John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe

• English theologian and reformer • also called the Morning Star of the

Reformation• critical of the papacy• felt that all Christians should have access to

the Bible in the vernacular• his Bible becomes first complete, word-for-

word translation of Vulgate into English, into a Midland dialect

John Wycliffe

• Two versions completed:– first by Nicholas of Hereford up to Baruch 3:20– remainder completed by an unknown scholar

• A few years later a second version, revised (less literal and less Latinate), completed by John Purvey

• complete Wyclif Bible remained unprinted until 1850

John Wycliffe

• Also known as the Lollard Bible, extant in 170 copies

Lollards

• Followers of Wyclif came to be known as "Lollards"

• Name perhaps derived from Dutch term lollaerd, meaning mumbler

• Sect driven out of Oxford in 1382• Some devout members circulated Wycliffe's

teachings and the "Lollard Conclusions" (1394)

Lollards

• The Lollards translated the Bible into their vernacular language, English.

• Most significant heretical group in England before the Reformation