaunt) aggregaverat sibi quondam pseudo-
theologum, sive, ut meUus cum nominem, vernm theomachum, qui jam a multis
annis in schoUs, in singuUs actis suis contra ecclesiam oblatraverat, eo quod juste
privatus extiter'at per archiepiscopum Cantua/riensem quodam beneficio, cui injuste
incubuerat in Universitate Oxoniensi situato." The words of the translation, pub
Ushed in the Archaeologia are, that "he was justly deprived by the Archbishopp of
Canterburye from a certayne benefice that he unjustly was incumbent upon within
the cytye of Oxforde."
The incident, then, in question, in the life of WicUf, viz., his short Wardenship
of Canterbury HaU, may now be considered to be put beyond the range of reason
able doubt. Shirley admitted that "great weight must undoubtedly be aUowed to
the cotemporary statement of Woodford ; " to which has now to be added a second
cotemporary statement by the Monk of St. Alban's, as it now stands before us
cleared of all the doubts which were thrown upon it by the acute and learned
editor of the Fasciculi Zizaniorum.

NOTE m. — THE WICLIF-RESEARCHES OF THE LATE
PREBENDARY WILKINSON.
Some portion of the fruits of the researches of the late Prebendary Wilkinson
has recently appeared in The Church Quarterly Review, No. 9. This portion relates
entirely to the connections of Wiclif with the Oxford CoUeges, and his able criti
cism is chiefly directed against Professor Shirley's views on the same subject. He
agrees with Dr. Lechler in maintaining the identity of the Reformer not only with
John Wiclif, Warden of Canterbury HaU, but also with John Wiclif, FeUow or
Postmaster of Merton. In his investigation of the latter point none of the facts
brought together above (Additional Note I.) appear to have fallen under his
notice. He is much more successful in his argumentation on the question of the
Reformer's Wardenship of Canterbury Hall, and he claims, upon good grounds,
" to have established that Dean Hook was premature in regarding the question as
conclusively settled in the negative by Professor Shirley's arguments."

CHAPTER IV.
wiclif's FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN THE ECCLESIASTICO-
POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF ENGLAND.
Section I. — \Jlclifas a Patriot.
\ FTER having followed with attention the course of
Wiclif's purely academic career up to the present
point, we can only be astonished to behold him all at once
appearing upon the stage of public life. Hitherto we have
known him only as a man of science — as a quiet scholar.
From his youth up to the most vigorous years of maiihood,
he had only seldom left, so far as we can see, the precincts
of the university-city of Oxford. He seems even to have
visited but rarely his parish of Fillingham, to which he had
been presented in 1361, and on each occasioii only for a
short time. We know in fact that he obtained a dispensa
tion from his bishop to enable him to remain at the Uni
versity, and devote himself without interruption to science.
It is time that as Fellow and Seneschal of Merton College,
as Master of Balliol, and as Warden of Canterbury Hall, he
bad had practical problems of many kinds to solve, and
been occupied much ¦with business of an economic, legal,
and administrative description. The judgment of his patron
in high place, Archbishop Islip, when he entrusted him with
the government of Canterbury Hall, is assurance to us that
Wiclif had already, both in Merton and Balliol, proved
himself to be a man of practical talent, and upright, circum
spect, and energetic in matters of business. Still, all this
activity had been put forth within a narrow circle, and one
VOL. L

194 LIFE OF WICLIF..,
which , was more or less closely connected with properly
scientific life. But now we see the scholar step out from
the quiet spaces of the University to take part in public
affairs. For it was not merely that Wiclif began to manifest
his interest in the affairs of the kingdom in a Christian
and literary way, which he might possibly have done with
out leaving his own chamber in the cloister-like buildings
of his college ; but he came personally forward to take an
active part in the public business of Church and State. This
change of position comes upon us with surprise ; but yet
we are not to imagine that Wiclif has become an altered
man ; rather must we say to ourselves that we only now
come in view of what has hitherto been an unobserved
side of his nature. For Wiclif was a many-sided mind ; a
man of higb mark, who not only felt powerfully all that
moved, on many different sides, his own people and times,
but who, in some things, was far in advance of his age — a
prophet and type of what was still in the future. And it is
only when we bring into view, without abridgement, all that
he united in himself, when we sharply distinguish the mani
fold sides of his nature, and again take them together in
their innermost unity, that we shall be able to draw a true
and faithful picture of his powerful personality.
At this moment it is Wiclif the patriot Whom we have to
place before the eye. He represents in his own person
that intensification of English national feeling which was
so conspicuous in the fourteenth century, when, as we have
seen above, Crown and people, Norman population and
Saxon, formed a compact unity, and energetically defended
the autonomy, the rights and the interests of the kingdom
in its external relations, and especially in opposition to the
Court of Rome. This spirit lives in Wiclif with extra-

wiclif's PATRIOTISM, 195
ordinary force. His great works, still unprinted, e.g., the
three books De Civili Dominio, his work De Ecclesia, and
others, leave upon the reader the strongest impression of
a warm patriotism — of a heart glowing with zeal for the
dignity of the Crown, for the honour and weal of his native
laud, for the rights and the constitutional liberty of the
people. How often in reading his works do we come upon
passages in which he recalls the memories of Enghsh
history! The different invasions of the country by "Britons,
Saxons, and Normans," aU stand before his mind's eye; (the
Danes alone seem to be already forgotten). St. Augustine,
the " Apostle of the English," as he calls him in one place,
he mentions repeatedly, as well in learned writings as in
sermons; he frequently touches upon the later Archbishops
of Canterbury, especially Thomas k Becket; of kings
too, as Edward the Confessor and John, he speaks
ever and anon; he refers to Magna Charta with dis
tinguished consideration as the fundamental law of the
kingdom, binding equally king and nobles. That Wiclif
had made the law of England the subject of special study,
in addition to canon and Roman law, has been known since
the days of Lewis, and we have come upon several con
firmations of this fact. In the same context where Magna
Charta is held up to view, Wiclif brings forward Statutes of
Westminster and Statutes of Gloucester; at another time he
contrasts, in coimection with a particular question, the Roman
law (lex Quirina), and the Euglish law (lex Anglicana), and
he gives his preference to the latter.^ But so far from
taking merely a learned interest in these subjects, and
showing only a historical knowledge of them, he manifests
the most immediate concern in the present condition of the
nation, and a primary care for its welfare, its liberties, and

196 LIFE OF WICLIF.
its honour. It is not meant that, on this account, -he
limited his intellectual horizon to the national interests
of his own island people. On the contrary, he has all
Christendom, and indeed the whole human race, in his
eye ; but his cosmopolitanism has a solid and ripe patriotism
for its sound and vigorous kernel.
It is not wonderful that such a man — a Churchman and
highly regarded scholar on the one hand, and a thorough
patriot on the other — rich in knowledge, full of insight, and
inspired with zeal for the public good — should have been
drawn into the career of the statesman and the diplomatist.
Yet he never lost himself in purely political affairs ; it was
only on questions and on measures of a mixed ecclesiastical
and political kind that he gave his co-operation ; and in the
end his whole undivided strength was concentrated upon the
ecclesiastical domain.
But before we follow him into public life, it is necessary
to set aside an impression which has hitherto almost univer
sally prevailed. As early as the sixteenth century the
literary historians, John Leland and John Bale, put forward
the view — which, in the eighteenth, Lewis fully developed
in his History, and which is still, in substance, maintained
by Vaughan himself — that Wiclif commenced his exertions
for a reform of the Church with attacks upon the monastic
system, especially upon the Mendicant Orders.
The view which is commonly taken is the following : — As
early as the year 1360, immediately after the death of
the celebrated Archbishop of Armagh, Richard Fitzralph,
Wiclif opened an attack in Oxford upon the Dominican and
Franciscan Orders, the Augustinians and the Carmelites, on
the ground of their fundamental principle of living upon the
free-will alms of the people. Indeed, it has even been

WICLIF AND THE MENDICANT ORDERS. 197
thought that when Richard of Armagh died, his mantle
descended vipon Wiclif by whom his work was immediately^
taken up and carried farther. Critical investigation, how
ever, is unable to find any confirmation of this common
opinion. Vaughan, in 1831, had followed Anthony Wood in the
confident statement that Wiclif publicly censured the errors
and failings of the Mendicant Orders as early as 1360, and
became the object of their hostility in consequence.^ But in
bis later work, as the fruit of more careful investigation of
the subject, he is uo longer able to arrive at the same
confident residt upon the point. He remarks, with truth,
that there is no direct evidence to show that Wiclif began
that controversy at the precise date which he had pre-
"^dously assigned. But he continued to the last, notwith
standing, to be of opinion that Wiclif began his work as
a Reformer with attacks upon the Monastic, and especially
upon the Mendicant Orders ; he believed, besides, that
while the exact date at which Wiclif began the con
troversy could not be ascertained, it must yet be fixed at
a period not much later than 1360.* But on this subject
we are unable to agree with him, not only because we are
not aware, Hke himself, of any direct and decisive proof
that ^Viclif began his attacks upon the monks even in the
years next following 1360, but because, on the contrary,
we have in our hands direct proofs that Wiclif continued
to speak of the begging Orders with all respectful recog
nition during the twenty years which elapsed between
1360 and 1380. We content ourselves in this place with
stating, in anticipation, so much as this, that the reading
of the unpublished writings of Wiclif, among others, yields
the most weighty confirmation to the statement of his op-

198 LIFE OF WICLIF.
ponent, Woodford, that it was in connection with the con
troversy opened by Wiclif on the subject of Transubstan
tiation, and therefore after 1381 at the earhest, that he
began to oppose himself, on principle, to the Mendicants,
who had come forward as his antagonists on that funda
mental question.^ But to this point we shall return in the
sequel, and we leave it in the meanwhile, to fix our attention
upon the part which Wiclif took in the pubhc affairs of
England in Church and State,*
Section II. — Wiclifs concern in the Rejection of the Papal
Claim to Feudatory Tribute.
In the year 1365, Pope Urban V. had renewed his claim
upon Edward III. for the annual payment of one thousand
marks, in name of Feudatory Tribute ; he had even demanded
the payment of arrears extending over a period of no less
than thirty-three years. For so long a time had the pay
ment of the tribute been discontinued, without the Papal
Court having ever till now made any remonstrance upon
the subject. In case, however, the King should decline to
comply with this demand, he was invited to present himself
in person before the Pope as his feudal superior, to answer
for his proceeding. The payment in question was imposed
in 1213, as we before saw, by Innocent IIL upon King
John, for himself and his successors, but in point of
fact it had been paid from the first with the greatest
irregularity, and King Edward III., from the time of reach
ing his majority, had never allowed it, as a matter of
principle, to be paid at all. When Urban reminded him of
the payment, this prince acted with the greatest possible
* See Additional Note at the end of the Chapter.

THE PARLIAMENT OF 1366. 199
prudence ; he laid the question before his Parliament. He
had often enough been obliged, in order to meet the cost of
wars, to ask Parliament to consent to increased burdens of
taxation ; and all the more acceptable to him was the oppor
tunity of giving into the hands of the representatives of the
country the repudiation of an impost which had been in abey
ance for more than a generation. Should Parliament adopt
this resolution, the Crown was covered by the country. But
the burden of taxation was not the principal point of view
from which the Parliament looked at the Papal demand ;
much more than that, the honour and independence of the
kingdom was the determining consideration for its repre
sentatives; and this all the more, that, on the one hand,
the war with France, and the victories obtained in it, had
given a powerful stimulus to the national spirit, while, on the
other hand, the political rights and liberties of the people
had been heightened and secured in equal proportion to
the sacrifices which they had been called to make of
property and blood.
The Parliament assembled in May 1366. and the King
immediately laid before it the Papal demand, for its
opinion. As may well be conceived, the prelates were the
party who were placed in the greatest diflBculty by this
question, and they begged therefore a day's time for con
sideration and counsel by themselves alone. But on the
following day they had already agreed upon a conclusion,
and they were of one mind with the rest of the estates. Thus
the Lords spiritual and temporal, along with the Commons,
arrived at an unanimous decision to the effect that King
John had acted entirely beyond his right in subjecting
his country and people to such a feudal superiority with
out their own consent, and besides that this whole com-

200 LIFE OF WICLIF.
pact was a violation of his coronation oath. Further,
the Lords and Commons declared that in case the Pope
should carry out his threatened procedure against the King,
they would place the whole powers and resources of the
nation at the disposal of the King for the defence of his
crovm and dignity. This language was intelligible ; Urban
quickly gave in ; and since that day in fact, not one word
more has ever been said on the part of Rome of her feudal
superiority over England, to say nothing of a payment
of feudal tribute.
In this national affair of the highest importance Wiclif
also bore a part. That this was the case has long been
known, but in what form or way he took his share in it
has been less clear down to the present time. Since Lewis
wrote his "History" of the Reformer, it has been known
that Wiclif published a polemical tract upon that question
of political right, entirely in the sense of the Declaration of
Parliament; and that he did so in consequence of a sort of
challenge which had been addressed to him by name by
an anonymous Doctor of Theology, belonging to the
Monastic Orders. ^ But how came it to pass that Wiclif
and no other was the man to whom the gauntlet was
thrown dovsm ? In his reply, Wiclif expresses his astonish
ment at the passionate heat vrith which the challenge to
answer the arguments of his opponent had been directed
in particular to his address. Nor is the explanation of the
puzzle, which he mentions as having been suggested to
himself by others, one which is at all satisfactory to
ourselves. Three grounds, he says, had been named to
him upon which the man had so acted — (1) in order that
Wiclif's person might be compromised with the Court of
Rome, and that he might be heavily censured and deprived

CHALLENGE TO WICLIP. 201
of his church benefices ; (2) that the opponent himself
with his connections might concihate for themselves the
favour of the Papal Court ; and (3) that, as the effect of
a more unlimited dominion of the Pope over England,
the abbacies might be able to grasp in greater numbers
the secular lordships of the kingdom, and without being
amenable any longer to brotherly hindrance and con
trol. Leaving the two last points untouched, the first point
is indeed of a personal character, but it is at the same
time of such a nature that we must of necessity ask
again, bow are we to explain the hostile interest which
opponents had in selecting precisely Wiclif's person on
this occasion, for the purpose of blackening his character
at the Court of Rome, and to bring upon him in particular
censures and material losses 1 The controversy alleged
to have been commenced at an earlier date, between
Wiclif and the Mendicant Orders, cannot be used for the
explanation of this fact,' because documentary history
knows nothing of such a controversy carried on at that
alleged date. Besides, Wiclif has here to do, beyond
question, with a member of the endowed Orders, whose
interests were by no means identical with those of the
Mendicants, but often enough ran coimter to them.^ And
vfhen it is urged that Wichf must already befcre that time
have made himself remarkable as an upholder of the inde
pendence and sovereignty of the State in relation to the
Church, this, indeed, is extremely likely ; but it is a mere
conjecture, without any positive foundation, and is therefore
of no real service to us as a solution of the difficulty.
Let us look more narrowly at the contents of the
tract itself, and see whether it does not itself supply us
with a solution of a more distinct and trustworthy kind.

202 LIFE OF WICLIF.
The anonymous doctor had taken his stand upon the
absolutely indefeasible right of the hierarchy. He had
maintained, as regards persons, that under no circum
stances could the clergy be brought before a civil tribunal
(exemption); and in regard to Church property, he had
laid down the proposition that temporal lords must never,
rior under any conditions, withdraw from Churchmen
their possessions. And with respect to the immediately
pending question, touching the relation of the Eng
lish Crown to the Papal See, he had maintained that the
Pope had given the King the fief of the government of
England, under condition that England should pay the yearly
tribute of 700 marks to the Papal Court ; but now this con
dition had remained for a time unfulfilled, and therefore
the King of England had forfeited his right of monarchy.
In now addressing himself to exhibit this latter assertion
in its true light, Wiclif begins by assuring his readers that
he, as a humble and obedient son of the Church of Rome,
would put forward no assertion which could sound as an
injustice against that Church, or which could give any reason
able offence to a pious ear. And then he points his opponent
for a refutation of his views to the votes and declarations of
opinion which had been given in the Council of temporal
lords.i'' The first lord, a valiant soldier, had expressed him
self thus : The kingdom of England was of old conquered by
the sword of its nobles, and with the same sword has it
ever been defended against hostile attacks. And even so
does the matter stand in regard to the Church of Rome.
Therefore my counsel is, let this demand of the Pope
be absolutely refused, unless he is able to compel pay
ment by force. Should he attempt that, it will be my
business to withstand him in defence of our right.

SPEECHES OP THE LORDS. 203
The second lord had made use of the following argument: —
A tax or a tribute may only be paid to a person authorised
to receive it ; now the Pope has no authority to be the
receiver of this payment, and therefore any such claim
coming from him must be repudiated. For it is the duty
of the Pope to be a prominent follower of Christ ; but
Christ refused to be a possessor of worldly dominion.
The Pope, therefore, is bound to make the same refusal.
As, therefore, we should hold the Pope to the observance
of his holy duty, it follows that it is incumbent upon us
to withstand him in his present demand.
The third lord observed — It seems to me that the ground
upon which this demand is rested admits of being turned
against the Pope; for as the Pope is the servant of
the servants of God, it follows that he should take no
tribute from England except for services rendered. But
now he builds up our land in no sense whatever,
either spiritual or corporeal, but his whole aim is to turn
its temporahties to his own personal use and that of his
courtiers, while assisting the enemies of the country with
gold and coimsel. We must, therefore, as a matter of
common prudence, refuse his demand. That Pope and
Cardinals leave us without any help either in body or
soul, is a fact which we know by experience well enough.
The fourth lord — ^My mind is, that it is a duty we owe
to our country to resist the Pope in this matter. For,
according to his principles, he is owner-in-chief of all the
property which is gifted to the Church or ahenated to her
in mortmain. Now, as one-third of the kingdom at least
is so held in mortmain, the Pope is head over the whole
of that third ; but in the domain of civil lordship, there
cannot be two lords of equal right, but there must be one

204 LIFE OF WICLIF.
lord superior, and the other must be vassal; from which
it follows that during the vacancy of a church either the
Pope must be the vassal of the King of England, or vice
versa. But to make our King the inferior of any other
man in this respect, we have no mind, for every donor
in mortmain reserves to the King the right of feudal superi
ority. During that interval, therefore, the Pope behoves
to be the inferior or vassal of the King. But now the Pope
has always neglected his duty as the King's vassal, and,
therefore, by this neglect he has forfeited his right.
The ffih lord puts the question, " What then may have
been originally the ground upon which that undertaking
(of King John) was entered into"? Was that annual pay
ment the condition of the King's absolution and his re
instatement in the hereditary right to the crown! For
a pure gift, and a mere beneficence for all coming times,
it could not in any case have been. On the former sup
position (viz., that the payment was a condition of ab
solution), the agreement was invalid on account of the
simony which was committed therein ; for it is not allow
able to bestow a spiritual benefit in consideration of the
promise of temporal gains to be bestowed — "Freely ye
have received, freely give" (Matt. x.). If the Pope im
posed the tax upon the King as a penitential penalty, he
ought not to have applied this alms-gift to his own uses,
but should have given it to the Church of England which
the King had wronged, as a compensation for the wrong.
But it is not in accordance with the spirit of religion to
say — "I absolve thee under condition that thou payest
me so much in all time coming." When a man in this
way breaks faith with Christ, other men may also break
faith wilh him, in the matter of an immoral treaty. In

SPEECHES OF THE LORDS. 205
all reason a punishment should fall upon the guilty, not
upon the innocent ; but as such an annual payment falls
not upon the guilty King, but upon the poor innocent
people, it bears more the character of avarice than of a
wholesome penalty. If, on the other hand, the second
case be supposed, viz., that the Pope, in virtue of his
concordat with King John, became feudal superior of the
Royal House, it would then logically follow that the Pope
would have power at his will and pleasure to dethrone a
King of England under pretext of having forfeited his
throne rightly, and to appoint, at his discretion, a repre
sentative of his own person upon the throne. Is it not,
then, our duty to resist principles like these ?
The sixth lord — It appears to me that the act of the Pope
admits of being turned against himself. For if the Pope
made over England to our King as a feudal fief, and if, in so
doing, he did not usurp a superiority which did not belong
to him, then the Pope, at the time of that transaction
with King John, was the lord of our country. But as it
is not allowable to alienate Church property without a cor
responding compensation, the Pope had no power to alienate
a kingdom possessed of revenues so rich for an annual
payment so trifling; yea, he might at his pleasure demand
our country back again, under the pretence that the Church
had been defrauded of more than the fifth part of the vahie.
It is necessary, therefore, to oppose the first beginnings of
this mischief Christ himself is the Lord-Paramount, and
the Pope is a faUible man, who, in the event of his falhng
into mortal sin, loses his lordship in the judgment of
theologians, and therefore cannot make good any right to
the possession of England. It is enough, therefore, that we
hold our kingdom as of old, immediately from Christ in

206 LIFE OF WICLIF.
fief, because He is the Lord-Paramount, who, alone and by
Himself authorises, in a way absolutely sufiBcient, every right
of property allowed to created beings.
The seventh lord — I cannot but greatly wonder that
you have not touched upon the over-hastiness of the King,
and upon the rights of the kingdom. And yet it stands
fast that a hasty, ill-considered treaty, brought on by
the King's blame, without the country's consent, can never,
with competency and right, be allowed to operate to its
permanent mischief According to the law of the land
(consuetudo regni), it is necessary, before a tax of this
kind is imposed, that every individual in the country,
either directly or by his lord-superior, should give his
consent. Although the King and some few misguided
persons gave their consent to the treaty, they had no
warrant to do so, in the absence of the authority of the
kingdom, and of the fuU number of consenting votes.
To these utterances of several lords in Parliament, Wiclif,
iu the tract referred to, adds httle more, so far as it is
known from the copy furnished by Lewis. He points out,
with reason, that the treaty in question was proved, by
the argumenfs developed in these speeches, to be both
immoral and without authority. The speeches unmis-
takeably constitute the chief bulk of the tract, both in
matter and space.
Before we proceed to a closer examination of the
speeches which the tract communicates, let thus much
be observed in a general way, that Wiclif in this piece,
in opposition to the censures cast by the monks upon
the recent legislative action of the kingdom, takes up the
defence of that action with warmth and emphasis. The
question was, whether the State, in certain cases, is entitled

SPEECHES OP THE LORDS. 207
-to call in Church property, or whether such an act would,
in all circumstances, be a wrong. The latter view was
m.aintained by his opponents, the former is the contention
of Wiclif; and this view, we shall find below, he syste
matically developed and established at full length.
Returning to the above speeches, it immediately appears
upon an attentive examination, that the question of State-
right, whether the payment demanded by the Pope as feudal
superior of the kings of England ought to be made withouc
delay, or ought to be decidedly repudiated, is elucidated in
these speeches from the most manifold points of view. The
first lord — a soldier — takes for his stand-point the right of
the strongest, ^^ trusts to his own good sword, and reckons
with the amount of material force on both sides of the
disj)ute. If this first speech is the outcome of a warrior-
hke realism, the second is inspired by a Christian idealism ;
for the speaker grounds his argument upon the ideal of a
Pope as the follower of Christ par excellence, and would
cany back the existing Pope to the condition of evangelical
poverty. The third lord takes the stand-point of the
country's interests, which it behoves the Pope, as " servant of
the servants of God," to promote, in order to acquire a right
to corresponding services; but this he does neither spirit
ually nor materially. The fourth lord applies to the question
the standard of positive law, especially of the feudal law.
The Pope, upon his own principles, is the owner of all
church property in England. Now Lord-Paramount of all
this he cannot be, for such alone is the King; he must
therefore be a vassal, but he has always disregarded his
feudal duty to the throne, and therefore has forfeited his
right. The fifth speaker enters into an examination of the
different motives which may have led to the concordat in

208 LIFE OF WICLIF.
question under King John, and proves the nidlity of this
concordat from the objectionable character of all the motives
that can be thought of; for either there was an unchristian
simony in the game, or else a usurpation which, for England,
was insufferable. The sixth speaker, like the fourth, takes
the feudal law for his starting point, but seeks to prove,
that not the Pope, but Christ alone, is to be regarded as
Lord-Paramount of the country. Last of all, the seventh
lord apphes to the question the standard of the constitution
of the kingdom, aud arrives at the conclusion that the
concordat between King John and Innocent III. was
invalid from the very first, by reason' of its lacking the
consent of the country in the persons of its representatives
in Parliament.
If we compare, further, the ground ideas of these speeches
with the decision of Parliament, of May 1366, of wliich,
however, only the most general features have come down to
us, it is immediately seen that the speeches aud the decision
in all essential respects agree. The vote of the seventh
lord in Wiclifs tract is indeed entirely identical with the
first ground given by Parliament in its Act of Repudiation,
and the declaration of the first lord with the Parliament's
concluding declaration. The conjecture, indeed, has been
made, that the whole of these speeches may very well have
been merely free compositions of Wiclif himself, preferring
to put the bold thoughts which he wished to express into
the mouths of others, rather than to come forward with
them directly in his own person ; and in doing so he has kept
to the Act of Parliament and to the views of its most
distinguished members, but not in the sense of reporting
speeches which were actually delivered in Parliament.!^
But why it should not be believed that we have here a

SPEECHES OF THE LORDS. 209
report of speeches actually delivered, we fail to perceive.
But if the ancient accounts of the proceedings in Parlia
ment, notwithstanding their extremely summary character,
are nevertheless in remarkable agreement with some, at
least, of Wiclif's somewhat fuller speeches, in respect to the
whole grounds assigned for these proceedings, and in the
whole tone of confident defiance with which they conclude,
this fact is in itself a weighty reason for thinking that
Wiclif here introduces actual Parhamentary addresses.
But independently of this argument, it deserves to be well ;
weighed that the whole effect of this polemical piece of Wiclif |
(the main substance of which, so far as it has come down toi
us, lies precisely in these speeches), depended essentially^
upon the fact that these speeches had been actually de-
hvered. It may be thought, indeed, that the earls and
barons of the kingdom at that period could hardly be*^
credited "«dth the amount of insight, and even occasionally
of learning, which is conspicuous in these addresses. But
this view can be maintained with all the less force of reason,
that the Parliamentary life of England at that day had
already held on its course for more than a century, and
could not fail to bring with it an amount of practice in
political business by no means to be under-estimated, as well
as an equal development of interest in public affairs, arising
from constant participation in their management. The only
thing which can be alleged, with some appearance of force,
against the view here taken, is the circumstance that some
of the thoughts referred to are spoken, it may be alleged,
from the soul of Wiclif himself e.g., what the second lord
says of the Pope, that before all others it behoves him to be
a follower of Christ in evangehcal poverty, and the like.
But at the present day men often fail to have any correct idea
VOL. I. 0

210 LIFE OF WICLIF.
of the wide extent to which, since the thirteenth century,
the idea of " Evangelical Poverty " had prevailed. And
it may well be conceived that ideas of Wiclifs own, too,
may at length have penetrated iuto those circles of English
society to which the language now in question was attri
buted. So much, indeed, as this must be conceded, that
the speeches, as they lie before us, were grouped together
by Wiclif, and in some particulars so moulded by him
that they bear unmistakeably here and there the peculiar
colouring of the reporter. But this concession need not
hinder our belief, that the principal substance of the several
speeches was, in fact, taken from the actual proceedings
in Parliament.-'^
If this is so, we cannot avoid the question. From what
source did Wiclif learn so accurately these Parliamentary pro
ceedings ? The answer would be very simple, if the opinion
expressed by some were well grounded, that Wiclif was per
sonally present at that session of the Legislature as a hearer.-'*
But it is in the highest degree doubtful whether the pro
ceedings of Parliament in that day were open to the public.
The Parliament of that period was rather regarded as an
enlarged Privy Council of the King, and if we are not mis
taken, all traces are lacking of any man being permitted to
be present at its sittings, who was neither a member of
Parliament nor a commissioner of the King. On the other
hand, it has been thought that Wiclif had received accurate
information from one or other of those lords who were
personally acquainted with him, and with whom he was
associated by similar patriotic sentiments, and that he
reported the speeches published by him upon the good
faith of his informant. This conjecture is worth listen
ing to ; but what if Wiclif was himself a member of that

^VICL1P A 31EMBER OF PARLIAMIWT. 211
Parliament? If he was, it would then at once be plain how
it came to pass that he aud no other man was made the
object of attack in reference to that Parliament.
At first sight, this idea may seem to be a conjecture
more bold than probable. But however little known, it is
a fact established by documentary evidence, that from the
end of the thirteenth century, elected representatives of the
inferior clergy were summoned to serve in Parliament.^*
The fact, besides, is ascertained, that to the Parliament of
1366, besides bishops, abbots, and lords, six masters of arts
Avere summoned by royal order.^" With these facts in view,
it is quite conceivable that Wiclif might have had a seat and
voice in that Parliament as an elected representative of the
inferior clergy, or in virtue of a royal summons. The step,
it is true, is still a long one, from abstract possibility to
probability. But now I find, in the unprinted Avorks of
Wiclif, one passage at least, from the wording of which
it appears clearly enough that he must have been once
in Parliament, although this was some years later. In his
book, De Ecclesia, he has occasion to remark that the Bishop
of Rochester (this, without doubt, was Thomas Trillek) had
told him under great excitement, in open sitting of Parlia
ment, that the propositions which he had set forth in con
troversy had been condemned by the Papal Cotn-t.-"' It is
true that in this passage we must understand the reference
to be to a later Parliament than that of 1366. I conjecture
that the incident took place in 1376 or 1377, namely, before
the Papal censure of Gregory XI. upon several of Wiclif's
theses was publicly known. But though no more than this
is attested, that Wiclif was ten years later a member of Parlia
ment, it becomes not only possible but probable that he may
already have been in Parliament sometime before that date.

212 LIFE OF WICLIF.
However, I find also in his own writings a hint that
Wichf belonged to the May Parhament of 1366. If other
wise, what could be the sense and bearing of his words,
when in the same tract which contains his speeches of the
Lords, he says in one place," "If such things had been
asserted by me against my King, they would have been
inquired into before now, in the Parliament of the English
Lords." If Wiclif had only published the views of which he
speaks, in lectures or Avritings, it would have been impossible
to understand why these must needs have become the
subject of inquiry in Parliament. At least he could not
himself have entertained such a thought, to say nothing of
giving it utterance, without betraying an amount of vanity
and excessive self-esteem such as formed no part of his
character as we know it. The case is very difierent when
we draw from the above words the conclusion (which seems
to be the presumption which they logically imply), that
Wiclif was himself a member of that Parliament in which
that highly important question was the order of the day,
and that he had there fully and emphatically unfolded his
views. For indeed, in that case, if the view he took had
touched too nearly the honour and the rights of the crown,
it would not have been allowed to pass without decided
contradiction on the part of men so patriotic as those speakers
were. Last of all, I believe that there is still another utterance
of Wiclif which should be applied to this incident, although
hitherto, indeed, it has been otherwise understood. At the
very beginning of the remarkable tract still before us, Wiclif
declares his readiness, in consideration of his being peculiaris
regis clericus, i.e., in a peculiar sense a king's cleric, to take
upon himself the oflSce of replying to the opponent, who

PECULIARIS REGIS CLERICUS. 213
attacks the laAv of the land." LeAvis and Vaughan, and all
Avho follow the latter, haA'e understood this allusion to mean
that Edward HI. had nominated Wiclif to the oflBce of king's
chaplain.-" But Ave do not find elsewhere a single trace of
evidence by wdiich this conjecture is confirmed. For this
reason, it has been thought necessary to giA'e the words
another meaning — this, namely, that Wiclif meant by that
expression to distinguish himself as a cleric of the National
Church, in opposition to a cleric of the Papal Church. ^^
But this explanation does not quite satisfy us, on account
of the •' talis qualis" of the passage. For this expression of
modesty is only in place if the three preceding Avords denote
a certain function or social position, but not so if they
indicate only a certain tendency and mode of thought.
But Avhat sort of distinguished position are we to think of
under the title of a king's cleric, peculiaris regis clericus f I
hold it to be not only possible but probable also, that under
that title the summoning of Wichf to Parliament by the act
of the King is meant to be indicated; that is to say, that
Wiclif had been called to the Parliament in question as a
clerical expert, or in modern phrase, as a Government com
missioner. This sense would answer very Avell to the
peculiaris regis clericus. At least this vicAv may be worth
examination as a suggestion, as the meaning of the title
used by Wiclif is still so far from being settled.
But the result itself that AViclif had a seat and vote in the
Parliament of 1866, I venture to put forward as one for
Avbich I have produced siiflBcient grounds. The only adverse
consideration Avhich might be alleged against it rests upon
the way in which Wiclif introduces his account of the
speeches of those Lords. For his words sound in such a way
as to convey, at first, the impression that the author's know-

214 LIFE OF WICLIF.
ledge of the matter is only by hearsay. To this circum
stance, hoAvever, no decisive weight can be assigned, for tliis
reason, that possibly Wiclif wished to avoid the appearance
as if he was boastful of having been himself an ear-Avitness
of the speeches, and that he preferred to make his appeal to
matters which were well enough knoAvn and talked about
(fertur). But if the real state of the case was that Avhich
we think we have made probable, Ave have then an easier
explanation, not only of the detailed character of the report
of several of the speeches, but also of two additional points,
— first, of the agreement of several ideas in those addresses
with certain favourite views of Wiclif, for if Wiclif was a
member of that Parliament he would be able to find all the
easier access to men in high position, with the convictions
which he cherished upon the great question of the day.
And secondly, if Wichf was then iu Parliament, and had
exercised some influence upon the decision arrived at,
it will then be the more easy to understand why he
in particular should have been singled out for challenge
by the unnamed monk to Avhom the action of that
Parliament was a thorn in the eyes. Under all circum
stances, so much as this is clear, as the result of our
investigation, that Wiclif took part, in a powerful . and
influential Avay, in the great Church and State questions
of the day, and this in the direction of having much at
heart the right and honour of the Crown, and the liberty
and welfare of the kingdom.
If in this matter he was compeUed to oppose himself
to the claims of the Court of Rome, we are still without
the slightest reason to regard as mere phraseology his
solemn declaration that, as an obedient son of the Church,
be had uo wish to touch her honour too closely, or to injure

AN OBEDIENT SON OF THE CHURCH. 215
the interests of piety. We are unable, however, to agree
Avith the observation, that ^^'iclifs dauntless courage and
disinterestedness come out all the more conspicuously from
his conduct in this business, that the process touching
the headship of Canterbury Hall Avas at that tinie in de
pendence before the Roman Court. For if it be true, as
we take it to be, along with other scholars before us, that
the controversial tract before us was drawn up after the
May Parliament of 1366, i.e., in the year 1366 itself, or at
latest, in the first months of the following year, Wiclif
was still at that date in undisturbed possession of that
position. For though Islip had died on :^(ifli April 1366,
Simon Langham was not installed Archbishop of Canter
bury till 25th ilarch 1367, and it was on the 31st March
that he transferred the Wardenship of that Hall to the Bene
dictine, John Redingate. It appears, therefore, more than
doubtful whether Wiclif was, at the date of the composition
of this tract, already deposed from his dignity in the Hall ;
on the contrary, precisely this dignity may have been
included among the "Church benefices," of which he was
to be deprived, if things went agreeably to the wishes of
his adversaries. Section III. — Events after 1366.
Wiclif manifested the same spirit on another occasion,
some years later. Unfortunately the sources of history do
not flow here so richly as to enable us steadily to folluAv
the course of his inner development and his external action.
We are obhged, therefore, at this point to pass over an in
terval of six or seven years — the years next folloAving Avhich
Avere suflBciently ill-fated for England in her foreign relations.

216 LIFE OF WICLIF.
In May 1360, after the war with France had lasted for
twenty-one years, the peace of Bretigny had been concluded.
In this treaty the whole south-west of France, along with
several cities on the north coast, was surrendered to the
English Crown, without any reservation in favour of France
of the feudal superiority of these possessions, but includ
ing full rights of sovereignty. On the other hand, Eng
land expressly renounced all claims to the French Crown,
jand to any further acquisitions of French territory. What
was ceded to her, however, was a magnificent acquisition
as it stood. But the peace of Bretigny became only a new
apple of discord. Soon enough there sprang from it first a
tension of feeling between the two nations, then a misunder
standing, and at last an open breach. The brilliant, but in
the end barren, expedition of Edward the Black Prince to
Spain in 1367, with the view of restoring Pedro the Cruel to
the throne of Castile, led to a renewed outbreak of hostility
with France, which had giA'cn its support to the usurper
of the Castilian Crown, the Bastard Henry of Trastamara.
This expedition brought upon the heir-apparent of the
English throne an attack of gout, as the effect of the Spanish
climate, under which he continued to suffer till, in 1376,
he died. And when the war with France broke out again
in 1369, it was an irreparable misfortune for England that
the great general (who had developed, indeed, more mili
tary than administrative talent in the government of his
principalities of Aquitaine and Gascony) was incapacitated
by bodily disease to resume the post of command. Insur
rection burst forth into flames in the ceded provinces of
France, and could never again be subdued. One place of
strength after another fell into the hands of the enemy. In
August 1372 the city of Rochelle Avas again French. The

THE PARLLVMENT OF 1371. 217
English rule over a good part of France was broken into
fragments. But this Avas not all. The English fleet,
too, could no longer, as hitherto, maintain its superiority ;
on the contrary, the coasts of England were left a defence
less prey to every landing of the enemy's ships. Public
opinion in England, as may readily be supposed, was much
disconcerted and disturbed. So long as successes and
martial glory had been the harvests of war, the nation had
Avillingly borne the great sacrifices which had to be made in
money and blood. But when the successes thus obtained
vanished aAvay like shadows, when disaster was heaped
upon disaster, and when the country itself was menaced
by the enemy, complaints became louder and louder, and
grievances more and more bitter, till it was at last resolved
to take action against the GoA^ernment itself.
A Parliament met during Lent of 1371, and when
Edward III. laid before it a demand for a subsidy in aid of
the war of 50,000 silver marks, this proposal led, as it would
appear, to very animated debates. On the one side a
motion was made, and was also eventually carried, that the
richly-endowed Church should be included, to a substantial
amount, in the incidence of the new tax ; and on the other,
the representatives of the Church, as was to be expected,
did not fail to oflfer opposition to such a proposal. They
used every effort to accomplish the exemption of the clergy,
the rich monasteries, foundations, etc., from the new burden
of taxation. It was very probably in that Parliament that
one of the lords replied to the representations of some
members of the endowed Orders in the form which Wiclif
has preserved in one of his unpublished Avorks.^^ The far-
seeing peer, in the course of the discussion, told the following
fable : — " Once upon a time there was a meeting of many

218 LIFE OF WICLIF.
birds; among them was an owl, but the owl had lost her
feathers, and made as though she suffered much from the
frost. She begged the other birds, with a trembling voice,
to give her some of their feathers. They sympathised with
her, and every bird gave the owl a feather, till she was
overladen with strange feathers' in no very lovely fashion.
Scarcely was this done Avhen a hawk came in sight in quest
of prey; then the birds, to escape from the attacks of
the hawk by self-defence or by flight, demanded their
feathers back again from the owl ; and on her refusal each of
them took back his oAvn feather by force, and so escaped
the danger, while the owl remained more miserably unfledged
than before."
" Even so," said the peer, " when war breaks out we must
take from the endowed clergy a portion of their temporal
possessions, as property which belongs to us and the king
dom in common, and we must wisely defend the country
with property which is our own, and exists among us
in superfluity." The hint was plain enough whence all
church-property originally comes, as well as the menace —
"And art thou not wiUing,
Then use I main force."
The result was that the clergy had the worst of it. Taxes of
unexampled weight were imposed upon them for all lands
which had come into then hands by mortmain for the last
100 years, aud eA^en the smallest benefices which had never
been taxed before, were subjected to the new war impost.
It cannot be doubted that there was an intimate connec
tion betAveen this financial measure and a new proposition
which the same Parliament submitted to the Crown. The
Lords aud Commons proposed to the King to remove all
prelates from the highest offices of State, and to appoint

BISHOPS DEPRIA'ED OF STATE-OFFICES. 219
laymen in their places, A^dio could at all times be brought to
answer for their prcK'oedings before the temporal courts.
This proposal of Parliament Avas in fact accepted by Edward
111. The Bishop of Winchester, A\'illiam of Wykeham, filled
at that time the highest office in the State, as Lord Chan
cellor of England. The Bishop of Exeter Avas Treasurer,
and the Lord PriA^y Seal was also a prelate. It does not
appear, indeed, that Parliament had any personal objections
against AA'ykeham and his colleagues — the proposal was
made upon its own merits, and Avas chiefly designed to
secure ministerial responsibihty. But as early as the 14th
of March, the Bisliop of AVinchester laid doAvn the dignity of
Chancellor, and Avas succeeded by Robert Thorp ; and at the
same date the offices of Treasurer and Keeper of the Seal
Avere bestowed upon laymen. In February 1372, we find
the Avhole Privy Council filled with laymen.^^ This change
of ministers had its chief importance from its openly declared
anti-clerical character. Apart from its bearing upon ques
tions of home administration, especially financial ones, the
aim of the measure was also to put the Government in an
attitude of emphatic opposition to the encroachments of the
Papal Court.
Under such circumstances, it is no wonder if the demands
of the Papacy excited decided resistance on the part of a
country exhausted by au unfortunate turn of the war, and
even gave occasion to measures of precaution on the part of
the Government. No doubt it Avas felt by very many to be
an expression of Avhat lay deep in their oavu hearts, Avhen
AA'iclif stood forward against one of the Papal agents avIio
Avere traversing the land to collect dues for the Curia, anJ in
the form of a commentary on the obligations which these
men took upon themselves by oath, opened an attack upon

220 LIFE OF WICLIF,
the doings and traflfickings of the Pope's nuncio as dangerous
to the kingdom.
The occasion was this. In February 1372 appeared in
England an agent of the Papal See, Arnold Gamier by
name (Garnerius, Granarius), Canon of Chalons in Cham
paign, and hcentiate of laws. He bore written credentials
from Gregory XL, who had ascended the Papal Chair in
1370, as Papal nuncio and receiver of dues for the apostolic
chamber. The man travelled with a train of servants and
half-a-dozen horses. He remained for two years and a half
in the country without a break, and may probably have
collected no inconsiderable sums. In July 1374 he made a
journey to Rome with the reserved intention of returning
to England, for Avhich purpose he was furnished with a royal
passport, dated 25th July, Avhich was of force till Easter 1375;
and from a letter of Gregory XI. to Bishop AVykeham of
AA'^in Chester, it appears that Gamier returned to England in
due time, to carry forward his work as Nuncio and Receiver.^*
AVhen this agent of the Roman Court arrived, in the first
instance, he had obtained the consent of the Government to
his collectorship, only under condition of swearing solemnly
beforehand to a form of obligation in which the rights and in
terests of the Crown and kingdom were guarded on all sides.
The Frenchman acceded to this condition without the slightest
scruple, and on the 13th February 1372, in the royal palace
of Westminster, in presence of all the councillors and great
officers of the Crown, he formally and solemnly took the
oath.^5 But with this formality all the misgivings of patriotic men
had by no means been put to rest. Wiclif was one of these
patriots, and by and bye he wrote a paper on the sworn obliga
tions of the Papal Receiver, the drift of which was to inquire

THE TRACT ' DE JURA51ENT0 ARNALDI.' 221
whether Gamier was not guilty of perjuiy, in so far as he had
taken an oath ncA'er to violate tlie rights and interests of the
country, Avhile yet such a violation Avas entirely unavoidable,
when, according to his commission^ he collected in England
a large amount of gold and carried it out of the king
dom.-'' The proper aim of the inquiry appears to have
been to show that there was an irreconcilable contradiction
betAveen the permission given by the State to collect monies
for the Court of Rome on the one hand, and the intention
to guard the country against all wrong to its interests on
the other.
This short paper, it is true, was not written in 1372 or in
one of the years next succeeding, but not till 1377. but
Gamier was still in England at this later date, and was still
plying his business as a Papal collector.^'' Its title, indeed,
is not to be found in the catalogues of Wiclifs writings
given by Bishop Bale and other literary historians of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but it stands in a
pretty fuU list of the works and tracts of Wiclif, which is
found at the end of a A'^ienna manuscript (Cod. 3933, fol. 195).
There is also an additional circumstance forming an external
testimony to its Wiclif authorship not to be undervalued,
that the paper forms part of another Vienna MS. (Cod.
1377) which contains in all no fewer than fifty pieces, most
of them short ones, which are all the productions of AA''iclif.
This httle tract, besides, in its thoughts and style of
speaking, bears unmistakeable features of AViclif's charac
teristic manner. In particular, we observe a remarkable
agreement between this tract and the piece last examined,
dating several years earlier, in the peculiar stand-point
assumed by the writer, and the sentiment which lies at the
basis of both. In both tracts, which in modern phrase we

222 LIFE OF WICLIF.
might call "publicistic articles," V^icHf stands before us chiefly
in the hght of a patriot, who has the honour and the best
interests of the country very deeply at heart. In both also,
especially in the latter, we learn to recognise him as a Chris
tian patriot ; we see in the patriotic defender of his country's
interests, the ecclesiastical Reformer already beginning to be
moulded into shape ; and Ave discern in him the vigorous
germs of a coming development. The difference between
the two tracts is partly in form and partly in matter. In
form the earlier is defensive, the later aggressive. In sub
stance the later piece goes deeper into Church questions
than its predecessor, owing to the difference of the two
occasions which called them forth.
To elucidate more exactly the peculiar character of the
tract at present before us, we bring into view, before
everything else, this feature of it — that it recognises the
domestic prosperity of the country, and the wealth of the
public purse, and the military strength of England in rela
tion to foreign enemies, as valuable blessings which must
not be allowed to suffer damage. And from this mention of
the enemies of the kingdom, it appears clearly enough how
much at that time the actual and possible incidents of the
French war were occupying all minds, and filling them with
-earnest anxiety.
A second characteristic feature which strikes the eye in
the reading of these pages is the decidedly constitutional
spirit which is conspicuous in them. The Parliament
occupies in them an important position as the representative
of the nation, having authority to sit in judgment upon
the question of what is injurious to the national interests.
And it is to be referred to the same point of view when
the author desires to see the State take under its protec--

THE TRACT ' DE JURAJIENTO ARN.VLDI.' 223
tion the long-descended civil rights of the priests and elerit^s
of the Natioiud Church, in opposition to the cncroaehuKMits
of the Papal Receiver.
Further, it is not to be OA-erlooked that AViclif is conscious
of giving expression in the mahi only to wdiat is felt and
thought by no small portion, yea, by the majority of the
population. He knows that he is uttering what is in the
minds of great numbers.-* But equally strong, and still
more important than the national and patriotic spirit of the
author, is the religious and moral, and even the evangelical
spirit which he manifests in the way in which he handles
the matter with which he is occupied. AVhen Wiclif puts
forward the principle that the assistance of God is greatly
more valuable than the help of man, and that remissness
in the defence of Divine right is a more serious sin than
negligence in the duty of defending a human right, he
makes his reader feel that he is not in this only formally
repeating, perhaps, a traditional maxim, but giving utter
ance to a weighty truth out of the deepest conviction,
and with the innermost sympathy, of his heart and con
science. And it is only au application of this general
principle when, as if to complete and give the right
intei-pretation of what he has said on the subject of the
national welfare, AA^iclif makes the remark that the well
doing of the kingdom rests upon the religious beneficence
of its people, particularly on pious foundations in behalf of
the Church and the poor. We also feel the moral earneet-
ness of his tone, and especially the conscientiousness Avith
Avhich he pressed the duty of truthfulness when, in
allusion to the sophistical speeches and excuses made
use of either by the Papal agents themselves, or by
their friends and defenders, he pronounces with great

224 LIFE OF WICLIP.
emphasis against a species of craft and guile, which,
by means of mental reservations, would bring things to
such a pass that even the oath would no longer be "an
end of all strife " (Heb. vi. 16). Again, it is a principle of
morals and rehgion Avhich we find expressed by Wiclif in this
piece, as so often elsewhere, with peculiar emphasis, that a
common participation in sin and guilt is incurred when one
knows of the evil-doings of a second party, and might put a
stop to them if he would, but neglects to do it. And it is
only the positive side of this thought when it is asserted
that the command to inflict brotherly punishment (Matt.
xviii. 15), makes it a duty to offer resistance to a trans
gressor whose evil doing might be expected to spread by
contagion to others.^"
But more characteristic than all else is what AViclif gave
expression to in this tract respecting the Pope and the
pastoral office. That the Pope may commit sin was ex
pressed before in one of the parliamentary speeches of the
earlier piece ; but in the present one that proposition is
repeated more strongly still.^-' In connection with this
view, AA^iclif also declares himself opposed to the theory
which maintains that absolutely everything which the Pope
thinks fit to do must be right, and have the force of law,
simply because he does it. In other words, we find Wiclif
already in opposition here to the absolutism of the Curia.
He is far removed, however, from a merely negative opposi
tion. On the contrary, he puts forward a positive idea of
the Papacy, according to which the Pope is bound to be
pre-eminently the follower of Christ in all moral virtues —
especiaUy in humility and patience and brotherly love.
And next, the views which he expresses respecting the
pastoral office are well worthy of observatiou. Whilst

THE TRACT ' DE JURAMENTO ARNALDI.' 225
severely censuring the Papal collectors for compelhng, by
help of ecclesiastical censures, those priests who had to pay
annates (pri/yii fructus) to the Curia, to make their payments
in coin instead of in kind (i/i natura), he brings into special
prominence, as a crying abuse, the fact, that by this undue
pressure put upon them, the priests find themselves under
the necessity (as they must have the means of living) of
holding themselves harmless at the expense of their poor
parishioners, and, on the other hand, neglecting the services
of pubhc worship, which they are bound to celebrate. From
this allusion thrown out only in passing, we perceive
what a watchful eye he must have kept upon the pastoral
office and upon its conscientious execution — a subject to
which, at a later period, he gave all the fullness and energy
of his love. Last of all, we Avill only call attention to this
further point, that already, in this small and essentially
"publicistic paper," the principle makes its appearance
which AA'iclif afterwards asserted in a manner which intro-.
duced a new epoch, viz., that Holy Scripture is for Chris
tians the rule and standard of truth. There is a hin\t, at
least, of this principle when Wiclif says of the payments in
question to the Court of Rome that they are obtained by
begging in a manner contrary to the gospel (elemosina prceter
evangelium mendicata).
From all this, this small piece, which has remained un
known till the present time, appears to us to be not without
value, in as much as, on the one hand, it shows us the manner
of WicUf's intervention in an affair of weighty public impor
tance, and lets us clearly see, on the other, in the patriot
inspired with undaunted zeal for his country's good, the
earliest germs of his later strivings for the Reformation of
the Church, VOL, I. P

226 LIFE OF WICLIF.
Section IV. — Wiclif as a Royal Commissary in Bruges, 1374,
and his Influence in the " Good Parliament" of 1376.
In the year 1373 the Parliament had raised again, once
more, loud complaints that the rights of patrons were ever
more and more infringed and made illusory by Papal pro
visions. To a petition of the Parliament drawn up in^this
sense, the King gave answer, that he had already sent
commands to his commissioners, who were at that very time
engaged in peace negotiations with France, to negotiate
also upon this business with the Roman Court. He had
in this behalf given a commission to John Gilbert, Bishop
of Bangor, with one monk and two laymen. These commis
sioners proceeded to Avignon, and treated with the com
missaries of Gregory XI. for the removal of various causes
of complaint on the part of the kingdom, especially of the
Papal reservations in the filling of English church offices,
encroachments upon the electoral rights of cathedral
chapters, and the like. The commissioners received con
ciliatory promises, but no distinct and definite answer.
The Pope reserved himself for further consultation with
the King of England, and for a decision at a subsequent
date.31 The further negotiations thus held out in prospect
were opened in 1374, in connection with the conferences for
the peace, which were still going . on in Bruges between
England and France. At the head of the peace embassy
stood a Prince of the Blood, John of Gaunt, Duke of
Lancaster, third son of Edward IIL, with the Bishop of
London, Simon Sudbury. For treating with the commis
saries of the Pope on the pending ecclesiastical questions,
were commissioned by the King the before-named John

AHCLIF IN BRUGES. 227
Gilbert, Bishop of Bangor, aud in addition, John Wiclif
Doctor of Theology, Magister John Guter, Dean of
Segovia,83 Doctor of Laws, Simon of Multon, Wilham
of Burton, Knight, Robert of Belkilap,^^ and John of
Kenyngton. The commission, dated 26th July 1374, con
veyed to the King's commissaries plenary powers to con
clude such a treaty Avith the Papal nuncios on the pending
points, as should at once secure the honour of the Church,
and uphold the rights of the English Crown and realm.^^
It is, on the one hand, characteristic of the views by
Avhich the Government of England at that time was
guided, that a man like Wiclif should have been made
a royal commissioner for these diplomatic transactions
Avith the Roman Court. On the other hand, it was a high
honour for Wichf that he, and that, too, as first in order of
the commissaries after the Bishop of Bangor, was selected
along Avith others to represent the rights of the Crown and
the interests of the kingdom in a treaty with the pleni
potentiaries of the Pope. AA'^e see in this fact what con
fidence was felt in his spirit and insight, in his courage
and power of action, on the part both of the Government
and the country.
On the very next day after the commission had been
issued, namely 27th July 1374, AViclif embarked in London
for Flanders.^^ It was the first time in his life that he had
been abroad. Bruges was at that time a great city of
200,000 inhabitants, which, from its important industries,
its widely extended trade, the wealth of its burghers,
its municipal freedom, and its political power, had a large
number of instructive objects of attention to show to the
stranger ; especially at a time when an important congress
was assembled Avithin its walls. On the side of France two

228 LIFE OP WICLIP.
royal princes, the Dukes of Anjou and Burgundy, brothers
of the reigning King, Charles V., were present, in addition -
to many bishops and notables of the kingdom. As Enghsh
plenipotentiaries appeared, in addition to the Duke of Lan
caster, the Earl of Salisbury, and Simon Sudbury, Bishop
of London. The Pope sent in behoof of the treaty
between France and England the Archbishop of Ravenna
and the Bishop of Carpentras; and commissioned several
other prelates, with full powers to negotiate with England
on the questions of ecclesiastical right still in dependence.
These nuncios were Bernard, Bishop of Pampelona, Ralph,
Bishop of Sinigaglia, and Egidius Sancho, Provost of the
archi-episcopal chapter of Valencia.^' There was no lack,
therefore, in Bruges of men in high place and of great
political or ecclesiastical importance, with whom Wiclif, as a
prominent man among the English envoys, must have come
more or less into contact in the transaction of public business,
and no doubt also in social intercourse.
It was, we may be sure, of lasting value for him, that he
should have bad on this occasion the opportunity of trans
acting business and cultivating intercourse with Italian,
Spanish, and French dignitaries of the Church — all of them
men who enjoyed the confidence of the Pope and the
cardinals. Here he had it in his power to take many ob
servations in a field of view which could not easily be laid
open to his eye among his own countrymen, even among
those of them who were most conspicuous for their devotion
to the Roman Court. For "The Anghcan Church" (this
f name is no anachronism) had within a century attained to
I a certain degree of independence in regard to principles
and views of .ecclesiastical law, to which the life and spirit
of the Italian and Spanish Church of that period formed a

'V7I0LIP AND JOHN OF GAUNT. 229
sensible contrast. Upon a personality like Wiclif, of so
much independence of mind, and already inspired with so
much zeal for the autonomy of his native church, this resi
dence in Bruges, and its negotiations of several weeks
duration Avith the plenipotentiaries of the Curia, must have
made impressions similar to those which Dr. Martin Luther
received from his sojourn in Rome in 1510.
But even apart from his relations to foreign notabiHties,
AA'^iclif's sojourn in Bruges had important consequences for
him, by the nearer relations into which it brought him with
the Duke of Lancaster. This Prince at that time aheady
possessed great and decisive influence upon the Government.
He was usually called " John of Gaunt," for he was born
in Ghent, when Edward IIL, at the beginning of the French
Avar, was in alliance with the rich cities of Flanders, aud, with
his Queen Philippa, was keeping his court in that city in
1340. The Prince's first title was Earl of Richmond, but
after his marriage Avith Blanche, a daughter of the Duke of
Lancaster, he became, on the death of the latter, the heir
of his title and possessions. After the death of his first
Avife, in 1369, he entered into a second marriage in 1372,
as before stated, with Constance, the daughter of Peter the
Cruel, of Castile and Leon, and now took the style by
hereditary right of " King of Castile." But this was never
more than a title. He never himself wore a crown ; but in
the following century three of his descendants ascended the
English throne, viz., his son, his grandson, and his great-
grandson — Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VI. — the House
of Lancaster and the Red Rose, from 1399-1472.
Already, however, the father of this dynasty manifested
ambition enough to awaken the suspicion that he was aun-
ing at the English crown for his own person. In military

230 LIFE OF WICLIF.
talent he stood far behind his eldest brother ; the Black Prince
was an eminent military genius. John of Gaunt Avas a brave
swordsman and nothing more. But in political and adminis
trative capacity he was indisputably superior to the Prince
of AA''ales. AA^hen the latter found himself obliged to return
to England at the beginning of 1371, on account of the
obstinate disease which he he had contracted in the
Spanish campaign, instead of recovering his vigour on his
native soil, he had fallen into a chronic condition of broken
health and low spirits, which unfitted him for taking any
active part in the business of government ; whilst his father,
too, Edward IIL, was now become old and frail. Lancaster
had known how to make use of all these circumstances for
the ends of his own ambition, and had acquired ever since
his return in the summer of 1374 from the south of
France the most decided infiuence over the King, and the
conduct of public affairs. The second prince of the blood,
Lionel, Duke of Clarence, was already dead in 1368. For
the present, indeed, Lancaster undertook only the lead of
the peace negotiations in Bruges ; but it almost appears as
if even from Flanders he had governed both the King
and the kingdom.
That it was first in Bruges that the Duke became ac
quainted Avith AA^iclif or entered into closer relations with
him, is by no means probable. It Avas he, no doubt, who
was the cause of AViclif s being, appointed to take part in
these ecclesiastical negotiations. In regard, at least, to
John Guter, the Dean of Segovia, who had perhaps accom
panied the Duke to the Spanish campaign in the capacity
of Field-Chaplain, it can hardly admit of a doubt that it was
to the Duke he was indebted for his nomination upon the
commission, as well as for his Spanish prebend; and it

WICLIF AND JOHN OP GAUNT. 231
Avould have been truly surprising if a statesman like the
Prince — a zealous promoter of lay goA'-ernment, a persistent
opponent of the influence of the English hierarchy upon the
administration — had not already for years had his attention
and his favour directed to AA'iclif as a man of whose gifts
and bold spirit he might hope to be able to make use for his
own political objects. I quite concur, therefore, in Pauli's
conjectured^ that it was probably Lancaster himself who
had brought about the employment of Wiclif upon a mission
of so great importance. But be this as it may, these two
men could not fail to be much in contact, and to have
much exchange of ideas Avith each other, both in matters of
business and in social intercourse, during all the time that
they were occupied Avith that congress in Flanders. The
Duke, indeed, in the first instance, had to transact only
with France, and his business Avith the Papal Plenipoten
tiaries was limited to giving his consent to the conclusions
arrived at. But still he stood at the head of the whole
Enghsh legation, and on this account alone, as well as by
reason of his personal tendencies and way of thinking, he could
not fail to take the hveliest interest in the course of those
negotiations which bore upon the ecclesiastical gravamina
of the country ; and among the members of this ecclesias
tical commission AA'^ichf was at least one of the most free
from prejudice, and of the deepest insight,
A few years later, we see the Duke of Lancaster step
forward publicly as Wiclifs patron and protector. This
favour, grounded upon esteem and personal knowledge
of Wiclif, no doubt increased during the conference of
Bruges, though it could scarcely have commenced there,
Wiclif returned to England, after the close of the congress,
before the middle of September, Neither official documents

232 LIFE OP WICLIF,
nor any accounts of contemporary or later chronicles, have
come down to us respecting the proceedings of the congress
in the matter of the Church-grievances of England, although,
no doubt, some original papers belonging to the- subject
he concealed in the archives of Rome.
We can only draw some inferences from the final result
arrived at, as to what was the course of the transactions.
In this respect, indeed, it would seem that the negotiations
between the Papal Court and England had come to a
similar issue as those between France and England. The
Chronicler of St. Alban's, Walsingham, has no good to say
of the behaviour of France in the peace congress. The
thoughts of the French, he says, during all 'that time were
craftily running not on peace, but on war ; they were prepar
ing again their old weapons and forging new ones in order
to have all the requirements of war in readiness ; while the
Englishmen had no thoughts of this kind, accustomed as
they are not to be led by prudence and foresight, but only
to be driven like unreasoning brutes by the goad. But no
doubt they trusted everything to the wisdom of the Duke,
and thinking that his eloquence would suffice to obtain for
them the blessings of peace, they gave themselves up to
carousals and all manner of amusements. Thus it came to
pass that the Enghshmen unawares came to grief for the
congress was broken off without " the conclusion of peace. "^^
And the congress between England and the Curia came to
a like fruitless conclusion. The representatives of the
Roman See, hke the plenipotentiaries of France, appear to
have busied themselves with the refurbishing of their old
weapons, while they were, at the same time, preparing new
ones. The Convention in which the congress issued was
not of a kind to secure for the future a redi-ess of the Church-

THE BRUGES "CONVENTION." 233
grievances of which the country complained. England un
doubtedly fared the worst in the arrangements arrived at,
although the Pope made some concessions upon single
points ; for these concessions were more apparent than real,
and consisted more in matters of detail than in general
principles. On the 1st September 1375, Gregory XI. directed to the
King of England six bulls relating to this business,^" which
amounted in effect briefly to this — to recognise accomplished
facts, and to leave the status quo untouched. Whosoever
Avas in actual possession of a church living in England
should no longer have his right of incumbency challenged
on the side of the Curia ; whosoever had had his right to
a church office disputed by Urban V., should no longer
have his confirmation in the office reserved; benefices which
the same Pope had already reserA^ed, in the event of a va
cancy, should, in so far as they had not already be
come vacant, be filled up by the patrons themselves ; and
all annates or first fruits not yet paid should be remitted.
In addition, it was conceded that the Church revenues of
several cardinals who held prebends in England should be
subject to impost, to cover the costs of the restoration of
churches and other church edifices belonging thereto, which
the holders had allowed to fall into ruin.
At first sight these appeared to be numerous and impor
tant concessions, but when carefully examined they were of
small consideration, for they aU related to matters which be
longed to the past. For the future the Pope remitted
nothing of his claims, not even in the smallest trifle. Be
sides, these 'concessions referred merely to single cases —
they regulated only matters of detail, and left the principle
entirely untouched. The bulls, it is true, contained also

234 LIFE OF WICLIF.
matters of greater importance ; the Pope abandoned for the
future his claim to the reservation of English Church livings;
but the King Avas also bound, on his side, to abstain in future
from conferring Church dignities in the way of simple royal
command. But first of aU, the Pope herein conceded a
surrender of right on his side, only in consideration of a
corresponding concession on the side of the Crown ; and in
the second place, the concession contained no security, even
the least, that the electoral rights of the cathedral chapters
should remain thenceforward untampered with. And yet
this had been a capital point aimed at in the efforts of the
country, and especially of Parliament, to obtain ecclesiastical
reform. That this decisive point had not been made clear
and plain by the treaty of 1374, is brought into view and
censured even by Walsingham himself, with all his disposi
tion to favour the Church.*^
Whether the other members of the ecclesiastical com
mission had fidfilled their duty, may be fairly asked; but in
regard to Bishop John Gilbert, who stood at the head of
it, it is a highly significant fact that eleven days after the
drawing up of the above bulls — 12th September 1375 — he
was promoted by the Pope to a more important bishoprick.
He had lost nothing of Gregory's faA'our by his conduct at
Bruges. Hitherto he had been Bishop of Bangor; his diocese
embraced the most distant northwest corner of the princi
pality of AVales. But now, when the Bishop of London,
Simon Sudbury, was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and
the Bishop of Hereford, William Courtenay, was promoted
to London, Gilbert Avas nominated to the See of Hereford.
The "concordat" which had been concluded between
England and the Pope had little enough of importance.
It would have been incomparably better to have advanced

PARLLUIENT OF 1376, 235
on the same path Avhich had been trodden iu 1343 and 1350,
and to have stemmed the CA-ils of the Church by means of
national legislation, than to make the attempt to find a remedy
for them by diplomatic transactions with the Papal Court,
In the A'ery next spring it became manifest that the com
plaints of the country Avere by no means silenced by that
conA-ention. Louder and bolder than CA^er sounded forth
the gricA'ances of Parliament, Avhen it assembled in the end
of April 1376; and that the representatives of the country
uttered, in point of fact, the true feeling of the people, is
evident from the fact that this Parliament liA'ed long after
Avards in the grateful memory of the nation, by the name of
the Good Parliament.*^
The Parliament represented to the King, in a lengthened
memorial, hoAV oppressively and perniciously the encroach
ments of the Roman See operated;*^ the aggressions of the
Pope are to blame for the impoverishment of the kingdom,
— for the sums which are paid to Him for the dignified
offices of the Church amount to five times as much as the
whole produce of the taxes which accrue to the King.
There is no prince in Christendom so rich as to have in
his treasury even the fourth part of the sum which iniquit-
ously goes out the kingdom. MoreoA'-er, the Church Brokers
in the dissolute city of Avignon, promoted for money many'
wretched creatures, who were utterly destitute of learning
and character, to hvings of one thousand marks annual
income; while a Doctor of Theology or the Canon Law
must content himself with a salary of twenty marks ; and
hence the decay of learning in the country. And when
foreigners, yea, enemies of the country, are the possessors
of English Church livings, without ever haAdng seen their
parishioners, or giving themselves any trouble about

236 LIFE OF WIOLIF,
them,, the effect is to bring the service of God into con
tempt, and to do more injury to the Church than is done by
Jews or Saracens. And yet the law of the Church prescribes
that Church livings ought only to be conferred from pure
love, without payment or solicitation ; and reason and faith,
as well as law, demand that Church endowments which have
been founded from motives of devotion, should be bestowed
for the glory of God and suitably to the founder's intention,
and not upon foreigners living in the midst of our enemies.
God has entrusted the care of the sheep to the Holy Father,
the Pope, to feed them, not to fleece them. But if lay patrons
witness the avarice and simony of the churchmen, they will
learn from their example to sell the offices to which they
have the right of collation, to men who wiU devour the
people like beasts of prey — just as the Son of God was
sold to the Jews, who thereupon put him to death.
A considerable portion of the complaint of Parliament is
directed against the Papal Collector, a French subject who
lives in the country along with other foreigners who are the
king's enemies, and is ever on the look-out for English places
and dignities, and seeking to spy out the secrets of the king
dom, to its great damage. This ReceiA'^er, who is at the same
time the collector of Peter's Pence, has a great house in
London, with clerks and officei's, as if it were the custom
house of a Prince, and from thence he sends to the Pope
about twenty thousand marks a year. This same man, in
the present year, has, for the first time, put forward a claim
to the first-fruits af all ncAvly-conferred livings, a claim
which has hitherto been limited to offices which have be
come vacant iu the Papal Court. Even if the kingdom at
this moment had as great a superfluity of gold as it ever
possessed, the Pope's collectors aud the agents of the

COMPLAINTS OF THE PARLIAMENT. 237
Cardinals would soon enough carry off the whole of this
income to foreign parts. As a remedy for this evil, let
a law be laid doAvn, that no Receiver or agent shall
take up his residence in England, upon pain of hfe and
hmb; and that upon a like penalty, no Englishman shall
become such a ReceiA-er or agent in behalf of others who
reside in Rome. For the better investigation of the facts, in
relation especially to the Papal Receiver, inasmuch as the
whole clergy are dependent upon the favour or disfavour of
the latter, and would not willingly run the risk of drawing
upon themselves his displeasure, it would conduce to the end
in view, if the Lords and Commons of the present Parlia
ment Avould call before them the priest of St. Botolph's,
John Strensale, who resides in Holborn. He could, if strictly
required to do so, give them much information, as he has
for more than five years done service as a clerk to the
said Receiver.
It was further set forth, that Cardinals and other prelates,
some of them, it is true, natives of England, but the most of
them foreigners who reside in Rome, are occasionally possessed
of the best prebends in England. One Cardinal is Dean of
York, another of Salisbury, a third of Lincoln ; another again
is Archdeacon of Canterbury, one of Durham, one of Suffolk,
and so on; and these Cardinals cause to be remitted to
them in foreign parts a yearly revenue of twenty thousand
marks. The Pope Avill in time hand over to enemies of the
kingdom all the lands which belong to the prebends referred
to, as he deals so arbitrarily from one day to another with
the Kingdom and the Regalia. When a bishopric becomes
vacant by death or otherwise, he translates from four to fiA-e
other bishops in order to obtain from each of them the first
year's firuits ;^ and the like takes place with other church

238 LIFE OF WICLIF.
dignities in the realm. As to the abbeys and convents, a
loud complaint is made that all those of them which have
hitherto possessed the right of free election of their own
superiors, have been deprived of this right by the usurpa
tion of the Pope, who claims the right for himself Last
of all, and to come back again to the point of finance,
the petition of Parliament called attention to this fact,
that the Pope is in the act of raising subsidies from
the English clergy in order to buy off Frenchmen who
were taken prisoners by the English, and to aid him in
carrying on wars of his own in Lombardy. In addition to
which, the English Clergy are required to bear the cost of
every mission which the Pope sends to the country, and all
this is done purely out of love to the kingdom and to
English gold.
Such w^as the long array of grievances. The Parliament
emphatically assured the King that they brought them for
ward solely from an honest zeal for the honour of the Holy
Church; for all the troubles and disasters which had recently
befallen the land were only just judgments for the sin of
allowing the church to become so deformed and corrupt.
Great injustice has always been followed by misfortune
and ruin, and will always have the like consequences. Let
measures, therefore, be devised to provide a remedy, and
this all the more that the current year is the jubilee of
the fifty years reign of the King, and therefore a year of
grace and joy; *^ but greater grace and joy for the kingdom
there could not be, and none which would be more Avell-
pleasing at once to God and his Church than that such a
remedy should be provided by the King.
Some positive proposals A\'ere in fact made touching the
ways and means of accomphshing the end in view. The

PROPOSALS OP THE GOOD PARLIAJIENT. 239
first step must be to send two letters to the Pope, the one
in Latin under the King's seal, the other in French under
the seals of the high nobility, pressing for redress in the
matters mentioned, a course which had on a former occasion
been taken at the instance of Parliament.*' Further, it
was pressed upon the attention of the GoA^ernment that
they might renew all those ordinances Avhich had already
been published againsf^ provisions and reservations on the
side of Rome. It would also be advisable to provide, that
on pain of imprisonment, no money should be taken out of
the kingdom by exchange or otherwise. What measures, in
addition, were proposed to be taken against the traffic of the
Papal collectors, have already been mentioned.
To this representation the King sent for reply that he had
already on previous occasions provided a sufficient remedy
in the way of legislation for the evils complained of; he was,
besides, at that A'ery time in communication with the Papal
See upon the subject, and would further continue to make
such communications from time to time until a remedy Avas
provided. This answer sounded lukewarm enough, especially
when contrasted with the petition of Parliament, which was
so warmly expressed, and adduced at great length so many
grounds in support of its prayer. But though the patriotic
zeal of the latter must have been considerably cooled by this
royal decision, the Parliament of the next year, January 1377,
took up the thread again at the point where the present
Parliament had suffered it to drop ; and for the sake of
connection, this incident may as well be anticipated in this
place. The Commons, in 1377, gave in a petition to the
King to the effect that the statutes against provisions, which
had from time to time been passed, should be strictly carried
into- execution, and that measures should be adopted against

240 LIFE OF WICLIF.
those Cardinals who had obtained for themselves in the two
provinces of Canterbury and York reservations, with the
clause anteferri, to the annual value of from twenty to
thirty thousand golden crowns. They renewed also their
complaints against the Pope's collectors. It was English
men who had always been wont to hold that office, but
now it was a Frenchman, who lived in London and kept a
large office, which cost the clergy 300 pounds a-year; and
this man sends every year to the Pope 20,000 marks, or
200,000 pounds. It would be a means of resisting these
innovations and usurpations, if all foreigners, so long as
the wars lasted, were driven out of the country, and if all
Englishmen were prohibited, upon pain of outlawry, to
farm these revenues from the Papal Court, or to make
remittances of money to the same without express per
mission.*' The proposals of the Good Parliament of 1376, the echoes
of which we stiU catch in 1377, are of such a character that
I am bold to maintain that they afford strong evidence of
the influence of Wichf In proof of this I point first of all
to the circumstance that the proceedings of the Papal Col
lector of that time were one of the Parliament's heaviest
subjects of complaint. And this collector was certainly no
other than that Arnold Gamier, to whose doings and
traffickings Wiclif's tract of the year 1377 refers. Further,
I bring into view the fact that in the petition presented
by Parhament various national calamities, including not
only the rapid impoverishment of the country, but also
famine and disease among men and cattle, are set forth
as consequences of the moral disorders which had spread
and prevailed in the Church as the effect of the Papal
usurpations, and of the blameworthy negligence of the

WICLIP A MEMBER OF THE GOOD PARLIAMENT. 241
Government aud the people." Noav, exactly this thought
is one to Avhich AA'iclif so often recurs in different Avritings,
that I must designate it one of his faA^ourite ideas. But
independently of this, it is much more allowable to think
that an idea so pecuhar Avas thrown out at first by some
personage of mark, and afterwards adopted by a whole
body, than that a political body first gave expression to
it, and that the idea Avas afterwards taken up and appro
priated at second hand by one of the greatest thinkers of
the age. Add to all this yet another circumstance, viz.,
the incident already mentioned of the Bishop of Rochester,""
in a solemn sitting of Parliament, casting in Dr. Wiclif's face
the accusation that his Theses had already been condemned
by the Roman Court. This incident can in no case have
occurred in an earher Parliament than that of 1376. For
the excited language of the Bishop cannot possibly have
been uttered after the Papal censure of Wiclif's nineteen
propositions had been published to the world. Evidently
the speaker's intention was to make public mention of a
fact which up till that time had remained a secret, and the
censure of Gregory XI. was formally signed on 22 d May
1377. Accordingly it might be thought a possible case, that
the scene referred to occurred in that Parliament which
assembled on 27th January 1377, the year of Edward lll.'s
death ; and in support of this vieAv the consideration would
be of weight, that at this date the information of what had
been concluded in Rome against Wiclif might have reached
the ear of a member of the English episcopate.
But still this conjecture does not bear examination. For
the language of the Bishop of Rochester cannot well have
been made use of after Wiclif's summons to appear before the
English prelates, and this summons had already been issued
VOL, L Q

242 LIFE OF WICLIF.
on 19th February 1377. Various circumstances, therefore,
make the supposition a probable one, that the reproach of
the Bishop against AA''iclif was uttered iu some sitting of the
Parhament of 1376. But this date need not have been
too early for the Bishop's knowledge of what was then
doing in Rome against Wiclif; for it may well be pre
sumed that a step such as that which Gregory XI. took
in the bulls of 22d May 1377 must have originated in a
suggestion from England made a considerable time before
that date, and must have been prepared in Rome itself during
an interval of considerable length. All this Avarrants the
supposition that AA^iclif himself Avas a member of the Good
Parliament of 1376, by virtue, we may conjecture, of royal
summons. And presupposing this fact, we do not doubt
for a moment that he was one of the most influential
personalities in the mixed affairs of Church and State,
which formed so conspicuous a part of the business of
that Parliament. If, at an earlier period, he had shared
strongly in the outburst of national feeling, and of the
constitutional spirit which was so characteristic of England
in the fourteenth century ; still more had he become, in the
course of years, one of the leaders of the nation in the
path of ecclesiastical progress. This Parliament, indeed,
was the culminating point of the influence of Wiclif upon
the nation. From that date his influence upon it rather
declined, at least in extent of surface, or, so to say, in
breadth. On the other hand, the effects which he pro
duced from that time went deeper down into the heart
of the English people than they had ever done before.
There was still another direction in Avhich the Parlia
ment of 1376 employed its efforts for the improvement of
public affairs. In 1371, as before stated, under the influ-

COURT INTRIGUES OF LANCASTER. 243
euce of a prevaihng anti-clerical sentiment, the representa
tives of the nation had brought forward and carried into effect
a proposition that the highest offices of the State should be
entrusted to the hands of laymen, instead of the bishops
and prelates. But in the course of years there had spread
a marked discontent with the Government, as it was from
that time conducted. King EdAvard III. had become almost
worn out with old age. Since the death of his queen
Philippa (1369), one of her ladies, Alice Perrers, had
obtained his favour in an extraordinary degree, and had
not only taken a conspicuous position in the Court, but
had also unduly meddled in many affairs of State. The
influence of this lady the Duke of Lancaster had now
turned to his own account, in order to acquire for himself a
preponderating weight with his royal father in the business
of Government. He was credited, indeed, with designs of
a much wider reach. The Prince of Wales, diseased and
near his end as he was, was still able to perceive the
danger, and, in spite of his forced retirement from the
business of State, took into his hand the threads of an
intrigue by which the succession to the Crown should be
assui'ed to his son Richard, a boy only nine years of age,
and the party of his younger brother, John of Gaunt, should
be thwarted in their designs. He found means to induce
the House of Commons and the clergy to form a coalition
against ihe dominant party of the Duke of Lancaster.
Foremost in the management of the affair was Peter de
la Mere, chamberlain of the Earl of March, a nobleman who,
in virtue of the hereditary right of his Countess, had the
nearest presumptive claim to the Throne. This officer of
the Court was, at the same time. Speaker of the House of
Commons. Upon occasion of the voting of subsidies, the

244 LIFE OF WICLIF.
representatives of the counties complained, through their
Speaker, of the evil condition of the financial administra
tion, and even of dishonest under- and over-charges which
were practised. The persons who were accused and con
victed of these mal-practices were the Treasurer, Lord
Latimer, a confidant of the Duke of Lancaster, and Ahce
Perrers herself The former was put in prison, the latter
banished from the Court. The Duke himself who was the
party really aimed at, no man was bold enough expressly
to name; on the other hand, it was proposed, evidently
with the view of making the Camarilla incapable of mischief,
to strengthen the PriA'y Council by the addition of from ten
to twelve lords and prelates, who should always be about
the King, so that without the assent of six, or at least four
of their number, no royal ordinance could be carried into
effect. This decisive action of Parliament against the Court
party of the Duke of Lancaster was so much after the
nation's OAvn heart, that it was principally for this service
that the Parliament received the honourable epithet of
' The Good.'^^ While this movement was iu progress, Ed
ward the Black Prince died 8th June 1376 — ^held in equally
high esteem as a warrior, and as a man of upright and
amiable character. The last care of the deceased prince
had been to secure the right of his son and heir, and the
House of Commons, sharing the same solicitude, presented
an urgent petition to the aged King that he would now be
pleased to present to the Parliament his grandson Richard
of Bourdeaux, as heir-apparent to the Throne ; which was
also done on the 25th of June.
But scarcely was Parliament prorogued at the beginning
of July, when all the measures which it had originated were
again brought to nothing; the Duke of Lancaster once

wiclif's SHARE IN THE GOOD PARLIAMENT. 245
more seized the rudder; Lord Latimer recovered again his
share in public affairs ; and another friend of the Duke, Lord
Percy, was named Lord Marschall. Even Alice Perrers came
back again to Court. The Camarilla completely surrounded
the aged King. The leaders of the party of the deceased
Prince of AA^ales were compelled to feel the revenge of the
small but poAverful Court party. Peter de la Mere, Speaker
of the House of Commons, was sent to prison, where he
remained in durance for nearly two years. The Bishop of
AA'^inchester was impeached and banished twenty miles
from the Court, and the temporalities of his see were
sequestrated. The question arises, what share Wiclif had in the efforts
of the Good Parliament to secure the rightful succession to
the throne, and to purge the court as well as the adminis
tration of unworthy elements. Assuming that he was a
member of that Parliament, and co-operated infiuentially in
its ecclesiastico-political proceedings, he could not have
remained entirely Avithout a share in its endeavours to
secure the succession to the throne, and to reform the Court
and the Government. He must have taken his place either
on one side or the other. It is true that we hear nothing
definite from himself upon the subject, nor very express
testimony concerning it from any other quarter. But we
may be sure at least of as much as this, that in no case can
he have played a prominent part in the effort to drive the
favourites of the Duke of Lancaster from the court, and
from all influence iu state affah's, for otherwise the Duke
would certainly not have lent him his poAverful protection
only half-a-year later (on 19th February 1377). But on the
other hand, it scarcely admits of being supposed that Wiclif
would join the party of Lord Latimer and his colleagues.

246 LIFE OF WICLIF.
especially as in this business the interests at stake were of
that moral and legal character for which, in accord with his
whole tone of thought, he must always cherish a warm
sympathy. These considerations taken together lead me
to the opinion that Wiclif did not indeed oppose himself to
the majority of the Parliament who laboured to effect a
purification of the Court and Government, but neither did
he take any prominent part in the discussion of this subject ;
and this all the less, that, as a general rule, he was
accustomed and called upon to take a personally active
share only in matters of a mixed ecclesiastical and political
character.

NOTES TO CHAPTER IV.

1. De Civili Dominio, II., u. 5, MS. In Magna Carta, cui rex et magnates Anglias
e.K juramento obligantur, cap. 15, sic habetur : NuUa ecclesiastica persona — censum.
This wording and numbering of the passage do not exactly correspond to those of
the document now regarded as the original authority. Wiclif has a second refer
ence to Magna Charta in the same chapter.
2. De Cii-ili Dominio, I., c. 34.
3. Life and Opinions of WycUffe, I., 262-.
4. John de Wycliffe, a, Monograph, 1853; p. 64, especially p. 87. Comp. also
Brit. Quart. Rev., 1858, October.
5. Woodford, 72 Questiones de Sacramt. Altaris ; see above. Prof. Shirley is
quite correct in maintaining in his edition of the Fascic. Zizan. XIII. that the
-view hitherto held upon this point of Wiclif's biography is an unfounded one.
6. A considerable portion of this tract, which is of the highest interest, was
included by Lewis in the Appendix to his Hist, of Wiclif, No. 30. The text is un
fortunately in a very imperfect condition, owing, in part at least, to the state of the
MS. from which it was derived. But that the tract may have been written very
soon after the May Parliament of 136(5, and perhaps still earlier in that year
rather than in 1367, is the impression which it leaves upon me as strongly as upon
the editors of the WicUf Bible, vol I. , p. vu., note 10, and Prof. Shirley, Fasc. Ziz.
XVII., note 3. ~-
7. As it has been used by Vaughan, John de Wycliffe, u. Monograph, 1853, p,
105. 8. The latter fact had been already remarked upon by Vaughan in his earlier
work. Life and Opinions, etc., I., p. 283.
9. The tribute amounted to 700 marks for England, and 300 for Ireland, making
together the sum of 1000 marks usuaUy given.
10. In quodam concilia. The Parliament is no doubt iutended, but Wiclif
designedly makes use of a general expression.
11. We would not say, -with Boehringer, in his Vorreformatoren, I., WycUffe
p. 63, that the standpoint taken up by this lord was that of natural right, for there
is certainly a distincrion to be taken between natural right and the right of the
strongest. 12. De Ruever Gronemann. Diatribe in Joh. Wiclifi Vitam. Traj. ad Rhen.,
1837, p. 93.
13. We entirely agree with Vaughan on this point, who, both in his earliest and
latest works on Wiclif, considers the speeches of the lords to have been actuaUy
spoken in ParUament.
14. Vaughan, Life and Opinions, etc., I. 291, drew this conclusion from the

248 LIFE OF WICLIF.
words in Wiclif's tract, Quam audivi in quodam consilio a dominis secularibus;
but the words esse datam, used in connection with these, at once exclude this under
standing of them.
15. The piece entitled Modus tenendi Parliamentum, dating according to recent
investigations from before 1295, ed. Hardy, mentions, p. 5, that the bishops were
to appoint for every archdeaconry two experienced men as representatives, ad
veniendum et interessendum ad Parliamentum. Comp. Pauli, Geschichte von Eng
land, IV., p. 670, note 1.
16. Comp. Parry, Parliainents and Councils of England, Lond. 1839, p. 129.
17. De Ecclesia, c. 15. MS. 1294 of the Vienna Library, f. 178, col. 2. Unde
episcopus Roffensis dixit mihi in publico parliamento stomachando spiritu, quod con-
clusiones meae sunt dampnatae, sicut testificatum est sibi de Curia per instrumentum
notarii. The words dixit mihi forbid us to understand that the Bishop had only
spoken of him in his absence ; rather he must have spoken to him and launched hia
charge against him face to face. Let me only add that the words publicum parlia
mentum do not pre-suppose publicity in the modern sense of the term, but only lay
stress upon the circumstance that, instead of a private communication, the charge
was made publicly in the hearing of many witnesses.
18. Si autem ego assererem taUa contra regem meum, olim fuissent in parlia
mento dominorum Anglise ventilata, in Lewis, p. 350. According to the connection,
the emphasis appears to lie not on ego, but upon contra regem meum.
19. Ego autem cum sim pecuUaris regis clericus taUs quaUs, volo libenter induere
habitum responsalis, etc., in Lewis, p. 349.
20. Lewis, 20 ; Vaughan, Life, I., 284 ; John de WycUffe, 106 ; Shu-ley, Fasc.
Ziz. XIX. ; Bjtirnstrom, John Wiclif, Upsala, 1867, p. 36.
21. Boehringer, as above, i. 32.
22. Wiclif, Dc Dominio Civili, IL, u. 1, Vienna MS., No. 1341 (DiJuis
CCCLXXXII., not L'CCLXXX. as Shu-ley .i^jves it), 1. 155, col. 1. Shirley has
given the passage in the Introduction to Fasc. Zizan., p. 21.
3. Comp. the signatures of all the King's ministers under the protocol on the
oath taken by Arnold Gamier, in Appendix IV.
24. The royal passport is printed in Rymer's Foedera, ed. i. London, 1830,
vol. III., P. 2, f. 1007. The Pope's letter of introduction is printed by Lowth in
the appendix of original documents to his Ufe of Wykeham.
25. The textual form of the oath is printed iu Norman French in Rymer, IIL, 2,
933. The Latin text was prefixed by Wiclif to the inquiry of which we are to
speak immediately ; and as the latter would not be intelligible without the former,
I have also communicated the form of the oath in Appendix IV.
26. This paper, which has hitherto been known only by its title, is preserved
in two MSS. of the Imperial Library of Vienna, namely, No. 1337 (Denis,
CCCLXXVIIL), f. 115, and No. 3929 (D^nis, CCCLXXXV.), f. 246. From the
latter MS., which leaves much to be wished for in point of accuracy, I give iu fuU
with the exception of a portion at the beginning, which is of inferior importance, in
Appendix IV. The conclusion seems to have faUen away, for the text terminates
iu an etc.

NOTES TO CHAPTER IV. 249
27. Constat ex facto ejus notorie quod sic facit, Art 5. But that this memorial
can not have been written before 1377 is clear from the circumstance that near its
end reference is made to regi nostra, licet in aetate juvenili florcnti, which can only
apply to Richard IL, not to Edward IIL, who died in June 1377.
28. IH a multis creditur — execucio sui officii — si non fallor, displiceret majori
parti populi Anglicani ; regnum nostrum jam sensibilitcr percipiens illud gravamen
de ipso conqueritur.
29. Compare the first paragraph in WicUf's lUustration of the Oath, near the end,
in Appendix IV.
30. Compare the last paragraph of do.
31. Cum dominus papa sit satis peccabilis.
S2. Walsingham, Hist. Anglicana, Ed. RUey, I., 316.
33. Boehringer, Vorreformeitoren, I., 45, makes Guter Dean of Seohow, although
in aU England no to-wn or any other place of residence so named exists. It is
rather the city of Segovia, in Old CastUe, that is meant. The English priest, John
Guter, had no doubt obtained a Spanish prebend through the Duke of Lancaster,
who, after the death of his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, had married Constance,
a daughter of Peter the Cruel, King of CastUe, and afterwards put forward claims
to the crown of CastUe and Leon in her right. Compare John Foxe, Acts and
Monuments, Ed. Townsend, II. , 916, App.
34. When Richard II. ascended the throne in 1377, Robert Belkuappe was chief
judge on the Bench of the Common Pleas, but was deposed in 1388, and banished
to Ireland, for having set himself in opposition to the absolutistic designs of the
King.— Vide Walsingham, Ed. RUey, IL, 174 ; Knighton, 2694.
35. Rymer, Foedera, III., 2, f. 1007 ; Lewis, 304.
36. Under date 31st July he acknowledged receipt of 60 pounds 20 shiUings per
day paid to him out of the Royal Treasury for the costs of his journey and main
tenance abroad. See Oxford edition of the WicUf Bible, I., p. vii., note 13. It is
a mere misunderstanding when Charles Werner, in his History of Apologetic
and Polemical Literature, IIL, 1864, p. 560, speaks of Wiclif making a journey to
Rome. He was never even in Avignon, to say nothing of Rome, where iudeed he
could have had no business to transact at this time, for it was not tiU 1377 that
Gregory XI. left Avignon for Italy.
37. According to Barnes — History of King Edwa/rd III., p. 866 — referred to by
Lewis, p. 33.
38. Pauli, Geschichte von England, IV., 487.
39. Historia Anglicana, Ed. RUey, I., 318.
40. Rymer, Foedera, vol III., P. u., fol. 1037.
41. Hist. Anglic., I., 317.
42. Quod bonum merito vacabatur. — Walsingham, I., 324.
43. Considerable extracts from this petition, although not in » satisfactory ar
rangement, have fortunately been preserved, and were printed by Foxe in the
Acts and Monuments, Ed. Townsend, II., 784. What Lewis communicated
from other MS. is not free from errors.

250 LIFE OF WICLIF.
44. I do not for a moment doubt that the Papal Collector here several times
named was the same Arnold -Garnier already known to us, for the description given
of him by Parliament applies to Garnier in every particular of chief moment. He
is a French subject, he has a head office in London, and has already been em
ployed in London for a series of years. The only objection that can be taken is
that Garnier's commission in England dated only from February 1372, so that in
the spring of 1376 he had only been four years, not five, in the kingdom. But this
difference is too small to shake the identity which I have assumed.
45. We had matter-of-fact proof of this above. After the death of Archbishop
WiUiam Whittlesey, in 1374, Gregory XI. nominated the Bishop of London, Simon
of Sudbury, to be Archbishop ; the Bishop of Hereford, WUUam Courtney, to be
Bishop of London ; and the Bishop of Bangor, John, Gilbert, to be Bishop of Here
ford. On this occasion, therefore, he translated at the least three bishops, and
possessed himself.of the first year's revenues of four newly-fiUed sees.
46. Edward III. succeeded to the crown after the dethronement of his father,
Edward II., 25th January 1327. The year 1376 was therefore exactly the fiftieth
of his long reign. It was a happy thought that the King's jubUee could not be
better celebrated than by carrying out the necessary ecclesiastical reforms.
47. In May 1343.
48. Foxe, Acts, etc., II. , 789, from the royal archives.
49. Tit. 94. Against the usurpations of the Pope as being the cause of all the
plagues, murrains, famine, and poverty of the realm. Comp. Tit. 100.
50. This must have been Thomas Trillek, who became Bishop of Rochester in
1363, and was stiU in office at the accession of Richard IL, in 1377. Comp. Wal
singham, Hist. Anglic, I., 299, 3S2.
61. Lowth, ITie Life of WiUiam of Wykeham, p. 81. Pauli, Geschichte von
England, 4, 489.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO CHAPTER IV., BY THE
TRANSLATOR.
ON THE LATE DATE AT WHICH WICLIF BEGAN HIS ATTACKS
UPON THE- MENDICANT ORDERS.
It is one of the most valuable contributions which Dr. Lechler has made to the
biography of WicUf that he has been able to produce from the Reformer's unpub
lished writings " direct proofs " of the fact " that WicUf continued to speak of
the Begging Orders with all respectful recognition during the twenty years which
elapsed between 1360 and 1380, and that it was iu connection with the contro
versy opened by him on the subject of Transubstantiation, and therefore after
1381 at the earUest, that he began to oppose himseU to the Mendicants, who had
come forward as his antagonists on that fundamental question."
I am happy to be able to bring forward an important testimony to the historical
accuracy of this representation from the same contemporary' source which was

ADDITION.VL NOTE TO CHAPTER IV. 251
laid under contribution in a previous note to chapter iii., viz., the Chronicon
Anglice of the Monk of St. Alban's. At p. 116 occurs the following remarkable
passage. Describing AA'iclif, the hostile chronicler writes ; — Erat utique non solum
facundus, sed simulator et hypocrita solidissiuius, ad unum finem intendeus omnia,
ut videUcet ejus fama et opinio se inter homines dilataret. Simulabatque se
spernere temporalia tanquam instabiUa et caduca, pro Eeternorum aniore j et ideo
non erat cum possessionatis ejus convei-satio, sed ut magis plebis mentes delu-
deret, ordinibus adhaesit mendicantium, eoruni paupcrtatem approbaiis, perfect ionem
extallens, ut magis faUeret commune vulgus.
The distinction here taken between AA'iclif's bearing towards the possessionati,
the " monk's possessioners," or the old endowed orders, with whom he had Uttle or
no famUiarity, and his good opinion of the Mendicant Orders, with whom he culti
vated personal intercourse, agrees exactly with the view taken by Professor
Lechler, and is a weighty corroboration of its historical truth. This view, how
ever, is of so recent a date, and the opposite view that Wiclif had begun as early
as 1360 to take up the old quarrel of Armachanus with the Franciscans, has been
so long received that it is not surprising that both Professor Shirley and Mr.
Thompson have regarded this passage of the Chronicon as one which throws grave
doubt on the authority or the accuracy of the compiler. Referring to the chapter
on WicUf as it stands in the old translation of the Chronicle from which he
quotes, Shirley speaks of the single sentence which I have given above in the
original as enough to set aside the authority of the whole chapter (vide p. 523 of
the Fasc. Zizan.). This is the more unaccountable on his part, as he had previously
remarked (Introduction, p. 14), that the " story which connects Wiclif with the con
troversies of 1360 is impUcitly contradicted by contemporary authority, and
receives, to say the least, no sanction whatever from the acknowledged writings of
the Reformer ; " that, in short, " it is a part of Wiclif's life only by courtesy and
repetition.'' The editor of the Chronicon Anglice has naturaUy and justly a
much higher respect for the authority of its author than Prof. Shirley, who had
never seen it in its original text, but he is not a Uttle embarrassed by the very
statements about WicUf, which, from Dr. Lechler's point of view, create no
difficulty at aU, but are welcome confirmations of historical truth. " It is curious
to note," he remarks, in his Introduction, p. 63, "that our Chronicler, either from
ignorance, or perhaps from a natural hostiUty to the Mendicant Orders, has repre
sented WycUff as a favourer of their views. It is, indeed, almost hopeless to
account for such a glaring perversion of facts, otherwise than by an assumption of
the writer's ignorance ; and yet one hardly dares to aUow such ignorance in a con
temporary writer. His further statement that the Duke of Lancaster appointed
four friai-s to plead WycUffs cause at his trial may have some truth in it ; and it
is possible that this fact led him to assume that Wycliflf was not now opposed to
his former antagonists."
The discovery of the truth of the case by Dr. Lechler puts an end at once to aU
these embarrassments. It vindicates the accuracy of the Chronicon, as to the im
portant point now before us ; while the testimony of the Chronicon becomes
a valuable corroboration of the biographical datum which Lechler has ascertained
from the unpublished writings of WicUf.

CHAPTEE V.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE HIERARCHY AGAINST WICLIF IN 1377
AND 1378.
Section I. — Wiclif Summoned before ihe Convocation.
A T the very time when AA''iclif stood in the highest
estimation Avith his countrymen, and had reached a
position of the greatest influence, a storm burst suddenly
upon his head.
As a resolute, far-sighted, and experienced patriot, he
possessed the confidence of the nation, as well as the
favour of the King. Edward III. had already bestowed
upon him more than one prebend, and what was still more im
portant as a mark of his royal grace, had, as we have seen
good reason to believe, repeatedly summoned him to serve
in Parliament, as a man thoroughly conversant with eccle
siastical affairs. How the men of Oxford had previously
distinguished him by office and honours, has been already
related. After he had been Seneschal of Merton .College, we
have seen him in the position of Master of Balliol ; and in
1361 this college nominated him to the parish of Fillingham.
Seven years later he exchanged this parish for that of
Ludgershall, in Buckinghamshire, for no other reason, doubt
less, than that the latter was situated in the neighbourhood
of the University. On 12th November 1368, AA^^iclif entered
upon his pastoral charge at Ludgershall. In 1375 he
obtained a prebend at Aust, a place romantically situated on

^VICLIF appointed rector of LUTTERWORTH. 253
the south bank of the Severn, and connected with the
endowed church of Westbury, near Bristol, where, in 1288,
a foundation in honour of the Holy Trinity had been
instituted for a dean and several canons.^ It was not a
parish church, but a chapel; the prebend was evidently
regarded merely as a sinecure and place of honour, the
holder being at libertj^ to appoint a substitute to read the
masses required by the terms of the foundation. AViclif
however, seems to haA-e resigned the prebend immediately
after obtaining it, for in November of the same year, 1375,
as appears from an entry in the rolls of the King's Chan
cery, the prebend was bestowed upon a certain Robert of
Farrington.- His nomination to the rectory of Lutterworth, in the
county of Leicester, appears, from documentary evidence, to
have been an expression of the royal favour. The patron
age of this parish did not, indeed, belong properly to the
Crown, but to the noble family of Ferrars of Groby, which
Avas owner of the land. But as the heir. Lord Henry ,
Ferrars, was stiU a minor, the right of collation to the exist
ing vacancy devolved on the Crown, and the King presented
John AViclif in April 1374.^ We shall return to this
subject in the sequel. We only remark further at present,
that AA^iclif appears to have immediately resigned his pre
vious charge at Ludgershall, upon his being appointed to
the Rectory of Lutterworth. At least, as early after that
appointment as May 1376, a certain William Newbold is
named as the parish priest of that village.* On more than
one occasion AViclif expressed himself strongly enough on
the subject of the plurahties which were held by many of
the priests and prelates ; and he had good reason for doing
so. The abuse must have gone very far, when even a Pope

254 LIFE OF WICLIF.
spoke of the accumulation of church-offices in one and the
same person, as a mischief to the Church, as Urban V. did
in a bull of May 1365 ; in consequence of which Papal cen
sure, a sort of statistical inquiry was set on foot, by requiring
of every beneficed man to make an official return to his
Bishop of all the different church-livings Avhich he held.
From such a return made to the Bishop of London by
William Wykeham, afterwards Bishop of Winchester, but
now Archdeacon of London, it appears that he was the
holder of not fewer than twelve livings, some of them of
very considerable value, while he was not in a position to
serve one of these spiritual offices in his oavu person, being
obliged to live continually at Court in the capacity of the
King's private secretary.^ This single example speaks
loudly enough of the state of things. AA^iclif therefore was
justified, as matters stood, in strongly censuring such an
abuse ; but still we should have been compelled to challenge
his personal moral right to complain of it, if he had himself
been guilty of what he censured in others. And doubtless
his opponents, in this case, would not have spared to cast in
his teeth the reproach, that he blamed in other men what he
allowed in himself. But he never so acted. Never in any
instance did he hold, at the same time, two places involving
the cure of souls.
But all this disinterestedness could not protect him from
the opposition of the hierarchy. In the course of a single
year, 1377, he was twice summoned to appear before the
spiritual tribunals ; in the first instance, before Convocation,
and in the second, before several prelates as commis
sioners of the Pope himself. His summons before Con
vocation is involved in much obscurity, with respect to its
immediate occasion and the subjects on which he was

WICLIF SUJlilONEU BEFORE CONVOCATION. 255
required to answer. We find noAvhere any documentary
information as to Avhat doctrines of AA^iclif Avere meant to
be submitted to investigation before that tribunal. On the
other hand, we liaA^e some information of the course Avhich
the proceedings took on the occasion of this appearance of
AA'iclif before his spiritual judges; and from these the con
clusion is plain that the hostile step now taken against him
Avas closely connected Avith the political partisanship of the
day. The prelates were embittered against the Duke of
Lancaster, who Avas labouring Avith all his might to put an
end to their political influence. For the moment they were
no match for him in the political arena ; but all the more
readily on this account they seized the opportunity of in
directly humbling him in the ecclesiastical province, in the
person of a theologian Avho stood in intimate relations to
his person.
The Parliament opened on 27th January 1377. A few
days later, on 3rd February, the Convocation — the clerical
parliament — also met, and the Convocation summoned AViclif
before its tribunal. The Bishop of London, AVilliam Courte
nay, was no doubt the instigator of this proceeding. He
was a younger son of the Earl of Devonshire; a great grand
son of EdAvard I. on the side of his grandmother; closely
related to several families of the high nobihty ; and a man, be
sides, of imperious nature, and an arrogant, hierarchical spirit.
He had been promoted, in 1375, from Hereford to the im
portant see of London, aud was a man of superior energy
to his predecessor, Simon Sudbury, now Archbishop of
Canterbury. The nobleman aud the hierarch Avere united
in him ; and he represented in his oavu person the coalition
of the nobility with the prelacy in opposing the ambitious
designs of the Duke of Lancaster.

256 LIFE OF WICLIP.
But in vioAV of the fact that political rather than ecclesi
astical motives had to do with the citation of Wichf the
Duke considered it his imperative duty to afford him his
powerful protection. He resolved to accompany him in
person to the assembly of the prelates. On Thursday, 19th
February 1377, the Convocation assembled in St. Paul's,
and at Wiclifs side appeared the Duke of Lancaster and
Lord Henry Percy, the Grand Marshall of England, followed
by a band of armed men, and attended by several friends of
the learned divine, in particular by five bachelors of divinity
of the five Mendicant Orders, who, by the Duke's desire,
Avere to stand forward in case of need as the advocates of
AViclif The Lord Marshall led the way to clear a passage
through the crowd for the Duke and Wiclif; but even with
his aid it proved a difficult matter to get into the Cathe
dral and to press through the Church to the Lady Chapel
where the bishops were assembled. This, of course, was not
effected without a considerable amount of disturbance in the
sacred building, upon which Courtenay declared to Lord
Percy that if he had known beforehand the style in
Avhich he was going to play the master within the
church, he would have barred his entrance. Whereupon
the Duke of Lancaster answered the Bishop in a rage
that he was resolved to be master there in spite of the
bishops. After much pushing and hustling they forced their
way at last into the Chapel, where dukes and barons
were seated with the Archbishop and other bishops.
Here, then, stood Wiclif before his judges awaiting his
examination — a tall, thin figure, covered with a long
light gown of black colour, with a girdle about his
body; the head, adorned with a full, flowing beard.

PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF WICLIP. 257
exhibiting features keen and sharply cut ; the eye clear and
penetrating ; the hps firmly closed in token of resolution —
the whole man wearing an aspect of lofty earnestness, and
replete Avith dignity and character.'
The Grand Marshall now turned to Wiclif, and requested
him to be seated. " He had need to rest himself for he would
have many questions to answer." "No!" exclaimed the
Bishop of London, beside himself with rage, Wiclif must not
be seated there ; it was neither lawful nor becoming that
when summoned to ansAver before his judges he should
sit during his examination— he must stand. The dispute
between them on this point became so violent as to end
in the use of abusive language on both sides, by which
the multitude of people who Avitnessed the scene were
much disturbed. And now struck in the Duke, assailing
the Bishop Avith angry words, and the Bishop paying him
back in fuU with taunts and insults. The Duke finding
himself overmatched in this line, passed to the use of
threats, and declared that he would chastise not only the
Bishop of London, but all the prelates of England for their
arrogance. To Courtenay, in particular, he said : " You
talk boastfully of your family, but they will be in no con
dition to help you ; they will have enough ado to protect
themselves." To which the Bishop replied, that if he
might be bold enough to speak the truth, he placed his
trust neither in his family nor in any other man, but singly
and alone in God. Hereupon the Duke whispered to the
person who stood nearest to him, that he M-ould sooner
drag the Bishop out of the Church by the hair of the head
than put up with such an affront at his hand. But this
was not spoken in so low a voice that several citizens of
London did not overhear it. They were highly incensed,
VOL. I. R

258 LIFE OP WICLIF.
and cried out that they would never consent to see their
Bishop so shamefully handled ; they would rather lose their
Hves than he should be seized by the hair of the head.
As the business, before it was well commenced, had de
generated into a Ariolent quarrel and tumult, the sitting
of the Court was suspended before nine o'clock in the
forenoon. The Duke and the Lord Marshall withdrew
with Wiclif, without the latter haAong spoken a single
word. But the citizens of London, who saw themselves
insulted in the person of their Bishop, were still more
enraged when, on the same day, a motion was made in
Parliament that the government of the city should no
longer be left in the hands of the Mayor, but should be_
handed over to a royal commissioner, the imprisoned Lord
Latimer. Thus a menace to the municipal liberties and
self-government of the capital was added to the affront
done to their Bishop. No wonder that the wrath of the
citizens found vent for itself in action as well as in word.
On the following day they held a great meeting to de
liberate upon the double wrong which had been done
them — the imperilling of their autonomy, and the insult to
their Bishop. At the same moment it came to their ears
that the Lord Marshall had imprisoned one of the citizens
in his own house in the heart of the city ; they rushed
instantly to arms ; they stormed the house of the Marshall,
and set at liberty their imprisoned fellow-citizen, and they
searched the house through for Lord Percy himself. Not
finding him there, they rushed off to the mansion of the Duke
of Lancaster in the Savoy, where they thought they should
find both the Lords. But they were a second time disap
pointed ; and to make amends, the crowd vented their rage
partly upon a priest, whom they mortally wounded on their

TUMULT IN LONDON. 259
way back to the city, and partly upon the armorial coat of
the Duke, which they had pulled down from his palace in
the Savoy, and now hung up in a public place of the city
reversed, in token that the Duke was a traitor. They had
even a design to demolish the Duke's palace, but Bishop
Courtenay himself interposed, and entreated them to return
to quietness and good order.* The Princess of Wales, also,
Avidow of the Black Prince, and mother of Richard the
young heir to the throne, came forward to mediate between
the Duke and the citizens, and a reconciliation was at length
effected, in which the Duke consented that the Bishftp of
Winchester, who had been banished in disgrace from the
Court, and Peter de la Mere, formerly Speaker of the House
of Commons, who was still in prison, should be brought
to trial before their peers ; while on his side the Duke
obtained the concession that the present Lord Mayor and
Aldermen of the city should be replaced by others. And
further, as the instigators of the riot, and the circulators of
abusive rhymes against the Duke could not be found, it was
agreed, in satisfaction of these Avrongs, that a colossal wax
candle should be bought at the expense of the city, and
carried in solemn procession, with the Duke's arms attached
to it, to St. Paul's, and there kindled before the image of
the Virgin Mary.'
The citation of Wiclif before Convocation had thus ended
in a manner quite unexpected. Wiclif himself had never
opened his mouth. The incident seems to have passed
away without affecting him personally in any way. But
the scene which took place in the cathedral, and the
popular uproar which resulted from it, brought the already
high-pitched irritation between Lancaster and the English
bishops to an open rupture, in which Wiclif was by no

260 LIFE OF WICLIF.
means the chief person engaged. To Wiclif himself it must
have been a source of sincere pain that he should have
been the occasion of such a scene, and that, too, in a con
secrated place. It would certainly have been more agree
able to him if he had been allowed to answer to the
accusations which might have been laid against him. But
who will hold him responsible for the fact that his person
was made use of for ulterior objects, both by his enemies
and his friends'? In citing him before Convocation, the
prelates wished to strike a blow, in his person, at the Duke.
And the Duke took up the gauntlet as thrown down to him,
and was glad to have found an opportunity of humbling the
Bishop of London and the English prelates as a body. But
when the citizens of London were exasperated against the
Duke on account of his doings in St. Paul's, this was no
proof that they were also opposed to the cause of Wiclif
Within less than a year afterwards, they espoused his
interest in the most earnest way ; but I am not disposed
to lay stress upon that fact, as it might easily be attributed
to the fickleness of the multitude. More weight is due
to the circumstance that the sole cause which roused so
powerfully the feelings of the citizens, was partly the
heinous affront offered to their Bishop, and in part their
alarm for the safety of their municipal rights and privileges ;
and neither the one nor the other of these causes of offence
can with reason be laid to the blame of Wiclif.
Section II. — Papal Bulls against Wiclif.
If the citation of Wiclif before Convocation had been
entirely Avithout consequences for his own person, there
was no abandonment of the designs of his church-adver-

THE BISHOPS HAVE RECOURSE TO THE POPE, 261
saries against him, on that account. The political friends
and patrons of the man, were too powerful to allow of
the prelates carrying out theh wishes for his humiliation ;
they had recourse therefore to the Papal Court, in order to
put him down by the right of the highest authority
which existed in the Cathohc Church. No doubt the first
steps in this direction had already been taken some con
siderable time before. The occurrence in St. Paul's would
now be a reason for pushing the matter to a more rapid
decision. Who were the principal accusers of Wiclif in Rome?
John Foxe's answer to the question is, that it was
the Enghsh bishops who collected articles of his and
sent them to Rome.i" But since LcAvis's time it has been
regarded as pretty well established that it was the monk
party, and especially the Mendicant Orders, who appeared
in the Curia against him. ^^ We prefer to agree with Foxe,
It is entirely due to a confounding of dates, when it is
assumed that, so early as the period now before us, a
controversy had aheady broken out between Wiclif and
these Orders on the principles of Monachism. And even
if this had been the case, it was not single Orders and
their representatives who would have been recognised as
competent pubhc accusers in matters of doctrine, but only
the bishops of the English Church. And we find, in
point of fact, that AViclif himself considered not the monks
but the bishops as the parties who had pressed for a con
demnation of his doctrine in Rome. ^^
The Anglican Episcopate, therefore, is, in our opinion,
to be regarded as the prime mover of the proceedings of
the Roman Court against Wiclif, as an alleged teacher of
heresy ; and they took care to prepare aud manage the

262 LIFE OF WICLIF.
net in which they hoped to take him, with such skill
and precaution, as to make sure that the man whom they
dreaded, and who had hitherto been shielded by such
powerful protectors, should not be able to escape. They
had collected the requisite number of doctrinal proposi
tions which Wiclif had publicly propounded, either in
lectures and disputations delivered in the University, or
in his published Avritings, and the dangerous tendency of
which, menacing the well-being of Church and State,
must, as they deemed, be manifest to every eye. But it
was also of importance so to weave and intertwine the
lines of the net, that the game should be snared, and
finally secured. It seemed, too, that this difficult problem
had been skilfuly solved; for no fewer than five bulls
were issued on one day, all aimed at one and the same
pomt. On 22d May, 1377, Gregory XL, who had shortly be
fore removed from AAdgnon to Italy, and on 17th January
had made his solemn entry into Rome, put his hand to five
Bulls against Wiclif in the magnificent Church of St.
Maria Maggiore. One of the five, and that which appears to
contain the essence of the whole number, is addressed to
the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. ^^
It conveys to the two prelates apostolic commission and
plenary powers, first of all to ascertain, by private inquiry,
whether the propositions contained in a schedule appended
to the bull had been actually put forth by John Wiclif;^*
and if this should be the case, then to cause him to be
put in prison, and to be kept there until such time as
they should receive further instructions from the Pope,
to follow upon the report made to him of their pro
ceedings. A second bull contains only a supplement to the principal

FIVE BULLS OF THE POPE, 263
bulh^" It is also directed to the Primate and the Bishop of
London, and appoints what course should be taken in case
Wiclif should get secret intelligence of the process with
which he is threatened, and should save himself by flight
from impending imprisonment. To meet this eventuality,
the two prelates are commissioned and endowed with full
apostolic powers to issue out a public citation to Wiclif to
present himself in person before Gregory XL within three
months from the date of citation. A third bull, also
addressed to the same prelates,^^ requires them, either per
sonally, or by theologians of unsuspected orthodoxy, to bring
the condemned doctrines of Wiclif to the notice of King
Edward, and his sons, the princes, as also the Princess of
Wales, Johanna, the widow of the Black Prince, and other
great personages of the realm, and privy councillors, to
satisfy them of the erroneous character of these doctrines,
and of the dangers which they threatened to the interests
of the State; and thus to engage them to assist with all
their might in rooting out these errors from the kingdom.
The fourth bull, directed to the King himself, informed him
of the commission relating to Wichf which had been con
veyed to the Archbishop and the Bishop of London ; and
while warmly commending the zeal which he and his pre
decessors upon the throne had displayed for the Catholic
faith, earnestly entreated and required him to extend his
royal grace and assistance to the Archbishop and Bishop
in the execution of their commission. Last of all, the fifth
Bull is addressed to the Chancellor and the University of
Oxford,^* to require of them in the most emphatic manner,
and even upon pain of the loss of their privileges, not only
to guard against the setting forth and maintaining of erro
neous doctrines, but to commit AA''iclif and his obstinate

264 LIFE OF WICLIP.
followers to prison, and to deliver them over to the Pope's
commissioners, the Archbishop and the Bishop of London.
The plan of operations, it is plain, had been ripely con
sidered. The attainment of the end in view seemed to be
assured, by the King and the royal princes, the Privy Coun
cil and the chief nobility, and the University of Oxford being
all drawn into the interest of the Church, It was, therefore,
to be expected that the Government, the power of the nobles,
and the resources of so important a corporation as the Uni^
versity of Oxford, would contribute their aid to the two
commissioners of the Roman Court to bring Wiclif under
the Church's power. For that was the point aimed at. It
was not meant that the Primate and Bishop Courtenay
should conduct the investigation in chief against AA^^iclif,
and pronounce judgment upon him. It was only a pre
liminary inquiry that was committed to them, viz., to
satisfy themselves, in a manner entirely secret and confi
dential, that the theses communicated to them from Rome
had really been put forward and maintained by Wiclif.
But the process for heresy proper the Pope manifestly
reserved for himself. It was a well-considered policy on
the part of the Pope to make his appeal to England's
sense of honour, in order to gain all parties having interest
for the object in view. To the King he represented what
high reputation both he and his ancestors and bis kingdom
had ever acquired by their piety and soundness in the faith.
The University of Oxford must remember that its celebrated
name is dishonoured when it looks on in inactiA'ity, wdiile
tares are sown and gi-ow up among the wheat in the field
of renown committed to its care. Even the two bishops,
whom Gregory entrusts Avith plenary powers, are not spared
a word of admonition. They are reminded that the English

THE CONDEMNED ARTICLES. 265
bishops of former times ever stood upon their watch tower,
and took careful heed that no heresy should spread around
them. But noAV-a-days such is the lack of watchfulness
on the spot, that men in far distant Rome are aware of the
secret devices and open attacks of the enemies of the
Church, before any measures of defence against them have
been taken in England itself. Further, it appeared to
the Pope advisable to point out this fact to the bishops,
that some of AViclif's propositions appeared to agree in
sense with the views of MarsUius of Padua and John of
Jandun, Avhose book had already been condemned by Pope
John XXII.
Let us now examine the condemned Articles themselves.
They are nineteen in number, but they are not arranged
in a strictly logical order. This, of course, is not Wiclif's
fault, for it was not he who put them together as they
appear in the schedule attached to the Papal bulls, but
his opponents. The first five Theses were placed at the
head of the Avhole number, Avith the calculated design that
from the veiy first of the series the statesmen and nobles
of the kingdom should receive the impression that Wiclif
held revolutionary views, not only in Church matters, but
also in pohtical and municipal affairs, and even called in
question the rights of private property and hereditary suc
cession. For in Theses 1-5 the subjects treated of have
nothing to do with Church life, but refer exclusively to
legal and municipal matters, such as property, right of
possession, heritages, and so on. It has always, indeed,
been assumed hitherto that the topic here spoken of is the
temporal dominion of the Popes, and the political power and
secular property of the Church in general. But this is not the
fact ; this is a view which rests entirely upon misunder-

266 LIFE OF WICLIF.
standing and prejudice. Upon an unprejudiced examination
it comes out with certainty that it is only municipal and
legal relations which are here in question.^' Wichf's pro
position is, that all rights of inheritance and property are
not to be considered as inherently unconditioned and abso
lute, but as dependent upon God's will and grace. Then in
Nos. 6 and 7 he lays down the bold proposition, "In the
event of the Church falling into error, or of churchmen
persistently abusing the property of the Church, it is com
petent for kings and temporal rulers to withdraw from
them, in a legal and moral manner, the temporal property."
However strongly the endowment may have been secured
on the part of the founder, it is stiD, in the nature of things,
necessarily a conditioned endowment, and one liable to be
annulled by certain derelictions of duty. Whether the
Church is or is not, in point of fact, in a condition of error,
Wiclif will not himself inquire. He leaves it to princes to
inform themselves upon that point ; and iu the event of the
case being such, they may confidently proceed to take action
— they are even bound under the pain of eternal damnation
to Avithdraw, in this event, its temporalities from the Church.
Allied to this, and only treated more as a question of prin
ciple, is the last Thesis, the 19th, where he maintains that " a
man of the spirituality," even the Roman Pontiff himself, may
lawfully be put right, and CA-en be accused by his subjects
and by laymen. The group of Theses, 8-15, is designed to
guard against the abuse of the power of the keys, in binding
and loosing, especi-ally in so far as Church-discipline and the
bann of excommunication should be used to secure certain
revenues to the Church, and to deter the laity from meddling
with Church property. In this sense Wiclif, in Thesis 14, con
tests the pretended . absoluteness of the Pope's power of the

THE CONDEMNED ARTICLES. 267
keys, and makes the effective power of the same dependent
upon its being used in conformity with the Gospel.^" At
bottom it is only another form of the same thought when it is
said (Thesis 9), " It is not possible for a man to be put under
the bann unless he has before and principally been put under
it by himself" In Nos. 10, 12, 13, AVichf declares that only
in God's matters, and not in matters of temporal goods and
revenues, ought church censures to the extent of excom
munication to be applied. AA'ith some appearance of isola
tion from the rest of the propositions, and yet in a certain
degree of connection Avith the Thesis touching the power of
the keys, stands, last of all, the 16th Thesis, which claims for
every laAvfully ordained priest the full power to dispense
every sacrament, and consequently to impart to every peni
tent remission of all manner of sin.
The nineteen Theses, accordingly, in their chief substance,
fall into three different groups. I. 1-5, concerning rights of
property and inheritance. II. 6, 7, 17, 18, concerning Church
property and its rightful secularisation in certain circum
stances, to which No. 19 is a supplement. III. 8-15, con
cerning the power of Church disciphne and its necessary
limits, to which No. 16 also belongs. We shall fix our
attention below upon the larger connections of thought
from which these single Theses have been separated; but
first we follow the course of external events.
Section III. — First Effects of the Five Bulls in England.
The Papal bulls, which were based upon these nineteen
Theses of Wiclif as the corpus delicti, were signed in
Rome by Gregory XL, as before stated, on 22d May
1377 ; but it was an abnormally long time before they

268 life of wiclif.
were made public in England, Not till 18th December
1377 did the Pope's commissioners named in them —
the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London
— put their signatures to a missive to the Chancellor
of the University of Oxford, enclosing the commission
directed to him in the matter of Wiclif, which was
seven months all but four days after the date of the Papal
bulls. How is this delay to be explained? Possibly the
bulls had been long detained on their way from Rome. But,
as is now well known, the intercourse between Rome and
England was at that time so constant, and, as a general rule,
so rapid, that we cannot think it probable that the arrival of
those documents had been really delayed by exceptional cir
cumstances for more than hah" a year. No doubt they must
have reached their destinations at a much earlier date. It was
entirely the act of the Pope's commissioners themselves
that the publication and the execution of their commission
were so long delayed. Nor is it difficult to understand the
reason why. These bulls of Gregory XI. arrived in England
at a time when Edward III., given up by the physicians, was
approaching his end. This state of matters was generally
known in the kingdom; and on 21st June 1377 the aged
monarch breathed his last at Shene.
The bull addressed to the King thus became inept; and
yet without the help of the State, proceedings against Wiclif
could not take the course which Rome desired. Besides, the
weeks next ensuing, during which all public interest was
engrossed by the change of the throne, the entry of the boy-
King into London, and his solemn coronation as Richard IL
in Westminster, were of all seasons the least appropriate for
bringing before the public this present from Rome. Then,
again, everything depended upon the spirit which was to

CAUSES OP DELAY IN THE ACTION OF THE BISHOPS. 269
animate the Government during the King's minority, aud
upon the position which the regency should take up in
relation to ecclesiastical affiurs. To all this were added, in
August, attacks of the French upon the south coasts of the
kingdom, and threatening movements of the Scots in the
north. In October, the first Parliament of Richard II,
assembled, and m the House of Commons, at least, there
prevailed so outspoken a feeling of antagonism to Rome, that
it appeared every way advisable to Avait till the prorogation
of Parliament, which followed on 25th November, before
measures were put in operation against Wiclif. As the
most pressing business in this session of Parliament was
the raising of supplies for the war, and aboA-e all, for the
defence of the kingdom, the attention of the Legislature was
once more draAvn to the systematic draining of the country
in behoof of the Roman Court and of foreign Church digni
taries, and to all questions besides which were connected
thercAvith; the effect of which Avas, that the Commons
addressed several petitions to the King, in which they re
newed their complaints against the Papal provisions and
reservations. They proposed to put a stop to these usur
pations by which the Convention of 1374 between Gregory
XI. and Edward was Adolated, by the enacting of severe
penalties upon aU persons who should obtain any Church
office by the way of Papal provision, or who should rent
from any foreigner land which was an English Church-fief.
They proposed that from 2d January of the ensuing year,
all foreigners alike, whether monks or seculars, should leave
the kingdom, and that during the continuance of the war all
their lands and properties in the country should be applied to
war purposes. The income of French clergy alone, accruing
from Enghsh livings, was estimated at 6000 pounds a-year.

270 LIFE OF WICLIF.
In this Parhament also, the question of the right of the State
was mooted and discussed with great earnestness of feeling.
" Whether the kingdom of England, in case of need, for the
purposes of self-defence, is not competent in law to restrain
the treasure of the land from being carried off to foreign
parts, although the Pope should demand this export of gold
in virtue of the obedience due to him, and under the threat
of Church censures."
Upon this question, if we are rightly informed, Wichf
drew up, by command, an opinion for the young King and
his great council. In that paper he gave a decided affirma
tive to the question, taking his stand partly upon the law of
nature, in virtue of which every corporate body, and therefore
also such an incorporation as the kingdom of England, pos
sesses the power of resistance, in behoof of its own self-
defence ; partly upon " the law of the Gospel," according to
which all almsgiving (and into this all Church-property
ultimately resolves itself), in case of necessity, ceases of
itself to be a duty binding by the law of love. In support
of which latter assertion, he appealed to several expressions
of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, in his memorial to Pope
Eugene IIL, De Consideratione,^^ Herein Wiclif also lays
stress upon considerations of what is due to the national
welfare. If things go on as they have been doing hitherto,
England must be impoverished, and her population decline,
while the Curia, by the superfluity of wealth floAving in upon
it, AviU become arrogant and profligate. The enemies of
England, by means of her own gold, would be put in a posi
tion to make her feel the effects of their mahce, while
Enghshmen would be laughed at by foreigners for their
"asinine stupidity," etc.^^ Last of all, he appeals to the
"Law of conscience;" making, in all, three different standards

MANDATE TO THE CHANCELLOR OF OXFORD. 271
of law (lex naturce, lex Scripturce, and lex conscientitv). In the
second part of the Opinion, he replies to the apprehension of
dangers which might possibly arise from the adoption of the
measures in question.
After the Parliament thus anti-Romish in its temper was
prorogued, no obstacle any longer stood in the way, and
it seemed now to be high time to carry out the Pope's
commission, by taking steps against Wiciif.^^ Accordingly,
under date 18th December, the two commissioners issued a
mandate to the Cvhancellor of Oxford, in which the bull
addressed to the UniA^ersity was enclosed. The mandate,
which Edmund Stafford presented in person, was to this
effect. 1. That the Chancellor, calhng to his aid learned and
orthodox doctors of Holy Scripture, should ascertain whether,
as a matter of fact, John Wiclif had set forth the Theses in
question, which were contained in the collection drawn up
in Rome, and a schedule of which was appended. The
result of this inquiry he was instructed to report to the com
missaries in a sealed letter. 2. The Chancellor was to cite
AViclif to appear in thirty days after the opening of the
citation before the Papal commissaries or their delegates in
St. Paul's Church in London, there to answer concerning his
Theses, and for the purpose of further procedure against him.
Touching the steps which were taken in this direction by
the Chancellor, the Commissaries expected to receive notice
from him in an open letter. 2*
Two things are worthy of remark in this mandate : first,
its essential departure from the terms of the Papal bull.
Gregory XI. had instructed his commissaries, as we have
seen, that in the event of its being found that Wiclif had
actually set forth the Theses in question, they were to cause
him to be put in prison, and thereupon wait for further in-

272 LIFE OF WICLIF.
structious from Rome. The mandate, on the contrary, says
not a word about imprisonment, but only requires that
Wiclif should be cited to present himself (upon the footing
of a man at large) at the bar, and then, it is true, to await
what was to follow. This is something quite different
from the other. But the commissaries must have had very
good reasons for departing from the stringent instructions
which they had received. Doubtless they had convinced
themselves that a prosecution of a man who was so highly
considered at Court, as well as by the people, would be not
only a dangerous measure, but, as matters stood, a matter of
impossibility. And so they resolved at least to do some
thing, and cited AViclif to appear at their bar. Another
thing in the mandate is worth consideration — the tone in
which the commissaries address the Head of the University.
Once and again they impress upon him his duty, from a
motive of reverence and submission to the Holy See,
punctually and faithfully to carry out the instructions which
have been sent to him. This sounds suspiciously, and leaA^es
the impression that they had some reason to stand in doubt
beforehand of the good disposition of the University.
And, in point of fact, the upshot proved that the state of
feeling in Oxford was entirely unfavourable to the object
contemplated. Thomas Walsingham informs us with great
displeasure that the men who were then at the head of the
University hesitated long whether to receive the Papal bull
with honour or to discard it with total disrespect. The
chronicler pours out his feelings in an apostrophe to the
University, in which he laments how deeply fallen she has
become from her former height of wisdom and learning, see
ing that now, under a dark cloud of ignorance, she was not
ashamed to stand in doubt of things which could not be

RESISTANCE IN THE UNIVKUSITY. 273
doubted of CA-en by a Christian layman.'^'' The rejiresenta-
tives of the University resisted, it appears, for some time the
bull AA'hich Gregory himself had addressed to them. The
case was different wdtli the archiepiscopal Alandate Avhich
accompanied the bull, for in this nothing was required of
them save an inquiry into the question of fact, Avhether such
and such propositions had been actually set forth by Wiclif,
and the citation of this man to appear before the episcopal
tribunal. Neither of these requirements touched too nearly
either the honour or the rights of the University. It was
otherwise with the Papal bull. This reflected upon the
honour of the University at its very outset, by -sharply anim
adverting upon its remissness in opposing the erroneous
doctrines Avhich had been introduced into it. It appeared,
besides, to be a proceeding injurious to the rights of the cor
poration, when it was required of them to make Wiclif a
prisoner, and dehver him up to the commissioners, and to do
the like Avith several of his folloAvers if they should manifest
any obstinacy in the way of resistance.
No wonder, if the heads of the University found it opposed
to their dignity and even to their rights, that they should be
called upon to play, so to speak, the part of constables who, at
the bidding of a third party, were to be compelled to make
prisoners of members of their oavu corporation, and deliver
them over to a tribunal Avith Avhich they had nothing to do.
Even apart,however, fi-om the formal and legal point of view,
sympathy with \A''iclif and esteem for his person were no
doubt strong enough in Oxford circles (as the Pope himself
presupposed) to have aAvakened an animated opposition to the
Papal demand. AA^'hat conclusion was taken in the end has
not been expressly handed doAvn to us ; but there is no diffi
culty in conjecturing that the University conformed its action
VOL. I. s

274 LIFE OF WICLIF.
to what was demanded iu the more temperate mandate of
the commissioners, and as much as possible passed over in
silence the bull itself.

Section IV. — The Process against Wiclif.
By the mandate to the Chancellor, Wiclif was cited to
appear in St. Paul's in London thirty days after the service
of the citation. There appears to have been a subsequent
adjournment to a later date, and to a different locality, viz.,
the Archbishop's palace of Lambeth. Many councils had been
held in the chapel of this palace since the days of Anselm of
Canterbury. There AA''iclif was appointed to appear before
the Pope's commissioners. When this took place cannot be
exactly determined. The month of April 1378 has generally
been assumed to have been the time, since Lewis attempted to
fix this approximate date, which, hoAvever, he himself regards
as uncertain.28 And, in fact, we have rather to think of a date
someAvhat earlier, for, according to AA'^alsingham's account,
Gregory XI. must haA'e been still alive at the time of this
examination.^'' But Gregory died on 27th March 1378. It
folloAvs that the transaction must have taken place in March
at latest, perhaps even in February of that year. If so, this
date was not much later than the term for which Wiclif was
originally summoned by the Chancellor of Oxford. Wiclif
without hesitation, presented himself before the Archbishop
Simon Sudbury, and the Bishop of London, AA'illiam Courtenay.
The Duke of Lancaster, Avho_^had stood forward in St. Paul's
as his defender, was no longer, since the change on the
throne, in possession of ascendant influence. But AViclif
stood in no need even of this high protection. He possessed

wiclif at LAMBETH. 27")
courage enough to place himself, Avithout it, before the com
missioners of the Pope.
In defence of the nineteen Theses, condemned by the
Curia as erroneous, he put in a Avritten answer, in Avhich
he set forth the point of vicAv from Avhich he had
proceeded in these Theses, and at once expounded and
justified the sense of them, one by one.^^ This
ansAver Avas meant to be communicated to the Pope him
self. This was Wiclifs oavu intention, at least, as may
be seen from the manuscript passage quoted in the
note. ^' Meanwhile, however, the business of this occasion,
as before, did not pass over entirely without disturbance.
Sir Henry Clifford, an officer in the Court of the widowed
Princess of AA^^ales, appeared in the session, and demanded
of the commissaries, in name of the Princess, that they
should abstain from pronouncing any final judgment re
specting the accused. Citizens of London, too, forced a
passage into the chapel, and loudly and menacingly took
part with the theologian, who was a patriot so much
beloved and honoured. This double intimidation, from
above and from beneath, the spiritual tribunal was unable
to withstand. To save appearances, at least, Wiclif was
prohibited any longer to deliver in lectures and sermons
the Theses in question, because, as was pretended, they
would give offence to the laity (not, therefore, because
they were in themselves erroneous ; such was the im
pression it would seem which was made by his defence).
He was allowed, however, to leave the tribunal as free as he
had appeared before it, quite contrary to the intentions which
had been conceived in Rome, and directly in the teeth of
the instructions which had been given to the commissaries.
No wonder that the zealous adherents of Rome Avere

276 LIFE OF 'ftlCLIF.
displeased in the highest degree with this result of the
process. We have still a hvely echo of this feeling in the
utterances of the chronicler AValsingham on the subject.
In great Avrath he pours himself forth against the glorious
boastings Avith Avhich the prelates began the business,
and against the fear of man with which they closed it.
When they were appointed the Pope's commissaries against
AViclif, they had declared, in the fulness of their courage,
that by no entreaties of men, by no threats or bribes, would
they allow themselves to be drawn aside from the line of
strict justice in this affair, even if their own lives should
be menaced. But on the very day of hearing, for fear
of the Avind which blew the reed hither and thither, their
words had become smoother than oil, to the public humilia
tion of their own dignity and to the loss and prejudice
of the whole Church. Men who had vowed not to bend to
the princes and peers of the realm till they had punished
the arch-heretic for his extravagances, are seized with such
terror at sight of a certain knight of the Court of
Princess Joanna, that one would have supposed that they
had no horns on their mitres more ; when " they became as
one that heareth uot, and Avho has no word to say against
it in his mouth" (Ps. xxxviii. 15). And so the crafty
hypocrite, by his Avritten defence of those godless Theses of
his, had the better of his judges, and got clear off.'"
Thus, then, was a second attack upon AA''iclif happily
repelled. The first had been an independent attempt of
the English Episcopate ; the second had proceeded from
the central power of Rome itself Avhose organs for this
occasion were two English prelates. But on the first oc
casion a prince of the blood had made use of bis infiuence in
the Government to thwart, in a violent way, the design ot

THE SYMPATHY OF THE NATION ^YITII WICLIF. 277
the prelates. On the second occasion, a powerful sympathy
from different circles in the country served as a shield to
cover the bold Reformer ; the learned Corporation of
Oxford bestirred themselves to guard in his person
their oavu autonomy ; the mother of the young King put in
a poAverful Avord for him ; aud the burghers of London,
in a tumultuary manner, manifested their sympathy
Avith the honoured patriot. AA'e see how Avidely among
the higher and lower strata of the population, esteem
for AA'iclif and the influence of his spirit were then diffused.
It is true that, in the Chapel of Lambeth, the Papal com
missaries formally prohibited him any more to publish in
the pulpit or in the chair the doctrine condemned by the
Pope. But no formal promise was given by Wiclif to that
effect ; and should he resolve to persevere in his own path,
in spite of this prohibition, the prelates were destitute of
power to arrest his progress.
But all these considerations apart, the relations of the
Western Church at large were assuming such a form
just at this time, that an earnest and free spirit like
Wiclif could only be set on fire still more to press for
reformation Avith all his strength. For not long after the
trial in Lambeth, Gregory XI. died (27th March, 1378) ;
and a few months later was developed that great and long
continued Papal schism which exercised an influence of the
greatest importance upon Wiclifs inner and outer life. '"^
Thus the year 1378 forms a turning point in his career. A
storm which menaced his safety had been turned aside, and
on this occasion it had been brought to light how many
hearts were beating in sympathy with him and his efforts.
Then befell the great church schism Avhich shook violently
the moral prestige of the Roman Church, so far as it has

278 LIFE OF WICLIF.
any such still remaining, paralysed its power, and put a spur
into every good man to do his utmost to help the necessities
of the case, and to raise up again the fallen Church. It is
easy to understand that Wiclif, after having applied himself
till now, preponderantly, to matters of mixed ecclesiastical
and political interest, should from henceforth devote himself
to interests of a purely ecclesiastical kind, without of course
renouncing the character of the patriot. From that time
he first stood forward in the specific character of a Church
Reformer.

NOTES TO CHAPTER V.

1. Vaughan states that it was the King who presented him to this prebend, but
all that is certain, from documentary evidence, is that Edward III. confirmed the
nomination, 6th November 1375.
¦2. Rotuli patentes 49, Edw. IIL, 1, il. 11. WicUf Bible, Pref. vii.
3. That this was the history of the affair is made certain by an entry in the
register of the see of Lincoln, in the place where it records the nomination of
AViclif's successor in the rectory. On this occasion Lord Henry Ferrars exercised
personaUy his patronate right ; and it w-os stated at the same time that the last
preceding nomination had been made by King Edward, by reason of the minority
of Lord Ferrars. Vide entry in Lewis, p. 44, with note ; and in Vaughan, Mcnio-
graph, p. 180, with note.
4. According to entry in the Registrum Bokyngham of Lincoln.
5. Lowth, Life of William of Wykeham, p. 31 .
6. This last circumstance Foxe (Acts and Monuments, IL, p. 800, ed. Townsend)
takes from the MS. chronicle of a monk of St. Albans, which was lent to him by
Archbishop Parker, and from which he derived the whole detailed account of the
incident. More recent writers passed over the circumstance in sUence, after Lewis
had maintained that it is in the highest degree uuprobable that the Mendicant
Friars should have undertaken tbe defence of a man who had exposed their super
stitions and immoral practices. But this last assumption touching Wiclif's relations
at this date to the friars rests upon error. And we have no good reason to doubt the
fact as stated by Foxe, especiaUy as he does not say that WicUf himself had
associated these four friars with him for his defence, but that the Duke had required
them to accompany him to the tribunal ; aud of Lancaster it is well known that he
was as pronounced a friend of the Mendicant Orders as he was a sworn enemy of
the prelates.
7. This description of the personal appearance of Wiclif is taken from several
portraits of undoubted originality still existing, aU agreeing in the main. The
portrait which is prefixed to Lewis's life was engraved from a rictnre in possession
of the Earl of Denbigh. That given by Vaughan in both forms ot his work was
taken from the portrait which belongs as an heir-loom to the parsonage of the \ illage
of Wiclif in Yorkshire. More recently (1851) a remarkable portrait has been
brought to Ught, which is in the possession of a family named Payne, in Leicester,
which is a sort of palimpsest ; for the original picture, which is a portrait of WicUf,
and seems to have been produced in- the fifteenth century, was painted over befoio
the Reformation and converted into a likeness of a Dr. Robert Langton, of whom

280 LIFE OF WICLIF.
nothing is known. But the original picture has been detected under the second,
and this represents Wiclif as a somewhat younger man, and with fuUer and firmer
features than he is represented withal in the other portraits. Comp. Vaughan's
article " Wycliflfe " in the British Quarterly Reciew, October 1858.
8. Walsingham, I., 325.
9. Foxe, Acts and Monuments, IL, 804. Comp. Walsingham, I., 325.
10. Acts and Monuments, IIL, 4.
11. Lewis, 46 ; Shirley, Fasc. Ziz., XXVII. ; Bohringher, WycUffe, 53.
12. De Ecclesia, c, 15 ; Vienna MS., 1294, f. 178, col. 2.
13. Walsingham, I., 350 ; Lewis, Appendix, 15 ; Vaughan, Life amd Opinions,
I., 429.
14. Walsingham, I., 353 ; Lewis, 316, No. 18 ; Vaughan, Life, etc., I., 457.
15. V/alsingham, I., 348 ; Lewis, 308, No. 14. " Nuper per nos, etc.''
16. "Super periculosis admodum erroribus," etc., Walsingham, I., 347; Lewis,
307, No. 13 ; Vaughan, Life, etc., I., 427.
17. Regnum Angliae quod Altissimus, etc. Walsingham, I., 352 ; Lewis, 312,
No. 16 ; Vaughan, Life, etc., I., 430.
18. " Mirari cogimur et dolere," etc. Walsingham, I., 346 ; Lends, 305, No.
12 ; Vaughan, Life, etc., I., 425 ; Shirley, Fasc. Ziz., 242. That the date given
in this document (30th May 1376) is false, was discovered by Shirley ; vide Intro
duction, xxviii., note I., after having declared his preference for A.D. 1377, at p.
244, note 17, in the body of his work.
19. Lewis set the example of referring these articles to ecclesiastical property and
jurisdiction, p. 46, and he is foUowed in this by Vaughan and all later writers. The
error attached itself to the words in the first article, Petrus et omne genus suum —
words which it was thought could only be understood of the Apostle Peter and his
successors in the Roman See. "But to say nothing of the extreme strangeness of
using the word genus for successor ei, WicUf often makes use, in his unprinted works,
of the name Petrus, as also of the praeuomens Cains, Titus, etc., in the way of
example. But quite decisive of the point is the fact that in the book, De Civili
Dominio, I., c. 35, from which I am convinced the article was taken, the connection
clearly and necessarily leads to the general sense which I have indicated.
20. No. 15. Credere debemus, quod solum tunc solvit vel ligat (sc Papa) quando
se conformat legi Christi.
21. Foxe has incorporated an extract from this memorial with his work, as weU
in its Latin as its English form. Acts and Monuments, IIL, 54. The complete
original is found in MS. in a volume made up of several pieces, in the Bodleian,
from which it has been published by Shu?ley in the Fasc. Zizan. He has compared
with it a second copy, which is found in one of the Vienna Wiclif MSS. (D^nis,
358, now numbered 1337, f. 175). The title of it in the Oxford MS. is, Responsio
Magistri Joannis Wycliff ad dubium infra scriptum quaesitum ab eo per Dominum
regem Anglice Ricardum secundum, et magnum suum Concilium, anno regni sui
primo. 22. Shirley, Fasc. Zizan., 263.

NOTES TO CHAPTER V. 281
23. That the commissaries had at their own instance delayed the execution of
the Papal commission, which appears to have reached their hands in due time, is
evidently presumed by AA^alsingham when he says, " How disrespectfully, . how
negligently they acted in executing their commission, ia better past over in silence
than expressed." Hist. Angl, ed. Riley, I., 356.
24. The mandate is printed by Lewis in his Appendix, No. 17, p. 314, as also
in Wilkins' Concilia Magnac Britetnniae, IIL, p. 123; only in the latter the date
given is V Cal. Januarii., instead of XV Cal., i.e., 2Sth December, instead of 18th
December. This is the solution of the discrepancy remarked upon by Hoeffler, in
his Anna von Luxemburg, p. 53, note 3.
25. AA^alsingham, Hist. Anglic, I., 345.
26. Life of John Wiclif, p. 58.
27. Walsingham, Hist. Angl., I., 356, says in reference to the upshot of the
transaction, " Wiclif escaped, amplius non compariturus coram dictis episcojris,
citra mortem Gregorii Papae."
28. This short " Defence " is incorporated by Walsingham in his Chronicle, I.,
357-363. It is also given by Le-wis in his Appendix, No. 40, p. 382 ; and by
Vaughan, Life, etc., I., 432. In the Chronicler its title is Dcclarationes; in Lewis,
Protestatio. I find that WicUf himself in his work De Veritate S. Scripturae, c.
14, f. 40, col 4 (Vienna MS., 1294) gives to this piece the latter title, Protestatio.
Another justification of the same nineteen articles, difiering in point of form, and
bearing to have been presented to the Parliament, is given by Shirley, Fasc. Zizan.,
p. 245.
29. Walsingham, I., 356 ; comp. 362. We may here find a place for the remark
that the two examinations of Wiclif before the English prelates, treated of in this
chapter, have not always been rightly viewed by historians. Foxe, indeed, in the
sixteenth century, and his Romish contemporary, Nicolas Hai-psfield, placed the
examinations in St. Paul's in the days of Edward III., and at a time antecedent to
the appearance of the five Papal bulls. They foUow, in this point, the account of
Walsingham (which, however, is not entirely consistent with itself), and of other
chroniclers of the period between Wiclif and the Reformation. But Lewis, pp. 46,
56, assumed that both the examinations, at St. Paul's and at Lambeth, took place
in consequence of the Papal bulls, and not before, and that not only the later, but
the first also took place under Richard II., after King Edward's death. He was
foUowed in this not only by Mosheim, Schrockb, Gieseler, and Neander, but also
by EngUsh scholars, such as Lowth, Baber, and a writer in the Westminster Review,
1854. The last-named author believed that he was able to bring positive proof
that Walsingham must have been in error when he placed the appearance of Wiclif
at St. Paul's at the beginning of 1377, instead of the year 1378. But Vaughan in
the Life, etc., I., 357, note 23, 2 edit., has proved, by weighty arguments, that that
event took place as early as 1377 (19th February), and that the Papal bulls were
not issued tiU a later date, so that the event cannot have been a consequence of the
bulls, but much rather the occasion of their issue on 22d May 1377- To Vaughan,
undoubtedly, belongs the merit of having placed this subject in a clear light, both
chronologicaUy and pragmaticaUy. The foUovring facts are decisive in support of

282 LIFE OF WICLIF.
this view : — 1. The popular tumult in London directed against the Duke of Lan
caster and MarshaU Percy, which was undoubtedly a consequence of what occurred
in St. Paul's, is always and persistently placed in the year 1337, and not iu the
year following, 1378. 2. Lord Percy, in the beginning of 1378, was no longer
MarshaU, but in 1377 he was, without doubt, invested with this dignity. 3. The
day of the week which is assigned by the English contemporary chronicler, viz.,
Thursday before the Feast of St. Peter's, 19th February, corresponds with this day
of the month only in the year 1377, but not in the year 1378.
30. The Chronicler of St. Alban's appears to have felt this himself, when he says
of Gregory XI. 'a death, " Cujus obitus non modicum fideles contristavit sed in fide
falsos, ipsum Johannem (Wiclif) etipsius asseclas, animavit." Walsingham, I., 366.

CHAPTER VI.
AVICLIF AS A PREACHER ; HIS EFFORTS FOR REFORM IN
PREACHING AND FOR THE ELEVATION OF THE PASTORAL
OFFICE.
Section I. — Wiclif as a Preacher; his Homiletical Principles.
"YXTICLIF not only made use of scientific lectures from
his chair in Oxford, nor only of learned works and
small fugitive tracts ; he also availed himself of preaching
as a means of battling with the evils which he saw in the
religious condition of the National Church, of implanting
sound Christian hfe, and of thus serving, according to his
abdity, the interests of his Church and people.
It is characteristic of the man aud his way of .acting, that
in this extremely important matter he commenced by doing
his duty at his own personal post, from Avhich he afterwards
extended his influence to wider circles.
This comes out with the greatest clearness from his
remaining sermons, for these divide themselves into two
great groups — the Latin sermons and the Enghsh. The
latter are partly sermons which he may be presumed to
have preached to his congi-egation at Lutterworth, as parish
priest, and partly outlines of sermons which he prepared
as a kind of model for itinerant preachers of his school ; we
shall return 'to these in the sequel. The Latin sermons
were, Avithout doubt,, delivered in Oxford before the Uni-
A^ersity, perhaps in St. Mary's.^ This is antecedently pro-

284 LIFE OF WIOLIF.
bable, but it is also manifest from the form and contents
of the sermons themseh'-es. Not nnfrequently we find learned
matters mentioned in them in a way which makes it certain
that the audience must haA'^e consisted of people of culture
and scholastic learning — as, for example, when, in the first
of the "Miscellaneous Sermons," he speaks of the manifold
varieties then received of the sense of Scripture, and, in
particular, of the sensus tropologicus and anagogicus; when
quotations are introduced, not only from the Fathers, but
from the Canon Law ; and when abstract questions of logic
and metaphysics are investigated, such as that which refers
to the relation of soul and body, etc. What sort of audience
must a preacher have before him when he speaks of the
imitation of Christ, as Wiclif does in the third of his Ser
mons for Saints' Days, and asks. What does it help us in the
imitation of Christ to pore over the pages of the logicians 1
or what aid comes from the knowledge of the natural
philosophers acquired at such a cost of labour ? or from the
weU-known method of reasoning adopted by the mathema
ticians? Plainly the preacher has people of learning before
him — the professors and students of the University. This
was long ago correctly noted by a reader of the Vienna
manuscript of these sermons, who writes on the margin,
opposite this passage, the words, "Magistri et studentes
notate." ^ The preacher, in fact, in one instance mentions
Oxford by name ; ' and one of his sermons from beginning
to end is simply an address delivered on occasion of a
Doctoral promotion in the University.*
The Latin sermons of Wiclif known to us belong to very
different years, as may be gathered with tolerable certainty
from several internal marks. The most of these collections,
indeed, belong to the latest years of his life, but one of

wiclif's latin SERMONS. 28")
them, containing fort}' miscellaneous sermons, consists of
earher discourses, all delivered before the year 1378,'' and
these are all instructive aud valuable for the insight they
give into the course of Wichf's de\-elopinent. At present
we say nothing of what is to be learned from this source
of the progress of his mind in the matter of doctrine ; we
confine ourseh'es, in the meantime, to Avhat Ave have been
able to gather from it with respect to the views he took of
the object of preaching, and of the actual condition of the
preacher's office at that period.
In the last named collection of Latin sermons, belonging
to the period of his academic life and work, he expresses
himself in different places on the subject of preachers aud
preaching. Two sermons in particular — those on Luke viii.
4-15, the Parable of the Sower — the Gospel of the Day for
Sexagesima Sunday — supply us with important information
as to his Adews on this point.^
Before everything else AViclif holds up the truth that the
preaching of the Word of God is that function which sub
serves, in a degi-ee qilite peculiar to itself the edification
of the Church ; and this is so, because the Word of God is
a seed (Luke viii. 11, "The seed is the Word of God").
In reflecting upon this truth, he is filled Avith wonder, and
exclaims, " 0 marvellous power of the Divine Seed ! which
overpowers strong men in arms, softens hard hearts, and
renews and changes into divine men, men wlio had been
brutalised by sins, and departed infinitely far from God.
Obviously such a high morality could never be worked by
the Avord of a priest, if the Spirit of Life and the Eternal
Word did uot, above all things else, work with it."
But the gi-ander and more exalted the view which Wiclif
takes of the preacher's oflSce, so much the more has he an

28() LIFE OF WICLIF.
open eye for the faults and deficiencies of the actual average
preacher of his own time. As the worst of these, he cen
sures the evil practice of not preaching God's Word, but
setting forth stories, fables, or poems, Avhich were altogether
foreign to the Bible. He refers again and again to this
subject in sermons both of his earlier and later years, as
well as in treatises and tracts.' We have no ground to
assume that sermons of the kind he censures were not
preached upon some Bible text. It is rather to be supposed
that the preachers, after giving out a text from the Scrip
ture for form's sake, were none the less accustomed to draw
the main contents of their Sermons from other sources.
There were not even wanting instances of preachers who
were bold enough to dispense Avith a Scripture text, and
to choose something else. Even an Archbishop of Canter
bury, and a learned scholastic and cardinal, Stephan Langton,
tl228, saw nothing offensive in taking for the text of a
short Latin sermon which still exists, a dancing-song in old
French, ahegorically applying, indeed, " the Fair Alice,"
and all that is said of her, to the Holy Virgin.^ Things of
this sort, however, may have been of comparatively rare
occurrence ; but in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
it had become almost a prevaihng pulpit-fashion, instead of
opening up Bible thoughts, and applying them to life, to draw
the materials of sermons from civil and natural history, from
the legendary stores of the Church, and even from the fable-
world of the middle ages, and the mythology of the heathen
gods. If a priest, on a Saint's Day, recounted the miracles
of the saint as set out in his legend, this had still some claim
to be hstened to as a piece of sacred history. But the Gesta
Eomanorum, and all manner of tales and fables, taken from
profane sources like Ovid's Metamorphoses," were made

THE STATE OF THE PULPIT. 287
use of by preachers, if not for the edification, at least for
the entertainment of their hearers.
The taste for allegorical interpretations and applications,
as these gradually came into general use, helped men
over every objection to the practice, and the craving for
entertainment of this description grew always the stronger
the less preachers were able to supply the souls of men
with Avholesome refreshment from the eternal fountain of
the Word of God. No Avonder that sermons often became a
web Avhose woof and weft consisted of all other threads save
those of Bible truth. And it was precisely those men of the
fom'teenth century Avho were specially trained for the work
of popular preaching — namely the Dominicans and the Fran
ciscans — who humoured the corrupt taste of the time, and
flavoured their pulpit addresses with such stories and
buffooneries. If the multitude were amused for the moment,
and the begging fiiar who tickled their ears got his reward
of a coUection,^" the end aimed at was gained, and the
Penny-Preacher (as Brother Berthold of Regensburg, as
early as the thirteenth century, calls this set of preachers)
could go on his way rejoicing.
It is nothing wonderful that even Catholic literary
historians, like the learned continuators of the Histoire
liter aire de la France, condemn a style of pulpit eloquence
such as this ; or that even in the beginning of last century
a Dominican like the learned Jakob Eckard, pronounced the
stories with which the brethren of his Order were accustomed
to amuse their audiences, to be " stale and absurd."'^^ But
if a contemporary like Wiclif was able to see these serious
evils in their true light, and condemned them in so decided
a tone, we have here a proof that his judgment had been en
lightened and sharpened by the Word of God ; and all the

288 LIFE OF AVICLIF.
more so that he was himself a large sharer in many of the
pulpit faults of his own time in other respects.
The second objection which he took to the prevailing
pulpit fashion of his age, was that even when the Word of
God was preached this was not done in the right way.
Preachers Avere in the habit of breaking down the Bible-
thoughts into the smallest and finest particles, and of making
moral applications of them in a style so loaded Avith orila-
ments of all kinds, including even the use of rhyme, that
the language of Scripture was thrust into the background,
and the language of the preacher came alone to be regarded,
as if he were himself the author and discoverer of God's
truth. This practice, he remarks, comes from nothing else but
the pride of men, every one seeking his own honour, every
one preaching only himself and not Jesus Christ (2 Cor. iv. 5).
On all such preaching Wiclif pronounced the judgment that
it is a dead word, and not the word of our Lord Jesus Christ
— not the word of eternal life (John vi. 68). And it v(ras this
prevailing want of the true seed of the word of life which
was to blame, in his view, for the spiritual deadness of the
people, and for the wickedness which, as the fruit of this
deadness, prevailed in the world.
These Avere weighty truths, having a bearing much Avider
than a mere reform of preaching, and looking in the
direction of a reformation of the Church at large, yea of
a regeneration of Christendom from the life-seed of the
Word of God. Meanwhile, let us limit ourselves to the
pulpit, and take a close view of the strictures which Wichf
makes on the prevalent preaching of his time. Even in
cases where God's Word is preached, and not matters of
quite another kind, he censures, as already remarked, the
manner iu which this is done, and what he disapproves of is

THE PREACHING OF THE AGE. 289
twofold — first, the scholastic form of preaching ; and next,
its rhetorical ornamentation.^'
As to the former, Wichf takes notice of the method of
endless logical distinctions and divisious.^^ This practice
had found its way into the pulpits from the lecture rooms
of the scholastics. It Avas connected Avith the whole
dialectic habit of the middle age, a habit which appeared in
frequent definitions, hair-splitting divisions and sub-divi
sions, and in endless syllogistic processes of proof. Hence
arose a series of treatises on Method, in particular of helps
to the preparation of sermons ; e.g., a treatise by an anony
mous author of the year 1390, under the title of The Art of
making Sermons, in which the syllogism is held up as the
ground form to which everything else is to be reduced.
As to the other point, the rhetorical and poetical ornament
with which preachers thought they were bound to set off
their sermons, Wiclif repeatedly returns to it.^* He goes
into this subject so minutely as to enumerate and set in their
true hght the grounds upon which men sought to excuse if
not to justify the practice, in order to bring into the light
the self-conceit which lay at the bottom of it, and to warn
preachers against it.
The first ground which was alleged in support of the prac
tice Avas that there was a necessity to give up the old style
of preaching and introduce a new one, otherwise there would
be no longer any difference between a thoroughly-schooled
divine and a poorly-educated priest of the middling sort.
To this ground Wiclif allows no weight whatever. It
savours, he justly remarks, of nothing else but vain glory,
and a desire to take precedence of others. " Not so be
loved. Let us rather follow the example of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who was humble enough to confess, ' My doctrine is
VOL. I. T

290 LIFE OF WICLIF.
not mine, but the Father's who sent me. He who speaketh
of himself seeketh his own glory.'"
The second ground upon Avhich men took their stand was
this : every subject treated of must have a form answerable
to itself. Now, theology is the most perfect of all subjects.
It behoves, therefore, to be clothed in the most honourable
and beautiful form, aud that is the dress of oratory and
poetry. Wisdom only becomes perfect when it is set off
with eloquence. But to these ideas Wiclif opposes himself in
the most decided manner. This ornamental speech upon
which men so plume themselves is so little in keeping with
the subject of God's Word that the latter is corrupted by it,
and its power paralysed for the conversion and regenera
tion of souls. God's Word, according to Augustin, has a
peculiar and incomparable eloquence of its own, with all its
simplicity and modesty of form.
The third ground rehed upon was an appeal to the
poetical form of several books of the Old Testament,
from which it was argued that it is the duty of a
theologian to be guided by this precedent, especially as
poetry has a charm of its own, and is further of advan
tage for helping the memory. To which Wiclif replies —
"It is one thing to sing a spiritual song and another to
speak a word of warning. The measure of verse has, it is
true, a certain charm, but only a sensuous charm, which
rather draws off the soul of the hearer from the spiritual and
eternal subject of discourse, and destroys his taste for
spiritual nourishment."
How sound and good, and worthy of being laid to heart
even at the present day, these thoughts of Wichf are, it is
hardly necessary for us to point out at any length. But his
criticism has a positive as well as a negative side, and bears

AA'HAT TO PREACH, AND HOW TO PREACH IT. 291
upon both the two questions which have here to be distin
guished — what to preach, and how to preach it. To the
first he replies, as what precedes shoAvs, it is God's Word
that should be preached, for God's Word is the bread of souls,
the indispensable, wholesome bread ; and therefore, he thinks,
to feed the flock, in a spiritual sense, Avithout Bible truth, is
the same thing as if one A^ere to prepare for another a bodily
meal without bread.^^ God's Word is the life-seed which
begets regeneration and spiritual life.^^ Now, the chief
business of a preacher is to beget aud to nourish up mem
bers of the Church.!' Therefore it is God's Word he must
preach ; then only wfll he succeed in these aims. This was
why the Church of Christ greAV so mighty when the Gospel
was preached by the Apostles, whereas at the present day
the Church is continually decreasing for the want of this
spiritual seed. ^^ If the prophets of the Old Testament
preface their prophecies Avith " Thus saith the Lord," and
if the Apostles proclaim the Word of the Lord, so must
we too preach God's Word and proclaim the Gospel accord
ing to the Scriptures.^^ There is one point in particular to
which AViclif draws attention — that believing Christian men,
who are reaUy preaching the Gospel, must necessarily give
the first place to the preaching of the Gospel history, for in
that holy history lies the faith of the Church, which the con
gregation is bound to leam and know.^" " The priests learn
and teach holy Scripture for this purpose, that the Church
may leam to know the walk of Christ, and may be led to
love Christ himself" ^^
To the question. How ought the Word of God to be
preached? Wiclif replies in general terms, that the truth
which edifies ought to be uttered aptly. Of course this
taken alone does not amount to much. Coming close to the

292 LIFE OF WICLIF.
subject, he calls to his aid the general rule, that every mean
subservient to an end is so much the better adapted to that
end, the shorter and completer the way is in which it leads
to it (compendiosius et copiosius). As now the sowing of God's
Word is the appointed mean for the glory of God and the
edification of our neighbour, it is plain that the sowing is all
the more aptly done the more shortly and completely it
fulfils that end. But, without doubt, this is the case with a
'plain and simple mode of address (plana locutio), and this
mode is therefore that which ought to be made choice of.^^
In another place Wiclif expresses his preference for a humble
and homely proclamation of the Gospel, and by this he no
doubt meant nothing else than this plainness and simplicity
of language. And he proceeds on the same principle when
he remarks — -" It was because a flowery and captivating
style of address cannot fail to be of little account wherever
the right substance of preaching is present, that Christ pro
mises to His disciples (Matt. x. 19) no more than that it
would be given to them what they should say. The how
must then follow in a manner suitable to the what.'"^^ That
the admonitions which occur in a sermon should be suitable to
the state of the audience is a self-evident deduction from
the same principle. The utterance given to the truth ought
to be apposite and fitting (apte loqui veritatem). Only one
thing must never on any account be wanting — genuine
devout feeling— the fidelis sermonis ministratio — from which
everything iu the sermon is the outcome. "If the soul is not
in tune with the words, how can the words have power % If
thou hast no love, thou art sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal."^* Still there is nothing inconsistent with this in
the requirement that the preacher should use sharpness of
speech (aouti sermones) upon proper occasions. AViclif re-

AViclif's own preaching. 293
marks that it must not be supposed that sharpness includes
in it malice or ill-feeling. Christ contended sharply Avith the
Pharisees, but he did so out of a pious heart and from love
to the Church.-^ His last observation on the subject is the
croAvning one, that " in every proclamation of the Gospel the
true teacher must address himself to the heart, so as to
flash the light into the spirit of the hearer, and to bend his
A\ill into obedience to the truth.'"-"
Such are the positive requirements which AA^iclif lays doAvn
for preaching and preachers. Let us see how far he complied
Avith them himself as a preacher, taking into vicAV his Latin
as Avell as his English sermons.^^ What does he preach?
He AN'ill preach God's Word, not man's ; not worldly things
wfll he preach, but the saving truth. This is what we feel to
be his spirit everywhere. That he always takes his texts
from the Bible, either from the Church lessons or freely chosen
texts, according to circumstances, is a matter of slight im
portance. But he is also fond of connecting one Bible text
with another — one lesson for the day with another, e.g., to
combine one Sunday Gospel with the Gospel for the pre
ceding Sunday, or with the epistle for the same ; and Avhile
doing so, he dwells with admiration upon the excellencies ot
the Word of God, as Avhen he observes in one place, that
Scripture truths stand in such an intimate connection with
each other, that every one of them lends support to every
other, and all of them unite in the revelation of God.^"
Further, in all cases where he pronounces a judgment
upon any doctrine which is before him, or upon any eccle
siastical custom and institntion, it is always the Bible which
he employs as the standard. He goes back to the teaching
of the Redeemer; he points to the Apostles and their pro
cedure; the authority of the PrimitiA'e Church is everywhere

294 LIFE OF WICLIP.
appealed to. To bring out tbe doctrine of the Scriptures
(fides Scripturae) as of supreme authority, is his highest
aim. Aud how much his sermons are saturated with Bible
thoughts and interwoA'en in their whole tissue of thinking
and presentation with Bible reminiscences, the sermon
marked No. III. in the Appendix, may be taken as a proof
which is given as a sample. And with reference to AViclif's
advice mentioned above, that the Bibhcal history especiahy
should be preached to the people, it should not pass with
out mention that he very fi'equently narrates, in a clear and
simple style, the history contained in the Gospel for the
day, interweaving the story with explanatory remarks.
After doing so, it is true, he not nnfrequently passes on to
set forth the " mystical sense " of the passage. On one
occasion he justifies this with the words, " To get at a mean
ing of this history, which will be good for the edification of
the people, its mystical sense has to be considered." ^^ I find,
however, that Wiclif's " mystical interpretation," as he makes
use of it in the Latin sermons, sometimes consists in nothing
more than a simple bringing out of religious truths, and a
moral application to his hearers, and to the present time, of
the features of the history which he takes for his text.
There are many things, indeed, largely handled in these
sermons, which are far from being Biblical subjects, such, e.g.,
as the Standing and the Rights- of the Papacy, the Landed
Endowments of the Church, Monachism, and particularly the
Mendicant Orders, etc. In this way much matter is brought
into discussion, and polemically handled, which is ecclesias
tical and even ecclesiastico-pohtical ; and this seems at first
sight to be out of keeping with his own principle, that the
matter of preaching should be God's Word. But when I'
look into the scope and object of these polemical and ecclesi-

MICLIF'S OAVN PREACHING. 295
astico-political discussions, I come to this result, that it is
always the Bible A\'hich the preacher applies to these ques
tions as his rule of judgment, aud that he has never any
other aim in view but to establish Apostolic doctrines, and
to realise again, in the present, the conditions of the primi-
tiA'e Church. It would be an injustice, therefore, to look
upon all these parts of his sermons as digressions, by which
AA'iclif became untrue to his OA^-n principle, that the Gospel
is the proper subject of all' preaching. There is only one
thing about his sermons which must at once be conceded,
and that is that the innermost kernel of the Gospel (accord
ing to the conviction of evangelical Christendom in our own
time) is not to be met Avith in them, i.e., the doctrine of
reconciliation through Jesus Christ and the way of salva
tion, especially of the justification of the sinner through
faith. But this is not the proper place to go into this fact,
to which we shall hereafter return in our analysis of AViclif s
doctrine. When Ave examine the sermons of Wiclif in reference
to their form, their manner of presentation, style, and tone,
we meet also here with appearances which cannot but
seem strange to us when put alongside of his own principles
respecting the form of preaching. For we find scholastic
formulae, abstract ideas, formal definitions, learned investiga
tions, syllogistic and dialectical argumentation, all in a
measure which we should not have expected from him in
view of the homiletic maxims which he has himself expressed.
But there are two things here which we must not leave
out of sight : first, the circumstance that the Latin sermons,
as remarked above, were probably preached in Oxford before
the University, or at all events, before audiences made up of
men of learning. In such circumstances the preacher had

296 LIFE OF WICLIF.
no need to let himself down to so plain a style as would
have been necessary in addressing a rural congregation. On
the contrary, AA'iclif did right to keep in view the require
ments of a University church, and the style of preaching
to which such hearers were accustomed. No wonder, then,
that we find so much in the form of these sermons, which, to
our feeling, appears more suitable to the lecture-room than the
Church — to the chair of the professor than to the pulpit. And
secondly, in order to form a just judgment, we ought not to
under-estimate the force of custom and influence which the
forms of thought and style prevalent throughout the whole
of a period, exercise, sometimes unconsciously, even upon
the most distinguished genius.
On the other hand, however, we remark that even in
these sermons there is no lack of that plana locutio which
Wiclif recommended to preachers. The style is very often
simple and clear, the mode of expression not without
vividness, sometimes picturesque and apposite to popular
taste, and here and there too, especially in polemical pas
sages, not without a touch even of banter and raillery. The
tone is by no means uniformly didactic ; on the contrary, it
rises every now and then into considerable animation — into
moral pathos, as, e.g., where he is speaking of prayer, and is
commending general prayer in comparison with intercession
for particular prayers. The preacher, after referring to an
argument which was used on the other side, exclaims, " 0 !
if the Apostle had heard this piece of subtle hair-splitting,
how much would he have despised it." ^2
In the English sermons, we find still more frequently a
plain and popular, even a drastic style of speaking, and a
moving heart-felt tone, especiahy when the preacher antici
pates the judgment-seat and the last reckoning. In the

THE TONE OF WICLIF'S SERMONS. 297
sermon on the second Sunday of Advent, we meet with
this passage, e.g., " Faith in earnest in this third coming
of Christ ought to draw men aAvay from sin and attract them
to virtue. For if they had to appear to-morrow morning
before an earthly judge, and might either win or lose great
revenues as the result, they would surely prepare themselves
with all diligence for the trial. Hoav much more so if they
were to Avin or to lose their life itself! Lord, as we are
certain of this, that the day of the Lord will come, aud we
know not how soon, and as judgment will then pass upon
us, to adjudge us either to life in heaven or to everlasting
death in hell, how dfligent do we behove to be to make
ready for the event ! Verily, it is our lack of faith which is
to blame for our indolence ; let us therefore make fast in our
convictions the articles of the truth ; these become loose in
us like nails in a beam of timber, and so we need to drive
them home with the hammer and make them fast," etc., etc.'^
Lastly, as concerns the tone of these sermons, and the
moral spirit which dictates their whole contents, it will not
be easy for any one who allows them to work upon him
without prejudice, not to receive the impression that there
is here a veritable zeal for the glory of God — a pure love to
the Redeemer, and a sincere concern for the salvation ot
souls. There reigns throughout them a truly godly mind,
whose habit is to view all that is earthly in its relations to a
higher world, and to deal with it all in the hght of eternity.
It is impossible to think otherwise of such a preacher, so full
of earnest godliness and Christian conscientiousness, but that
he must have made a deep impression upon all men who did
not deliberately stand aloof from the sphere of his influence
and power.

298 LIFE OF WICLIF.
Section II. — Wiclif's Itinerant Preachers.
If AViclif's work as a preacher in the University was im
portant, it may be expected beforehand that he also did a
true and blessed work among his flock at Lutterworth, as a
parish priest. In the last years of his life, as we shall see
^'^low, he was shut out from the University of Oxford, and
:a *!iUi- ;-. IJ-,' i<> '.• . ¦ "^.^ -tbe nastoral office the whole time
¦ .ti'L ¦.''- ¦:!,'- !' ' t.o him.
JL i. ,', u '. !_ J Lf. -PII. :oduce here a picture whose
original has been couj.^^:!i.i.. ot without good grounds, to
baA-e been no other than Wiclif himself Geoffrey Chaucer,
the father of English poetry, as he is commonly called,
was a younger contemporary of Wiclif; but though he
satirises the sins and , infirmities of his time without
sparing even those of the clergy, he was certainly not a man
whose spirit was congenial with Wiclif's. He was entirely
a man of the world, of aesthetic culture, enlightened, and an
enemy to all superstition, but also to all religious earnestness
a stranger. He knows, however, how to value what is good
and worthy of honour wherever he finds it. And so, in the
prologue to his Canterbury Tales, which are an imitation of
•Boccacio's Decamerone, he has interwoven the foUowing
beautiful description of a country priest, which includes, at
all events, some lineaments of Wiclif: —
" But rich he was of holy thought and work,
He was also a learn&d man — a clerk,
That Christ's Gospel truely would preach,
His parishens devoutly would he teach.
Benign he was, and wondrous diligent.
And in adversity full patient ;
And such he was yprovfed often sithes (times),
FuU loth were him to answer for his tithes,

CHAUCER'S COUNTRY PRIEST. 299
But rather would he given, out of doubt.
Unto his poor parishioners about
Of his offering, and eke of his substance.
He could in little thing have suSisance.
Wide was his parish, and houses far asunder.
But he ne left nought for ne rain nor thunder.
In sickness and in mischief, to visit
The farthest in his parish, much and lit (great and small),
Upon his feet, and in his hand a staff.
This noble example to his sheep he yaf (gave),
j That first he -wrought and afterward he taught." /
There are several features of this portrait which agree
Avith the character of Wiclif, and not a single feature can
be detected in it which does not suit him. The humility,
the contentment, and the unselfishness ; the moral spotless-
ness, the compassionate love, the conscientious and diligent
faithfulness in his office, and the Biblical matter of his ser
mons, — these lineaments are all apposite. The learning of
the man is also made prominent. Pre-eminently like him also
is the oneness of teaching and conduct exhibited in the pic
ture ; the doing of the good going before the teaching of it.
The remark of A'^aughan, indeed, has some ground, that in
these characteristics of a country priest, the grand features
of AViclif as a Reformer are entirely wanting. But this
circumstance by no means tells against the conjecture
that the poet intended to paint Wiclif as a pastor, and
nothing else. For it is not merely doubtful, but in the
highest degree improbable, that Chaucer had any apprecia
tion of the great Reformation-thoughts and strivings of
Wiclif, or ever gave them any recognition in a practical
form. Chaucer took up a position in reference to ecclesi
astical matters Avhich may most readily be compared
Avith the mode of thought of many of the humanists at
the beginning of the sixteenth century — an open eye and
a mocking laugh for all clerical failings and weaknesses.

300 LIFE OF WICLIF.
but no heart for the earnestness and the sanctity of the sub
ject. But undoubtedly he had a sense for moral excellence
in humble life.
If Wiclif, by his conscientious faithfulness in the pastora
cure, stood forth as a model preacher and pastor, he worked
in this way effectually for the elevation of the office, even
if he had done nothing rnore. But he did not confine him
self to this : both by word and deed he laboured to promote
everywhere the right preaching of the Gospel, and the most
effective instrumentality which he used for that end was the
institution of a Preaching Itinerancy.
It has long been known that Wiclif sent out itinerant
preachers of the Gospel. Lewis, it is true, only touches the
subject incidentally, in so far as he mentions one or another
English tract in which Wichf speaks of " poor priests," and
in their defence. Vaughan, on the other hand, has gone fully
into the subject, and has given a clear and distinct picture
of those diligent and devoted men.^* Sfiiriey also has deter
mined several interesting points of view in regard to the
whole institution.^* The subject is now well understood to
a certain extent. There are still, however, certain questions
of importance relating to it, which have never yet received
an answer, or rather it has hardly yet occurred to any one
to propose them. The questions are these : At what date did
Wiclif begin to send out itinerant preachers ? And how
Avas he led to entertain the idea of such a step at all? It
happens in this case, as so often in history — an important
phenomenon steps, mature and in full form, into the light.
While it was preparing itself in the silence it was never
thought of; all at once it stands revealed before the world.
At the end of May 1382, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
AA'^illiam Courtenay, in a mandate addressed to the Bishop oi

wiclif's ITINERANT PREACHERS. 301
London, spoke of " certain unauthorised itinerant preachers
Avho, as he had unhappily been compelled to learn, set forth
erroneous, yea, heretical assertions in public sermons, not
only in churches, but also in public squares aud other pro
fane places," and " they do this," as he adds with special
emphasis, under the guise of great holiness, but without
having obtained any episcopal or papal authorisation'"^^
That the Primate means by these men real Wiclifite
itinerants, appears Avith certainty from the twenty-four
articles of doctrine annexed to the mandate, all of which,
Avith hardly an exception, belong to Wiclif To this same
date must also belong several English tracts in which
Wiclif undertakes the defence of the proceedings of the
itinerants. It is clear that in May 1382, the preaching itinerancy was
already in full swing. But we should like to know its first
beginnings, for it is only there Ave can get an insight into
the motives and causes which conspired to giA'e it birth.
On that subject AA'iclif himself could best have given us
information ; but he was not the man to speak much of a
matter before he took action in it. At the utmost he justi
fied and defended afterAvards what had been done.
It might be supposed that it was first at Lutterworth, in
his quiet rural charge, that Wiclif began to send forth itiner
ant preachers. In this case the presumption would have
readily offered itself that he had sought and found in this
new institute a substitute for the wider and more stirring
sphere of work from which he had been cut off. To me,
however, it appears, on more than one ground, that Oxford
Avas the cradle of the new institution. First of all, it lies
in the nature of the subject that the sending forth ot
itinerants could only have developed itself gradually, and

302 LIFE OF WICLIF.
in the course of several years. But as in May 1382, the
public attention was already drawn to it, and the itinerancy
had manifestly been already for some time in full opera-
tion,3'' this takes us several jesuB farther back, to a date
when Wiclif resided in the University for a good part, at
least, of every year. Besides, the work did not consist
merely in the sending out of the preachers ; they must be
prepared beforehand for their calling. This was the capital
point, and this again could not be done in a hurry. This
consideration carries our eye naturally to the University,
especially as in the small town of Lutterworth we can
hardly imagine such a circle of educated theologians being
collected round the parish priest, even though the priest
was a Wiclif. It is far easier to suppose that Wiclif, while
still in Oxford, entered into close relations to a number of
young men who were in part graduates in Arts and in part
youths under age who were still in their undergraduate
course. It is independently probable that a personality of
such high distinction, as well in the field of learning as
in practical church work, should have drawn around himself
not a few susceptible young men, who desired to carry on
their culture still further under his guidance.
What we could not fail to conjecture beforehand is found
to be confirmed by positive proof. An enthusiastic follower
of Wiclif — Wilham Thorpe — in his examination before the
Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel, gave the
foUowing information concerning the course of his own
studies, and his relation to Wiclif : " I begged my parents
for permission to go to such men as were reputed to be
wise and virtuous priests, in order to receive their counsel,
and to be instructed by them in the office and calling of
the priesthood. As my father and mother gave their

TRAINING OF ITINERANTS. 303
willing aud hearty consent to this, I betook myself to
those priests of whom 1 had heard that they bore the
best names, and led the holiest liA-es — the most learned
too, and the wisest in point of heavenly wisdom. And
I remained long enough in intercourse Avith them to be
convinced, by their constant occupation in what was
virtuous and good, that their works, so rich in charity
and worthy of aU honour, even exceeded the fame which
I had earlier heard of them. It was then my en
deavour, after the example of their doctrine, but prin
cipally of their godly and blameless works, to come to
a perfect knowledge of God's law, to the best of my
abihty, Avith the wfll and desire to frame my life accordingly."
In the further course of his examination the Archbishop
inquired. Who then were those holy and wise men whose
instruction he had engaged? Whereupon Thorpe replied,
"Magister John Wichf was held by right many for the
greatest scholar of that day; he was spoken of, at the same
time, as a man of strict religious principles, and blameless in
his walk." But, besides AAlclif himself, Thorpe names several
of his admirers, such as John Aston, Nicolas Hereford, John
Purvey, and others, and then continues thus, — " With all
these men I was right-well acquainted, and for a long
time had much intercourse with them, and received in
structions from them ; but from AA'iclif himself most of all,
as the most Adrtuous and most godly Avise man whom I
ever heard of, or whom I ever in my life became acquainted
with."'8 The whole account sounds as though Thorpe had enjoyed
the instruction of all these men at the same time. If this
is so, then we cannot think of Lutterworth, but only of
Oxford, as the place where Thorpe had cultivated intercourse

304 LIFE OF WICLIF.
with those worthy men, and especially with AViclif himself
This confession, therefore, leads us directly to the assumption
that Wiclif had already begun in Oxford to train younger
men to the priestly office, and in particular to the office of
preaching. We shall scarcely err, if we assume that Wiclif
as long as he worked in Oxford as a Doctor of Theology, and
was in the habit of preaching frequently, if not regularly,
before the University, formed there a training school of
preachers,^ — a sort of Priest Seminary, which, however, was
of an entirely private and voluntary character. I have
not a moment's doubt, that while he was still in Oxford,
Wiclif sent out as voluntary itinerant preachers, young
men belonging to this circle, which had attached itself so
closely to his person, and had embraced his theological
views and ccinvictions as well as his practical Church
principles. Perhaps the entrance which the first preachers
of his school found among the people, and the warm
acceptance which their sermons obtained in the country
districts, gave fresh courage to himself and his scholars,
so that the first itinerants were foUoAved by ever increasing
numbers, and the whole undertaking gradually took root
and extended itself Wiclif, of course, when, at a later
period, he withdrew entirely to Lutterworth, did not give
up this agency, but carried it on with all the more zeal,
the more painfuUy he felt that, by his dismissal from the
University, a field of richly blessed work had been closed
to his ministry.
But how was this agency meant ? and how did the affair
develop itself in actual life ? Was it meant that a system
atic rivalry and opposition should be made by the itinerants
against the parochial clergy? The opponents of the move
ment naturally viewed it in this light, and even at the

THE ITINERANTS AND THE PARISH PRIESTS. 305
present day there are not wanting Roman Catholic historians
who have admitted to their minds this idea.''' But how
can this view of the subject be even thinkable, when the
itinerants, on this supposition, would have pronounced sen
tence of condemnation upon the venerated master himself
who was never himself one of the itinerant preachers, but
preferred to work precisely in the character of a parish
priest among his own flock. Moreover, the hierarchy would
certainly not have omitted to accuse the itinerants of hostflity
to the parochial clergy, and the calumniation of their char
acters ; but of this I find not a. single trace. All they are
accused of is that they promulgate erroneous doctrine, and
that they preach at their own hand without episcopal sanc
tion. This, indeed, is only an a?'gumentum ex silentio. But I
am able to appeal, in support of the opposite view, to express
testimonies as well, and these from Wiclif's own mouth. In
his little book. Of the Pastoral Office, he does battle, indeed,
Avithmuch degeneracy among the parochial clergy, with their
Avorldliness, with their neglect in preaching the Gospel,
with the evil custom of non-residence in their parishes. '"'
Already, too, he appears as the advocate of "the simple
priests," i.e., the evangelical itinerants ; but he stands up
at the same time for the parish priests, if they only
do their duty in some sort. He defends their rights against
the encroachments of the begging monks, and also iu the
face of the incorporation of parish tithes with foundations
and monasteries, he roundly aud clearly lays down the
principle, that all parishes should be able to pay for the
ministrations which their pastors iu humility render to
them.*! Also in his Latin sermons, Wiclif blames, it is
true, those parish priests who are " dumb dogs, and
cannot bark" (Is. Ivi. 10), or who preach only for selfish
VOL. I. U

306 LIFE OF WIOLIF.
ends and ambition ; *^ but still he expects also great things
from true and prudent pastors,*^ and lays upon the heart
of the parochial clergy, the Redeemer's admonition,
" Watch." It is their duty to keep watch over tlieir flocks.
And at the end of the tract to be mentioned below —
Why Poor Priests have no Tithes — Wiclif gives the ex
press assurance, that these priests, notwithstanding this
difference in their position, pronounce no condemnation
upon those pastors who do their duty and teach truly
and steadfastly the law of God in opposition to the prophets
and the decrees of the Avicked fiend.*' According to all
this, there is certainly no ground to assume that the
Wiclifite itinerants allowed themselves to run down the
parochial clergy as such without distinction ; although
it cannot of course admit of a doubt that with regard to
unconscientious and worldly-minded pastors and preachers,
they were in the habit of expressing themselves in no very
measured language.
The sending forth of these itinerant preachers was a
measure which, so far as I see, passed through several
stages of development. In its first stage, the preachers
were exclusively men who had already received orders.
This appears from the title which Wiclif is wont to apply
to them. In his work on The Pastoral Office, he calls
them sometimes " presbyters," sometimes " priests," and
yet in such a way as to indicate clearly by the con
nection, or by the use of epithets like faithful or simple
priests, or presbyters, what description of clergy he
means. However much his opponents may have looked
down upon such men, as " uneducated" and " stupid" — a
reproach which Wiclif bravely takes to be levelled against
himself as well as others*^ — they must still have been

THE ITINERANTS AT FIRST ALL PRIESTS. 307
men who had received ordination, otherwise Wiclif Avould
certainly never have applied to them the names of priests.
And yet this name occurs both in his Latin Avritings and
in his English sermons and tracts. *' With this also agrees
the justification of the fi-ee preaching of every priest,
which AA'^ilham Thorpe put forth in his examination before
Archbishop Arundel a quarter of a century later, and
which, without doubt, originally proceeded from the
teaching of Wiclif himself Thorpe expresses himself
in the foUowing terms : — " By the authority of the Word
of God, and also of several saints and doctors, I have been
brought to the conviction that it is the office and duty of
every priest, faithfully, freely, and truly to preach God's
Word.** AA^'ithout doubt, every priest, in determinuig to take
orders, behoved to do so chiefly with the object of preaching
the Word of God to the people to the best of his ability-
We are accordingly bound by Christ's command and holy
example, and also by the testimony of his holy apostles
and prophets, under heavy pains, to exercise ourselves in
such Avise, as to fulfil this duty of the priesthood to the
best of our knowledge and powers. We believe that this
is the chief duty of every priest : to make God's will known
to his people by faithful labour, and to publish it to them
in the spirit of love, to the best of our ability, where, when,
and to whomsoever we may ; this, by the high warranty of
God's Word, is our true duty."
Thorpe, who was an itinerant of Wiclif's school, speaks
in this passage as a priest himseff, and in the name of
others hke-minded with himself, who were also in priest's
orders. But even in this first stage, where only priests went put as
itinerants — two sub-stages must, I think, be distinguished

308 LIFE OF WICLIF.
from one another. At the beginning of the movement,
it was scarcely laid doAvn as a principle, that no one was
to accept a pastoral charge. At a later stage, men made
a virtue of necessity, and the principle was adopted, that
even if such a charge might be obtained, it was better
not to accept it. This is the position taken in the tract.
Why Poor Priests have no Benefice,*^ and the principle
just named is justified on three grounds. 1. Generally
speaking, no benefice is to be obtained Avithout simony,
whether the right of collation be in the hands of a pre
late or a temporal lord. 2. That the beneficed priest, by
reason of his dependence upon his ecclesiastical superiors,
will be compelled to give up to them, contrary to right,
all that portion of his revenues which exceeds his own
necessities, and which by God's law and public right,
ought to be expended upon the poor. 3. A priest with
out benefice, not being bound to a particular parish, and
being free of the jurisdiction of sinful men, is left at
liberty to preach the Gospel wherever he can be of use,
and can also without hindrance flee from one city to
another, according to Christ's instruction, in case he should
be persecuted by the " clergy of Antichrist.''
But in the second stage of the matter, a step full of
\ importance was taken in advance. The adoption of lay
1 preaching was resolved upon, as it had been practised
before among the Waldensians, with whom lay preaching
' had been a powerful factor of their whole movement;
and yet, (so far at least as I know the Avritings of Wiclif),
he was not at all aware of this precedent, and acted quite
independently of it.
That lay preachers appeared among the Lollards after
Wiclif's death does not admit of a doubt, but that even

LAY-PREACHERS. 309
in his lifetime, and with his knowledge and approval, lay
men were employed as itinerant preachers, I believe I am
able to prove. It is certainly no accidental circumstance
that AA''ichf in sermons of his latest years, Avhen he refers
to his beloved itinerants, no longer speaks of them as poor
priests, or simple or believing priests, but on all occasions
applies to them the names of evangelical men, or " apostolic
men."^" It looks as if, in such places, he intentionally avoided
the name of priests, because this was now no longer apph-
cable to aU the itinerants. But still more clearly does this
appear from a passage in the " Dialogus,'' or " Speculum
Ecclesiae Militantis," In this piece, which was written,
certainly not earlier than 1381, and probably not before
1383, when comparing the beneficed clergy with the itiner
ants, he makes use of these words : " And as respects the
fruits of preaching, it appears certain that a single unlearned
preacher effects more, by the grace of God, for the edifica
tion of the Church of Christ than many who have graduated
in schools or colleges, because the former scatters the seed
of the law of Christ more humbly and more abundantly
both in deed and in word." ^^ But the most convincing
passage of all, to my mind, is that which occurs in one of
his later sermons, where Wiclif shows with great emphasis
that for a ministry in the Church the Divine call and com
mission are perfectly sufficient ; there is an installation by
God Himself, although the bishop has given in such a case
no imposition of hands, in accordance with his traditions. ^^
If the fact was so, as we have now, we beheve, shown to
be probable, that the " Itinerancy " began at a time when
Wiclff still belonged to the University, we are justified in
further assuming that Oxford was the starting-point, and
that the country immediately surrounding this city was

310 LIFE OP WICLIF.
the first theatre of the new movement. It then spread
"itself from thence more widely in the land. From several
facts, attested by written documents, it appears that the
[town of Leicester was a second centre of the AViclifite
' itinerancy — a fact which was, no doubt, connected with the
circumstance that in the last years of his life Wiclif had
his settled residence in Lutterworth, which lay in the county
of Leicester. One of the first who appeared as an itinerant
preacher was John of Aston. He was followed, also in
Wiclif's life-time, by William Thorpe, aheady mentioned, and
others. These men went forth in long garments of coarse
red woollen cloth, bare-foot, and staff in hand, in order to
represent themselves as pilgrims, and their wayfaring as a
kind of pilgrimage ; their coarse woollen dress being a sym
bol of their poverty and toil ("poor priests"). Thus they
wandered from village to village, from town to town, and
from county to county, without stop or rest, preaching,
teaching, Avarning, wherever they could find willing hearers,
sometimes in church or chapel, wherever any such stood
open for prayer and quiet devotion ; sometimes in the
church-yard when they found the church itself closed ; and
sometimes in the public street or market place.*^
Their sermons were, before everything else, fuU of Bible
truth. This was to be expected from them, for these men
had all gone forth from Wiclif's school, had imbibed his
principles, and had all formed themselves as preachers
upon his model. They had learned to regard as their chief
duty "the faithful scattering of the seed of God's Word;"
and their sole aim was to ininister sound nourishment
to the people.^ "God's Word," "God's Law," therefore,
was not only their text, but their theme ; and it agrees
perfectly Avith the picture which we could not fafl beforehand

WHAT THEY PREACHED AND HOW. 311
to draw for ourselves, Avhen the. Leicester chronicler, who
tells us that he had more than once been a hearer of their
preaching, testifies that the preachers were continually
enforcing that "no man could become righteous and well-
pleasing to God who did not hold to God's law, for that,"
says he, "was their favourite expression — ' Goddis lawe,'*' to
which they were ever appeahng in all their addresses."
Wiclif himself, in his English tract. Of Good Prechyng
Prestis, sets forth, that their first aim was directed to this,
that God's law should at all times be known, taught,
apphed, and highly regarded.*®
But that these sermons or exhortations *' were less of a
dogmatic than an ethical character, we may gather not only
from the name which, after AA'ichf's example, they were in
the habit of applying to the Word of God, — viz., God's law,
— ^but also fi.'om the confirmatory statements of Wiclif and
their opponents. In the tract just mentioned, Wiclif states
that the second aim of the " good preaching priests " was that
aU gross open sins prevafling among different ranks, and
also the hypocrisy and erroneous teaching of Antichrist
and his followers, i.e., the Pope and the Popish clergy,
should be done away ; whfle, in the third place, they strove
to promote true love in all Christendom, and especially in
England, and so to help men to reach securely the blessed
ness of heaven.**
The form and language of these addresses behoved,
according to WicliPs principles, to be plain and simple.*^
But these men, according to aU the notices which we pos
sess of them, must have been in the habit of using language
of a very emphatic and trenchant description ; and this, as
well when they laboured directly for the awakening and
moral regeneration of the people, setting eternity before

312 LIFE OF WICLIF.
their eyes, and exhorting them to live in Christian brother
hood and peace and beneficence, as when they depicted
the prevailing sins of the time, held up before all ranks
their vices and lusts, and especially exposed to reprobation
the vices of the clergy — their hypocrisy, sensuality, avarice
and ambition. From the description given of these popular
discourses by the ear-witness of Leicester, entirely adverse
as he was to the movement, one receives a vivid impression
both of the winning attractiA'eness and unction, and of the
arresting and subduing -power by which they must have
been characterised.^*' When we remember the moral ear
nestness, and the crushing power Avhich we have felt in
Wichf himself as a preacher, we cannot wonder that his
scholars also, men in earnest with " God's Law," should
have rebuked the prevailing sins of the time without
reserve and with all sharpness. Of course this severity
of speech, especially when they directed it against the
hierarchy, offended the latter in the highest degree, and
slanders were spread about the preachers, that the only
thing they were able to do was to abuse the prelates
behind their backs ; they were undermining the whole
frame of the Church; they were serpents casting forth
deadly poison.'!
Against these calumnies Wiclif defended his followers in
a tract entitled The Deceits of Satan and his Priests. " Al
mighty God who is full of love, gave commandment to his
prophets to cry aloud, to spare not, and to show to the
people their great sins (Isaiah Iviii. 1). The sin of the
common people is great, the sin of the lords, the mighty
and the wise, is greater, but greatest of aU is the sin of the
prelates, and most blinding to the people. And therefore
are true men by God's commandment bound to cry out the

wiclif's tracts ON THE ITINERANCY. 313
loudest against the sin of the prelates, because it is in itself
the greatest, and to the people of greatest mischief" ^'
AViclif, as Ave before had occasion to see, sent forth a con
siderable number of tracts Avhich related exclusively, or
at least chiefly, to the itinerant preachers of his school.
There are still extant both English and Latin writings of
this kind. Those in English are all defences of the
preachers, some of them taking the form of controversy
against their opponents. To this class belong, e.g., the
foUoAving tracts : — Of Good Preaching Priests,^^ Why Poor
Priests have no Benefices,^ Of Feigned Contemplative Life^^ Of
Obedience to Prelates,^^ Mirror of Antichrist.^^ These writings,
it is true, are all placed by Arnold among the works of
doubtful ailthenticity. Among the Latin writings is, e.g.,
the smaU tract. Of Academic Degrees, including a defence
of the itinerants; the sole object of which is to prove
that the preaching of the Gospel by men who are not
graduates is justified by the Scriptures, and allowed by
the Church.««
AATiile the tracts hitherto named treat chiefly ot the
itinerants, but were in the first instance intended less for
them than for the people, and in part for the learned class
(such as the tract last mentioned), there is also a small
book which I find among Wiclif's writings, which was com
posed primarily and directly for those simple preachers them
selves. I refer to the tract of The Six Yokes, For as to the
so-caUed Letter to the Simple Priests, it is neither, as I have
been convinced for some years, a real letter in form
(although it occurs under this title in two catalogues of
Wiclifs writings made at the beginning of the fifteenth
century), nor does it relate to the itinerants, but obviously
treats of ordinary parish priests. The whole appears to nie

314 LIFE OF WIOLIF.
to be a fragment either taken from some tractate, or (which
I think quite possible) from a Latin sermon.*'
The tract of The Six Yokes, on the other hand, appears
to me to have been designed by Wiclif for those of his
fi-iends who devoted themselves to the itinerancy. Its very
I commencement indicates this, — " In order that unlearned
and simple preachers, who are burning with zeal for souls,
may have materials for preaching," etc. And as this is the
only tract of AViclif known to us which was written for this
purpose, and is besides fitted to give us some insight into
the substance of these popular preachings, and particularly
into their moral exhortations aud reproofs, I think it advis
able to pubhsh it at full length, in Appendix No. 7. I
must here remark, however, that the materials of this tract
were originally interwoven with several of his Latin sermons,
and were only subsequently formed into an independent
whole. For I find in the Saints' Day Sermons, some of the
same portions which now form several chapters of the
tract.'" The English sermons, too, lately issued by
the Clarendon Press, leave the impression, at least in
several places, of being sketches intended by the author for
the use of others rather than his own. At the end of the
very first of them, e.g., occurs the remark, " In this Gospel
of the day priests have occasion to speak of the false pride
of the rich, and of the luxurious living of great men of the
world, and of the long-enduring pains of hell and the
blessedness of heaven ; and may so extend the sermon as
circumstances require." Stfll more characteristic is the
concluding remark of the second sermon. " Here the
preacher may touch upon all manner of sins, especially
those of false priests and traitors of God, whose duty it
is to deal faithfully with the people for their salvation, and

"THE SIX YOKES." 315
to show them the way of the law of Christ, and the deceit
ful Avfles of Antichrist.'"^ These and other passages, of
which we could mention several more, lead us to the con
jecture that these sermons of Wiclif were composed by him,
in part at least, for the benefit of the itinerants of his school,
in the way of helps and guides, and collections of materials.
At aU events the fact is certain that no inconsiderable part
of the literary labours of Wiclif centred in the Institute
founded by him for this preaching itinerancy, and was
designed to be serviceable to the preachers, either in the
way of defending them from attack, or assisting them in
their work.

NOTES TO CHAPTER VL

1. Comp. Shirley, Fasc. Zizan., 305. Cum Magister Nicolaus (Hereford) in Quad
ragesima prcedicasset publice in Ecclesia B. Virginis in lingua latina cwam toto
clero, etc.
2. Evangelia de Sanctis, No. 3, fol. 5, coL 2 of the Vienna MS. 3928. (D^nis
CCCC.) 3. Twelfth Sermon, fol 28, col. 4 of the same MS. : — Nam frater alienigena, de
regno suo portans pecuniam paucam, ut theologiam discat Oxonite, etc.
4. No. 24 in the Twenty-four MisceUaneous Sermons, fol. 185 f. of the same MS.
5. The two oldest extant catalogues of Wiclif's writings, found in two Vienna
MSS., dating from the beginning of the fifteenth century, agree in giving this
coUection the title XL. Sermones compositi dum stetit in scholis, in contrast to
another coUection which is entituled, Sermones XX. compositi in fine vitae suae.
This confirms the correctness of an observation which I had made before this
notice was known to me.
6. This coUection of sermons stands beside a collection of Sermons for Saints'
Days (vfritten later), and of twenty-four MisceUaneous Sermons (also dating from
Wiclif's last years), and also beside a few short essays, in the Vienna MS., 3928
(Ddnis CCCC). The coUection of forty sermons (which, however, number only
thirty-eight) begins at fol. 193 of the MS., and the two sermons on Luke vi. 4
are the eighth and ninth in number of the coUection, fol. 206-210. The second of
these two is of suflBcient importance, in our view, to be printed at fuU length in
the Appendix, No. 5.
7. In the sermon last mentioned (comp. preceding note), WicUf reminds his
hearers of the exhortation of the Apostle Peter, " If any man speak, let him speak
as the oracles of God ;" and declares that men now-a-days in preaching do not
preach the Word of God, but gesta, paemata vel fabulas extra corpus Scripturae,
fol. 208, col. 1. He says the same thing in the sermon preceding, fol 206, col. 3.
In a later coUection of sermons, 61 Evangelia de Sanctis — in sermon 56 he speaks
of tragoediae vel comoediae et fabulae vd sententiae apacriphae, quae sunt hodie
papulo praedicatae. And in the work De Officio Pastorali, Leipzig 1863, v. IL,
c. 5, p. 37, he says of the Mendicant Monks, Et tola solicitudo est eorum, non verba
evangdica et saluti subditarum utUia seminare, sed fraudes, joca, mendacia, per quae
possunt populum facilius spoliare. Also in the Treatise, De Veritate S. Scripturae,

NOTES TO CHAPTER VI. 317
Wiclif lays down the principle : Theologus debet seminare veritatem Scripturae, non
gesta vel chronicas mundiales.
8. Sermo magistri Stephani de Lungeduna, Archiep. Cantuar. de Sancta Maria,
in the Arundel MSS. of the British Museum. Wright gives the whole sermon in
his Biographia Britannica Lit. II. , 446 f.
9. An elder contemporary of AA'iclif, Thomas WaUeys, an EngUsh Dominican,
+1340, published a book, entituled Metamoiphosis Ovidiana Moraliter Erplanata,
which was printed six times at least onwards from the end of the fifteenth
century. Comp. Histoire Literaire de la Prance. Quatorzieme siecle. Tom.
XXIV., p. 371 and LI. And another Dominican, an Oxford Doctor, John Brom
yard, drew up a coUection of histories, alphabeticaUy arranged under certain
\ heads, which were aU intended for the use of preachers (hence the title of the
work : Summa Praedicantium) ; but his histories are in good part taken from
the popular story -teUers. Hist. Liter, de la France, XXIV., 372.
10. Wiclif — De Officio Pastorali, IL, 5— thinks that the people should despise such
monks as preachers, for an additional reason — viz., because it was their custom to
make a coUection immediately after their sermons.
11. In 1719, the French Dominican, James Echard, pubUshed vol. I., and iu
1722 vol IL, of a coUection, in historical order, of the works of his Order,
Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum, etc., iu which he speaks strongly enough of the
Dominican style of preaching in the fourteenth century, and censures those
historiolas ineptas et insulsas, II. 762.
11. In the sermon referred to above, fol. 208, col. 1, it is said of the modem
preacher : Praedicando Scripturam dividet ipsam ultra mimuta naturalia, et aUegabit
moralizvdo per colores rithmicos quousque non appareat textus Scripturae.
12. In the same sermon, fol. 208, col. 2 — Inanis gloriae cupidus est qui in
nititur diiisionibus verborum. lUi inmcem invident qui nedum divisiones _
thematis sed cujuslibet autoritatis occurrentis ingeminant.
13. Ars faciendi sermones. The tract begins -with the proposition — Haec est
ars brevis et clara faciendi sermones, secundum formam syUogisticam, ad quam
omnes alu modi sunt reducendi. Comp. Hist. Liter, de la France, XXIV., 365.
14. He censures the ambitiousneas which aims to exalt itself by the use of
grcmdia verba, and disapproves of the attempt to give a more beautiful form to the
sermon by the color rhetoricus and by coUigantia rithmica, i.e., rhymes ; he goes
the length even of maintaining that by this declamatia heroica, etc., God's Word
is only falsified.
15. The twenty-second of the Sermons for Saints' Days (61 Evangelia de
Sanctis). Idem est spiritualiter pascere auditorium sine sententia evangdica, ac si quis
faceret convivium corporale sine pane. Vienna MS., 3928, fol. 42.
16. MisceU. Sermons, No. 8. Verbum Dei hahet mm regenerativam. In the
same MS. as above, fol. 206, col. 3.
17. The twelfth sermon of the same coUection has these words — Prtecipmim
officium viri ecdesiastici est gignere membra ecclesiae, etc., fol, 52, col. 1. Again, in

318 LIFE OP WICLIF.
ninth sermon, p. 207, col. i— Sacerdos Domini missus ad gignendum et nutriendum
populum verbo vitae.
18. Sermons for Saints' Days, No. 22. Quando praedicatum est ah apostolis
evangelium crescit ecclesia in virtute, sed modo, ex defectu spirituals seminis, con
tinue decrescit, fol. 42, col. 3.
18. In sermon 20 of a CoUection of MisceUaneous Sermons — MS. 3928, fol.
176, col. 2 — WicUf says : Auditus tarn praediccmtis qnam elia/m sermonem avdi-
entis debet fieri verba Christi; ethinc est quod prophetCB legis veteris dixerunt, "haec
dicit Deus," et apostoli praedicaverunt verbum Domini. Farther on he mentions
that the whole congregation testifies their veneration for the Gospel, " for when
the Gospel is read the people rise to their feet and remain standing — they remove
their hats and bonnets, cross themselves, and Usten -with attention, amd kiss the
wall of the church j whUe the men of rank lay aside their swords. And aU this
is done to show their devotion before the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whUe men oft-
times deny the Gospel by their deeds.
19. In the twenty-second of the Sermons for Saints' Days, foL 42, coL 2.
20. Sacerdotes ad hoc discwnt et docent Scripturam sacram ut ecclesia cognoscat
conversationem Christi et amet eum. MS. 3928, foL 202, col. 4, Sermon VI.
21. Sermon 9. Appendix 3.
21. Sermons for Saints' Days, No. 31. MS. 3928, fol. 65, col. 1.
22. In the same sermon, fol. 61, col. 4.
23. No. 30 in the same coUection, fol. 60, col. 3. Verba exhortationis sun
cangruentiae auditorii applieanda.
24. XL. MisceU. Sermons, No. 8, foL 206, col. 2.
25. XXrV. Sermons, No. 4. MS. 3928, foL 138, col. 4.
26. Same coUection, No. 20, fol. 176, coL 1.
27. Vaughan in his Idfe and Opinions, etc., pubUshed some extracts from
WicUf's EngUsh sermons, upon the basis of which Engelhard -wrote his " WykUffe
as a Preacher. Erlangen 1834." But these sermons, which, in their complete
form, had remained tUl lately in MS., have been recently given to the world in an
exceUent form by Thomas Arnold from the Clarendon Press, forming two volumes
of WicUf's Sdect English Works.
28. XL. Sermons, No. 11, fol. 213, col. 1.
29. Comp. XL. MisceU. Sermons, No. 5, fol. 201, coL 1.
30. XXIV. MisceU. Sermons, No. 10, fol 153, col 3.
31. Sermon on the Gospels, ed Arnold, v. I, 27th serm., p. 70.
32. Life and Opinions, etc., II., p. 139 f.
33. Do. IL, 163 f. John de WycUffe— a monograph. 1853, p. 275 f.
34. In the preface to his edition of the Faso. Zizaniorum, p. xl. f. He justly
remarks there that this feature of WicUf's practical church reform has engaged
the attention of his biographers much less than it ought to have done.

NOTES TO CHAPTER VI. 319
35. The document is printed in Wilkins' ConoiUa Magnae Britanniae, III.,
fol. 168 f. Comp. the Missive of the same Prelate, dated two days earlier, and
running in about the same terms, to the CarmeUte, Peter Stokes, in Oxford.
Fasc. Ziz., p. 275.
36. Sane frequent! clamore et divulgata fama ad nostrum pervenit auditum, etc.
Fasc. Zizan, p. 275.
37. The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe, edit, by Townsend, v. III., 256 f.
38. E.g., Lingard — History of England, v. IV.— maintains that the Wiclif
preachers thought very meanly of the whole body of the parish priests.
39. In one place — De Officio Pastorali, I., c. 17 — he refers to them as pseudo-
paitores. 40. In the same treatise, II., 5, he says : Appropriationes ecclesiarum cathedra-
Uum defraudant parochuis a praedicatorS)us legitimis verbi Dei. Deberet parochiis
eunctis sufficere servitium, qtwd sacerdotes proprii humiliter subministrant.
41. XL. MisceU. Serm. No. 29, MS. 3928, fol. 283, col. 3.
42. Sermons for Saints' Day, No. 56 as above, fol. 117, col. 1.
43. XL. MisceU. Serm. as above, fol. 194, col. 2.
44. Comp. Vaughan, Life and Opinions, IL, 169.
45. De OfiScio Pastorali, II., o. 10, p. 45. Nobis rudibws, comp. IL, c. 4, p. 36 j
dicunt de talibus presbiteris, quod sunt stolidi ac rudes,
46. Treue Preestis (True Priests). Sermons pubUshed by Arnold, v. I., p. 176,
f. IL, p. 173, 182 ; pore prestis (poor priests), tract Lincolniensis in MisceUaneous
Works, p. 231. Fifty Heresies and Errors of Friars, o. 36, p. 393. Great sentence
of ours expounded, u. 9, p. 293 ; comp. De ecclesia et membris ejus, c. 2, in three
Treatises, by John Wycklyffe ; ed. Todd, p. xi. This nuyoeth por prestis (poor
priests) to speke now hertUy in this mater.
47. That it is everie priest's office and duty for to preach busUie, freely, and
trueUe the worde of God. Foxe, Acts and Monuments, v. IIL, p. 260.
48. Vaughan, in Life and Opinions, etc., v. IL, p. 164 f., has given large ex
tracts from this tract, which he regards as an indubitable work of WicUf j but
Arnold, in his Select Works, vol III., p. xx., places the tract — Whi pare prestis
ham no berufice, at least among the works of doubtful authenticity.
49. Sermons for Saints' Days, Nos. 31, 37, 53, MS. 3928, fol. 61, col. 2 and 3 ;
foL 76, col 4 ; foL 109, coL 1.
50. Dialogus, or Speculum Ecclesice Militantis, c. 27, Vienna MS. 1387 (D^nis
CCCLXXXXV.), fol. 157, col. 1 ; and the Uke words again occur in fuU in the
short piece, De graduationibus ScholasUcis, o. 3, MS. 3929 (D^nis CCCLXXXV.),
foL 249, coL 2. The words run thus — Quantum ad fructum, certum mdetur quod
unus ydiota, mediante Dei gratia, plus proficit ad edificandam Christi ecclesiam,
quam multi graduati in scolis sive CoUegiis, quia seminat humUius et copiosius
legem Christi, tam opere quam sermone.
51. Sermons for Saints' Days, No. 8, MS. 3928, fol. 17, col. 1. Videtur ergo,
quod ad esse taUs ministerii ecclesise requiritur auctoritas acceptationis divinae, et

320 LIFE 0^ WICLIF.
per consequens potestas ac notitia data a Deo ad tale ministerium peragendum
quibus habitis, Ucet episcopus secundum traditiones suas non imposuit iUi manus,
Deus per se instituit.
52. This description rests upon several attestations of friends and foes — the
latter of an official as weU as private character. A document both official and of
certain date is the missive given above of WiUiam Courtenay, Archbishop of
Canterbury, of 30th May, 1382, directed against certain itinerant preachers,
aUeged to be both unauthorised and heretical, pubUshed in WUkins' Concilia, and
in Shirley's Fasc. Zizan., p. 275. Among other things it is said — Quidam,
aeternae damnatianis filii, sub magnae sanctitatis velamine, auctoritatem sibi vindieant
praedicandi — tam in ecclesiis quam in plateis et aliis lads profanis dictae nostrae
pravinciae, non verentur asserere, dogmatizare et publice praedieare. Wiclif
himself defends the practice of his friends in preaching everywhere with
out distinction of place, in the 37th of his Saints' Day Sermons. Videtur
mihi quod sacerdos zdams pro lege Domini, cui negatur pro loco et tempore
praedicatio verbi Dei, debet usque ad passianem martyrii, in casu quo non debet esse
sibi conscius, praedieationem vel hortationem, in quocunque loco auditorium
habere potest, asserere verbum Dei. Sic enim Christus non solum in sinagogis sed
in castdlis (Mat. ix. 35} eonstantius praedicabat. Locus enim non facit sanctum
populum, sed e contra. Vienna MS. 3928, fol. 75, col. 3. The Chronicler
,of St. Albans, Thomas Walsingham, narrates under the year 1377, that
WicUf, partly to disguise -his heresy, and partly to spread it more wijiely,
entered into aUiance with other men as associates, Uving partly in Oxford,
and partly in other parts of the kingdom, and he describes them talaribus iudutos
vestibus de russeta, in signum perfeetionis ampliaris, incedentes nudis pedibus, qui
.OS f -ores in populo ventilarent, etc. He remarks, col 2657, that he had himself
' several of these men preach.
53. De Officio PastoraU, II. , u. 3, p. 34. Salubiter populo praedicwntes.
54. Knighton De Eventibus Angliae, col. 2664. Talem enim habebant terminum
in omnibus suis dictis semper praetendendo legem Dei, Goddis lawe.
55. Of Good Prechyng Prestis. Comp. Shirley, Original Works of WicUf, p. 45.
Le-wis — History of John WicUf, p. 200 — gives the commencement of the piece,
which indicates, at the same time, its chief substance. Arnold in Select English
Works, III., p. xix., places this piece among the works of doubtful authenticity.
56. In more than one passage which treats of the Itinerants, WicUf puts
together praedicationes and exhartationes.
67. Of Good Prechyng Prestis. Comp. Vaughan, Life and Opinions, etc II
p. 187. ' ¦'
58. De Officio Pastorli, II. , e. 3, p. 34. Debet evangeUsator praedieare plane
evangeUcam veritatem.
69. Henr. Knighton, De Eventibus AngUae in Twysden's Historiae AngUcae
Scriptores, v. III., col, 2664. Doctrina eorum in quibuscumque loquelis in principio
dulcedine plena apparuit et devota, in fine quoque i~,^'^ia subtili et detractiane plena
defloruit. Comp. col. 2660. Frequenter in suis s Uonibus— clamitaverunt, Trewe
Preachoures, False Preachou/res.

NOTES TO CHAPTER VL 321
60. The Archbishop of Canterbury in his Mandate of the year 1382, mentioned
above. 61 On the deceits of Satan and his pi'iests, after Vaughan, Life and Opinions
etc., V. IL, p. 184 f.
62. Comp. Le-wis, History, p. 200 ; Shirley, Catalogue, p. 45, No. 32.
63. Of feyned contemplatlif lif Shirley. Comp. Lewis, p. 198. No. 107, 42,
No. 26.
64. Shirley, 40, No. 12.
"65. Shirley, 41, No. 17. A^aughan, Life and Opinions, IL, p. 188 f, under the
title. On the Four Deceits of Antichrist.
66. De graduationibus scholasticis, in three chapters, in Vienna MS., 3929
(Dgnis CCCLXXXV., foL 2-17, col. 2, 250, and in other MSS).
67. The Epistola Missa ad Simplices Sacerdotes is mentioned in both the
Catalogues drawn up in Bohemia, which Shirley printed in his " Catalogue " — the
first from the Vienna MS., 3933 (D($ms CCCXCL), fol 195 ; the second from
De'nis CCCXCIH., foL 102. Comp. especiaUy pp. 62, 68 in "Catalogue."
Shirley placed too much confidence in these notices when he printed in his Intro-
fduction to the Fasc. Zizan. the supposed letter (to which he gave, at his o-wn
instance, the name of a circular), p. 41, note. The text which he gives requires,
indeed, some not inconsiderable corrections, and yet it proves clearly enough that
it has no reference to the Itinerants, and in no case was a letter addressed to
that class.
i" 68. The first chapter of the treatise forms the close of the twenty-seventh sermon
I in the Evangdia de Sanctis, in Vienna MSS., 3928, fol. 53, col 4 ; fol. 54,.j.col. g„
The second and third chapters make up the greatest part of the twenty-eighf a.^,,^
mon, from foL 54, coL 4 onwards. The fourth chapter, again, forms the conclud
ing part of one sermon, viz., the thirty -first, fol. 62, col. 3. The fifth chapter
makes the second half of the thirty-second sermon, fol. 63, col. 3. ; fol 64, col. 3 ;
and even so does the last chapter form the second haU of the thirty-third sermon,
fol. 65, col. 3 ; foL 66, cob 2. It is not, therefore, quite accurate when Shirley
observes of the tractate, De sex jugis, that it is an extract from the Sermon II. ,
No. 27 ; for in this sermon only the beginning of the tractate is to be found, at
least in the MS. which I have made use of.
There is also observable o, difference in the ways in which these several sermons
are manipulated to make out the several chapters of the tractate ; for while what
is used of the first sermon is closely interwoven -with the contents of the first
chapter, the portions of the other sermons made use of are only mechanicaUy
attached to the foUowing chapters, inserted into them, so to speak, Uke fragments
of exploded stone.
69. Sermon on the Gospels, v. I., 3-6.

VOL. I.

322 LIFE OF WICLIF.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO CHAPTER VL, BY THE
TRANSLATOR.
THE POPULARITY OP WICLIP AND HIS EARUEST DISCIPLES
AS PREACHERS IN LONDON.
If Wiclif had confined his teaching to the schools of Oxford, it would have been
only slowly and indirectly that his Reformation principles would have reached the
ears and the convictions of the general pubUc. But there is some evidence to
show that he was occasionaUy a preacher in the pulpits of London, and that he
spoke out as boldly in the crowded churches of the capital of the kingdom as he
had done for many years before in the learned disputations of the University. Nor
is proof wanting as to the effects which his preaching produced among the London
citizens. The Chronicon Anglice, referred to in a former " Additional Note," is again
avaUable here, and supplies us, in particular, with some curious facts, which are
new to history, touching the moral and reUgious influence which the Reformer's (
preaching began to exercise even upon the municipal administration of the city,}
during the mayoralty of John of Northampton. i
At p. 116 of the Chronicon we read as foUows: — "Haec et his multol
graviora," referring to the new doctrines, " cum palam non tantum Oxonis j
tractasset in scholis, sed etiam in cimtate LoTidoniarum publice prcedicasset. \
.... invenit quod diu quaesiverat, videUcet quosdam regni dominos, vel magis j
recte diabolos qui ejus amplecterentur deliramenta  Quorum sullultus
patrociniis multo audacius et animosius communicavit excommunicatam materiam,
ita ut non solum dominos sed et simplices quosdam Londoniensium cives secum
attraheret in erroris abysmum. Erat utique non solum facundus sed simulator,
etc. (vide Additional note to Chapter V.), ut magis falleret commune vulgus. Qui
profecto nuUis argumentis, nulla scientia in Deo fulciebatur et floruit, ut opiniones
suas probabUes demonstraret, sed sola compositione verborum quae satis eructavit.
Unde intricavit minus doctorum aures audientium et ventos pavit inaniter sin6
fructu. Dux tamen et dominus Henricus Percy ejus sententias coUaudabant, et
scientiam et probitatem coelotenus extoUere satagebant. Accidit que ut eorum
elatus favore, suas vanitates multo amplius dilatare non pertimesceret, sed de
ecclesia in ecclesiam percurrendo auribus insereret plurimorum insanias suas f alsas.
Unde, licet sero, episcopi stimulati, excitarunt patrem suum archiepiscopum quasi
de gravi somno, et quasi potantem crapulatum a vino, vel potius mercenarium
avaritiffi inebriatum toxico, ut ovem errantem revocaret a tam manifestas perdi-
tionis pabulo, et curandum committeret stabulario, aut, aUud si res exigeret,
uteretur abscissionis ferro."
Here, then, we learn, for the first time, what it was in WicUf's doings that first
stimulated the bishops to take public action against him — not so much his quiet
teaching at Oxford, nor his learned judgments given to the King and Parliament
on the points in debate between the kingdom and the Curia, but the wide-spreading
effects of his preaching in the churches of London, de ecclesia in ecclesiam per-

EFFECTS OP AVICLIF'S PREACHING IN LONDON. 323
currendo. He was gaining the ears of the multitude, and was making proselytes '\
not only among the highest nobles of the land, but among the masses of the
common pCople. >
Nor was it long before his preaching began to toll even upon the proceedings of
the mayor and common council of the city. One of AViclif 's loudest complaints in
the pulpit was directed against the corrupt remissness of tlie clergy, in the exercise
of the discipline of the Church against adulterers and fornicators of both sexes.
Transgressors of the seventh commandment had been long aUowed to compound
for their immoraUties, and the clergy put money into their pockets by betraying the
interests both of pubUc and domestic virtue. The Reformer's indignation passed
iuto the hearts of his London congregations. Many of the citizens resolved to
take steps to reform so clamant a social disorder, and the Monkish Chronicler of
St. Albans has handed down to us the foUowing long-forgotten record of the rough-
handed discipline which was brought to bear upon a batch of the most notorious
offenders. "Londonienses Lsto tempore coeperunt ultra modum insolescere in pemiciosum
exemplum urbium aUarum. Revera freti Majoris iUius anni (1382), Johannis
Northamptone auctoritate supercUiosa, praesumpserant episcopaUa jura, multas
dehonestationes inferentes in fomicationibus vel adulteriis deprehensis. Captas
:iempe muUeres in prisona quae vocatur Dolium apud eos primo seclusas incar-
j Krarunt, postremo perductas ad conspectum publicum, descissa caesarie ad modum
¦fnrum quos appeUatores dicimus, circumduci fecerunt in conspectu inhabitantium
ji-vitatem, praecedentibus tubicinis et fistulatoribus, nt latius innotescerent persons
earundem. Neo minus hujusmodi hominibus pepercerunt, sed eos injurus multis
et opprobriis affecemnt. Animati enim fuerant per Joannen Wyclif e et sequaces
•jus ad hujus modi perpetrandum, in reprobationem prcelatorum. Dicebant quoque
se abominari curatorum non solum negUgentiam, sed et detestari avaritiam, qui
studentes pecuniae, omissis poenis a jure limitatis, et receptis nummis, reos fornica-
tionis et incestus favorabiUter in suis criminibus vivere permiserunt. Dicebant se
utique pertimescere, ne propter taUa peccata in urbe perpetrata sed dissimulata,
tota civitas quandoque, Deo ulciscente, ruinam pateretur. Quapropter velle se
purgationem facere civitatis ab hujusmodi inquinamentis, ne forte accideret eis
pestis aut gladius, vel certe absorberet eos teUus." — Chronicon Anglice, p. 349.
I add the Monk-Chronicler's portrait of the Lord Mayor of the time, John of
Northampton, by whose authority these discipUnary severities had been carried
out. He was evidently a f oUower of Wiclif, and an admirer of his preaching ; and
the influence of this first LoUard Lord Mayor was, upon the Chronicler's own
sho-wing, of great account in the city.
"Erat autem Major eorum homo duri cordis et astutus, elatus propter divitias et
snperbus, qui nee inferioribus acquiescere, nee superiorum allegationibus sive
monitis flecti, valeret, quin quod incepeiat proprio ingenio, torvo proposito ad
qnemcumque finem perducere niteretur. Habebat plane totius communitatis'
assensum ad nova malienda."

CHAPTEE VII.
WICLIF AS BIBLE-TRANSLATOR, AND HIS SERVICE DONE TO
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
Section I. — The Novelty of the Idea of an English
Translation of the whole Bible.
TN the preceding chapter we have seen Wiclif laying down
the principle, that in preaching, God's Word must be
taught before everything else, because this Word is the
wholesome and indispensable household bread, the seed of
regeneration and conversion. Nor was it only in theory that
he laid down this principle. How he knew to establish and
elucidate it as a matter of doctrine Ave shall have opportunity
to see by and bye when we come to represent his whole
dogmatic system. But he also carried out the principle in
life and action : first, in his own person as a preacher ; and
next, by sending out itinerant preachers to proclaim the
Divine Word. But the same principle led him also to the
work of Bible-translation. Wiclif was a character who had
no love for doing anything by halves. When once he
recognised a principle to be right, he knew how to carry it
out completely on all sides ; so here in particular. The
principle that God's Word should be preached to the people,
be expanded into the principle that Scripture must become
the common good of all. And as a means to this end, he
saw the necessity of the Bible being translated into the
language of the country, with the view of giving it the
widest possible diffusion among the population.

ALLEGED OLDER TRANSLATIONS. 325
This was a thought so great, so new, and so bold for that
age, that Ave become eager to learn Avliat Avere the pre
paratory middle stages through which Wiclif was conducted
to that great plan and its execution. But in order to under
stand the undertaking in its peculiarity and greatness, we
must first have before us a clear idea of Avhat was the posi
tion of this matter before Wiclif took action in it.
Sir Thomas ilore, the well-known statesman under Henry
AIIL, repelled the charge laid against the hierarchy at the
time of the Reformation, that it had withheld the Holy
Scriptures from the people during the Middle Ages, by the
assertion that it was not true to fact, and that Wiclif was by
no means the first man who had undertaken a translation of
the whole Bible into English for the use of the laity, for com
plete English translations of it had existed long before
Wichf's time. He had himself seen beautiful old manuscripts
of the Enghsh Bible, and these books had been provided
with the knowledge of the Bishop's.-' Nor w^as More the only
one who claimed to have knowledge of English translations
of the Bible before Wiclif; several Protestant scholars of the
seventeenth century were of the same opinion. Thomas
James, the first librarian of the Bodleian, a very diligent
and indefatigable polemic against the Papists, had held in
his own hands an English manuscript Bible, which he judged
to be much older than the days of Wiclif^ Archbishop
Usher folloAved in the same fine, when he assigned this
alleged pre- Wiclifite version to about the year 1290.^ And
Henry Wharton, the leamed editor and completer of Ushers
work, even believed himself able to show who the author
of this supposed translation was, viz., John of Trevisa, a
priest in CoruAvall.*
But all these suppositions rest upon error, as was seen

326 LIFE OP wiclif.
several years later by the last named investigator him
self, Avho corrected both his own text and that of Usher.*
Those manuscripts of the Enghsh Bible seen by Sir
Thomas More, and later by Thomas James, were, it is cer
tain, nothing more than copies of the translation executed
by Wiclif and his followers. There is documentary evidence
to show that at the time of the Reformation there were
several manuscripts of this translation in the hands of Roman
Catholic Prelates. Bishop Bonner, e.g., was possessor of one
which is now preserved in the Archiepiscopal Library of
Lambeth, and a second copy is now in Magdalen College,
Cambridge, which belonged in 1540 to a Knight of St. John,
Sir William Weston.* Besides, if the fact were correct, that
there ever existed any older Enghsh translation of the whole
Bible, some sure traces of it on the one hand would not haA'e
been wanting, and on the other we may feel very certain
that, in that case, the Wiclifites would not have omitted to
appeal to that fact in justification of their own undertaking.
But it is quite clear from their writings that they knew
nothing of any older translation; but, on the contrary, re
garded their own version as the first English version of the
whole Bible.'' Only in one solitary instance, in a tract of the
years 1400-1411, is mention made, in defence of the right of
possessing the Bible in the English tongue, of, the fact
that a citizen of London, of the name of Wering, was in
possession of an English Bible, which many had seen, and
which appeared to be 200 years old.^ Assuming that this
statement of age was trustworthy, the translation in question
could only have been one belonging to the Anglo-Saxon
period. And how stands the case with regard to translations
of that period f
All the attempts at Bible- translation and commentary

THESE TRANSLATIONS ONLY PARTIAL. 327
which are known to date from Anglo-Saxon times belong to
that period Avhich is called, by linguists and literary historians,
the old Anglo-Saxon period, reaching doAvn to A.D. 1100 ;
while the new Anglo-Saxon or Half-Saxon period extends
from 1100 'to 1250. Now, the old Anglo-Saxon literature is
comparatiA'ely rich in productions which treat of biblical
subjects, both in verse and prose. To these belong the
poems which go under the name of the monk Caedmon
(t 680, Beda, Hist. Eccl. gentes Anglorum, IV. 24), con
taining editions of several Old Testament passages.^" Bishop I
Aldhelm, of Sherborn,t 709, according to the testimony of Bale, j
tianslated the Psalter ; and an Anglo-Saxon paraphrase of
the Latin Psalter, which was discovered in the royal library
of Paris at the beginning of the present century, is considered
to be in part the work of Aldhelm. The Venerable Bede,
also, while producing works for the leamed, comprising all
the erudition of the age, was not forgetful of the wants of
the common people. We know, under his own hand, that he
made a translation of the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's
Prayer into Anglo-Saxon, and presented copies of it to the
less educated among the priests with whom he was acquainted ;
indeed, his latest work was an Anglo-Saxon translation of/
the Gospel of John, which he had no sooner finished than he/
expired, in the year 735. ^^
The greatest of the Anglo-Saxon princes. King Alfred, is
known to have entertained at least the design of making
parts of Scripture accessible to his subjects in the
mother tongue. Not long after his time there existed a
Saxon translation of the Gospels, of which several MSS. have
been preserved; and if the Psalter attributed to Bishop
Aldhelm should uot turn out to have been his work,
its date, at least, cannot be later than the tenth century.

328 life of WICLIF.
In addition, two Latin MSS. of the Gospels, with interlinear
Saxon glosses, reach up to the days of Alfred, who died in
901.^^ Similar glosses upon the Psalter and the Proverbs
are knoAvn to scholars, which are conjectured to belong to
the same century.
Towards the end of the tenth century, the monk and
priest, Aelfric, had the extraordinary merit of executing a
translation of selected parts of the Books of Moses, with
Joshua and Judges, Kings, and Esther ; and, in addition,
of Job and the apocryphal books of Maccabees and
Judith ; whUe in his eighty Homilies he greatly promoted
Bible knowledge by his renderings of the text, and by, quot
ations firom the Bible at large. The writings which have
descended to the present time are sufficient to prove that
the Anglo-Saxon Church was in possession of a very con
siderable amount of biblical material in the mother tongue.
But when we reflect how much of this literature must have
perished during the Danish incursions and conquests, and at
a later period, in consequence of the Norman Invasion, we
must form a very difierent conception of its extent from
what is suggested by its existing remains. These Saxon
glosses and translations, howcA^er, continued to be in use
among the Saxon part of the population during the Norman
Period — a fact which is gathered with certainty from the
circumstance that several of the MSS. in question were not
executed till the twelfth century.
In little more than a century after the Norman invasion,
the Norman population possessed a prose translation of the
Psalms, as well as of the Latin Church hymns, in their own
language, the Anglo-Norman. This was the case even before
the year 1200 ; and towards the middle of the thirteenth
century the Normans had not only a Bible history in verse

NOT INTENDED FOR POPULAR USE. 329
reaching doAvn to the Babylonish captivity, but also a prose
translation of the whole Bible. It is a remarkable fact, in-
!deed, attested by men of special learning in this field, that
the French literature of the mediaeval age was extremely rich
in translations of the Bible — that it surpassed indeed in this
respect the literatm-e of all the other European peoples."
Still it must always be borne in mind, as respects England in
the eleA-enth and twelfth centuries, that the Norman tongue
was only the language of the dominant race, of the higher
classes, spoken at Court, in the seats of the nobles and
bishops, in the courts of justice, the churches, and the gar
risons, while the Saxon lived on among the middle and lower
strata of the population, the traders, artizans, and peasantry.
The Anglo-Norman translations of portions of the Bible
could only therefore be of use to the privileged classes, while
the mass of the people enjoyed none of the benefit, but on
the contrary were all the less considered and provided for
the more those classes were satisfied who had the power of
the country in their hands.
But from the middle of the thirteenth century the Saxon
element grew in strength, both in the population and the
language. From that date the Enghsh language takes its
development in three periods : Old English from 1250-1 350,
Middle English to 1500, New English from the sixteenth
century downwards.
As in Anglo-Saxon and most languages, so also in Old
English, the earliest attempts in Biblical subjects are of a
poetical kind. Such is the " Ormulum," a Gospel harmony
in verse without rhyme,^* a work, however, not of a kind to
make way among the common people. Another form some
what later describes the chief facts of the First and Second
Books of Moses.^* To the end of the thirteenth century

330 LIFE OF WICLIF,
belongs a translation of the Psalter in verse, the language of
which is simple and full of expression.
The oldest prose translation of a Bible book into Old
English dates fi-om the fourteenth century — about 1325 —
and, what is remarkable, two translations of the Psalms in
prose appeared almost simultaneously. The one was exe
cuted by William of Shoreham, a country parish priest, in
the county of Kent ; the other was the work of an Eremite,
Richard Rolle, of Hampole, who died in 1349. The former
wrote the Psalter, verse by verse, in Latin and Enghsh, the
translation being in general faithful and verbal, except that
the author often substitutes the words of the gloss iu place
of the text. The other, the so-called Hermit of Hampole,
had written in the first instance a Latin Commentary to the
Psalms. This occasioned him afterwards to translate the i
Psalter, and to publish it with an English Commentary.^*
According to a notice in English verse, found in one of the
numerous MSS. of this work, and which dates from the
fifteenth century, the author undertook the work at the
request of a worthy nun. Dame Margaret Kirkby. The
author's original was still to be seen in the nunnery at
Hampole ; but many copies of it had been vitiated by the
Lollards in the sense of their doctrines — an imputation which
the editors of the Wiclif Bible have found destitute of all
confirmation, although they have examined many MSS. of
this translation and commentary on the Psalter.^' A third
translation of the Psalter — which is found in a Dublin MS.
of the fifteenth century, and has been supposed to be the
work of a certain John Hyde, because the book was at one
time his property — appears from the specimens given of it
to be nothing more than a revision of the language of the
translation of Shoreham. ^^ To state the whole result for

RESULTS OF LATER INVESTIGATIONS. 331
the period, as Avell of the Anglo-Saxon as of the Norman
and the Old Enghsh tongues, it stands as folloAvs : —
1. A translation of the entire Bible was never during this
whole period accomplished in England, and Avas never even
apparently contemplated.
2. The Psalter was the only book of Scripture which was
fully and literally translated into all the three languages —
Anglo-Saxon, x\nglo-Norman, and Old English.
3. In addition, several books of Scripture, especially Old
Testament books, were translated partially or in select
passages, e.g. by Aelfiric, laying out of Adew poetical versions,
' and the Gospel of John, translated by Beda, which celebrated
work has not come down to us.
4. Last of all, — and this fact is of great importance, — in
none of these translations was it designed to make the Word
of God accessible to the mass of the people, and to spread
Scriptural knowledge among them. The only object which
was had in view was partly to furnish aid to the clergy and
to render a service to the educated class.

Section II. — How Wiclif came to engage in this Undertaking.
Considering that this was the state of things doAvn to the
middle of the fourteenth century, the fact becomes one of
a highly important character that only thirty or forty years
later a translation of the whole Bible had been executed, and
that, too, Avith the destination of becoming the common good
of the nation. And this was the work and merit of Wiclif.
To what extent he did the work of translation with his own
pen, it Avill hardly ever be possible to ascertain with perfect
certainty ; but so much as this is certain, that it was he who
first conceived the idea of the work, that he took a personal

332 LIFE OF WICLIP.
hare along with others in the labour of its execution, and
that the carrying through of the work was due to his enthu
siastic zeal and judicious guidance.
This fact is so strongly attested by manifold testimonies
of friends and foes as to be put beyond aU doubt. Knighton,
a chronicler of the period, in a passage which was probably
penned before the year 1400, laments the translation of the
Bible iuto Enghsh, and ascribes it quite categorically to
Wiclif. He maintains that Christ gave the Gospel, not to
the Church, but only to the clergy and doctors of the Church,
to be by them communicated to the weaker sort and the
laity, at need ; whereas Wiclif has rendered the Gospel from
the Latin into English, and through him it has become the
affair of the common people, and more accessible to the laity,
including even the women who are able to read, than it used
to be to the well-educated clergy. The pearl is now thrown
"before swine and trodden under foot," etc.^' When the
chronicler speaks of " the- Gospel" here, we are not tomnder-
stand him in a restricted sense, as though he meant the
translation of the New Testament only as distinguished from
the Old, or even the Gospels only in distinction fi-om the
other New Testament books. We are rather to understand
that that name, as is so often the case, is used for the whole
of Holy Scripture. If this is so, it needs no further proof
to show that Knighton regarded the translation of the Bible
as the work of Wiclif.
We also find the idea and plan of a Bible-translation
attributed to Wiclif in a document of official character.
Archbishop Arundel of Canterbury and his suffragan bishops,
in the year 1412, addressed a written memorial to Pope
John XXIII., Avith the petition that in the exercise of
his plenary apostohc powers he would pronounce sen-

wiclif's idea ENTIRELY NEAV. 333
tence of condemnation on the heresy of Wichf and his
party. In this document Wichf is charged among other
things Avith having contended with all his power against
the faith and the doctrine of the Church, and, to make his
mahce complete, with having devised the plan of a transla
tion of the Holy Scriptures into the mother tongue. ^" The
language here made use of it may be remarked in passing,
is a clear proof of the fact that before Wiclif's time there
was no English translation of the Bible in existence. It is
also evident fi-om the words that it was not merely single
books, but the whole Bible that had now been translated.
The document, however, speaks only of the idea and the
plan of the work, Avithout ascribing to Wiclif himself its
execution in detail, or the translation of the Bible in all its
parts. By the side of these testimonies proceeding from oppo
nents may be placed the language of one of Wiclifs ad
mirers — John Huss — who says, in a polemical tract against
John Stokes of the year 1411: — "It is plain from his
writings that Wichf was not a German, but an Englishman.
For the English say that he translated the Avhole Bible
fi-om Latin into English."^^
The fact is certain, then, that Wiclif was the first to con
ceive the great idea, then entirely new, of a translation of
the whole Bible, and of the Bible for the use of the whole
people. What, then, we are led to ask, were the intermediate
thoughts and prehminary stages by which Wiclif was led to
the conception of this grand design ?
As a great number of his writings have come down to
us, it is natural that we should first look into these for
information on this point. If Luther in his day takes oc
casion, in letters from the Wartburg and later writings to

334 LIFE OF WICLIP.
refer every now aud then to his Bible-translation, it
might be supposed that Wiclif too, must have had occa
sion to refer to a work whose importance and greatness
lay so near his heart, and that such reference would be
found to throw light upon the prehminary stages of the
undertaking. But, in point of fact, it is very rare to find,
either in his Latin or his English writings, any allusions
to the work either while in progress or after its comple
tion. The condition of things at that time, it must be
remembered, was very different from what it was in the
third and fourth decades of the sixteenth century. In
Wiclif's day men could uot conceal from themselves that
the business was one attended with danger ; and
therefore it was the part of prudence not to talk loudly
of the matter, so long as it was only in progress. But,
notwithstanding the almost total silence of Wichf re
specting his own work, one circumstance, at least, is
made probable, viz., that it was through the translation
of several single books of the New Testament that he
was gradually led to contemplate a complete version of
the whole Bible.
The editors of the Wiclif Bible — Rev. Josiah Forshall and
Sir Frederick Madden — are of opinion that the earliest
1 translation of a Biblical book executed by Wiclif was the
I Commentary upon the Revelation of St John.^^ Now, it
is true that, as early as the sixteenth century. Bishop
Bale included among Wiclifs works an Explanation of the
Apocalypse ; and Shirley has admitted the same without
hesitation into his list of Wiclif's genuine writings.^' But
for my oavu part, 1 do not see my way to attribute this
Commentary to Wiclif; and all the less so, that the trans
lation of the text contained in the oldest manuscripts of

TRANSLATIONS ERRONEOUSLY ASCRIBED TO WICLIF. 335
the work does not agree Avith Wiclif's translation of it iu
his acknowledged version.- '
The case is different, -indeed, Avith the single Commen
taries on the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John, as
the English version of the Vulgate text given in these
Avritings agrees with the Wiclif translation in its earliest
form. But, in my judgment, the Commentary on the
Gospel of Luke cannot be recognised as Wiclif's work,
because the author in the preface writes of himself in
a manner Avhich is not at all applicable to Wiclif.
The -TOriter first introduces some words of Scripture,
and then proceeds as follows: — "Therefore it is that
a poor, insignificant man (a caitiff), who, for a time, has
been inhibited fi-om preaching, for causes known to God,
Avrites the Gospel of Luke in English, for the use of the
poor people of his nation, who understand httle or no
Latin, and are poor in wit and worldly wealth, but none
the less are rich in good Avill to be well pleasing to God."^*
It is impossible to point out a moment in Wiclif's life
when " for a time he was hindered from preaching the
Gospel." For the allusion here has no appearance of
being to a time of sickness, but rather to some hindrance
on the part of ecclesiastical superiors. Thus understood,
the side hint that the causes of the hindrance are known
to God becomes all the more appropriate, as it hints at
the wisdom of God's, permission of the hindrance. The
whole mode of expression appears to me to be of such a
character as to indicate one of Wiclifs itinerant preachers as
the writer, but not Wiclif himself^*
Nor does the preface to the Commentary on the Gospel of
John speak for the authorship of Wiclif when the author
gives for his determination to write it the following

336 LIFE OF WICLIF.
reasons : — " Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true Man,
came into the world to save poor humble men, and to'
teach them the Gospel. Hence the Apostle Paul says that
he and the other apostles of Christ are the servants of
Christians for the sake of Jesus Christ ; and again he
says, 'Let every one bear another's burdens, and so shall
you fulfil the law of Christ.' Therefore it is that a simple
creature of God, Avilling to help to carry the burden of simple,
poor men who hold with the cause of God — writes a short
gloss upon the Gospel of St. John in the English tongue,
and only the text of the Holy Scriptures, and the plain,
short sayings of holy doctors, Greek and Latin," ^' etc.
This description of his own person suggests that he was
writing anonymously ; whereas Wiclif so far as I know, in
aU cases took the personal responsibility of what he wrote,
not to mention the fact that, while he is always glad
to have the support of passages in the fathers and later
doctors of the Church, Wiclif never confines himself to
a mere reproduction of the earlier authorities, as is done
in the productions now in question, which, in substance,
only give again in English what already stands in the
" Catena Aurea " of Thomas Aquinas. However, as I
have not been in a position to examine the manuscripts
for myself, and can only rest my judgment upon the
short extracts which are given in the preface to
the Wiclif Bible, I do not pretend to be able to give an
authoritative judgment upon the subject. Only so much
as this appears to be beyond doubt, that the writer or
wiiters of these Commentaries must have belonged to
Wiclifs school.
The same thing must also be said of the author of a Com
mentary on the first three Gospels, who gave, in the same

TRANSLATION OF A LATIN HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. 337
way, a translation of the Vulgate text, Avith commentaries
from older fixthers aud doctors ; for "The SerAMut of God"
who encouraged the author to undertake the work gives
utterance to precisely such principles as Wiclif maintained.
In the preface to MatthcAv the author writes as folloAvs : — "I
A\-as induced some time ago to begin this work by a mau
whom I take to be truly a servant of God, and who often
requested me to undertake this work on the ground that the
Gospel is the rule according to Avhich it is the duty of every
Cluistian man to live. Now, several writers had already
translated this Gospel iuto Latin, a language which only
the leai-ned understand, and there are many people who
would Avilhngly know the Word of God if it were ren
dered into the English tongue. This would be of great
utihty to the soul of man, and to labour heartily for this
useful end is the duty of every man who stands in the
grace of God, and to whom God has given the needful
knowledges," etc.^*
Thus far, then, we have found nothing which can be regar
ded -with an adequate degree of confidence as a preliminary
labour of Wichf in the work of Bible-translation. There is
more reason for recognising as a work from Wiclif's hand the
Enghsh translation of the Latin Harmony of the Gospels (en
titled " Series CoUecta ") of Prior Clement of Lanthony in
Monmouthshire, Avritten in the second half of the twelfth cen
tury. For (1) this translation has always, fi-om the sixteenth
century, especially since Bishop Bale, been attributed to
Wichf, and never to any other man. (2) It varies very little
fi-om Wichf's translation of the Gospels. (3) The preface of
the translator (to be carefully distinguished from that of the
Prior) is a double one, the one being identical with the pre
face which stands befiDre the Commentary on Matthew's
VOL. I. Y

338 LIFE OF WICLIP.
Gospel mentioned above, while the other was evidently
intended from the first to be the preface to the translation
of this Gospel Harmony ; and this latter preface has the
unmistakeable stamp of thought and expression which is
characteristic of Wiclif.
The author of the Preface takes his start from the
saying of Christ, " Blessed are they who hear the Word
of God and keep it ; " and he draws from it in particular
the conclusion that " Christians should labour day and night
upon the text of Holy Scripture, especially upon the Gospel
in their mother tongue.^^ And yet," he remarks, " men
will not suffer it that the laity should know the Gospel,
and read it in their common life in humility and love."
Hereupon he continues word for word as follows : — " But
pleasure-loving learned men of this world reply and say,
laymen may easily fall into error, and therefore they ought
uot to dispute upon questions of Christian faith. Alas!
alas ! what cruelty it is to rob a whole kingdom of bodily
food because a few fools may be gluttonous, and may do
themselves and others mischief by their immoderate use ol
such food.30 Quite as easily may a proud worldly priest fall
into error contrary to the Gospel which is written in Latin,
as a simple layman may err contrary to the Gospel which is
written iu Enghsh. When a child makes a slip in his first
day's lesson, would there be any sense in making that
a reason for never allowing children to come to lessons at
air^ Who then in this way of it would ever become a
scholar ? What sort of Antichrist is this who, to the sorroAv
of Christian men, is so bold as to prohibit the laity
from learning this holy lesson which is so earnestly com
manded by God ? Every man is bound to learn it that he
may be saved, but every layman who shah be saved is a

THIS TRANSLATION PROBABLY AVICLIF'S. 339
very priest of God's own making, and every man is bound to
be a A'ery priesfc.^i
But worldly priests cry out that Holy Scripture in the
Enghsh tongue would set Christians by the ears, and would
drive subjects into rebellion against their rulers ; and there
fore it should not be suffered among the laity. Woes me !
how can they more manifestly blaspheme God, the Author of
peace, and His holy law, which everywhere teaches humility,
patience, and brotherly loA-e 1 So the false Jgavs, espe
cially the high-priests, and scribes, and Pharisees accused
Christ of breeding contention among the people. 0 .Jesus
Christi Thou who didst suffer death to establish thy law
and to redeem Christian souls, put a stop to these blas
phemies of Antichrist and worldly priests. Help that Thy
holy Gospel may be knoAvn and held fast by Thy simple
brethren, and cause them to grow in faith and hope, in love
and hmnihty and patience, and Avith joy to suffer death for
Thee and for Thy law. Amen ! Lord Jesu, for Thy mercy
sake I "
I repeat, these are through and through genuine
thoughts of Wiclif, spoken with godly warmth in his own
simple but sharp and original style. The whole preface is
nothing else than a pleading for the translation of the
Gospel into English, and for its diffusion among the laity.
And if this preface was written properly for the translation
of the Gospel Harmony, it lets us see that at that date,
whatever that date was, Wiclif had already grasped the idea,
" the Bible for the people ! " At the same time, this theo
logical vindication of the idea could not fail to lead on to the
plan of a complete Bible version. It is to be regarded as a
kind of temporary substitute for the latter that to that Gospel
Harmony in Enghsh there was added an appendix containing

340 LIFE OP WICLIP.
first portions of the Catholic epistles, and then selected
extracts from other parts of the Bible. This collection pre
sents variations in the different manuscripts in bulk, and also
in the arrangement of the several pieces.^^ In how far, how
ever, this appendix is the work of Wiclif, it has not hitherto
been possible to ascertain.
The second half of the fourteenth century produced
another work of the same kind which is well worthy of
attention, viz., a complete translation of all the epistles of
Paul, in Avhich the Latin and English follow each other
paragraph by paragraph, or even verse by verse, in such a
way that along with a very literal translation there are
interwoven occasional explanations of single terms. The
circumstance, howcA^er, that the full Latin text always
stands first is a clear proof that the work could not have
been prepared for the people, but rather for the less educated
class of priests."^
All the writings hitherto mentioned were preparatory
labours by Avhich the proper landing-place to which they all
tended was more and more nearly reached, viz., a pure
and at the same time a complete English version of the
whole Bible. Section IIL— 7'/ie Wiclif Translation,
The New Testament was naturally translated first. Luther
followed the same order nearly 150 years later. But the
main difference in the two cases was that Luther trans
lated from the Greek original, Wiclif from the Latin of the
Vulgate. There is no need to prove this latter fact. Wiclif
had no knowledge of Greek, and everywhere it is Latin, not
Greek, which is spoken of as the language out of which the

WICLIF'S TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 341
version is made. That the translation of the New Testa
ment was Wiclif's own work we may assume with a good
degree of certainty, for this is the point upon which the
testimonies of friends and foes, as given above, most
undoubtedly agi-ee. If Huss speaks of the Avhole Bible as
translated by Wiclif, we shall yet find immediately that a
great part of the Old Testament was done by one of his
friends, and our attention is thus directed chiefly to the New
Testament as Wiclif's part of the work. And if Knighton
speaks of " the Gospel," and " the Evangelical Pearl," the
reference here is of com-se primarily to the New Testament.
Add to this that there is a close resemblance of expression
and style in the Gospels as compared with the other parts of
the New Testament. The whole version has the appearance
of being one casting.
Prefaces are attached to the several Books. These, how
ever, are not original productions, but merely translations of
the same prologues which usually precede the different books
of Scripture in the manuscripts of the Vulgate of the four
teenth century. ^\Tiether these prefaces were translated by
the same hand as the text has not been ascertained; and
there is some reason to suppose that they were not attached
to the text at first, but were added afterwards — at least they
are wanting in some manuscripts in the Gospels, and in other
copies in the other books. Not nnfrequently short explana
tions of words are admitted into the text. The different
manuscripts, however, of this original version of the New
Testament vary considerably from one another, as the
Bibhcal text in several of them has undergone a considerable
number of corrections aud changes.
The execution of the Old Testament of the work was
taken in hand either while the New Testament was still in

342 LIFE OF WICLIF.
progress, or shortly after the completion of the latter, — and
this not by Wichf himself but by one of his friends and
fellow-labourers. The original manuscript of this part of the
work, remarkably enough, has been preserved.'* A second
^manuscript, which was copied from this one before under
going correction, contains a remark which ascribes the trans
lation to Nicolas of Hereford; and this remark, which was
manifestly added no long time after, is worthy of full credit.
Now, it is a peculiar circumstance that both these manu
scripts break off quite unexpectedly in the middle of a
sentence, — namely, in the Book of Baruch, cap. 3, a''. 20,^' — a
fact which can only be explained by the supposition that the
writer was suddenly interrupted in the work. And this
supposition admits of being combined, without any pressure,
with the fact attested by existing documents, that Nicolas of
Hereford, Doctor of Theology, and one of the leaders of the
Wiclif party in 1382, after a sermon preached by him before
the University on Ascension day, was cited, in June of that
year, to appear before a Provincial Synod in London, to
answer for his teaching on that occasion.
The result of his examination was that on 1st July sentence
of excommimication was passed upon him. Against this sen
tence he appealed to the Pope, and, according to Knighton's
Chronicle, went in person to Rome to prosecute his appeal,
but was there thrown into prison, in which he remained for
some years, when he was at length discharged, and returned
to England.'*" It is easy, therefore, to understand how
Nicolas of Hereford came to be so suddenly interrupted in
the middle of his Avork, and as it was impossible for him to
carry on the work for several years, the fragment remained
as it was Avhen he was unexpectedly compeUed to lay down
his pen.

NEW TESTAMENT FINISHED IN 1382. 343
If these combinations and conjectures rest upon any good
gi-ound, they furnish us at the same time Avith the advantage
of a fixed date ; for supposing the above fiicts to be correct,
Ave shaU then be able to assume A\-ith some confidence that in
June 1382, at the latest, the translation of the Ncav Testa
ment by Wiclif's oAvn hand must haA^e been completed, if his
fellow-labourer Hereford had already in the Old Testament
advanced as far as the Apocrypha and was now in the middle
of the Book of Baruch. The version itself affords proof that
it was continued and finished by another hand ; and it is not
improbable that the continuator was Wiclif himself From
Baruch ui. 20 the style is one characteristically different from
Hereford's, as we shall have occasion to show in the sequel.
The prologues to the books of the Old Testament, as in the
case of the New Testament, are only a version of those which
Avere then commonly found in the manuscripts of the Vulgate.
For the most part they consist of letters and other pieces of
Jerome. It must have been a heartfelt joy and deep satis
faction for Wiclif when the translation of the whole Bible
was completed, and the great plan accomplished which he
had so long cherished and pushed forward with so warm a
zeal. This in all probability took place in the year 1382.
But Wiclif was not the man to betake himself to rest iu any
single object attained by him, and least of all in this sacred
cause. To him the translation of the Bible was not its own
end, but only a means to an end, that end being to put the
Bible into the hands of his own countrymen, to bring home
the Word of God to the hearts of the English people. His
next care, therefore, after the translation was ready, was to
make it as useful as possible. For this purpose copies of it
were now made, and in such a way that not only the whole

344 LIFE OP WICLIF.
Bible, but also portions of it, and even single books, were
copied out and circulated. Moreover, in many of these copies
there were inserted a table of the Bible lectures for Sundays
and ah the feast and fast days of the ecclesiastical year,
which table is still to be found in several of the existing
manuscripts. And in order to put these lectures into the
hands of many at a cheap price, books were also copied
out which contained no more than these gospels and epistles.
Of this sort are two manuscripts still remaining, which were
written at all events before the close of the fourteenth
century. But a still more important work became necessary. As -
soon as the English Bible was complete and came into use,
the imperfections which clung to it began to be manifest ;
and in truth it Avas not to be wondered at that the work
should have considerable blemishes. It was a work of un
common magnitude, especially for that time, considering
that it was executed under unfavourable circumstances by
different hands, and without any firm basis of clear and con
sistent principles of translation having been previously laid
down. The portion executed by Hereford, embracing the
Old Testament books, had a character of its own, differing
much from Wiclif's version of the New Testament in its
method of translation, and in the form of its English idiom.
These and other blemishes could not escape the notice at
least of Wiclif himself. Aud without doubt it was he who
suggested a revision of the whole work, perhaps undertook
it with his own hand. Just as Luther, too, after his complete
German Bible appeared in 1534, began ere long to revise it,
and never ceased tiU his death to improve and polish it,
partly by his own hand and partly with the assistance of
Melancthon, Bugenhagen, Cruciger, and others. No marvel

REVISION OF THE AVHOLE OF THE WORK OF JOHN PURVEY. 345
if the case Avas not otherwise Avith the English Bible of the
fourteenth century.
The revision was a work of time. Wiclif did not
live to see it completed. The revised Wiclif Bible did
not appear till several years after his death, and the
improved form which it uoav assumed was essentially the
Avork of one man who was a trusted friend of Wichf and
in his last years his assistant in parochial work, John Purvey.
This fact has been made not merely probable but certain by
the learned editors of the Wiclif versions of the Bible, who
have also shown that the probable date of the completion of
the revision was the year 1388 — i.e., four years after Wiclif's
death.^'^ Before the appearance of the collected edition of
the AViclif translations just referred to, very confused and
mistaken ideas of the oldest English versions of the Bible
prevailed. Not to speak of the already-mentioned and now
exploded assertion of Sir Thomas More, that long before
Wichf's day there were aheady in existence complete trans
lations of the Bible in English, it was a common error, since
Lewis's day down to 1848, to take the older translation of
Wichf for the later revised one, and to take the later for the
older, i.e., for the genuine or unrevised work of Wiclif.
I More than this, down to the year 1848, no part of the older
translation had appeared in print, with the exception of the
Song of Songs, which Dr. Adam Clark had printed in his
Bible Commentary from a manuscript in his own possession.'^
The fact that the older genuine Wiclif translation had had
the fate of being so long ignored is closely connected with
the circumstance that it had been thrown iuto the shade
and almost entirely superseded by the later improved version.
For the later form of the text of the translation was eagerly
sought after. Copies of it came into the hands of people be-

346 LIFE OF WICLIF.
longing to all classes of society. These copies must have been
multiplied with extraordinary rapidity, for even at the pre
sent day there are still about 150 manuscripts remaining
which contain Purvey's revised version either in whole or in
part, aud the majority of these copies were executed within
forty years after the year 1388.
It would, however, be extremely short-sighted and hasty
if we should undervalue or entirely overlook the work of
Wiclif by reason of Purvey's work. Was, then, Purvey's
Bible translation anything more than a uniformly executed
revision of Wiclif's work already published, and an edition
of it improved, in point of language, in respect to its
superior legibility ? The revision was, iudeed, carried
through in a consistent manner under the guidance of dis
tinctly conceived principles, but this was a work of far
less difificulty than the task of originating the translation
itself especially when we consider the grandeur and the
novelty of the first idea of the work, aud the tenacious
persistency and steady industry which were absolutely
required for its execution. Last of all, we point again to
the probability before referred to — that it was Wiclif him
self who was first sensible of the need of a revision of the
finished translation ; so that it was only the carrying out
of the task Avhich fell to Purvey, whose relative merits,
however, we have no wish to undervalue.
What, now, is the peculiar, character and importance of
the earlier version, in so far especially as it was Wiclif's
personal work 1 Its pecuharity becomes clearer to the eye
when we compare the New Testament in the older version
with the Old Testament as rendered by Hereford. Here
ford's translation is excessively literal, and keeps as close
as possible, almost pedantically, to the Latin expression

THE STYLE OF AVICLIF'S PART OF THE WORK. 347
and order of the Vulgate. This makes the version very
often stiff and awkward, forced and obscure. The trans
lator kept only the original in his eye, Avhich it was his wish
to render with the utmost possible fidelity ; on the spirit and
laws of the English tongue he seems scarcely to have
bestowed a thought, and as little on the qualities of intel-
hgibdity and legibility wdiich it Avas his business to impart
to the translated text. The case is quite difierent with
AViclif iri the books which he translated, and above all in
the New Testament. He ever keeps in view the spirit of
his mother tongue and the requirements of English readers,
so that the translation is so simple as to be thoroughly
readable. Nay more, it is a remarkable fact that Wiclif's
Enghsh style in his Bible-tianslation, compared with his
other English Avi-itings, rises to an uncommon pitch of
perspicuity, beauty, and force.'^
But if we compare Wiclifs Bible, not with his own
English writings, but with English literature in general
before and after his time, a still more important result is
revealed. Wichfs translation of the Bible marks an epoch
in the development of the English language almost as
much as Luther's translation does in the history of the
German tongue. The Luther Bible opens the period of
the new High German; Wiclifs Bible stands at the head
of the Middle Enghsh. It is usual, indeed, to represent
not Wiclif, but Chaucer — the father of English poetry — as
the first representative of the Middle Euglish literature.
But later investigators of the history of languages — such
as Marsh, Koch, and others — rightly recognise Wiclif's
Bible prose as the earhest classic Middle Enghsh. Chaucer,
indeed, has some rare features of superiority — livehness of
description, a charming way of clothing his ideas, genuine

348 LIFE OP WICLIF.
English humour, and a masterly command of language.
But such qualities of style address themselves more to the
educated classes — they are not adapted to make a form of
speech the common property of the nation. That which
has the destiny to promulgate a new language must be
something which concerns closely the weal and the woe
of man, and which for that reason takes hold irresistibly
of every man in a nation, the lowest as well as the highest.
In other words, it must be moral and religious truths,
grasped with the energy of a genuine enthusiasm, and
finding acceptance and diffusion for themselves in fresh
forms of speech. If Luther, with his translation of the
Bible, opened the epoch of the High German dialect, so
Wichf with his English Bible, stands side by side with
Chaucer at the head of the Middle English, But in the
latter dialect are already found the fundamental characters
of the new English, which reached its development in the
sixteenth century.

NOTES TO CHAPTER VIL

1. Thom. More, Dyalogues, fol. cviu. cxi. cxiv.
2. Treatise af the Corruption of Scripture, Lond., 1612, p. 74. Vide Forshall
and Madden's WycUffite Versions of the Bible, VL, p. xxi.
3. Historia Dagmatica Controvei-siae de Scripturis et Sacris Vernaculis. Lond.
1690, 4to, p. 155.
4. Auctarium Historiae Dogmaticae J. Usserii, p. 424.
5. H. Wharton (under the pseudonym Ant. Harmer), Specimens of Errors in
the History of the Reformation. Lond., 1693. Vide Vaughan, John de WycUffe,
334, Note I.
6. Wydiffite Versions of the Bible, I. Pref. xxi. Ivu.
7. Do. I., p. xxi., Note 9.
8. Printed at the time of the Reformation as A compendious aide treatyse
shewynge how that we aught to have the Scripture in Englyshe. Vide WycUffite
Versions, I. Pref. xxxiU., Note, and xxi.. Note 9.
9. Max MiiUer, Lectures on the Science of Language. Leipsig, 1863, I., p. 349,
Note. C. Friedrich Koch, Historische Grammatik der Englischen Sprache, I., p. 8.
10. The only MS. of these Poems, dating from the tenth century, and belonging
to the Bodleian Library, does not name the author. Francis Junius, who pub-
Usihed the first edition of the Paraphrase in 1655, in Amsterdam, was the first to
put forth the conjecture that Caedmon was the author. New editions have been
brought out by Benjamin Thorpe, Lond. 1832, and by Bouterwek, Elberfeld, 1849.
II. Cuthberti Vita Bedae.
12. Namely, the so-caUed Durham book and the Rushworth Gloss in the
Bodleian. 13. Reuss, Re-vue de Th&logie, II. 3 ; Les bibliothfeques de la seule viUe de
Paris contiennent plus de manuscrits bibUques fran5aiB que toutes les bibliothfe-
ques d'Outre Rhin ne paraissent en contenir d'allemands.
14. Called Ormulum, after the author, whose name was either Orm or Ormin,
and who was an Augustinian Canon. Edited, with Notes and Glossary, by
Wright, Oxford University Press, 1852, 2 vols. 8vo.
15. The Story of Genesis and Exodus, an early EngUsh song, about a.d. 12-i0.
Edited by Richard Morris for the Early EngUsh Tract Society. 1865.

350 LIFE OF WICLIF.
16. For our first reUable information concerning the person and life of this re
markable mau we are indebted to the documents pubUshed by Mr. Perry in the
preface to the EngUsh Prose Treatises of Richard Rolle de Hampole. Lend.,
1866, p. XV. f. Vide Legenda de Vita Ricardi RoUe, preserved in the Cathedral
Library of Lincoln. According to these he was born at Thornton, in Yorkshire,
studied at Oxford, and returned home in his nineteenth year, where he immediately
took to a hermit's Ufe. Later in Ufe he laboured as an itinerant preacher in the
northern parts of Yorkshire, and he closed his Ufe in Hampole in 1349.
17. Wycliffite Versions of the Bible, VL, Pref. iv. f. At all events one such
remark drawn from a single MS. is not sufficient to support the conjecture made
by Humphrey Wanley that this translation of the Psalms in its shortest form was
a juvenile work of Wiclif himself.
18. Wycliffite Versions, etc., Pref. v. and vi., and particularly Note 1. AU
the preceding statements regarding the Bible translations which were anterior to
WicUf rest upon the learned investigations of the editors of the Wiclif Bible, found
in their preface.
19. Henricus Knighton, Chronica de Eventibus Anglian in Twysden's Historiae
AngUcae Scriptores, X. Lend., 1652. Col. 2644, Hie magister Joannes Wyclif
Evangelium quod Christus contulit clericis et Ecclesiae Doctoribus, ut ipsi- laicis
et infirmiorihus personis secundum temporis exigentiam et personarum indigentiam
cum mentis eorum esurie dulciter ministrarent, transtulit de Latino in Anglicam
linguam non Angelicam ; unde per ipsum fit vulgare, et magis apertum laicis et
mulieribus legere scientibus, quam solet esse clericis admodum literatis et bene intelli-
gentibus, et sic evangdica margarita spargitur et a porcis conculcatm', etc.
20. Wilkins, Concilia Magnae Britanniae, IIL, f. 350, Joannes WycUff — et ipsam
ecclesiae sacrosanctae fidem et doctrinam sancti^simam totis conatibus impugnare
studuit, novae ad suae maUtiae complementum Scripturarum in linguam matemam
translationis practiea adinventa, etc.
21. Replica contra Jo. Stokes. Quod autem WicUff non fuit Teutonicus sed
AngUcus, patet ex suis scriptis — nam per AngUcos dicitur quod ipse tota BibUa
transtuUt ex Latino in AngUcum.
22. WycUffite Versions, I., Pref., p. viii.
23. Catalogue of the Original Works of J. W., p. 36.
24. Wycliffite Versions as above. Note Z.
25. Do. I., Preface, p. ix.. Note d. The words run thus -.— Herfore u, pare
caityf lettidfro prechyng for a tyme for causes knowun of God, etc.
26. Arnold in his Introdnction to the First Volume of WicUf's English
Sermons, p. 5, concludes against the WicUf authorship of this Commentary on
partly the same grounds as those upon which I had come to the same conclusion
some years before ; only he conjectures that its true author may have been a
Monk. 27. Herfor a symple creatwre of God writeth a schort gloss in English, etc.
28. Wycliffite Versions, I., Preface, pp. ix., x., and particularly Note f. " One
that I suppose veraly was God's servant, seyand to me that sethyn the gospeUe is

NOTES TO CHAPTER VII. 351
rewle, be the whilk ich Cristen m.an owes to lyf_iUc man that is in the grace of
God — owes hertely to bysy him.
29. It is to be regarded as a quite peculiar merit of the Editors of the Wiclif
translations of the Bible that they have given in the Preface so rich an anthology
of extracts from EngUsh manuscripts. One of the most valuable of these com
munications, in my opinion, is the second preface, printed in full from two MSS.,
to the EngUsh translation of the Gospel-harmony of Clemens, in vol I., p xiv.,
col. 2, aud p. XV., col 1. The sentence last quoted in our text is worded in the
original, thus — Cristen men are moche to traveile nyght and day aboute text of holy
writ, and namely the gospd in her moder tunge.
30. Here "unmesurabU" k to be read according to the other MS., not "mesur-
abU ' which the editors have preferred.
31. Wycliffite Vei-sions, vol. I., p. xv., col. 1. Thanne each lewed man that schal
be saved is a real prest maad of God, and eche man is bounden tn be suche a verri
prcst. But vxrrldly clerkis crien that holy writ in English wole make Cristen men at
debate, and therfor it schal not be siiffred among lewed men.
32. Wycliffite Aversions of the Bible, v. L, XI. XII.
33. Do. do. v. I., p. xiiL In an EngUsh tract, which may weU have come
from Wiclif's pen, p. xiv., Note, it is expressly said that " as the parish priests
are often so ignorant that they do not understand Latin books so as to be able to
instruct the people, it is necessary not only for the ignorant people, but also for
the ignorant pries-ts, to have books iu the EngUsh language containing the neces
sary instruction for the ignorant people."
34. It is preserved in the Bodleian Library, No. 959 (3093), and is distinguished
by the circumstance that very often alterations are made in the middle of a sentence ;
not nnfrequently a word has been canceUed as soon as it was written, or before it
was -written fuUy, in order to put another in its place. WycUffite Versions, I., p.
xvU. and xlvii.
35. The second MS. is in the Bodleian, marked Douci 369, and ends with the
words, and othyr men in the place of him risen. The Yunge. Then on the next
side stands written by another but contemporary hand, Explicit translacion Nicholay
herford, v. I., p. xvil and 1., where a. facsimile of these words with the preceding
lines is given.
36. Fasc. Zizan., ed. Shirley, p, 289 f. Knighton Chronica., col. 2656 f.
37. To have estabUshed this fact, and brought clear Ught into the manifold dark
ness which rested upon these subjects, is one of the numerous merits of these two
men who, -t.-ith the Uberal support of the delegates of the University Press of Ox
ford, carried on their investigations for twenty-two years long, made a thorough
search of the most important pubUc and private libraries of Great Britain and Ire
land, and on the basis of a critical comparison of numerous MSS. pubUshed the
earUer as weU as the later translations, along with prefaces. The work has this
title, Tlie Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, with the Apocryphal
books, in the earliest English versions made from the Latin vulgate by John Wycliffe
and his followers; edited by the Rev. Josiah Forshall, F.R.S.., and Sir Frederic

352 LIFE OF WICLIF.
Madden, K.H., F.R.S., Keeper of the Manuscripts in the British Museum. Oxford
University Press, 1850, 4 vols. large 4to, with a copious Preface in vol. I. (from
which we have drawn much of what we have given above), and a Glossary to
these translations in vol. IV. The two translations are throughout printed side
by side in double columns— the older to the left, the later to the right. The
various readings are given in Notes.
38. Henry AVharton, in the Auctarium to Usher's Historia — controversiae — de
Scripturis et sacris vernaculis, London, 1690, p. 424 f., had rightly perceived
which was the older and which the later translation, and while rightly attributing
the older to Wiclif, had incorrectly assigned the later to John of Trevisa. Dr.
Waterland had come to see that the Translation, with the " General Preface " to
the Bible, was the work of John Purvey ; but he had not held fast to this view,
and had even faUen back to the old opinion that the later Recension was the
earUer. He was foUowed in this by John Lewis, Wyclif's first Biographer, when
he pubUshed, on the basis of two MSS., the later translation of the N«w Testa
ment as the work of WicUf — New Testament, translated out afthe Latin Vulg^..,e, by
John Wiclif, about 1378. Lond., 1731, fol. This same translation has been t-wice
printed in the present century — in 1810, by H. H. Baker, New Testament, trans
lated from the Latin, in the year 1380, by John WycUf, D.D. ; and in 1841 upon
the basis of one MS. in Bagster's EngUsh Hexapla, 4to (The Bible Translations
of Wiclif, Tyndale, Cranmer, and others). On the other hand, the New Testament
in the older translation was first published in 1848 by Lea WilsoR, after a MS.
in his own possession, under the title The New Testament in English, translated by
John Wycliffe, circa 1380. Lond. 4to. Last of all. Rev. Josiah Forshall and Sir
Frederick Madden gave to the world the Two Translations of the whole IMble,
with critical exactness, in the work already mentioned.
39. This remark was first made by Sharon Turner in his History af England
during the Middle Ages. 1830. VoL V. p. 42,'i f. Comp. p. 447 f.

END OF VOL. I.

COLSTON AND SON, PEINTBRS, EDINBURGH.

..VERSITY LIBRARY

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