Page:John Wycliff, last of the schoolmen and first of the English reformers.djvu/391

 simple, rough, and nervous English. He prays "that Christis techinge and bileve of the sacrament of his owne body, that is pleynly taught by Crist and his apostelis in gospellis and pistillis, may be taught opinly in chirchis to Cristen puple, and the contrarie teching and fals bileve, brought up by cursed ypocritis and heretikis and worldly prestis, unkunnynge in Goddis lawe, distried . . . Dampne we this cursed heresie of Anticrist and his ypocritis and worldly prestis, seiynge that this sacrament is neither bred ne Cristis body, but accidentis withouten suget, and therunder is Cristis body. For this is not taught in holy writt."

Once again after his condemnation by the Synod of Blackfriars he came face to face with Courtenay—if we are to accept on this point the evidence of one or two contemporaries who are not invariably correct in dealing with the successive stages of his career. The resistance of Oxford to Courtenay's authority was not at an end when the decision of the seventy-three doctors had been made public; but Parliament or the King's Council armed the Primate with new powers, including that of imprisonment, and he went up to his old University in the middle of November in order to drive the nail home. On the 18th he held a Conference at St. Frideswide's, being attended by the Bishops of Lincoln, Norwich, London, Salisbury, Hereford, and Winchester. Knyghton tells us that Wyclif answered in person before this Conference; and he