Page:John Wycliff, last of the schoolmen and first of the English reformers.djvu/215

 esting and exciting case. The barons are mentioned in association with the Duke, and they may have come in Lancaster's train from Westminster.

Before the inquiry could be opened Lord Percy did what he may have considered humane and natural under the circumstances. Wyclif was very properly standing, out of respect for his ecclesiastical superiors, and Percy bade him take a seat. "As he will have many things to answer," said the Marshal, "he should have a more comfortable seat." But the Bishop flatly said that he should not sit there at all. "It is against reason and against the practice of courts," he said, "that he should sit, for he has come on a summons, to answer for himself before his ordinary, and in respect of charges which have been brought against him. For the time of his answer, and so long as his case is being tried, it is right that he should stand where he is."

Thus at the outset a dispute arose between Percy and the Bishop, with many hard words on both sides, and the whole assembly was thrown into confusion. The Duke then began to argue with the Bishop, and Courtenay did his best to let John of Gaunt have tit for tat. Lancaster, says the chronicler, was ashamed of himself because he could not talk the Bishop down; so he began to threaten, and swore that he would humble not his pride only but that of all the bishops in England.

"You trust too much in your father and mother," he said, "but they will not be able to help you. They will have enough to do to look after themselves."