Page:John Wycliff, last of the schoolmen and first of the English reformers.djvu/126

 member of the family, and he ought to be shown on the family tree. Why is he not?

To such as feel a special interest in the personality of John Wyclif the Reformer it will be a matter of secondary concern whether he was or was not the son and heir of Roger, lord of Wycliffe, and of Catherine his wife. But his identification with the patron of Wycliffe rectory in 1363 and 1369 would tend to confirm our belief in his absolutely disinterested character, and in the sincerity of his profession of ecclesiastical poverty. The identification is manifestly assisted by the circumstances connected with the two nominations in question. John Wyclif was Master of Balliol up to 1361, when he took the college living of Fillingham. The rectors appointed to Wycliffe in 1363 and 1369 were both of them Balliol men.

If Wyclif was legally lord of the manor, then we possess, to begin with, a remarkable testimony to the nobility and thoroughness of his personal character; and the whole tenor of his after life is such as to strengthen and deepen this first impression. The manor of Wycliffe was 720 acres—equivalent to a knight's fee ; and the rectory was worth £14 12s 1d. As living was interpreted in those days, there was a competence both for the esquire and for the rector. During the reign of Edward III. money was found, from one source or another, to restore the fabric of the church.