Historia

Introduction

John Wycliffe (c. 1328 – December 31, 1384) was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher at Oxford in England, who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached anticlerical andbiblically-centered reforms. The Lollard movement was a precursor to the Protestant Reformation (for this reason, Wycliffe is sometimes called "The Morning Star of the Reformation"). He was o9bhgne of the earliest opponents of papal authority influencing secular power.
Wycliffe was also an early advocate for translation of the Bible into the common language. He completed his translation directly fromthe Vulgate into vernacular English in the year 1382, now known as Wycliffe's Bible. It is probable that he personally translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and it is possible he translated the entire New Testament, while his associates translated the Old Testament. Wycliffe's Bible appears to have been completed by 1384, with additional updated versions being done by Wycliffe'sassistant John Purvey and others in 1388 and 1395.

Content:
Early Life
Wycliffe was born in the factory village of modern-day Hipswell in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England in the mid-1320s.His family was long settled in Yorkshire. The family was quite large, covering considerable territory, principally centred around Wycliffe-on-Tees, about ten miles to the north of Hipswell.
Wycliffe received hisearly education close to his home. It is not known when he first came to Oxford, with which he was so closely connected until the end of his life, but he is known to have been at Oxford around 1345. He was influenced by Roger Bacon, Robert Grosseteste, Thomas Bradwardine, William of Occam, and Richard Fitzralph. Wycliffe owed much to William of Occam's work and thought. He showed interestin natural science and mathematics, but applied himself to studying theology, ecclesiastical law, and philosophy. His opponents acknowledged the keenness of his dialectic, and his writings prove he was well grounded in Roman and English law, as well as in native history. During this time there was conflict between the northern (Boreales) and southern (Australes) "nations" at Oxford. Wycliffe belonged toBoreales, in which the prevailing tendency was anticurial, while the other was curial. Not less sharp was the separation over Nominalism and Realism. He mastered most of the techniques.
Wycliffe became deeply disillusioned both with Scholastic theology of his day and also with the state of the church, at least as represented by the clergy. In the final phase of his life in the years before hisdeath in 1384 he increasingly argued for Scriptures as the authoritative centre of Christianity, that the claims of the papacy were unhistorical, that monasticism was irredeemably corrupt, and that the moral unworthiness of priests invalidated their office and sacraments.

Early career
At Oxford
Wycliffe was Master of Balliol College, Oxford in 1361. In this same year, he was presented by thecollege with the parish of Fylingham in Lincolnshire. For this he had to give up the leadership of Balliol College, though he could continue to live at Oxford. He is said to have had rooms in the buildings of The Queen's College, Oxford. As baccalaureate at the university, he busied himself with natural science and mathematics, and as master he had the right to read in philosophy. Obtaininga bachelor's degree in theology, Wycliffe pursued an avid interest in Biblical studies. His performance led Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, to place him at the head of Canterbury Hall in 1365, where twelve young men were preparing for the priesthood. Islip had designed the foundation for secular clergy; but when he died in 1366, Islip's successor, Simon Langham, a man of monastic training,...