I.

Introduction

John Wycliffe or John Wicliff (1330?-1384), English philosopher, theologian, and religious reformer, a forerunner of the Protestant Reformation.

Born in Hipswell, Yorkshire, Wycliffe was educated at Balliol College, University of Oxford. He received a doctorate in theology in 1372. The so-called Morning Star of the Reformation, whose surname is also spelled Wyclif or Wicklife, he taught philosophy at Oxford throughout most of his career, while nominally serving as a priest in a succession of parishes. Wycliffe gained prominence in 1374 during a prolonged dispute between Edward III, king of England, and the papacy over the payment of a certain papal tribute. Both king and Parliament were reluctant to pay the papal levies. Wycliffe wrote several pamphlets refuting the pope's claims and upholding the right of Parliament to limit church power. King Edward appointed him to a commission that in 1375 conferred with papal representatives at Brugge (Bruges), Belgium, on the differences between the Crown and the papacy. The conference failed, but Wycliffe won the patronage of John of Gaunt, fourth son of King Edward and leader of an antipapal faction in Parliament.