John Wycliffe (1325-31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher and the founder of the Lollards, a proto-Protestant religious movement.
Biography[]
John Wycliffe was born in Hipswell, Yorkshire, England in 1325, and he became a seminary professor at Oxford. Wycliffe attacked the privileged status of the Catholic clergy, which was central to their powerful role in England, and he then attacked the luxury and pomp of local parishes and their ceremonies. Wycliffe also advocated translating the Bible into the vernacular, translating the Latin Vulgate into Middle English in 1382; this translation became known as "Wycliffe's Bible". His followers, known as "Lollards", supported his beliefs in predestination, iconoclasm, and the belief that the King of England should head its church. He also attacked the veneration of saints, the sacraments, requiem masses, transubstantiation, monasticism, and the existence of the Papacy. He died of a stroke on 31 December 1384 in Lutterwoth, Leicestershire, England.