BIO:John Wycliffe

1320-1384
The Morning Star of the Reformation. John Wycliffe was a 
Saxon, born in Hipswell, England. He earned degrees at Oxford 
University and became a doctor of theology in 1372. After 
serving as an envoy to France, representing England in a dis-
pute with the Pope, he returned to England and published 
writings against the secular power of the Papacy.
        In spite of attempts by the Church to have Wycliffe 
arrested and assassinated, he continued to write and to 
preach. He maintained that no Pope nor council was infalli-
ble, and if their views contradicted the Bible, those views 
were wrong. He taught that the clergy should not rule as 
princes of the church, but should help the people and lead 
them to Christ.
        Finally prohibited by the Bishop of London from 
preaching, Wycliffe confined himself to writing and translat-
ing the Bible from Latin to English. Thirty-one years after 
his death, the Church ordered all his books burned, his bones 
dug up and burned, and his ashes scattered on the Thames 
River.

ARTIST'S NOTE: The morning star motif is self-explanatory.

Ruckman '66
