'Not only was he the light bringer of ecclesiastical change but also the harbinger of so much pain and suffering that would follow in the wake of his beliefs.'

Matthew Graham concludes his look at heretics throughout history with a look at serial heretic John Wyclif 

The road to heresy may be well travelled but it is not one that is ever really taken intentionally.

Rather chance and circumstance seem to have a knack for creating the right set of conditions to nudge particular individuals along a path that at first appears innocuous but soon turns out to be fraught with heterodoxy and confrontation.

From humble origins in Yorkshire, John Wyclif (c. 1320 – 1384) would end up being remembered by history as the “Morning Star of the Reformation”. Not only was he the light bringer of ecclesiastical change but also the harbinger of so much pain and suffering that would follow in the wake of his beliefs.

Expelled

A noted Oxford philosopher and theologian, in 1367, he and eight secular students were expelled from Canterbury Hall, where he had been Warden, and replaced by monks.

A bitter and unsuccessful lawsuit ensued, marking the start of his disenfranchisement with Rome and monasticism. He began to elaborate on the notion of two Churches – an eternal, ideal one and the visible material one.

The authority of the latter derived from the former and if the earthbound one was not in a state of grace then it could be lawfully deprived of its endowments.

This doctrine brought condemnation from Rome but it played well for Wyclif’s political protectors – the Black Prince and John of Gaunt, who sought to cap the Church’s power and possessions.

Wyclif went further arguing the uniqueness and supremacy of the Bible and pointing out that neither the authority of the Pope nor institutionalised religious life had any basis in Scripture.

He appealed to the government to reform the whole order of the Church in England. Finally, however, he overreached himself, attacking the doctrine of transubstantiation as unsound and superstitious.

Provocative

Whilst his calls for reform had been popular, his views on the Eucharist proved too provocative. On 21 May 1382, as many of Wyclif’s writings were being condemned as heretical or erroneous at a synod in London, an earthquake struck the city.

His detractors interpreted this as a favourable sign for the purification of the earth from false doctrine. At the end of the year, Wyclif appeared before a synod in Oxford and was forced to retire to his parish at Lutterworth.

He revised his works and produced a prolific series of pamphlets attacking his enemies but on 28 December 1384, he was struck by apoplexy in the pulpit and died three days later.

Over the next thirty years, his works were frequently condemned and his followers, the Lollards, persecuted until he was finally declared a heretic in 1415 at the Council of Constance, along with his greatest follower, John Hus. In 1428, Wyclif’s remains were exhumed, burnt and thrown in the river Swift on papal orders.

Many of Wyclif’s ideas presaged those of the Reformation – indeed Luther traced his spiritual lineage to Hus and thus to Wyclif –, yet today he is most associated with the first English translation of the Bible.

Although the exact nature of his involvement in the endeavour is unclear – he may have provided a translation of the New Testament – he undoubtedly inspired the project.

Vernacular

His belief in the authority of Bible to which all Christians should have direct access was so dangerous a proposition that for almost 130 years, expressing the word of God in the vernacular was illegal and just owning an English bible carried a charge of heresy.

However, history eventually caught up with itself and Wyclif became the revered figure he is today.

• This marks the end of our little jaunt through the heretical pantheon and I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

Even if I have not made a convert of you, I trust that you will acknowledge that you do owe these men and women a debt of gratitude.

Without them, the Church would be a very different creature today. So next time you’re at the communion rail, spare a thought for them and maybe their time in eternity will pass slightly more smoothly.

• Read orther articles in our Heretics series