John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe (c. 1328–1384) was an Oxford theologian and priest whose attack on the wealth and authority of the Church made him the forerunner of the English Reformation. He became Master of Balliol College in 1361 and took his doctorate in 1372. In 1374 he negotiated with papal envoys at Bruges and received the living of Lutterworth.

His book On Civil Dominion argued that the Church should surrender its property and the clergy live in poverty. John of Gaunt took his side, but after rejecting transubstantiation in 1380, Wycliffe lost Gaunt's support. Itinerant poor priests carried his teaching across England, and his followers became known as Lollards.

He is traditionally linked with an English Bible. He withdrew to Lutterworth and died after a stroke in 1384. His writings shaped the Czech reformer Jan Hus, and in 1428 his remains were dug up, burned and cast into the River Swift.