the late 1360s and became a doctor of theology about
1372–73. He was, it appears, a conventional academic
and like most of his contemporaries was supported, as
an absentee, by the revenues of various benefi ces, none
of great value. He was granted a canonry at Lincoln
in 1371, though the promise of a prebend there with
substantial resources was never fulfi lled. In 1374 he
was granted the Leicestershire benefi ce of Lutterworth,
which was in the gift of the crown.
This undoubtedly was a reward for services as a
polemicist and a diplomat. He defended the crown’s
right to tax the clergy and even its violation of sanctu-
ary in order to arrest crown debtors, and in 1374 he
took part in a diplomatic mission to Bruges. By 1378
he was compelled to withdraw from politics, although
his lay patrons continued to protect him from the as-
saults of church authorities who had secured papal
condemnation of his views on the subject of civil and
divine lordship. In 1381 he was forced to leave Oxford,
retiring to Lutterworth, where he died of a stroke at the
end of 1384. Although his enemies alleged that he had
inspired the Peasant Rebellion of 1381, this view cannot
be substantiated and his earlier strong royatism makes
it inherently unlikely.
Increasing knowledge of the development of scho-
lastic philosophy has enhanced Wyclif’s reputation as
a thinker. A man of great learning and incisive mind, he
was a vigorous defender of realist metaphysics against
the nominalism of William of Ockham. In this he fol-
lowed the tradition active during his formative years
in Oxford, but he went beyond his teachers as an inde-
pendent thinker. As a philosopher his views remained
acceptable, but when he began teaching theology he
clashed with the authorities.
His early theological concern with questions of do-
minion and grace probably arose more from his activities
as a royal servant than from philosophical principles.
Concurrently with his royal service, however, he became
involved in biblical studies, writing a commentary on the
whole Bible, something none of his contemporaries did.
His reverence for scripture led to a fundamentalist view
of the Bible as eternally present in God and probably
infl uenced his denial of transubstantiation in the eucha-
rist, an opinion in accord with his metaphysical views.
There has been recent debate on whether metaphysics
or biblicism gave the fi rst impetus to this opinion, the
issue that led to his fi nal breach with orthodoxy. Even
by the end of his life Wyclif had probably not worked
out his precise belief in the nature of the eucharist, but
it may have come close to the later Lutheran doctrine
of consubstantiation.
His infl uence survived his death, and his eucharistic
views were, in a simplifi ed form, one of the hallmarks
of later Lollardy. More important perhaps was the
production by his followers, under the infl uence of his
biblicism, of two English versions of the Bible, the staple
reading for heretical groups and material for works of
orthodox devotion. His philosophical views were taught
for a time in Oxford and spread also to Bohemia, where
they infl uenced the thought of religious reformers. Later
his theological teachings also reached Bohemia and
probably contributed to the more radical wing of Hussite
thought. A substantial number of Wycliffi te manuscripts
have survived in libraries there.
By this time the church authorities were taking steps
against his writings. Forty-fi ve articles from his works
were condemned at Prague in 1403, 267 articles were
condemned after Archbishop Arundel’s purge at Oxford
in 1409, and the attacks continued at the councils of
Rome (1413) and Constance (1415). At the last a com-
mand was issued for the exhumation and burning of his
body, though this part of the sentence was not carried
out until 1428.
See also Ockham, William ofFurther Reading
Kenny, Anthony. Wyclif. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985
[best introduction].
Kenny, Anthony, ed. Wyclif in His Times. Oxford: Clarendon,
1986 [valuable essays on many aspects of the man and his
infl uence].
Leff, Gordon. Heresy in the Later Middle Ages: The Relation of
Heterodoxy to Dissent, c. 1250–c. 1450. Manchester: Man-
chester University Press, 1967 [a good summary of Wyclif’s
teachings].
McFarlane, K.B. John Wycliffe and the Beginnings of English
Nonconformity. London: English Universities Press, 1952
[illuminating and good for biography unfair to Wyclif as a
thinker].
Thomson, Williell R. The Latin Writings of John Wyclyf. An An-
notated Catalog. Toronto: Pontifi cal Institute, 1983 [the best
bibliographical treatment of Wydif’s writings].
Workman, Herbert B. John Wyclif: A Study of the English Me-
dieval Church. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1926 [the fullest
life, though the interpretation is colored by Reformation
apologetics].
J.A.F. ThomsonWYCLIF, JOHN