Page:John Wycliff, last of the schoolmen and first of the English reformers.djvu/250

 indirectly. . . . I have no misgiving as to the truth of the said conclusions, for I am willing that they should be examined not only by the Curia but by the whole Church militant and triumphant, that is to say our holy Mother Church, to which I have humbly submitted myself—and far be it from me to exclude the Roman Church, which I hold to be the head of all the militant Churches. Wherefore, since I wished the matter at stake to be communicated to the clergy and laity, I collected and forwarded thirty-three conclusions, written in both languages."

There is something which needs to be cleared up in connection with this bold challenge, and with the facts which preceded and followed it. Urban's own troubles, and the illness of Wyclif in 1379, may partly account for the delay of formal and public prosecution; but it would be interesting to learn the exact circumstances under which the two bishops sent the above-mentioned protest to Rome, and the answer (if any) which was made to the challenge.