May 22, 1377: Pope goes after early reformer

On this day in 1377, Pope Gregory XI issued a papal bull denouncing the teachings of John Wycliffe, an English reformer.

One of Wycliffe’s dissenting beliefs was that the Bible should be available to everyone. As such, he translated the Vulgate Bible into English. Because of their supposed inability to speak Latin, his adherents became known as Lollards, possibly meaning “mumblers”. (Wycliffe, conversely, was a professor at Oxford.)

Pope Gregory XI did not like this idea, since the Church was able to control “salvation” through the sacraments. Decades after Wycliffe’s death, he was declared a heretic; his bones were exhumed and burned, with the ashes cast in a nearby river.

Wycliffe, sometimes called the Morning Star of the Reformation, influenced the Czech theologian Jan Hus, whose writings would inspire Martin Luther.

For more on John Wycliffe, visit Christianity Today.

Image: William Frederick Yeames (1835-1918), Wyclif Giving ‘The Poor Priests’ His Translation of the Bible (year unknown, 19th century). Source: Wikimedia Commons