Dimensions of History

Rutherfurd paper
 

John Wyclif
 

John Wycilf is first mentioned on page 476 in the novel "London" by Edward Rutherfurd. Wyclif was born at Hipswell in Yorkshire, England in 1324 to a well-off farming family. He attended Oxford University and received a Doctorate in Theology. He taught at Oxford as a philosophy teacher until he started preaching. With his preaching came his radical ideas and criticisms of the church. This attracted the attention of John of Gaunt (the son of Edward III) and the two quickly became friends. John of Gaunt gave Wyclif his royal protection from all his enemies. With the beginning of the Great Schism in 1378 Wyclif became more radical, embittered and ultimately rejected the whole structure of the medieval church. As Wyclif grew older his teachings became more controversial and his protection from John the Gaunt kept from persecution.
 

In 1374 King Edward appointed Wycif rector of Lutterworth. Around this time He began to argue for " dominion founded on grace". By this he meant the right to exercise authority in the church or state and the right to own property. He stated that these rights were allowed by god and were apart from sanctifying grace. . A man in the state of mortal sin could not belong to a part of church or state, or even own land. Wyclif argued that all the clergy of the church should give up their property and live in poverty as directed by god. From 1376 to 1378 Wyclif served as a clerical advisor to his good friend John of Gaunt who ruled effectively until his nephew, Richard II came of age to take the throne. In 1377 the king asked Wyclif's opinion on whether to it was lawful to withhold payments to the Pope, and Wyclif responded that it was okay to do so. Due to this Pope Gregory XI issued five bulls against Wycilf , but none were successful.

John Wyclif began writing books criticizing the church. These books included " On The Truth of the Holy"(1378), "On the Church"(1378) and "On the Power of the Pope"(1379). In these books, Wyclif made all of his objectives clear. He stressed the importance of reading the Bible for oneself rather than attending mass or going on a pilgrimage. He also condemned the Pope for granting indulgences, because the Pope is therefore taking on the power of God. He explained that God should hold the power of the church, not the clergy. Through out all this Wyclif still considered himself a loyal churchman, who was willing to submit his cause to the church and the judgment of the Pope. His followers were attracted to his stress on reading the bible themselves, without the having priests translate the bible for them. At this time the bible was written in Latin and the only people who were educated enough to read it were priests and noblemen. In 1380 Wyclif began translating the bible in to English with the help of other priests. This was a lengthy process and without the invention of the printing press, every copy had to be hand written.
 

By the late 1300's Wycilf's followers were known as Lollards. This group was made up of many parts of society including, preachers, laborers, nobles, and clergymen. Lollardism also included women, and encouraged them to take an active part in this reformation, which was unheard of at this time. They would read and memorize scripture, educate others and even took the roles of preachers. In 1381 the Peasants' Revolt took place in London. It was initially thought that Wyclifs teachings were a main cause of this because the peasants were setting out to kill landlords and clerical alike. It was later realized that Wyclif had nothing to do with the revolt but the fact that his "dominion" was very similar to this made him susceptible to blame. In 1382 Wyclif was declared a heretic and all of his writings were banned due to the fact that they were all attacks on the corruption of the church. In November of 1382 John Wyclif suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed, and died on December 31, 1384as the result of a fatal second stroke. He was buried in Lutterworth Churchyard. Through out his life Wycilf was endlessly trying to reform the corrupt church and make it more just for the common people. Even though he was declared a heretic by the church he is still admired and followed to day, and his teachings live on. His greatest and most influential legacy is the translations of the bible from Latin to English. If he had not fought for the rights of the common people, the church might still today be run solely on what the clergy say and dictate to us. John Wyclif is mentioned a few times in the novel London in the chapter titled "London Bridge". He is mentioned mainly in connections with the Peasants Revolt and his controversial bible translation. John is very important during this time period and influenced may people in the book and in real life. In London Wyclifs teachings greatly effected Carpenter who enjoys reading the rare and illegal bible, who later he finds himself in the middle of the Peasants' Revolt. It is interesting how Rutherford ties in actual events with fictional characters. In the novel as in real life Wyclif is a visionary who goes to many extremes to get his controversial points across and will not be easily forgotten.