Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/588

* WICLIF. 498 WICLIF. not long before 13C0 master of Balliol College. Jle was made rector of the neighboring parish of Fillingham (1361-69), of Ludgarshall (1369- 74), and of Lutterworth (1374-84). In 1365 he appears as King's chaplain, if this is the proper translation of peculiaris regis clcricus, and from this date he enters into close relations with the Government, especially with the King's son John (of Gaunt). In 1375 he was made a mem- ber of a royal commission to confer with legates of the Pope" at Bruges. Attention was first called to his views on theological questions in the year 1376, and he was sunimoned to give account of his teaching at Saint Paul's in London by Bishop Courtenay. In the next year a series of Papal bulls were procured, directing the ecclesiastical authorities to proceed against Wiclif, but he was supported by so strong a faction at the time that nothing could be accomplished. At a second hearing at Lambeth in 1378 he was protected by the Queen Mother and allowed to withdraw with only a gentle admonition. From this time until two years before his death in 1384, he continued to write and teach at 0.ford, elaborat- ing his views with more clearness and winning many supporters. His doctrines were carried to Prague and served there as the basis of the revolt under John Huss. They were formally con- demned at the Council of Constance (1415) and repudiated by all parties down to the Reforma- tion. In 1428 Pope Martin V. called upon Bishop Flemmyng, of London, to disinter the remains of Wiclif from the parish church at Lutterworth and scatter them abroad, and this was done. The activities of Wiclif may be classified as political, theological, and evangelical, but these are all closely connected by a common principle of thought. The one creative idea which governed all his action, and which may be regarded as Wiclif's contribution to the Pveformation. is. the right of the individual to form his opinions on the basis of Scripture and reason, and then to carry out these opinions in association with other individuals as seems best to him and them. Al- though he describes himself as a realist and worked according to the formal methods of the medieval realistic school of thought, his con- clusions are largely tinged by the new nominal- istic writing of William of Ockham and Jlarsi- glio of Padua. The essence of this new thought was the comparative unimportance of traditions in t;hurch or State, and the corresponding right of the members of the body politic or religious to govern themselves as they saw fit. Such ideas fell in naturally with the newly developed na- tionalistic feeling in all countries, and more espe- cially in England. If it was true that English- men owed their first duty to England, then there must be some way of showing that such national loyalty was consistent with fidelity to the Chris- tian faith. Wiclif's first public service was in furnishing to the Government just such a demon- stration as this. In 1365 the Pope, then living in France, had renewed a long-neglected claim on England for the tribute promised by King John a hundred and fifty years before as a part of his liargain with Rome. Money given to the Papacy seemed to be money taken from England to serve her enemy, France, and the Government sought a valid excuse for refusing the demand. Wiclif's pamphlet, Dctcrininatio qiurdam dc Dominio, supplied the need. In it he showed that a nation had the same rights of self-preser- vation as an individual ; that the Papacy, being a spiritual power, could not lawful]}' exercise sovereignty over a'dependent country ; and, finally, that King .John had had no right to make any such bargain without the consent of the people of England. The same points are clearly seen in another pamphlet written eleven years later in reply to an inquiry from Parliament whether the nation would be justified in refusing to pay "Peter's pence' during a time of domestic need. Wiclif takes here the broad ground that all such contributions were acts of charity, and hence not subject to demand; they might rightfully be withheld when the nation had need of the money to provide for the maintenance of religion at home. On both these occasions Wiclif was led on to express opinions on the nature and the present perversions of the Papal office which could not be overlooked. The bulls of Gregory XL in 1377 were the direct outcome of this opposition. They placed Wiclif fairly in the position of a condemned heretic, but there was no power in England strong enough to enforce them against a man who had made himself the cham- pion of national rights as against all foreign aggression. They fell fiat and unquestionably weakened the Papal cause in England. Though the attitude of the Government clianged w'ith the shifting of parties consequent upon the death of Edward III. and the accession of Richard II., Wiclif continued to enjoy the protection that had carried him so far and was allowed to end his days in peace. The principles governing Wiclif in these politi- cal questions are laid down by him chiefly in his two great treatises, De Dominio Dirino and De Civili Dominio, in which he tried to show the limits of human lordship and especially of the lordship of the Church over temporal things. In these, as in his other writings, the appeal is throughout to Scripture as the highest expression of the divine law, and in opposition to the man- made statutes of the Roman Church. From this supreme authority of Scripture Wiclif went on naturally to the importance of teaching it to every Christian, and so to the duty of giving it to the world in the common tongue. It seems now to be clear that before Wiclif's time there had been no systematic attempt to translate the whole Bible into English, and hence the vast importance of the version known as W'iclif's Bible, though it is not probable that he did more than a fragment of the work of translation him- self. Aside from its value as a contribution to the growing standard of English pro.se, this English Bible was the chief agency in spreading the ideas that form the practical side of Wiclif's activity. He tried to meet the need of the times by sending out the Bible in the hands of young men. not ordained to the ministry nor bound by any vows, not even, so far as we know, equipped with any professional learning, though proliably often youths who had listened to his teaching at Oxford. These 'poor priests' were to imitate as far as possible the conditions of the .Apostles. They went forth on foot, in a russet gown, with scrip and staff, and. if we may believe the reports of friends and enemies alike, the people heard them gladly. They were instructed to preach nothing but the plain.