John Wyclif

John Wyclif was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, and Bible translator whose radical doctrines and championing of vernacular Scripture anticipated the Protestant Reformation by over a century. He attacked papal authority, clerical corruption, transubstantiation, and clerical possession of temporal wealth. Though he died under house arrest after a stroke, his ideas survived through the Lollard movement and influenced Jan Hus. He was posthumously condemned as a heretic by the Council of Constance (1415) and his remains were exhumed and burned (1428).

In medieval Catholic tradition, Wyclif was condemned as a dangerous heretic whose ideas threatened ecclesiastical order and Christian orthodoxy. His immediate followers (Lollards) were persecuted, and his writings were officially proscribed. However, in Protestant tradition beginning with John Foxe, Wyclif was venerated as the 'Morning Star of the Reformation'—a prophetic figure who anticipated Luther and Calvin by over a century, who championed vernacular Scripture against ecclesiastical monopoly, and who was persecuted and symbolically martyred (his bones burned) for his faith. This Protestant veneration positioned him as a proto-martyr and reformer. The ACNA calendar's inclusion of Wyclif on October 6 reflects Anglican and Protestant sympathy with his goals (vernacular Scripture, church reform, emphasis on biblical authority) rather than Roman Catholic condemnation. Modern scholarship has complicated both narratives, emphasizing that Wyclif was a medieval theologian working within scholastic categories, that his ideas about dominion and church temporality had medieval precursors, and that his actual relationship to the Lollard movement is more complex than either tradition suggests.

John Wyclif was born c. 1330 in the parish of Wycliffe, Yorkshire, into a landowning family of minor gentry. He studied at Oxford University, where he excelled in logic, philosophy, and theology, eventually becoming a Doctor of Divinity and master of Balliol College, Oxford. His early career was marked by intellectual prowess in scholastic theology and by increasing engagement with political and ecclesiastical issues. In the 1370s, Wyclif shifted his focus toward radical criticism of the Church. He attacked papal temporal authority, arguing that the pope had no scriptural warrant for secular power and that the Church should be divested of worldly possessions. He developed a doctrine of dominion (dominium) suggesting that all authority—ecclesiastical and secular—derives from God's grace and can be forfeited through sin. He challenged the theology of transubstantiation, arguing instead for a doctrine of real presence that did not require metaphysical transformation. Most radically, he advocated for the translation and dissemination of the Bible in English (the vernacular), directly challenging ecclesiastical monopoly on Scripture interpretation. These ideas brought him into conflict with church authorities. Though protected initially by John of Gaunt (Edward III's son) and enjoying some lay support, Wyclif was eventually condemned at Oxford and came under increasing pressure. He withdrew to Lutterworth, a parish benefice he held, where he continued writing until his death on December 31, 1384. Though he was not formally tried for heresy during his lifetime (partly due to his death and to secular patronage), his writings were subjected to increasing scrutiny. After his death, his ideas circulated through his followers and through the Lollard movement, which promoted lay literacy, vernacular Scripture, and egalitarian church reform. The Council of Constance (1415) posthumously condemned him as a heretic. In 1428, his remains were exhumed from the church at Lutterworth, burned, and the ashes scattered in the river Swift—a dramatic act of ecclesiastical censure. The Reformation Protestant tradition later venerated Wyclif as a precursor and martyr-figure, though modern scholarship has complicated this image, emphasizing both his genuine reforming concerns and his medieval theological framework.

• Priest
• Translator