Page:John Wycliff, last of the schoolmen and first of the English reformers.djvu/248

 have put an end to the Commission, took place on the 27th of March. The news would not reach England for some days later, and could not have been anticipated at the hearing in Lambeth Chapel. On the contrary, the authority of the Pope and the determination of Courtenay must have been considerably strengthened by the recent return of the papal Court to Rome.

The fact is manifest that the bulls of 1377, obtained by the religious Orders and acted upon by the Archbishop and Bishop, were not only a venturesome experiment against the laws of England and the notorious feelings of Englishmen, but also a grave tactical mistake on the part of the Holy See. The mere introduction of bulls into the country was an exasperating challenge to the English Parliament and Church, and could only weaken the cause which they were intended to promote. Courtenay, with some of the bishops and the friars, may have rejoiced over their promulgation, but it is doubtful if anyone else shared their feelings. The Archbishop certainly fought shy of them. The young King's advisers resolved at once to set them aside; and Oxford, as we have seen, was morally and intellectually strong enough to decide that the conclusions which the Pope had declared heretical were substantially true.

By the mistake of his enemies Wyclif came out of the ordeal stronger and more influential than he had been at any previous period of his life. From the time of his first prosecution in the spring of 1377 to the dark days in which he was accused of having