Skip to main content

Full text of "John Wiclif and his English precursors"

See other formats 


'"?'>  ■ 


■Zk 


1811-1888.    ,  ^._  Enalish 
John  Wiclif  and  his  Engi 


JOHN    IVICLIF 


AND    HIS 


ENGLISH  PRECURSORS 


PKOFESSOIi    LECHLER,    D.D. 

OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  LEIPSIC 


TRANSLATED   FRO  21   THE   (J  E  EM  AN 
WITH  A  DDITIO X A  L   X 0  T E S 


PETER    LORlxAIER,    D.D. 

AUTllOU  OF  "JOHN  KNOX  AND  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND  " 

COHHKSl'ONDIXt;   MEMBEU  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  SCOXTI«U  ANTIQUAKIKS,   AND 

HOXnltAKY  MEMBER  OK  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  BICRU 

IN  THK  PRUSSIAN  STATES 

V  (.)  L.     I  J.  ^  ^    \ 

v:L  . — *- ,,^y 

LONDON 
C.  KEGAN  PAUL  1-  CO.,   1  PATliRNOSTKK  KQUAltE 

1  cS  7  8 


\Th<'  Riijhtx  of  Ti-.nishifinii   and  of  Jicprothirtion   arc  Rrxrrir(1.~\ 


WiCLiF  !  strong  soTil  nursed  as  in  eagles'  nest 
In  upper  air,  it  needed  bresitli  of  Alps, 
Tlie  keen  invigorative  air  which  girds 
The  Maiden,  Monk,  and  Eiger  with  their  zones 
Of  thick-ribbed  ice,  to  gi\'e  me  strength  to  cope 
With  the  new  history  of  thy  mighty  thoughts, 
And  deeds  and  giant  strife  with  Papal  Home — 
From  fountains  fresh  deduced,  in  Teuton  speech 
Of  Lechler's  learned  page,  and  to  give  back 
Thy  thoughts,  full  rendered,  to  thine  own  dear  lau 
Sire  of  our  English  tongue  !  Translator  once 
Thyself  of  Grod's  own  Word. — Immortal  work  ! 
A  well  of  truth  and  English  undetiled  ! 
Accept,  Great  Shade  !  my  toil,  humble  itself. 
Yet  noble  made  by  thee — to  whom  'twas  given 
In  love  and  laud,  unbought,  spontaneous. 


Lautehbrunnex,  Hotel  Staibbach, 
■l-lti<l  AiKjKst  1876. 


CONTENTS   OF   YOL.   IL 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

WicLiF  AS  A  Thinker  and  Writer  ;  his  Philosophical  and  Theological 

System. 

PAGE 

Section  I. — Wiclif'.s  gradual  development  as  a  Thinker  and  lleformer,    .  1-4 

Section  IL — Wiclif  as  a  Philosophical  Thinker  and  Writer,  .  .  4-12 

-Notes  to  Sections  I.  and  II.  .  .  .  .  .12-14 

Section  III. — Wiclif .s  Theological  System.     The  sources  of  C!hristian 

truth,  ........        14-36 

Notes  to  Section  III.,  ......       36-40 

Section  IV. — Doctrine  of  God  and  the  Divine  Trinity,    .  .  .        41-46 

Notes  to  Section  IV.,  .  .  .  .  .  .       46,  47 

Section  V.^  Doctrine  of  the  World  ;   of  the  Creation  ;  of  the  Divine 

Dominion,     ........        47-07 

Notes  to  Section  V.,  ......       57-'i8 

Section  VI. — Doctrine  of  Man  and  of  Sin,  ....        68-6J 

Notes  to  Section  VI.,  . '  .  .  .  .  .        65-67 

Section  VII.  —  Doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ,  and  the  Work  of  lie- 

demption,      ........        67-76 

Section  VIII. —  Doctrine  of  the  Order  of  Personal  Salvation,       .  .        76-^0 

Notes  to  Sections  VII.  and  VIII.    .....        90-97 

Section  IX. — Doctrine  of  the  C^hnrch  as  the  Communion  of  the  Saved,   .      07-107 
Notes  to  Section  IX.,  ......  lOS,  109 

Section  X.— The  Worship  of  the  Church,  .        _     .  .  .    110  121 

Notes  to  Section  X.,  ......    121-123 

Section  XI. — Constitution  of  the  Church,  ....    123-154 

Notes  to  Section  XL,  .  .  .  .  .  .154 

Section  XII.  — Doctrine  of  tlie  Sacraments,  .  .  .    164-195 

Notes  to  Section  XIL,  .  .  ...    19.")-206 


CONTEXTS. 


Vll 


CHAPTER     IX. 

The  Events  of  the  Last  Years  of  Wiclif's  Life,  137S-1384 

Kection  I. — The  Papal  Schism  and  its  effect  upon  Wiclif, 

Notes  to  Section  L,         .  .  . 

Section  II. — Wiclif'.s  attack  upon  the  Doctrine  of  Trausubstantiation, 

Notes  to  Section  II. ,        . 
Section  III.— The  Peasants'  Revolt  in  1381, 

Notes  to  Section  III.,      ..... 

Section  IV. —  Preparations  for   Persecution  on  the   part   both   of   the 
Church  and  the  State,        ..... 
Notes  to  Section  IV.,      ..... 

Section  V. — The  Wiclif  party  intimidated  by  the  Measures  of  the  Arch 
bishop, — Hereford,  Repington,  Aston,  Bedeman, 
Notes  to  Section  V.,        . 

Section  VI. — The  Cautious  Proceedings  of  the  Hierarchy  against  Wiclif 
himself,      ....... 

Notes  to  Section  VI.,       .  . 

Section  VII. — The  last  Two  Years  of  Wiclif's  Life,  and  his  Death, 

Notes  to  Section  VII.,      ..... 
Section  VIII.  —Character  of  Wiclif  and  his  important  Place  in  History, 

Notes  to  Section  VIII.,  . 

Additional  Note  by  Translator, 


207 
214,  215 

215 
219,  220 

229 
230,  231 

231 
243-246 

246 
263-265 

265 
271-273 
273 
293-297 
298 
317 
320 


APPENDIX. 


I. —  "The  last  age  OF  THE  Church,"  . 
II. — Wiclif's  Writings,  ..... 

Note  on  the  Vienna  MSS.  of  Works  of  Wiclif,    . 
III. — Wiclif,  de  Ecclesia,  c.  16, 
IV. — Forma  Juramenti  Arnaldi  Pape  Thezaurarii, 
v.— Sermon  IX.  on  Luke  VIII.  4-15,    .... 
VI. — Epistola  Missa  ad  Simplices  Sacerdotes, 
VII. — De  Sex  Jugis,        ...... 

VIII. — A  Section  of  Wiclif's  Book  "De  Veritate  sacrae  Scrip 
TURAE,"  c.  14,  .  .  .         '     . 

IX. — Metrica  Compilatio  de  Replicationibus  Contra  Magistrum 
Johannem,     ...... 

X. — Liter  A  Missa  Papae  Urbano  Sexto, 


321 
322 
339-341 
342,  343 
343-347 
347-357 
357,  358 
358-370 

371-385 

385,  386 

386,  387 


LIFE    OF    WICLIF. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

WICLIF  AS  A  THINKER  AND  WRITER  ;    HIS  PHILOSOPHICAL 
AND  THEOLOGICAL  SYSTEM. 

Section  I. — His  Gradual  Development  as  a  TJdnher  and 
Reformer. 

TT  makes  a  great  difference  in  our  whole  view  and  judg- 
ment of  Wiclif,  according  as,  on  the  one  hand,  we  assume 
that  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  public  work  he  stood 
forth  with  a  complete  and  unified  system  of  thoughts,  or  as, 
on  the  other,  we  recognise  a  gradual  development  of  his 
thoughts,  and  progress  of  his  knowledge.  The  first  assump- 
tion was  entertained  even  till  recent  times.  Wiclif 's  earliest 
biographer,  John  Lewis,  was  followed  in  this  view,  and  it 
continued  to  be  held  even  after  Vaughan  had  been  able  to 
throw  some  light  upon  the  inner  progress  of  Wiclif's  ideas. 
Men  imagined  they  saw  Wiclif  stand  before  them  at  once  a 
finished  man,  and  missed  in  him  that  gradual  loosening  from 
the  bonds  of  error,  and  that  slow  progress  in  new  knowledge, 
which,  in  the  case  of  Luther,  followed  the  first  decided  break 
with  his  old  thoughts.  But  this  assumption  rests  upon 
error,  and  especially  upon  an  imperfect  acquaintance  with 
the  underlying  facts.  Even  from  the  Trialogus,  the  first 
VOL.  II.  A 


2  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

of  Wiclif's  works  which  was  sent  to  the  press,  men  might 
have  been  able  to  learn  with  sufficient  certainty,  that  Wiclif 
must  have  passed  through  very  considerable  changes  of 
opinion.  For  in  more  than  one  place  he  makes  the  frankest 
acknowledgment  that  on  more  than  one  metaphysical  ques- 
tion, he  had  formerly  defended  with  tenacity  the  opposite  of 
what  he  now  maintained — that  "  he  Avas  sunk  in  the  depths 
of  the  sea,  and  had  stammered  out  many  things  which  he  was 
unable  clearly  to  make  good,"  etc.'  But  still  more  strongly 
does  he  express  himself  in  one  of  his  unprinted  writings, 
where  he  makes  the  following  free  confession  — "  Other 
statements  which  at  one  time  appeared  strange  to  me,  now 
appear  to  me  to  be  sound  and  true,  and  I  defend  them  ; 
for,"  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  xiii.  11),  "Avhen  I 
was  a  child  in  the  knowledge  of  the  faith,  I  spoke  as  a  child, 
I  understood  as  a  child ;  but  when,  in  God's  strength,  I 
became  a  man,  I  put  away,  by  His  grace,  childish  thoughts." 
He  is  speaking  in  this  place  of  the  freedom  of  man's  will 
and  agency.^  And  in  a  similar  way  he  expresses  himself 
in  his  work  on  the  "  Truth  of  Holy  Scripture,"  touching  his 
childishly  literal  understanding  of  the  Bible  in  his  earlier 
years.  "At  last,"  however,  he  continues — "the  Lord,  by 
the  power  of  His  grace,  opened  my  mind  to  understand 
the  Scriptures  ;"  and  he  even  adds  the  humbling  confes- 
sion— "I  acknowledge  that  ofttimes,  for  the  sake  of  vain 
glory  I  departed  from  the  teaching  of  Scripture,  both  in 
what  I  maintained  and  what  I  opposed,  when  my  double 
aim  was  to  acquire  a  dazzling  fame  among  the  people, 
and  to  lay  bare  the  pride  of  the  sophists." 

We  could  produce  other  frank  acknowledgments  of  Wiclif 
of  the  same  kind,  but  these  may  suffice,  and  I  only  add  here 
a  few  more  particulars  which  are  worthy  of  mention. 


THE   PROGRESS   OF   WICLIF'S   VIEWS.  3 

Among  the  Col]ecti(^ns  of  Wiolif 's  Latin  sermons  there  is 
one,  upon  which  we  have  ah-eady  remarked  above,  that 
when  compared  with  tlie  others  it  siippHes  some  Hght  re- 
garding the  progress  of  the  preacher  in  knowledge.  We 
refer  to  the  okler  collection  of  forty  miscellaneous  sermons.''* 
Tliis  comes  out  especially  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  on  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  remark  with  more 
particularity  below.  In  addition  to  this,  it  is  unmistakeable 
that  on  the  subject  of  the  Papacy  and  the  Hierarchy,  not 
only  the  tone  of  his  language,  but  even  his  mode  of  thought, 
is  essentially  different,  after  the  occurrence  of  the  Western 
Schism  of  1378,  from  what  it  was  before  that  event.  Further, 
on  the  subject  of  the  Mendicant  Orders,  AVicHf  judges  in  his 
earlier  writings  quite  differently  from  what  lie  does  in  his 
later  ones.  We  shall  show  that  there  is  no  good  ground  for 
the  view  which  has  hitherto  prevailed  in  the  tradition  of 
church  historians,  and  upon  which  even  an  investigator  like 
Vaughan  proceeds  in  his  maturest  work  upon  Wiclif,  viz., 
that  Wiclif  had  commenced  his  conflict  with  the  Mendi- 
cant Orders  as  early  as  1360  or  the  following  year,  and 
carried  it  on  for  twenty  years  afterwards.*'  It  was  first  in  con- 
nexion Avith  the  question  of  transubstantiation  that  any 
controversy  of  Wiclif  with  these  particular  Orders  took  its 
rise ;  whereas  before  that  time  it  was  rather  against  the 
endowed  Orders  that  he  aimed  his  attacks,  while  towards 
Francis  of  Assisi  and  Dominic  and  the  Orders  founded  by 
them,  he  continued  to  cherish  and  express  all  manner  of 
respect  and  sincere  recognition. 

All  these  facts  constitute  a  sufficient  proof  that  Wiclif 
passed  through  important  changes  of  opinion  even  after 
he  had  arrived  at  mature  years,  and  had  made  his  first 
appearance    upon    the    public    stage;    and   that  on  several 


4  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

questions  of  great  moment  he  gradually  amved  at  essen- 
tially different  conclusions  from  those  of  his  earlier  years. 
It  would  indeed  have  been  astonishing  if  a  mind  so  inde- 
pendent and  thoughtful — a  man  whose  whole  hfe  was  spent 
in  labours  on  behalf  of  others,  and  in  efforts  for  God's  glory 
and  the  public  good — had,  in  the  substance  of  his  teaching, 
adhered  stiffly  to  the  stand-points  which  he  had  in  the  first 
instance  taken  up.  It  will  accordingly  be  our  aim,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  point  out  the  gradual  development  of  Wiclif's 
views  on  all  the  chief  points  of  his  philosophical  and  theolo- 
gical beliefs.^ 

We  have  to  view  Wiclif  first  as  a  philosophical,  and  next 
as  a  theological  tliinker  and  writer ;  and  though  his  philo- 
sophy and  theology  continually  interlock,  conformably  to 
the  whole  character  of  scholasticism  (for  Wiclif  was  a  schol- 
astic divine),  yet  it  may  be  conducive  to  clearness  if  we 
give  to  each  a  separate  treatment. 

Section  II. —  Wiclif  as  a  Philosophical  Thinker  and  Writer. 

In  order  that  the  distinctive  features  of  Wiclif's  philosophy 
may  be  adequately  described,  a  sufficient  amount  of  his 
writings  in  this  department  must  first  be  forthcoming.  But 
here  much  is  lacking ;  for  of  his  philosophical  works,  in  the 
form  of  treatises,  not  a  single  piece  has  ever  appeared  in 
print,  down  to  the  present  day ;  and  what  is  more  serious,  a 
considerable  number  of  them  have  in  all  probability  per- 
ished.^ Contenting  ourselves  with  what  remains  available, 
and  turning  first  to  his  logical  pieces,  these,  so  far  as  we 
are  acquainted  with  them,  consist  of  only  two  short  tractates, 
the  one  entitled  Logica,  the  other  Logicce  Continuatio.^  Both 
of    these    have    the    peculiarity  of    limituig    themselves   to 


HIS   LOGICAL   PIKCES.  5 

the  simplest  ideas  and  principles;  whereas  the  logical 
treatises  of  the  fourteenth  century  generally  run  into 
excessive  length,  and  lose  themselves  in  the  extremest 
subtleties,^"  In  the  Logica  he  treats  simply  of  terminus, 
propositio,  and  argumentum,  each  of  these  forms  of  thought 
being  defined  and  exhibited  in  its  simplest  varieties.  And 
liere  we  meet  with  the  memoriter-verses  on  the  manifold 
forms  of  syllogism  which  had  been  in  use  since  the  time  of 
William  Shyreswood.^^ 

The  Logicae  Continuatio,  again,  examines  somewhat  more 
largely  the  different  kinds  of  judgments  and  processes  of 
proof.  That  Wiclif  restricted  himself  in  both  works  to  the 
most  general  principles  of  the  science,  was  no  doubt  done 
in  view  of  what  was  wanted  for  young  men  on  their  first 
introduction  to  the  study  of  logic. 

It  is  next  worthy  of  notice  that  these  treatises  on  formal 
logic  have  a  theological  and  especially  a  biblical  end  in  view. 
In  the  introduction  to  the  Logica,  Wiclif  says  frankly,  "  I  have 
been  induced  by  several  friends  of  God's  Word  {legis  Dei 
amicos)  to  compose  a  treatise  in  explanation  of  the  logic  of 
Holy  Scripture.  For,  as  I  see  many  entering  upon  the  study 
of  logic,  with  the  idea  that  they  will  be  the  better  able 
thereby  to  understand  the  Word  of  God,  and  then  leaving  it 
again  on  account  of  its  distasteful  mixture  of  heathenish 
ideas,  and  also  of  the  hollowness  of  the  study  when  thus 
conducted,  I  propose,  with  the  view  of  sharpening  the 
faculties  of  believing  minds,  to  give  processes  of  proof  for 
propositions  which  are  all  to  be  drawn  from  Scripture,"  etc., 
etc.i2 

The  reader  sees  that  it  is  entirely  with  Christian  ideas 
— with  biblical  knowledge — that  he  proposes  to  concern 
himself.     And  yet  the  result  is  no  sorry  mixture  of  theologi- 


6  LIFE  OF  WICLIF, 

cal  and  philosophical  matter,^^  but  a  purely  formal  chjctriue 
of  the  laws  of  thought.  Even  in  his  latest  j^ears  he  laid  great 
stress  upon  a  right  knowledge  of  logic  for  the  understanding 
of  Christian  truth,  and  maintained  that  the  disesteem  of 
Scripture  doctrine,  and  every  error  in  respect  to  it,  had  its 
root  in  ignorance  of  logic  and  grammar. ^^  And  this  was  not 
a  thought  exclusively  his  own.  WicUf  shai'ed  it  with  William 
Occam,  whom  he  names  more  than  once  in  his  manuscript 
VAvorks,  and  sometimes  under  his  scholastic  title  of  honour, 
Venerahilis  Inceptor. 

Passing  from  Logic  to  Metaphysics,  the  question  which 
Wiclif  regarded  as  by  far  the  most  important  was  that  of 
Universals.  He  handles  this  question  not  only  in  several 
treatises  devoted  to  it,  e.g.,  l)e  Universalihus,  RepUcatio  de 
Universalihus,  De  Materia  et  Forma,  De  Ideis,  but  in  his  theolo- 
gical works,  also,  he  not  seldom  returns  to  this  doctrine  as 
being,  in  his  view,  one  of  great  reach  and  decisiveness  m  its 
theological  bearings.  For  Wiclif  was  in  philosophy  a  Realist. 
He  takes  his  stand  firmly  and  with  the  greatest  decision 
upon  that  side  which  maintains  the  objectivity  and  reality  of 
Universals  ;  fallowing  herein  Augustine  among  the  fathers  of 
the  Church,  and  Plato  among  the  ancient  philosophers,  as 
his  authorities  and  models.  In  this  point  he  sides  with  Plato 
against  the  criticism  which  Aristotle  directed  against  the 
Platonic  doctrine  of  ideas.^'^  However  highly  he  values 
Aristotle  in  other  respects,  calling  him,  as  the  middle  age  in 
general  did.  The  pldlosopher,  and  usually  leaning  upon  his 
authority,  he  is  still  distinctly  conscious  that  on  this  subject 
he  is  a  Platonist,  and  essentially  at  variance  with  Aristotle — 
a  state  of  matters  which  was  not  at  all  irreconcileable  with  the 
fact  that  Wiclif,  like  all  his  contemporaries,  had  no  knowledge 
whatever  of  the  Platonic  philosophy  from  its  original  Greek 


HIS   METAPHYSICS.  7 

sources.  He  seems  to  have  known  Plato  only  from  Augus- 
tine and  by  his  mediation ;  and  he  was  by  no  means  the  first 
who,  Avhile  of  a  Platoniziug  spirit,  was  yet  unable  to  withdraw 
himself  from  the  authority  of  Aristotle.  The  Parisian  teacher 
Heinrich  Gothals  of  Ghent,  tl293  (Henricus  de  Gandavo, 
doctor  solemnis),  the  Averroist  Johann  of  Jandun  (about 
1320),  and  Walter  Burleigh,  tl337,  to  all  of  whom  Wiclif 
occasionally  refers,  had  preceded  him  in  the  path  of  an 
Augustinian  Church-Platonism  conjoined  with  Aristotelian 
method. 

That  Wiclif  makes  use  of  the  double  designation  universal 
and  ^VZm  in  speaking  of  the  same  subject,  is  sufficient  to  show 
that  he  had  not  overcome  the  dualism  between  Aristotelic 
and  Platonic  first  principles.  Nowhere,  so  far  as  we  know, 
does  he  draw  a  clear  and  definite  distinction  between  idea 
and  universal.  And  yet  one  difference  may  be  observed  to 
prevail  in  his  use  of  language  upon  this  subject.  When  he 
treats  of  ideas,  his  point  of  view  is  always  one  where  he 
looks  at  matters  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  level ;  Avhereas 
the  case  is  often  the  reverse  when  he  speaks  of  universals. 
Manifestly,  in  the  one  case,  the  ground  taken  is  a  jirioii 
ground ;  in  the  other  case  it  is  empirical.  It  is  the  Platonic 
spirit  which  prevails  in  the  former,  the  Aristotelic  in  the 
latter. 

Still  Wiclif  is  perfectly  well  aware  that  the  principle  is 
a  very  disputable  one  Avhich  asserts  the  objective  reality  of 
universals,  and  he  has  reflected  on  the  causes  wliich  have 
given  rise  to  the  controversy  regarding  it.  Four  causes,  it 
appears  to  him,  lie  at  the  bottom  of  this  great  and  long- 
standing divergency  of  opinion.  The  first  cause  is  found  in  the 
strong  impressions  made  by  the  world  of  sense,  whereby  the 
reason  is  darkened.     The  second  cause  he  finds  in  a  striving 


8  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

after  seeming  instead  of  real  knowledge,  as  of  old  among 
the  Sophists,  from  wLicli  arises  much  contention,  insomuch 
that  men  dispute  propositions  which  ought  to  be  conceded 
as  necessary  truths.  A  third  cause  he  finds  in  the  preten- 
tiousness of  men,  which  is  ahvays  reaching  after  something 
peculiar  to  itself,  and  stiffly  maintaining  and  defending  it. 
And  finally,  he  discovers  a  fourth  cause  in  the  want  of  in- 
struction.^^ Wiclif's  doctrine  of  ideas  and  their  reality  does 
not  admit  of  being  set  forth  mthout  the  conception  of  God. 
For  he  takes  this  conception  as  his  starting  point.  The  Idea 
is,  in  his  view,  an  absolutely  necessary  truth,^^  for  truth  is 
nothing  else  but  God's  thought,  which  thought  is  also  im- 
mediately a  willing  and  working,  a  proposing  and  doing,  on 
the  part  of  God.  For  God  cannot  think  anything  which  is 
external  to  Himself,  unless  this  thing  is  intellectually  think- 
able. What  God  creates,  He  cannot  possibly  create  by  chance 
or  unwisely ;  he  must  therefore  think  it  ;  and  his  thought, 
or  the  archetype  of  the  creature,  is  identical  with  the  idea; 
and  this  same  is  eternal,  for  it  is  the  same  in  time  with  the 
Divine  knowledge.  In  its  essence  it  is  one  with  God,  in  its 
form  it  is  different  from  God,  as  a  ground  conformably 
to  which  God  thinks  out  what  He  creates.  It  has  in  itself 
a  ground  in  reason,  by  virtue  of  which  it  determines  the 
Divine  knowledge.^" 

In  this  last  expressed  proposition  lies,  as  it  appears  to  me, 
the  kernel  of  Wiclif's  doctrine  of  ideas,  the  central  point 
of  his  Realism.  He  is  not  satisfied  Avitli  regarding  human 
knowledge  as  a  reflex  of  actual  existence,  while  the  Nominal- 
ism or  Terminism  (as  Prantl  calls  it  ^^)  of  Occam  looks  upon 
knowledge,  in  so  far  as  it  goes  beyond  the  sensible  obser- 
vation of  nature  and  the  empirical  self-contemplation  of 
the  soul,  only  as  something  subjective,  and  cast  in  a  logical 


wiclif's  realism.  9 

furm.  Accordiug  to  Wiclif,  in  tliiuking  of  universals,  we 
couceive  what  has  an  independent  existence,  what  has  its 
ground  in  God's  thought  and  M'-ork.  But  even  God's 
thought,  in  his  view,  does  not  proceed  arbitrarily,  but  con- 
formably to  its  subject,  agreeably  to  reason,  answerably  to 
the  reason  of  things.  And  hence,  in  more  places  than  one, 
he  decidedly  censures  the  usual  practice  of  speaking  of  the 
thinkability  of  the  unreal,  or  even  of  the  self-contradictory, 
as  empty  subtlety,  and  a  copious  source  of  false  reasonings 
and  perverted  conclusions."  Rather  he  lays  down  the  pro- 
position that  God  can  onl}-  think  that  which  he  thinks  in 
point  of  fact,  and  he  thinks  only  that  which  is — is,  at  least 
in  the  sense  of  intellectual  entity.  In  like  manner  as  God, 
on  the  side  of  his  willing,  working,  and  creating,  can  only 
Avork  and  produce  that  which  he  actually  produces,  in  its 
own  time.  For  God's  knowing  and  producing  are  coincident; 
that  God  knows  any  creature,  and  that  he  produces  or  sus- 
tains it,  are  one  and  the  same  thing.^^ 

The  realism  of  Wiclif  accordingly  is  a  principle  of  great 
and  wide  bearing.  He  is  an  enemy  of  all  arbitrary,  empty, 
and  vague  thought ;  he  will  not  allow  it  to  have  the  value 
of  thought;  as,  foj"  example,  when  a  man  conceives  with 
himself  what  would  possibly  have  followed  if  a  certain 
something  presupposed  had  not  taken  place  {conclusiones  con- 
tingentiae).  Only  the  real  can  be  thought.  Thus  knowing 
and  thinking  are  coincident,  as  well  in  God  as  in  the  human 
mind,  which  thinks  exactly  as  much  as  it  knows  and  no 
more.^^  Only,  if  we  would  hit  Wiclif 's  meaning,  we  must 
not  restrict  the  real  to  what  is  perceptible  by  the  senses, 
and  what  is  a  matter  of  experience  at  the  present  moment. 
Agreeably  to  that  principle  he  does  not  allow  of  any  endless 
series  of  ideas,  according  to  which  every  idea  should  give 


10  LIFE  OF  WICLTF. 

rise  again  to  another,  and  that  to  a  third,  and  so  on  for  ever. 
Such  a  reflex  action,  evermore  mirroring  back  the  idea  and 
reduphcatiug  it,  is  to  him  something  useless  and  perverted,  a 
mere  stammering  talk  without  sense  and  substance ;  whereas 
we  have  to  occupy  ourselves  with  the  realities  of  things, 
which  objectively  determine  our  knowledge  by  what  they 
actually  are.-^ 

It  remains  to  add  that  WicHf  lov^es  to  give  a  biblical  as  well 
as  a  pliilosophical  basis  and  development  to  these  thoughts 
by  means  of  the  idea  of  the  Logos.  He  is  convinced  that 
his  doctrine  of  ideas  is  agreeable  to  Scripture,  and  he  lays 
stress  upon  it  particularly  on  that  account.  For  the  same 
reason  he  holds  it  advisable  to  expound  this  doctrine  of  ideas 
only  to  such  who  are  familiar,  at  least  in  some  degree,  with 
the  thoughts  of  Scripture ;  one  to  whom  the  latter  are  still 
strange  may  easily  take  offence  at  his  doctrine.^*^  Herein 
Wiclif  supports  himself,  with  special  liking,  upon  an  expres- 
sion of  John  in  the  prologue  of  his  Gospel — a  passage  to 
which,  in  several  of  his  writings,  and  in  connection  with 
different  thoughts,  he  ever  again  returns,  partly  in  the  way 
of  express  quotation,  and  partly  in  the  way  of  allusion.^^ 
And  yet,  remarkably,  this  passage  is  one  which  Wiclif  has 
misunderstood  (following,  it  is  true,  the  lead  of  the  Latin 
Fathers,  especially  Augustiu,  and  of  several  of  the  scholastics, 
including  St.  Thomas  Aquinas;)  his  error  lying  in  throwing 
into  one  sentence  certain  words  which  properly  fall  into 
two.  In  chap.  i.  3,  the  evangelist  says  of  the  Logos — 
"All  things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was 
nothing  made  that  was  made  ;  "  and  then  in  v.  4  continues — 
"  In  Him  was  life,"  etc.  But  Wiclif,  following  the  authoiity 
of  his  predecessors,  takes  the  last  words  of  v.  3,  "quod 
factum  est "  (in  the  Vulgate),  along  with  "  in  ipso  vita  erat " 


HIS  DOCTRINE   OF   IDEAS.  11 

of  V.  4,  as  forming  together  one  sentence  (a  mistake  which 
Avas  only  possible  where  the  Greek  original  was  not  under- 
stood) ;  and  then  he  finds  the  thought  of  the  whole  to  be  this 
— "  Everything  which  was  created  was  originally,  and,  before 
its  creation  in  time,  liviugly  present,  was  ideally  performed, 
is  the  eternally  pre-existent  Logos."  -^ 

With  this  passage  he  connected  other  biblical  expressions  ; 
above  all  the  word  of  Christ  Avhere  He  testifies  of  Himself, 
"  I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life  "  (John  xiv.  4), 
which  last  word  he  understands,  certainly  not  very  happily, 
of  the  eternal  life  of  thought.  In  addition,  he  appeals  to  the 
authority  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  where  (Romans  xi,  36)  he 
says  "  Of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  in  Him  are  all  things." 
In  particular,  he  supposes  that  when  the  Apostle  was  caught 
up  into  heaven,  and  saw  visions  and  heard  unutterable 
words,  he  had  a  view  vouchsafed  to  him  of  the  intellectual 
world — the  Avorld  of  idea.^'^  And  then  he  traces  to  the  in- 
structions of  St.  Paul  the  initiation  of  his  great  convert 
Dionysius  into  those  high  mysteries  which  the  latter  has 
treated  of  in  his  work  On  the  Divine  Names. ^'^ 

True  knowledge  is  conditioned  by  Wiclifj  conformably  to 
the  above  basis  of  thinking,  by  the  apprehension  of  the 
ground  of  things  pre-existing  in  the  eternal  reason.  If  men 
look  at  the  creatures  only  in  their  existence  as  known  to  them 
by  experience  {in  j^roprio  genere),  their  minds  thereby  are  only 
dissipated  and  drawn  off  from  God.  If  we  desire  one  day 
to  see  God  in  the  heavenly  home,  we  must  here  below  con- 
sider the  creatiu-es  in  the  light  of  those  deep  intellectual 
principles,  in  which  they  are  known  and  ordered  by  God,  and 
we  must  turn  our  eye  towards  that  eternal  horizon  under 
which  that  light  lies  concealed.''^ 

But  not  only  true  knowledge,  but  also  true  morality  is 


12  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

conditioned,  according  to  Wiclif's  ■  fundamental  view,  by 
our  grasping  and  striving  after  that  which  is  universal.  All 
envy,  and  every  sinful  act,  has  its  basis  in  the  want  of  well- 
ordered  love  to  the  universal.  Whoever  prefers  a  personal 
good  to  a  common  good,  and  sets  his  aim  upon  riches, 
human  dignities,  etc.,  places  that  which  is  lower  and  individual 
above  that  which  is  higher  and  universal — z'.e.,  he  reverses  the 
right  order  of  things,  he  loves  not  truth  and  peace  (Zech. 
viii.  19),  and  therein  falls  into  sin.  And  thus  it  is  that  error 
in  knowledge  and  feeling  with  regard  to  universals  (circa 
universalia)  is  tlie  cause  of  all  the  sin  that  is  dominant  in 
the  world.^^ 

After  this  glance  at  Wiclif's  philosophical  principles, 
especially  his  realistic  metaphysics,  we  pass  on  to  his  theo- 
logical system,  in  which  we  shall  see  again  the  reflection  of 
the  philosophical  standpoint  which  has  been  indicated  above. 


NOTES  TO  SECTIONS  I.  AND  XL 

1.  So,  e.g.,  Oscar  Jager,  John  Wycliffe  and  his  importance  for  the  Eeformation, 
Halle,  1854,  p.  119-121. 

2.  Trialogus,  ed.  Lechler.  Oxford,  1869.  Liber  III.,  c.  8,  p.  155  ;  I.,  c.  10, 
pp.  69,  70. 

3.  Responsiones  ad  argumenta  Radulphi  de  Strode,  Vienna  MS.,  1 338,  f.  1 1 6,  col.  3. 
Et  aliae  conclusiones,  quae  olim  videbantur  mihi  inirabiles,  jam  videntur  mihi 
catliolicae,  defendendo,  etc. 

4.  De  Veritate  Sacrae  Scriptnrae,  c.  6  ;  c.  2,  Vienna  MS.,  1294,  fol.  13,  col.  ] ; 
fol.  3,  col.  1  :  De  ista  vana  gloria  comfiteor  saepe  tarn  arguendo  quam  respondendo 
prolapsus  sum  a  doctrina  scripturae,  etc. 

5.  This  did  not  escape  tlie  notice  of  attentive  readers,  even  so  early  as  the 
Hussite  period,  as  is  shown  by  the  remark  which  is  to  be  read  in  the  margin  of 
the  Vienna  MS.  3928,  fol.  193,  from  another  hand  than  the  transcriber's  :  Constet 
omnibus  quod  iste  WyclifF  XL.  Sermones  illos  scribens  fuit  alius  a  se  ipso  hie 
quam  alibi,  ut  apparet  legeuti  ;  Quia  demptis  paucissimis,  paene  in  omnibus  his 
scriptis  sequitur  ecclesiam  in  fide  et  ritibus  et  modo  loquendi  catholico. 

6.  Vaughan,  John  de  Wycliffe,  a  monograph,  pp.  87,  410. 


NOTES   TO   SECTIONS   I.   AND   II.  13 

7.  The  most  accurate  and  thorough  exposition  "of  Wycliff's  teaching  hitherto 
published  is  that  of  Dr.  E.  A.  Lewald,  "Die  Theologische  Doctrin  .Tohann 
Wycliffe's  nach  den  Quellen  dargesteUt,  und  Kritisch  beleuchtel,"  in  the  Zeitschrift 
fiir  hist.  Theologie,  1846,  p.  171,  f.  503,  f.  1847;  p.  597  f.  Lewald,  while  making 
use  of  Vaughan's  Life  and  Opinions,  &c.,  has  founded  chiefly  on  the  Trialorjus. 
He  investigates  Wiclif's  doctrine  in  its  most  important  heads,  following  the  order 
and  carefully  analysing  the  reasonings  of  the  Trialogus.  What  may  still  be  regarded 
as  defects  in  this,  in  many  respects,  excellent  product  of  German  industry  and 
learning,  are,  I  think,  these  two  :  first,  that  the  author  does  not  exhibit  sharply 
enough  what  constitute  Wiclif's  peculiar  and  distinctive  ideas  ;  and  secondly, 
that  the  exjiosition  binds  itself  too  closely  to  each  section  of  the  Trialogus  succes- 
sively taken  up,  whereby  the  connection  of  the  different  parts  of  the  same 
Doctrme  is,  in  more  than  one  instance,  broken  up,  and  repetitions  are  introduced. 

8.  In  the  list  of  lost  works  of  Wiclif  given  by  Shirley  in  his  Catalogue,  p.  50,  f., 
occur  not  fewer  than  twenty-four  numbers,  which  appear  to  have  been  works  of  a 
logical  or  metaphysical  description. 

9.  Comp.  Appendix,  No.  II. 

10.  Comp.  Prantl,  Gcschichte  cler  Logik  in  Abendlande,  Vol.  III.,  p.  178  f. 

11.  lb..  Vol.  III.,  10  f. 

.12.  Vienna  MS.,  4523,  fol.  1,  col.  1. 

13.  It  is  not  a  Theologica  Logicis  inserere,  as  the  University  of  Paris  expressed 
its  censure  in  the  year  1247.  D'Argentr^,  CoUectlo  judiciorum  de  novis  Erroribas,  I., 
158.    Paris,  1728. 

14.  E.g.,  De  Universalibus,  c.  15  ;  Vienna  MS.  4523,  fol.  57,  col.  1.  Be  Veritate 
Scnpturae,  c.  14  ;  Vienna  MS.,  1294,  fol.  40,  col.  4  ;  fol.  41,  col.  3. 

15.  Trialogus,  ed.  Lechler,  Book  I.,  c.  8,  p.  62  ;  I.,  c.  9,  p.  66  ;  Book  IT.,  c.  3, 
p.  83. 

16.  Comp.  Prantl,  Gcschichte  der  Logik  in  Abendlande,  III.,  183,  273,  297  f. 

17.  De  Universalibus,  Vienna  MS.,  4523,  fol.  70,  col.  1;  Quidam  enim  more 
sophistarum  non  solum  volunt  scire  sed  videri  scientes. 

18.  lb.,  fol.  70,  cols.  1  and  2. 

19.  Trialogus,  Book  I.,  c.  8,  p.  61:  Ydea  est,  Veritas  absolute  necessaria. 

20.  Si  (Deus)  illud  intelligit,  illud  habet  rationem  objectivam,  secimdum  quam 
terminat  intellectivitatem  divinam.    Trialogus,  I.,  8,  p.  63, 

21.  Prantl,  Gcschichte  der  Logik  in  Abendlande,  III.,  p.  343  f.  Comp.  Eduard 
Erdmann,  Grundriss  der  Gcschichte  der  Philosophic,  I.     Berlin  1866,  p.  432  f. 

22.  Trialogus,  I.,  c.  9,  p.  67. — Comp.  Lewald 's  Theol.  Doctrin  Wycliffe's,  Zeits- 
chrift fiir  histonschc  Theologie,  1846,  210  f. 

23.  lb.,  I.,  c.  11,  p.  74  :  Cum  idem  sit  Deum  intus  legere  creaturam  quam- 
libet,  ipsam  producere  et  servare. 

24.  lb.,  I.,  c.  10,  p.  70  :  Intellectus  divinus  ac  ejus  notitia  sunt  pari.s 
ambitus,  sicut  intellectus  creatus  et  ejus  notitia. 

25.  lb.,   I.,   c.    11,    p.    72  :    Falsum  est,   qiiod  ydeae  alia  est  ydea,   et   sic  iu 


14  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

infinitum  cum  multiplicando  ilia  verba  homo  balbutiendo  ignorat  se  ipsum  ;  p.  73: 
Intelligimus  res,  quae  per  suas  existentias  movent  objective  intellectum  nostrum. 

26.  De  Ydeis,  Vienna  MS.,  4523,  fol.  67,  cols.  1  and  2  :  Ista  rudimenta  sunt 
lactea  et  infantibUia,  in  quibus  oportet  juvenes  enutriri,  ut  subtilia  ydearum  per- 
cipiant.  Cavebo  ne  rudibus  et  non  nutritis  in  lacte  scripturae  sic  loquar  ne  darem 
scandalum  fratri  meo,  etc. 

27.  In  Trialogus,  I.,  c.  8.,  p.  63,  he  refers  to  the  passage,  and  in  the  tractate,  De 
Ydeis,  just  quoted,  that  saying  of  St.  John  is,  so  to  speak,  the  ever-recurring  refrain. 
He  applies  the  same  citation  in  De  Verltate  Scrlptwce  Sac,  Vienna  MS.,  1294, 
fol.  19,  col.  1. 

28.  Lewald,  as  above,  p.  208  f. 

29.  De  Ydeis,  in  MS.  mentioned  above,  fol.  64,  col.  2. 

30.  /&.,fol.  65,  col.  1. 

31.  Liber  Mandatorum,  Vienna  MS.,  1339,  fol.  139,  col.  a:  Cum  visio  crea- 
turarum  in  proprio  genere  sit  tarn  imperfecta  et  tantum  distraheus  etiam  in 
viae  : — Verisimile  est,  quod  non  erit  in  patria.  Si  ergo  voluerimus  videre  naturam 
divinam  in  patria,  consideremus  creaturas  secundum  rationes  suas,  quibus  ab  ipso 
cognoscuntur  et  ordinantur,  et  convertamur  ad  orizontem  asternitatis,  sub  quo  latet 
lux  ista  abscondita. 

32.  De  Universalihus,  c.  3,  Vienna  MS.,  4523,  fol.  69,  cols.  1  and  2  :  Sic  error 
intelleotionis  et  affectus  circa  universaiia  est  causa  totius  peccati  regnantis  in 
mundo,  etc. 


Section  III. —  Wiclif's  Theological  Si/stem. 

(1.)   T/te  Sources  of  Cln'ixtian  Truth, 

In  proceeding  to  treat  of  Wiclif's  theological  system,  we 
have  to  inquire  first  of  all  into  his  fundamental  ideas  of  the 
Sources  of  our  knowledge  of  Christian  truth.  The  nature  of 
the  subject,  and  the  theological  peculiarity  of  Wiclif,  both 
require  precedence  to  be  given  to  this  point. 

Wiclif  recognises  a  double  source  from  which  Christian 
knowledge  is  to  be  derived — reason  and  revelation,  as  we  are 
wont  to  speak  ;  ratio  and  auctoritas,  as  the  scholastics  express 
themselves.  For  in  all  the  scholastics  we  find  this  distinction 
made ;  biinging  forward,  as  it  is  their  wont  to  do,  for  one 
and  the  same  proposition,  first  rationes,  or  ground  of  reason, 
and  next  aiictoritales  or  testimonies  of  Holy  Scripture,  or  of 


SOURCES  OF   CHRISTIAN   TRUTH.  15 

the  Fathers,  Couucils,  etc.  AVicKf  distiuguishes,  in  like 
manner,  between  ratio  and  auctoritas  as  two  bases  of  theolo- 
gical argument  and  of  all  Christian  kuowledge.-^^ 

Under  "Reason"  Wiclifby  no  means  understands  anything 
merely  formal — thinking  with  its  inherent  laws — in  virtue 
of  which  it  rejects  what  is  contradictory  and  draws  neces- 
sary conclusions  from  given  premises,  and  regulates  the 
formation  of  ideas,  the  process  of  proof,  and  the  like ;  in 
one  word,  with  the  term  ratio  Wiclif  does  not  denote 
merely  the  formal  logic  and  dialectic.  However  much  stress 
he  lays  upon  these  sciences,  in  the  spirit  of  his  age  and  of 
its  scholastic  philosophy,  he  by  no  means  contents  himself 
with  a  merely  formal  doctrine  of  thought  and  a  scientific 
method,  but  he  has  a  conviction  that  the  reason  of  man  has 
within  itself  a  certain  ground-stock  of  truth  in  reference  to 
the  invisible,  the  divine,  and  the  moral.  To  this  stock  of 
intuitional  truth  belong  the  universals,  or  ideas,  so  far  as 
knowledge  or  the  theoretical  reason  is  concerned.  With 
reference,  on  the  other  hand,  to  action  and  the  practical 
reason,  Wiclif  appeals  to  the  law  of  nature  which  has  its 
seat  in  the  conscience  and  the  natural  reason.^"*  He  looks 
upon  the  law  of  nature  as  the  standard  of  all  laws,  so  that 
not  only  municipal  law,  but  even  the  moral  commandments 
of  Christ,  are  to  be  valued  according  to  their  conformity  to 
the  law  of  nature.^'^  On  this  subject,  indeed,  I  think  I  have 
remarked  in  Wiclif  a  certain  wavering  of  judgment,  or  more 
accurately  a  progress  of  thought  in  the  direction  of  recog- 
nising the  exclusively  decisive  authority  of  revelation — i.e., 
of  Holy  Scripture.  For  while  in  the  book  De  Givili 
Dominio  he  sets  forth  the  law  of  nature  as  the  independent 
standard  of  all  laws,  even  of  the  moral  law  of  Christ,  I  find 
that  in  his  treatise   Of  ihe   Truth  of  Holy  Scripture,  which 


16  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

was  written  several  years  later  at  the  least,  he  recognises  the 
law  of  Christ  as  the  absolutely  perfect  law,  as  the  sonrce  of 
all  that  is  good  in  every  other  law.^^  But  in  so  saying  he 
has  no  intention  to  bring  into  question  that  there  exists  a 
law  of  nature  in  the  conscience  and  the  reason. 

But  not  only  in  matters  of  action  and  of  duty,  but  also  in 
matters  of  faith,  Wiclif  recognises  a  natural  light ;  only  he 
most  distinctly  pronounces  to  be  erroneous  the  notion  that 
the  light  of  faith  is  opposed  to  the  light  of  nature,  so  that 
what  appears  to  be  impossible,  in  the  light  of  nature,  must 
be  held  for  truth  in  the  light  of  faith,  and  vice  versa.  There 
are  not  two  lights  thus  contradicting  each  other^  but  only 
the  natural  light  has  since  the  fall  been  weakened,  and  labours 
under  a  degree  of  imperfection;  but  this  God  heals  in  the 
way  of  grace  by  the  impartation  of  revealed  knowledge. 
Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  what  one  man  knows  by  the 
spiritual  light  of  grace,  another  man  knows  by  natural 
light.  Hence  the  different  stages  of  knowledge  in  respect 
to  the  articles  of  faith  among  different  men.'^^  Thus,  e.g.., 
Wiclif  has  no  doubt  that  Plato  and  other  philosophers  were 
able  to  know,  by  means  of  natural  light,  that  there  is  a 
Trinity  in  the  nature  of  God.^^  And  he  makes  the  attempt 
himself  to  prove  by  grounds  of  reason  tlae  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  the  necessity  of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Divine  Logos, 
and  other  doctrines  of  the  gospel.^^  He  thus  credits  reason 
with  an  independent  power  of  its  own  of  penetrating 
deeply  into  the  knowledge  of  the  mysteries  of  salvation. 
Herein  he  occupies  the  same  standpoint  as  the  great  majority 
of  the  scholastic  divines. 

But  his  difference  from  the  other  scholastics  in  the  view 
he  takes  of  "Authority,"  i.e..  of  positive  revelation,  is  even 
more  marked  than  his   agi-eeraent   with  them    on  the    sub- 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITIOX.  17 

ject  of  reason.  On  this  subject  Wiclif  approves  himself  a 
thoroughly  independent  thinker,  and  especially  as  a  man 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation ;  for  he  has  already 
come  in  sight  of  the  principle  that  Holy  Scripture  is  the 
only  authoritative  document  of  revelation,  that  it  is  the  Rule 
and  Standard  of  all  teachings  and  teachers.  But  I  find  that 
on  this  decisive  point  it  was  only  step  by  step  that  Wiclif 
attained  to  the  right  knowledge. 

Apart  from  reason,  the  scholastics  set  forth  as  a  standard 
principle,  "Authority."  But  under  this  idea  they  range,  in 
miscellaneous  array,  conclusions  of  Councils,  decrees  of  the 
Popes,  doctrines  of  the  Fathers,  Biblical  statements.  In  their 
eyes  Holy  Scripture  has  no  peculiar,  exclusive,  privileged 
position,  no  weight  which  is  alone  of  its  kind,  and  absolutely 
decisive.  In  other  words,  the  Middle  age,  in  the  generic  idea 
of  "  Authority,"  brings  together,  in  naive  fashion,  two  different 
things,  which,  since  the  Reformation,  have  been  distinguished 
from  each  other,  as  well  by  Roman  Catholics  as  by  Pro- 
testants, viz..  Scripture  and  Tradition.  Criticism  is  still 
lacking  to  such  an  extent  that  these  two  elements  are 
looked  upon  and  made  use  of  as  of  like  nature  and  like 
validity.  The  Bible  itself  was  regarded  as  only  a  part  of 
tradition — a  book  handed  down  from  one  generation  to 
anotber,  just  as  the  works  of  the  Fathers  were.  And  tradi- 
tion, on  the  other  hand,  was  regarded  as  falling  under  the 
idea  of  "  Scripture,"  as  it  was  only  known  by  the  medium 
of  its  written  form.  We  do  not  mean  by  this  to  call  in 
question  the  fact  that  the  scholastic  divines  were  in  general 
aware  of  the  distinction  between  the  Bible  and  Church  tradi- 
tion. Evidences  of  this  are,  no  doubt,  to  be  found  in  their 
dogmatic  systems,  sums,  quodlibcts,  etc.  But  that  was  a 
theoretical  distinction.  In  practice,  in  bringing  proof  in 
VOL.  II.  B 


18  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

support  of  any  Roman  dogma,  the  distinction  was  imme- 
diately forgotten  ;  traditional  elements  and  scripture  proofs 
were  all  uncritically  jumbled  together,  as  though  they  were 
all  of  equal  value  ;  they  were  all  alike  "  Authorities." 

With  Wiclif  in  this  respect  the  case  was  essentially 
different.  It  is  true,  indeed,  as  shown  above,  that  he  too 
mentions  "  authority  "  along  with  "  reason  "  in  a  general 
way,  as  sources  of  knowledge  and  bases  of  proof  in 
matters  of  faith  ;  and  in  dealing  with  such  questions,  like 
other  scholastics,  he  places  Scripture  and  Tradition  in  line 
together,  under  the  one  banner  of  "Authority."  But  this 
in  his  case,  when  closely  examined,  is  only  like  a  small 
fragment  of  egg-shell  still  adhering  to  the  wings  of  the 
new-hatched  chicken.  It  is  merely  the  force  of  custom 
which  we  recognise  in  this  still  lingering  use  of  the  tech- 
nical word  "  Authority."  For  in  all  cases  where  he  is  inde- 
pendently developing  his  own  principles,  and  maintaining 
them  not  merely  in  theory,  but  applying  them  to  particular 
questions  of  a  practical  nature,  lie  draws  so  sharp  a  line  of 
distinction  between  Scripture  and  Tradition  that  the  two  can 
no  longer  be  properly  ranged  under  the  common  head  of 
"  Authority."  For  he  ascribes  to  Holy  Scripture,  and  to  it 
alone,  the  precise  idea  of  "  unlimited  authority ; "  he  dis- 
tinguishes in  principle  between  God's  word  and  human 
tradition,  and  he  recognises  the  Scriptures  as,  in  and  by 
themselves,  the  all-sufficing  source  of  Christian  knowledge. 

Nor  was  it  only  at  a  later  stage  of  his  teaching  that  Wiclif 
grasped  this  decisive  principle ;  he  gave  early  expression  to 
it.  It  was  only  gradually,  it  is  true,  that  he  reached  it,  and 
to  what  extent  this  was  so,  will  be  shown  below.  But  as 
early  as  the  date  of  his  collection  of  "  Miscellaneous  Ser- 
mons,"  which   all    belong   to   the   period   of   his   academic 


ABSOLUTE   AUTHORITY   OF   SCRIPTURE.  19 

labours,  and  at  all  events  to  the  years  preceding  1378,  he 
expresses  himself  in  a  manner  which  shows  that  he  fully 
recognises  the  alone-sufficiency  of  the  Word  of  God,  and 
pronounces  it  to  be  unbelief  and  sin  to  give  up  the  follow- 
ing of  "the  law  of  God,"  and  to  introduce  in  place  of  it 
human  traditions.'*'^ 

With  a  clear  consciousness  of  the  whole  bearing  and  extent 
of  this  truth,  Wiclif  lays  down  the  fundamental  proposition — 
God's  law,  i.e.,  Holy  Scripture,  is  the  unconditional  and 
absolutely  binding  authority.  This  fundamental  principle  he 
expresses  in  innumerable  places  in  sermons,  learned  treatises 
and  popular  tracts,  and  in  the  most  manifold  manner,  but 
always  with  the  consciousness  of  bearing  witness  to  a  truth 
of  the  greatest  scope.  His  opponents,  too,  were  quite  sensible 
of  the  far-reaching  and  weighty  consequences  Avhich  must 
result  from  this  principle ;  and  for  this  reason  they  did  not 
fail  to  make  it  the  object  of  their  attacks.  It  was  in  defence 
of  the  principle,  as  well  as  to  illustrate  and  establish  it  to  the 
utmost  of  his  power  that  Wiclif  wrote  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  his  works  under  the  title.  Of  the  Truth  of  Holy 
Scripture  {De  Veritate  Scripturae  Sacrae).'^^ 

How  he  understands  his  own  principle  will  best  appear,  if 
we  inquire  in  what  way  he  partly  establishes  and  partly 
applies  it.  In  establishing  and  proving  the  principle  of  the 
absolute  authority  of  Holy  Scripture,  Wiclif  views  his  subject 
on  the  most  different  sides.  First  of  all,  he  sets  out  from  the 
general  truth,  that  in  every  sphere  there  is  Sb  first  which  is  the 
standard  for  everything  else  in  the  same  sphere.*^  But  that 
the  Bible  is  first  and  highest  in  the  sphere  of  rehgion,  he 
proves  by  pointing  to  the  fact  that  Holy  Scripture  is,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Word  of  God.  This  last  proposition  he 
presents  in  various  turns   of  expression  ;    at   one   time  he 


20  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

describes  Holy  Scripture  as  the  Will  and  Testament  of  God 
the  Father,  which  cannot  be  broken  ;  *^  and  at  another  he 
asserts  that  God  and  his  Word  are  one,  and  cannot  be 
separated  the  one  from  the  other.*'^  In  other  passages  he 
is  wont  to  describe  Christ  as  the  proper  author  of  Holy 
Scripture,  and  to  deduce  immediately  from  that  fact  its 
infinite  superiority,  and  absolute  authority.  As  the  per- 
son of  one  author  is  to  another,  so  is  the  merit  of  one  book 
compared  to  another  ;  now  it  is  a  doctrine  of  the  faith 
that  Christ  is  infinitely  superior  to  every  other  man,  and 
therefore  His  book  or  Holy  Scripture,  which  is  His  law, 
«tands  in  a  similar  relation  to  every  other  writing  which 
can  be  named.^'^  This  being  so,  he  knows  not  how  to  give 
any  other  physiological  explanation  of  the  indisposition  of 
many  to  acknowledge  the  unbounded  authority  of  the  Bible 
compared  with  every  other  book,  in  any  other  way  than  from 
their  want  of  sincere  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself.^'' 
And  as  it  was  a  standing  usage  of  thought  and  speech  in  the 
mediaeval  period  to  speak  of  the  Bible  as  God's  law  and 
Christ's  law,*''  so  Wiclif  calls  Christ  our  Lawgiver ;  he  warmly 
exclaims  that  Christ  has  given  a  law  which  is  sufficient  in 
itself  for  the  whole  church  militant.'*^  But  Holy  Scripture 
with  Wiclif  is  not  only  the  work  of  Christ  as  its  author,  not 
only  a  law  by  Him  given ;  it  stands  yet  nearer  to  Christ : 
Christ  himself  is  the  Scripture  which  we  behove  to  know ; 
and  to  be  ignorant  of  the  Scripture  is  the  same  thing  as  to 
be  ignorant  of  Christ.*^ 

This  thought  leads  directly  to  a  third  argument  in  support 
of,  the  unhmited  authority  of  Scripture,  viz.,  the  contents  of 
the  Bible.  The  Bible  contains  exactly  that  which  is  neces- 
sary and  indispensable  to  salvation — a  thought  which  Wiclil 
gave  expression  to  in  allusion  to  the  saying  of  the  Apostle 


THE   AUTHORITY   OF   SCRIPTURE   PROVED.  21 

Peter,  "  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other,  for  there  is 
none  other  name  given  under  heaven  among  men  by  which 
we. can  be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ."  ^^ 

With  this  Hmitation  of  the  contents  of  the  Bible  to  what 
is  necessary  to  salvation  stands  connected  the  universal 
application  and  force  of  the  prescriptions  and  commands  of 
the  Gospel.  "  If  Christ  had  gone  more  into  detail,  even  in 
the  least,  the  rule  of  his  religion  would  have  become  to  a 
certain  extent  imperfect ;  but  as  it  now  stands,  whether  lay- 
man or  cleric,  married  man  or  monk,  servant  or  master,  a 
man  may  live  in  every  position  of  hfe  in  one  and  the  same 
service  under  Christ's  rule.  The  evangelical  law,  moreover, 
contains  no  special  ceremonies  whereby  the  universal  observ- 
ance of  it  would  have  been  made  impossible ;  and  therefore 
the  Christian  rule  and  rehgion,  according  to  the  form  of  it 
handed  down  to  us  in  the  Gospel,  is  of  all  religions  the  most 
perfect,  and  the  only  one  which  is  in  and  by  itself  good."  ^^ 

Last  of  all  he  points  to  the  effects  of  Holy  Scripture  as  an 
evidence  of  its  truly  divine  and  absolute  authority.  The 
sense  of  Scripture  is  of  more  efficacy  and  use  than  any  other 
thought  or  language.^^  The  experience  of  the  Church  at 
large  speaks  for  the  sufficiency  and  efficacy  of  the  Bible. 
By  the  observance  of  the  pure  law  of  Christ,  without  mixture 
of  human  traditions,  the  Church  very  rapidly  grew ;  since  the 
mixing  up  of  traditions  with  it,  the  Church  has  steadily 
declined.'''^  Furthermore,  all  other  forms  of  wisdom  vanish 
away,  whereas  the  wisdom  which  the  Holy  Ghost  imparted 
to  the  Apostles  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  remains  for  evermore ; 
and  all  its  enemies  have  never  been  able  effectually  to 
contradict  and  Avithstand  it.'''* 

This  principle  of  the  absolute  authority  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  Wiclif  knows  how  to  confirm  on  so  many  different 


22  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

sides,   immediately   fiuds   in   bis   hands  the  most    manifold 
applications. 

From  the  principle  of  the  divine  origin  of  Scripture  im- 
mediately follows  its  infallibility  (whereas  every  other  surety, 
even  an  enlightened  church  doctor,  like  St.  Augustin,  easily 
errs  and  leads  into  error),^'^  its  moral  purity,^"  and  its  absolute 
perfection  in  matter  and  form.  In  the  respect  last  named 
Wiclif  more  than  once  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
Holy  Scripture  has  a  logic  of  its  own,  and  that  its  logic  is 
firmly  based  and  unanswerable,  and  that  every  believer 
ought  to  venerate  and  follow  as  an  example  not  only  the 
sense  and  contents  of  Scripture,  but  also  its  logic."  For  the 
Holy  Ghost  led  the  Apostles  into  all  truth,  and  delivered  to 
them  also,  without  doubt,  a  logic  of  his  own,  that  they  might 
be  able  to  teach  others  again  with  the  like  authority.  But 
the  chief  inference  which  Wiclif  deduces  from  the  Bible's 
divine  origin  and  absolute  authority  is  its  perfect  and  entire 
sujfficiency.  The  Bible  alone  is  the  ground  document  of  the 
Church,  its  fundamental  law,  its  cliarta.  Evidently  ^^^th 
allusion  to  the  Magna  Charta,  the  fundamental  charter  of  the 
civil  liberties  of  his  nation,  Wiclif  loves  to  speak  of  the  Bible 
as  the  charter  of  the  Church's  liberties,  as  the  God-given 
deed  of  grace  and  promise.^^  It  is  the  kernel  of  all  laws  of 
the  Church,  so  that  every  prescription  profitable  to  the 
Church  is  contained  in  it,  either  expressly  or  by  deduc- 
tion.^*^  And  Scripture  alone  and  exclusively  has  this  import- 
ance and  authority  for  the  Church — a  doctrine  which  corres- 
ponds almost  literally  with  the  motto  of  the  German 
Reformation,  verho  solof'^  the  Word  alone.  To  Scripture 
alone,  therefore,  is  the  prerogative  ascribed  of  "  authen- 
ticity." In  comparison  with  it,  all  other  writings,  albeit 
they  may  be  the  genuine  works  of  great   Church   doctors, 


THE   AUTHORITY   OF   SCRIPTURE   SUPREME.  23 

are  "  apocryphal,"  and  have  no  claim  upon  our  faith  for 
their  own  sake.*'^ 

But  not  merely  in  the  ecclesiastical  sphere  and  in  that  of 
religion  and  morals,  but  in  the  whole  circle  of  human  exist- 
ence, including  civil  life  and  the  state,  all  law,  accorchng 
to  Wiclif,  ought  to  order  itself  according  to  the  Law  of  God. 
Every  action,  every  charitable  deed,  buying,  exchange,  etc., 
is  only  so  far  right  and  good  as  the  action  corresponds  with 
the  evangelical  law ;  and  in  so  far  as  it  departs  from  that 
law,  it  is  to  the  same  extent  wrong  and  invalid.''^  Yea, 
he  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  the  whole  code  of  civil  law 
behoves  to  be  grounded  upon  the  evangelical  law  as  a 
Divine  Rule"^ — a  view  which  is  less  evangelical  than  legal, 
and  reaches  farther  in  its  consequences  than  can  be  ap- 
proved, for  it  leads  directly  to  a  complete  Theocracy,  if  not 
a  complete  Hierarchy. 

From  what  precedes  flows  the  rule — Put  nothing,  what- 
ever it  be,  upon  a  footing  of  equality  with  Holy  Scripture, 
still  less  above  it.  Wiclif  lays  down  the  proposition 
without  reserve,  "  It  is  impossible  that  any  word  or  any 
deed  of  the  Christian  should  be  of  equal  authority  with 
Holy  Scripture."''*  And  to  place  above  Scripture,  and 
prefer  to  it  human  traditions,  doctrines,  and  ordinances, 
is  nothing  but  an  act  of  blind  presumption.  A  power 
of  human  appointment  which  pretends  to  set  itself  above 
the  Holy  Scriptures  is  only  fitted  to  lame  the  efficacy  of  the 
Word  of  God,  and  to  introduce  confusion.''^  Yea,  it  leads  to 
blasphemy,  when  the  Pope  puts  forward  the  claim  that  what 
he  decrees  in  matters  of  faith  must  be  received  as  Gospel, 
and  that  his  law  must,  even  more  than  the  Gospel  itself,  be 
observed  and  carried  out.  It  is  the  simple  moral  consequence 
of  the  doctrine,  that  "  Scripture  alone  is  of  absolute  autlio- 


24  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

rity,"  when  Wiclif  enforces  the  duty  of  holding  wliolly 
and  entirely  to  Scripture,  and  Scripture  alone — of  "  hearing 
Moses  and  the  prophets  "''''  (Luke  xvi.),  and  not  even  to  mix 
the  commandments  of  men  with  evangelical  truths.  Men 
who  practice  such  a  mixture  of  God's  truth  and  human 
traditions  Wiclif  calls  mixtim-theologi,  medley  divines.*'^ 
He  also  remarks  that  it  is  no  justification  of  a  doctrine 
that  it  contains,  in  a  collateral  way,  much  that  is  good  and 
reasonable,  for  so  is  it  even  now  with  the  behests  and  the 
whole  life  of  the  Devil  himself;  otherwise  God  would  not 
suifer  him  to  exercise  such  power.  But  Christian  law 
should  be  only  and  purely  the  law  of  God,  which  is  with- 
out spot  and  giveth  life  to  souls ;  and  therefore  a  law 
of  tradition  ought  to  be  repudiated  by  all  the  faithful,  on 
account  of  the  mixture  of  even  a  single  atom  of  Anti- 
christ.^'^ By  a  glance  into  the  history  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  Wiclif  discovers  that  this  departure  from  the  Evan- 
gelical Law  through  the  mixture  of  later  traditions  was  at 
first  very  slight  and  almost  inobservable,  but  that  in  process  of 
time  the  corruption  became  always  ranker  and  ranker. ""^ 

But  this  is,  unmistakeably,  nothing  else  but  the  principle 
that  "  God's  Word  pure  and  simple  "  ought  to  be  taught, 
and  that  God's  Word,  and  nothing  else,  not  even  any 
angel,  ought  to  determine  articles  of  faith,  as  laid  down 
in  the  Second  of  the  Lutheran  Articles  of  Schmalkald. 
In  one  word,  this  is  the  Reformational  Bible  principle  — 
the  so-called  formal  principle  of  Protestantism.  Wiclif  , 
himself  was  well  aware  of  the  importance  and  wide  bear- 
ing of  his  Bible  principle.  That  is  the  reason  why  he 
calls  his  adherents  '  Men  of  the  Gospel " — viri  evangelici, 
doctor es  evangelici,"^  etc. — a  name  which,  in  the  mouth  of 
his   admirers   and   disciples,    was   applied   to   himself    as  a 


"  DOCTOR   EVANGELICUS."  25 

high  title  of  honour.  If  honorary  titles  were  created  for 
other  scholastic  divines,  which,  for  the  most  part,  were  taken 
from  their  scientific  pre-eminences,  such  as  Doctor  subtilis, 
irrefragahilis,  profundus,  resolutissimas,  etc.,  or  from  their  moral 
purity  and  elevation,  sueh  as  Doctor  angelicus,  seraphicus,  etc. ; 
so  for  Wiclif  the  title  of  honour.  Doctor  Evangeliciis,  which 
early  became  current  among  his  friends  and  followers,  and 
was  also  transplanted  to  the  Continent  (as  appears  from  a 
number  of  passages  in  Wiclif-manuscripts  transcribed  by 
the  Hussites),  was  one  of  a  kind  to  indicate,  in  an  appro- 
priate way,  his  high  estimation  of  the  value  of  the  Gospel 
— an  estimate  which  he  put  upon  nothing  else — and  to 
signalise,  in  fact,  his  characteristic  Bible  principle. 

And  here  also  may  be  the  proper  place  to  mention  that 
Wiclif's  knowledge  of  the  Bible  was,  in  fact,  astonishing. 
The  remarkable  number  of  Scripture  passages  which,  in  a 
single  work,  he  sometimes  explains  and  sometimes  applies, 
e.g.,  in  the  Trialogus,  is  of  itself  enough  to  show  that  he 
Avas,  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  familiar  with  the  Bible. 
And  although  his  skill  in  interpretation  is  not  masterly 
(how  co^ild  it  be  so  at  that  time'?),  yet  I  have  not  seldom 
found  in  the  reading  of  his  unprinted  works  that  he  often 
manifests  a  felicitous  tact  and  exact  judgment  in  the  pro- 
cess, and  that  an  appropriate  passage  of  Scripture  does 
not  easily  escape  him  when  his  object  is  to  arrange  a  train 
of  Scripture  proof.  But  his  Bible  knowledge  is  almost  more 
remarkable  in  cases  when  it  is  not  his  object  to  quote 
Scripture,  but  when,  notwithstanding,  the  whole  life  and 
movement  of  what  he  writes  is  in  Scrij)ture  thought  and 
phrase. 

The  fact  is  not  without  importance  that  even  the  enemies 
of  Wiclif,  as  before  remarked,  knew  and  controverted  his 


26  LIFE  OF  ^VICLIF. 

Scripture  principle.  In  particular,  it  may  be  in  place  to 
mention  that  one  of  his  opponents  accuses  him  of  being, 
on  this  point,  an  adherent  of  the  "  heretic  Occam " ;  in 
other  words,  that  he  had  borrowed  from  Occam  the  prin- 
ciple of  resting  exclusively  on  Scripture — as,  in  fact,  men 
have  ever  been  inclined,  in  the  case  of  any  tendency  mani- 
festing itself,  at  any  period,  which  appeared  suspicious  and 
erroneous,  to  identify  it  with,  and  to  derive  it  entirely  from, 
some  earlier  teaching  which  had  been  already  condemned 
and  branded  as  unsound  doctrine.  The  fact  of  this  accu- 
sation having  been  made  I  know  from  Wiclif's  own  words, 
as  in  his  book.  Of  the  Truth  of  Holy  Scripture,  he  takes 
notice  of  the  objection,  and  replies  to  itJ^  His  words  are 
to  the  effect  that  his  nameless  opponent  had  said,  as  had 
been  told  him  by  three  trustworthy  men,  that  Wiclif  did 
exactly  what  "  that  heretic "  Occam  and  his  followers  had 
done  before  him,  viz.,  he  took  his  stand  upon  the  literal 
sense  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  would  submit  to  no  other 
judgment  whatever.  Farther  on,  where  he  answers  this 
accusation,  Wiclif  replies,  among  other  things,  that  he  had 
neither  borrowed  his  principles  from  Occam,  nor  thought 
them  out  for  himself ;  instead  of  that,  they  are  irreiragably 
grounded  in  Holy  Scripture  itself,  and  are  in  repeated 
instances  set  forth  also  by  the  holy  Fathers.  Now,  this 
assertion  of  Wiclif  is  fully  confirmed  when  we  look  into 
Occam's  own  writings  upon  the  point.  He  appeals,  indeed, 
wherever  possible,  to  Holy  Scripture  (particularly  in  his 
controversial  pieces  against  Pope  John  XXII.),  and  he 
knows  how  to  select  his  proof-passages  with  intelligence 
and  judgment.  But  still  there  is  an  important  difference! 
betAveen  him  and  Wiclif  on  the  subject  of  the  rank  and 
prerogative  of  the  Bible's  authority.     The  differeuce  is  this, 


WICLIF   AND   OCCAM   COMPARED.  27 

that  Occam  always  appeals  to,  and  claims  authority  for, 
Scripture  and  Church-teaching  in  combination  —  always 
thinks  of  the  two  as  being  always  found  in  harmony. 
Evidently  he  cannot  for  a  moment  reconcile  himself  to  the 
thought  that  the  sanctioned  doctrines  of  the  Church  itself, 
as  well  as  the  teaching  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  must 
first  be  tested  by  the  help  of  Scripture/^  Whereas  Wiclif 
distinguishes  quite  clearly  between  Scripture  and  Church 
teaching,  and  recognises  the  Bible  as  the  supreme  stan- 
dard hj  which  even  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  and  the 
Fathers  are  to  be  tried.  In  brief,  any  dependence  of  Wiclif 
upon  Occam  for  his  Scripture  principle  is  an  allegation 
which  cannot  with  any  show  of  right  be  maintained.  On 
the  contrary,  Wiclif,  in  point  of  fact,  took  a  decided  step 
in  advance  to  the  truly  evangelical  standpoint,  the  stand- 
point of  the  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Wiclif 
took  this  step,  in  our  judgment,  with  entire  independence; 
and  it  could  not  have  been  owing  to  a  mere  self-deception 
that  he  was  conscious  of  having  derived  his  principle  of  the 
absolute  autliority  of  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone,  from 
no  other  source  than  from  the  Scripture  itself,  by  means 
of  his  own  personal  investigations. 

Before  Wiclif's  time,  the  Waldenses  came  the  nearest  to 
the  Biblical  principle  of  the  Reformation,  when,  in  their  desire 
to  justify  their  practice  of  free  lay  preaching  in  opposition  to 
the  Romish  hierarchy,  they  appealed  from  the  existing  law  of 
the  Church  to  divine  law,  to  the  Word  of  God,  to  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. They  thus  set  against  Church  tradition  and  Churcli  law 
the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  higher  and  decisive  authority,  by 
which  they  measured  and  tested  not  only  the  prohibition  of 
lay  preaching,  but  also  other  ordinances  and  traditions  of  the 
existing  Church."^     Still  it  requires  to  be  carefully  considered 


28  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

that  the  Waldenses  were  led  indeed  by  their  practical  neces- 
sities to  see  and  to  make  use  of  the  normal  authority  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  but  the  Bible  principle  itself  as  such  they 
failed  abstractly  to  grasp  and  consciously  to  realise ;  whereas 
in  the  case  of  Wiclif  we  find  all  this  present  in  full  measure ; 
not  to  remind  the  reader  again,  wbich  is  unnecessary  in 
these  circumstances,  that  Wiclif  appears  to  have  had  only  an 
imperfect  knowledge  of  all  that  relates  to  the  Waldenses. 

We  cannot  leave  this  subject  before  touching  upon  several 
points,  which,  though  not  of  first-rate  importance,  are  yet  by 
no  means  of  quite  subordinate  interest. 

The  first  of  these  has  reference  to  the  interpretation  of 
Scripture.  And  here  we  have  reached  the  point  which  we 
before  hinted  at,  where  I  believe  I  am  able  to  show  an 
important  advance  in  the  personal  development  of  Wiclif. 
The  Scripture  principle  attains  to  only  half  its  rights,  so 
long  as  the  Bible  is  acknowledged,  indeed,  to  be  the 
supreme  and  decisive  authority,  but  yet  in  practice  the 
authority  of  Church  tradition  is  exalted  anew  as  the 
standard  of  Scripture  interpretation.  For  then  the  tradition 
which  had  been  before  repudiated  comes  in  again  by  a  back 
door,  and  under  cover  of  the  motto  "  Holy  Scripture  alone," 
the  authority  of  the  Church,  and  traditional  Church  doctrine 
assert  themselves  once  more. 

At  this  latter  stage  of  opinion  Wiclif  found  himself,  at 
a  time  when  he  was  already  a  doctor  of  theology,  and 
recognised  as  an  authority,  apart  from  reason,  only  the 
Holy  Scripture,  not  tradition.  On  the  other  hand,  he  still 
held  tAvo  guides  to  be  indispensable  to  the  understanding 
and  interpretation  of  Scripture,  viz.,  Reason  and  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  Holy  Church  doctors  as  approved  by  the 
Church."*'      The  work    in   which   he    so    expresses    himself  i 


THE   RULE   OF   SCRIPTURE-INTERPRETATION.  21) 

respectiug  Scripture  and  its  interpretation  was  written  at 
latest  in  the  year  1376.  But  only  a  few  years  later  he  had 
already  come  to  see  that  not  even  in  the  work  of  Scripture 
interpretation  can  the  tradition  of  the  Church  have  a  decisive 
weight.  In  the  third  book  of  his  treatise  De  Civili  Dominio, 
c.  26,  he  opposes  the  opinion  that  every  part  of  Scripture 
is  of  doubtful  meaning,  because  it  can  only  be  understood  by 
the  help  of  the  doctors  of  the  Church,  and  these  doctors  may 
put  us  in  a  difficulty  by  opposing  interpretations ;  and  be- 
cause it  was  competent  for  the  Church  of  Rome  to  decide 
that  any  part  of  Scripture  has  a  sense  the  opposite  of  that 
which  had  hitherto  been  assumed.  To  which  Wiclif  replies, 
"No  created  being  has  power  to  reverse  the  sense  of  the 
Christian  faith — the  holy  doctors  put  us  in  no  difficulty,  but 
rather  teach  us  to  abstain  from  the  love  of  novelties,  and  to 
be  sober-minded."  But  the  chief  thought  which  he  opposes 
to  this  view  is  that  "  The  Holy  Ghost  teaches  us  the  right 
understanding  of  Scripture,  as  Christ  opened  the  Scripture 
to  the  Apostles.""'' 

Here  we  see  that  Wiclif  has  already  begun  to  have  doubts 
respecting  the  right  of  the  Church  to  speak  with  a  decisive 
voice  in  the  business  of  Scripture  interpretation.  And  it  is 
thoroughly  well  meant  when  Wiclif  says  "  the  Holy  Ghost 
instructs  us  in  the  understanding  of  the  Scripture."  The 
only  remaining  question  is,  By  what  means  and  in  what  way 
do  we  arrive  at  certainty  that  the  sense  which  we  find  in  a 
given  passage,  or  in  Scripture  as  a  whole,  is  really  the 
sense  of  the  Holy  Ghost  1  It  would,  in  Wiclif 's  own  judg- 
ment, be  to  enter  upon  a  dangerous  path  for  an  interpreter 
to  be  so  bold  as  to  claim  to  be  assured  by  the  illumination  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  that  he  had  hit  upon  the  right  meaning  of 
Sciipture.'^     Wiclif  goes  no  farther,  indeed,  than  this,  tliat 


30  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

an  indispensable  means  of  attaining  to  the  right  understand- 
ing of  Scripture  is  the  enhghtenment  of  the  Scripture 
inquii-er  by  God  Himself;  for  Christ  is  the  true  light  which 
lighteneth  every  man  (John  i.  9),  and  hence  it  is  impossible 
that  any  man  should  have  light  to  know  the  meaning  of 
Scripture  unless  he  is  first  enlightened  by  Christ."^  He  even 
confesses  on  one  occasion  for  himself  that  at  an  earlier  period 
of  his  life  he  liad  spoken  about  the  Scripture  "  as  a  child " 
(1  Cor.  xiii.  11),  and  had  felt  himself  greatly  at  a  loss  in 
the  defence  of  Scripture  till  his  eyes  had  been  graciously 
opened  to  perceive  the  right  understanding  of  it,  and  to 
arrive  at  the  conviction  of  its  perfect  truth.s<^  And  in  con- 
nection with  this  he  repeatedly  insists  upon  the  truth  that  a 
devout  and  virtuous  and  humble  spirit  is  requisite  if  a  man 
would  understand  the  genuine  sense  of  Scripture  {sensiis 
Catholicus).  Putting  away  all  pretentious  sophistical  hol- 
lowness,  and  renouncing  all  disputing  about  mere  words,  a 
man  must  search  out  the  meaning  of  every  Scripture  Avriter 
in  humility. ^^ 

So  much  on  the  personal  spirit  of  every  honest  "  Disciple 
of  Scripture."  But  on  the  objective  matter  itself,  by  far 
the  most  important  truth  taught  by  Wiclif,  and  what  he  re- 
peatedly insists  upon,  is  the  tenor  of  Scripture  teaching  as 
a  whole,  from  which  follows  the  rule  of  always  explain- 
ing it  in  single  passages  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  its 
collective  sense ;  in  other  words,  to  interpret  Scripture 
by  Scripture.  It  is  a  part  of  this  truth  when  he  warns 
against  "  tearing  the  Scriptures  in  pieces,"  as  the  heretics 
do.  We  must  rather  take  them  in  connection,  and  as  a 
whole  ;  only  then  can  they  be  rightly  understood,  for  the 
whole  Holy  Scripture  is  one  God's  Word.  It  is  in  harmony 
Avith  itself;  often  one  part  of  Scripture  explains  the  others; 


SCRIPTURE   ITS   OWN   INTERPRETER.  31 

it  is  all  the  more  useful  to  read  Scripture  diligently  in  order  to 
perceive  its  harmony  with  itself.^^  With  such  views,  it  may 
easily  be  conceived  that  Wiclif  is  no  friend  of  arbitrary 
interpretation,  wdiich  played  so  large  a  part  at  that  period ; 
he  opposes  it  often  enough.  And  although  he  now  no  longer 
recognises  in  principle  that  the  traditional  interpretation  of 
the  Church  is  the  authorised  guide,  still  the  consensus  of  the 
Fathers  in  the  understanding  of  Scriptures  has  great  weight 
in  his  judgment,  in  any  case  where  it  occurs ;  more  than 
once  he  lays  stress  upon  the  consonantia  cum  sensu  Doctorum.^^ 

But  as  Wiclif  sets  out  from  the  conviction,  which  he 
derived  chiefly  from  Augustin,  that  Holy  Scripture  in- 
cludes in  itself  all  truth — partly  mediately,  partly  imme- 
diately— so  he  maintains,  on  the  one  hand,  that  reason  is 
indispensable  to  the  right  understanding  of  Scripture;  and 
on  the  other  hand,  that  the  right  understanding  of  Scripture 
is  the  only  thing  which  can  work  in  the  mind  a  joyful  and 
unlimited  assent  to  its  contents.^^ 

It  is  well  known  that  in  medieeval  times  the  conviction 
was  firmly  held  that  Holy  Scripture  bears  a  manifold — 
indeed,  a  fourfold  sense.  To  this  traditional  opinion  Wiclif 
nowhere  opposes  himself.  Ever  and  anon,  ^.^.,  in  his  sermons, 
he  expressly  assents  to  it.  But  it  is  characteristic  of  the 
good  sense  and  sobriety  of  his  thinking  that  it  is  from  the 
literal  sense  of  Scripture  that  he  sets  out ;  and  that  he  claims 
for  this  sense  to  be  the  indispensable,  the  never-to-be-depre- 
ciated, and  the  abiding  basis  of  all  thorough  and  deep  under- 
standing of  the  Scriptures.  He  knows  I'ight  well  that  a 
reckless  man  would  be  in  a  position  to  pervert  the  whole 
sense  of  Scripture,  if  he  denies  the  hteral  sense  and  invents 
a  figurative  sense  at  his  pleasure.  On  the  contrary,  he  lays 
down  the  principle   that  all  the  counsels    of  Christ,  as   all 


32  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Holy  Scripture  in  general,  mnst  be  observed  to  the  letter, 
as  every  particle  of  Scripture,  in  virtue  of  its  incontrovertible 
contents,  is  true.  The  Hteral  sense,  indeed,  may  be  taken  in 
two  ways :  sometimes  according  to  first  appearances,  as 
ignorant  grammarians  and  logicians  take  it ;  at  other  times 
according  to  that  understanding  of  it  which  an  orthodox 
teacher  acquires  by  the  instruction  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
that,  precisely,  is  the  spiritual  sen-^e,  to  reach  which  the 
doctors  of  Holy  Scripture  are  specially  bound  to  use  all 
their  endeavours. 

On  this  subject  I  find  a  thought  expressed  which  is 
thoroughly  to  the  point,  that  there  is  nothing  like  a  gap' 
intervening  betwixt  the  literal  and  the  spiritual  sense ;  but 
that  the  latter  is  immediately  connected  with  the  simple 
sense  of  the  words  ;  and  that  everything  depends  on  de- 
termining the  spiritual  sense  which  is  couched  in  the 
literal  sense.  And  this  is  what  Wiclif  also  does  in 
the  turn  which  he  gives  to  Scripture.  As  a  rule,  he  takes 
his  start  from  the  literal  sense ;  and,  as  remarked  above,  he 
knows,  on  numerous  occasions,  how  to  make  Scripture  pas- 
sages yield  a  sense  as  simple  as  it  is  full  and  rich. 

The  Curialists  in  Wiclif's  time  were  accustomed  to  found 
upon  Luke  22 — "  See,  here  are  two  swords,"  taken  along 
with  the  answer  of  Jesus — "  It  is  enough " — a  Scripture 
proof  of  the  dogma,  that  to  Peter,  and  therefore  to  the  Pope 
as  his  rightful  successor,  there  appertains  a  twofold  power — 
the  spiritual  and  the  temporal ;  for  this  double  power  is  signi- 
fied, figuratively,  by  the  two  swords.  In  opposition  to  this 
Wiclif  observes,  with  the  support  of  Augustin's  rules  of 
interpretation,  that  a  leap  from  the  literal  sense  to  the 
spiritual  avails  nothing  if  this  figurative  meaning  is  not 
founded  upon  other  places  of  Scripture.     But  now,  he  con- 


LITERAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL   IXTERPRKTATION.  38 

tinues,  this  mj^stical  sense  of  Peter's  double  power  of  the 
keys  has  a  basis  in  iScriptiire  nowhere  else  ;  and  the  whole, 
therefore,  is  merely  a  sophistical,  false  conclusion,  proceeding 
Tiltimately  from  the  suggestion  of  a  wicked  spirit. ^*^  With  this 
well-founded  leaning  to  the  literal  sense  of  Holy  Scripture, 
Wiclif  s  favourable  judgment  of  Nicolas  of  Lyra,  who  was  his 
cotemporary  (11340),  may  be  readily  understood.  In  adduc- 
ing some  of  his  interpretations,  he  calls  him  a  modern, 
indeed,  but  a  thoughtful  and  pregnant  interpreter  of  Scrip- 
ture according  to  the  letter.S''  As  a  proof  how  attentively 
Wiclif  takes  notice  of  the  usage  of  language  {usus  loquendi), 
even  in  small  particles,  let  the  circumstance  be  mentioned 
here,  that  in  investigating  the  question  of  man's  ability 
for  good,  apart  from  grace,  he  remarks  upon  the  distinction 
between  d(p"iavruv  and  IS,  iavruv  (2  Cor.  iii.  5) ;  and  then,  after 
a  comparison  of  passages  bearing  a  resemblance  in  point  of 
expression,  he  adds  the  observation  that  the  Apostle  Paul, 
on  good  grounds,  was  careful  in  his  use  of  prepositions  and 
adverbs.^^  On  weighing  this  observation  well,  we  imme- 
diately perceive  that,  if  consequently  carried  through,  it 
would  form  the  basis  of  a  rational  system  of  grammatical 
interpretation.  We  are  not  entitled  to  suppose,  of  course, 
that  ^Viclif  was  aware  of  any  such  bearing  of  the  thoughts 
which  he  expressed.  But  the  expression  appears,  neverthe- 
less, worthy  of  remark,  as  a  minute  indication  of  fine  obser- 
vation and  careful  interpretation  of  terms. 

To  the  question  in  what  relation  to  each  other  Wiclif 
placed  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  the  only  answer  that 
can  be  given  is  that  while  he  exhibits,  on  more  than  one 
side,  the  difference  between  the  two  revelations,  he  is 
yet  not  clearly  aware  of  their  fundamental  difference.  In 
repeated  instances  he  has  occasion  to  speak  of  the  distinction 
VOL.  II.  0 


34  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

between  the  two  Testaments.  Not  seldom  he  mentions,  in 
connection  with  his  censure  of  the  encroachments  of  the 
Hierarchy  upon  the  civil  province,  that  the  New  Testament 
does  not  meddle  with  that  sphere.^^  But  in  one  place  he 
examines  the  distinction  in  question  upon  its  purely- 
scientific  side,  under  several  heads,  viz.,  as  to  their  respec- 
tive contents,  authorship,  kind  and  manner  of  revelation, 
degree  of  perfection,  etc.^^  And  here  Wiclif,  it  is  true, 
speaks  to  the  effect  that  in  the  Old  Testament  the  pre- 
vailing thing  is  fear;  in  the  New  Testament,  love.^^  This 
appears  to  be  quite  apposite.  He  fails  notwithstanding, 
as  already  said,  in  the  right  insight  into  the  radical  and 
essential  difference  between  law  and  gospel.  He  makes 
use,  indeed,  of  these  two  simple  and  weighty  designa- 
tions of  the  two  Testaments  ;  and  also  characterises 
quite  accurately  the  spirit  of  the  man  who  stands  under 
the  law,  and  of  the  man  who  lives  in  the  state  of  grace. 
But  the  single  circumstance  that  he  so  often,  and  with- 
out the  least  misgiving,  speaks  of  the  evangelical  law 
{lex  Evangelica),  and  describes  Christ  as  our  laivgiver 
(Legifer)  is  a  sufficient  indication  to  us  that  he  had  not 
yet  become  fully  conscious  of  the  essential  difference 
between  Moses  and  Christ,  law  and  gospel,  law  and 
grace.  The  deeper  ground  of  this  we  shall  find  below  in 
his  doctrine  of  the  way  of  salvation.  It  lies  in  this,  that 
he  had  not  yet  come  in  sight  of  the  material  principle  of 
Protestantism — justification  by  faith  alone.  We  have,  ac- 
cordingly, no  ground  to  understand  the  title  of  honour 
Avhich  was  given  him  of  Doctor  Evatigelicus  in  the  full  sense 
of  a  decidedly  Pauline  theology,  and  of  a  truly  evangelical 
doctrine  of  salvation.  If  Wiclif  had  been  a  Doctor  Evan- 
gelicus  m  his  doctrine  of  the  way  of  salvation,  as  he  was  in 


THE   BIBLE   A   BOOK   FOR   EVERY   MAX.  35 

his  doctrine  of  the  sole  authority  of  Scripture,  he  would 
not,  humanly  speaking,  have  remained  a  mere  precursor  of 
the  Reformation,  but  would  have  been  himself  a  Reformer. 

That  Wiclif  recognised  the  right  of  all  Christians  to  the 
use  of  the  Bible  is  a  point  which  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
dwell  upon  here,  after  having  seen  above,  in  the  sixth 
and  seventh  chapters,  how  emphatically  he  inculcated  the 
duty  of  preaching  God's  Word,  and  how  he  had  translated 
it  into  English  in  order  to  make  it  accessible  to  the  people. 
We  may  remark,  however,  that  the  deep  veneration  which 
he  felt  for  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  knowledge  which  he 
had  acquired  of  its  infinite  value,  were  enough  to  lead  him 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  Bible  is  a  book  for  every  man. 
This  thought  he  expresses  often  enough  in  the  clearest 
manner,  not  only  in  the  treatise  Of  the  Truth  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, where  this  was  most  to  be  expected,  but  also  in  other 
writings.  In  the  work  just  mentioned  he  says  in  one 
place,  the  "  Holy  Scripture  is  the  faultless,  most  true,  most 
perfect,  and  most  holy  law  of  God,  which  it  is  the  duty 
of  all  men  to  learn  to  know,  to  defend,  and  to  observe, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  bound  to  serve  the  Lord  in  accord- 
ance with  it,  under  the  promise  of  an  eternal  reward."  ^^ 
In  The  Mirror  for  Temporal  Lords,  he  demands  for  all  be- 
lieving people  immediate  access  to  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
chiefly  on  the  ground  that  Christian  truth  is  made 
known  more  clearly  and  accurately  there  than  the  priests 
are  able  to  declare  it ;  Avhile  many  of  the  prelates  besides 
are  quite  ignorant  of  Scripture,  and  others  of  them  inten- 
tionally hold  back  from  the  people  certain  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture doctrine.^^  And  in  his  English  tract,  the  Wykett,  he 
exclaims  with  emotion — "  If  God's  Word  is  the  life  of  the 
world,  and   every  word  of  God  is  the  life   of  the  human 


36  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

soul,  how  may  any  Auticlirist,  for  dread  of  God,  take  it 
away  from  us  that  be  Christian  men,  and  thus  to  suffer  the 
people  to  die  for  hunger  in  heresy  and  blasphemy  of  men's 
laws,  that  corrupteth  and  slayeth  the  soul  ?  "  ^^ 

NOTES  TO  SECTION  III. 

33.  E.g.,  Trialogus,  I.,  c.  8,  p.  61  :  Nee  ratio,  nee  auctoritas  hoe  convineit ;  and 
similarly  in  other  plaees. 

34.  De  Veritate  Scripiurae,  c.  12,  Vienna  MS.,  1294,  fol.  31,  col.  4.  Here  he  is 
speaking  of  violences  threatened  to  his  own  person,  and  expresses  the  opinion  that 
a  Jew  or  heathen  would,  from  an  inborn  sentiment  of  goodness,  abhor  those  who 
■were  guilty  of  such,  inasmuch  as  they  "  obviant  legi  conscientise  et  naturaliter 
insitas  rationi." 

35.  Be  Civili  Dominio,  IT.,  c.  13.,  Vienna  MS.,  1341,  fol.  207,  col.  2  :  De  quanto 
aliqua  lex  ducit  propinquius  ad  conformitatem  legis  naturae  est  ipsa  perfection 
Sed  lex  Christi  patiendi  injurias  propinquius  ducit  ad  statum  nature  quam  civilis. 
Ergo  ista  cum  suis  regulis  est  lege  civili  perfeetior.     Comp.  c.  17,  fol.  236,  col.  2. 

36.  De  Veritate  Scrip.  Sac,  c.  20,  fol.  67,  col.  1.  The  love  of  our  neighbour  is 
thoroughly  learned  and  acquired  by  the  law  of  Christ ;  in  tantum  quod  si  lex 
alia  doeet  caritatem  aut  virtutem  aliquam,  ipsa  adeo  est  lex  Christi. 

37.  Trialogus,  I.,  c.  6,  p.  55  f. 

38.  Ih.,  I.,  c.  6,  p.  56. 

39.  Ih.,  I.,  0.  7,  p.  58  ;  III.,  c.  25,  p.  214. 

40.  Vienna  MS.,  3928,  Sermon  XVIII.,  fol.  222,  col.  2  :  Infidelis  consideratio 
est,  quod  periret  ecclesia  nisi  praeter  legem  Dei  humanis  legibus  regularetur.  In  hoc 
enim  peccatur  infideUter,  dimittendo  executionem  legis  Dei,  et  inducendo  tradi- 
tiones  humanas  fomenta  litium. 

41.  De  Veritate  Scripturce  Sacrce,  Vienna  MS.,  1294,  fol.  1-119,  col.  2.  This 
work  forms  part  of  the  so-called  Smnma  of  Wiclif,  namely,  its  Sixth  Book,  and 
with  its  32  chapters  would  fill  a  printed  volume  of  about  thirty  sheets.  That  this 
work  had  its  origin  in  theological  lectures  is  certain,  both  from  its  contents  and 
form.  Its  date  also  is  fixed  by  two  passages  to  have  been  the  year  1378.  The 
book  is  properly  nothing  more  than  a  defence  of  the  Bible  against  the  accusatores 
or  inimici  Scripturce  of  whom  the  author  repeatedly  speaks,  e.g.,  c.  12  and  28. 
From  one  passage  in  the  first  chapter  it  appears  that  one  leading  opponent  in  par- 
ticular of  Wiclif  and  his  teaching,  along  with  others  of  the  same  views,  had  given 
the  proximate  occasion  to  this  apology  for  the  Bible  ;  and  this  is  the  reason,  no 
doubt,  why  the  personality  of  Wiclif  himself  stands  out  in  this  particular  work 
with  an  almost  statuesque  effect.  I  have  thought  it  right  to  insert  in  the  Appen- 
dix a  somewhat  long  extract  of  this  nature. 

42.  De  Blasphemia,  the  12th  book  of  his  Theological  Summa,  Vienna  MS.,  3943, 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   III.  37 

fol.  126,  col.  2  :  In  omni  genere  est  umim  primum  quod  est  inetrum  et  mensura 
omnium  aliorum. 

43.  De  Veritate  Serif.  Sac,  Vienna  MS.,  1294,  c.  9,  fol.  21,  col.  4  :  Si  non  licet 
filio  infringere  testamentum  patris  terreni,  multo  magis  non  licet  catholico  dissolvere 
testamentum  infrangibile  Dei  patris.  Corap.  c.  14,  fol.  43,  col.  3,  where  he  calls 
Scripture  testimonium  Dei,  quod  voluit  remanere  in  terris,  ut  suam  voluntatem 
cognoscerent,  etc. 

44.  Wycket,  ed.  Oxford,  1828,  p.  5  :  for  he  (God)  and  his  word  are  all  one,  and  they 
may  not  be  separated. 

45.  Trialojus,  B.  Ill,  c.  31,  p.  239. 

46.  Trialogus,  III.,  31,  p.  238  :  Non  sincere  credimus  in  Dominum  Jesum 
Christum,  cum  hoc  date  ex  fide  fructuosa  teneremus,  quod  scrip turae  s. — sit 
infinitum  major  auctoritas  quam  auctoritas  alterius  scrijjturae  signandas. 

47.  Among  the  writers  of  the  fourteenth  century,  I  name  only  Occam,  Marsilius 
of  Padua,  Peter  D'Ailly,  and  of  the  fifteenth  century,  John  of  Goch,  which  latter 
lays  great  stress  upon  evangelical  liberty  ;  and  yet,  as  little  as  Occam,  finds  any 
difficulty  in  boasting  of  the  evangelicse  legis  libertas  ;  Goch,  De  quatuor  erroribus 
circa  legem  evangelicam  exortis,  in  Walch,  Monimenta  medii  aevi,  Fasc,  4.  p.  75 
f.  ;  Occam,  De  jurisdictione  imperatoris  in  causis  matrimonialibus,  in  Goldast, 
Monarchia,  I.,  p.  24. 

48.  Be  Officio  Regis,  Vienna  MS.,  3933,  c.  9,  fol.  46,  col.  1  :  Legifer  noster  Jesus 
Christus  legem  per  se  sufficientem  dedit  ad  regimen  totius  ecclesise  militantis. 

49.  De  Veritate  Scriptures  s.,  c.  21,  fol.  70,  col.  2  :  Ignorare  scripturas  est  ignorare 
Christum,  cum  Christus  sit  scriptura,  quam  debemus  cognoscere. 

60.  Be  Blasphcniia,  c.  1,  MS.  3933,  fol.  118,  col.  3.  Comjj.  Be  Veritate  Scripturae 
s.,  c.  1,  fol.  1,  col.  2  :  in  ilia  consistit  salus  fidelium. 

51.  Be  Civili  Bominio,  II.,  c.  13,  Vienna  MS.,  1341,  fol.  311,  cols.  1  and  2  : 
Nullas  particulares  cerimonias  exprimit,  quibus  eis  universalis  observantia  vetaretur. 
Ideo  regula  ac  religio  Christiana  secundum  formam  in  evangelic  traditam  est 
omnivmi  perfectissima  et  sola  per  se  bona. 

52.  Be  Veritate  Scriptures  s.,  c.  15,  fol.  45,  col.  4  :  Efficacia  sententiae  (the  subject 
spoken  of  is  the  Bible)  est  magis  utilis  ....  quam  sententia  vel  locutio  aliena. 

53.  Be  Civili  Bominio,  I.,  c.  44,  MS.  1341,  fol.  141,  col.  1  :  Pure  per  observantiam 
legis  Christi  sine  commixtione  traditionis  humanse  crevit  ecclesia  celerrime  ;  et 
post  commixtionem  fuit  continue  diminuta. 

54.  lb.,  III.,  26,  MS.  1340,  fol.  252,  col.  2  :  AHte  logicse  et  sapientiaj 
evanescunt,  sed  os  et  sapientia,  quam  dedit  apostolis  in  die  pentecostes,  manet 
in  aeternum,  cui  non  potuerunt  efficaciter  resistere  et  contradicere  omnes  adversarii. 

55.  Sermons  for  Saints'  Bays  No.  LV.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  112,  col.  3.  Be  Va-itate 
Scripturae  s.,  c.  2,  MS.  1294,  fol.  4,  col.  3  :  Locus  a  testimonio  Augustini  non  est 
infallibilis,  cum  Augustinus  sit  errabilis. 

56.  Be  Civili  Bominio,!.,  c.  34,  MS.  1341,  fol.  81,  col.  2  ;  Lexhumanaest  mixta 
multa  nequitia,   ut  patet  de  .  .  .  .  regulis  civilibus,  ex  <piil)us  pullulant   nmlta 


38  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

mala  ;  lex  autem  evangelica  est  immaculata.     Comp.  Lihcr  Mandatoram,  c.  10, 
MS.  1339,  fol.  114  col.  2  (after  Psalm  xviii.,  31). 

57.  Trialogus,  I.,  9,  p.  65  :  Sicut  sacrae  scripturfe  sententia,  sic  et  ejus  logica  est 
a  fidelibus  veneranda,  III.,  31,  p.  242  ;  cum  logica  scripturse  sit  rectissima,  sub- 
tilissima  et  maxima  usitanda.  Comp.  Supplementem  Trialorji,  c.  6,  p.  434.  De 
Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  3,  MS.  1294,  fol.  6,  col.  1. 

58.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  12,  MS.  1294,  fol.  165,  col.  1  :  Sine  conservatione  hvijus  cartte 
impossibile  est  quod  maneat  dignitas  ad  privilegium  vel  aliquod  bonum  gratuitum 
capiendum.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  12,  fol.  32,  col.  4,  he  calls  the  Bible 
carta  a  Deo  scripta  et  nobis  donata,  per.quam  vindicabimus  regnum  Dei.  Comp. 
c.  14,  fol.  43,  col.  4. 

59.  De  T'eritate  Scriptuvoi  s.,  c.  21,  fol.  71,  col.  1  :  Lex  Christi  est  medulla  legum 
ecclesise.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  8,  fol.  152,  col.  3  :  Omnis  lex  utUis  sanctae  matri 
ecclesisB  docetur  explicite  vel  implicite  in  scriptura. 

60.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  c.  44,  MS.  1341,  fol.  133,  col.  1  :  Sola  scriptura  s.  est 
illius  auctoritatis  et  reverentiae,  quod,  si  quidquam  asserit,  debet  credi. 

61.  Trialof/us,  III.,  31,  p.  239  :  quod  scriptura  s.  sit  infinitum  magis  autentica  et 
uredenda,  quam  quaecunque  alia  ....  Unde  scripta  aliorum  doctorum  magnorum, 
quantumcunque  vera,  dicuntur  apocrj'pha,  etc.  In  the  use  of  this  term  apocrypha 
(it  is  the  same  with  Occam),  Wiclif  does  not  refer  to  the  genuineness  of  these 
•writings,  but  to  their  credibility  and  authority. 

62.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  35,  MS.  1341,  fol.  S3,  col.  2. 

63.  li.,  c.  20,  fol.  45,  col.  1  :  Totum  corpus  juris  humani  debet  inniti  legi 
evangelicse  tanquam  regulfe  essentialiter  divinae. 

64.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  15,  fol.  48,  col.  2  :  Impossibile  est,  ut  dictum 
Christiani  vel  factum  aliquod  sit  paris  auctoritatis  cum  Scriptura  s. 

65.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  36,  fol.  86,  col.  2;  Liber  Mandatorum,  c.  22,  MS. 
1339,  fol  180,  col.  1  :  Potestas  jurisdictionis  super  scripturam  s.  humanitus 
introducta  potest  effectum  legis  Dei  casando  confundere. 

66.  De  Blasphemia,  c.  3,  MS.  3933,  fol.  125,  col.  3. 

67.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  11,  fol.  24,  col.  1.  Spiritual  rulers  are  bound  uti  pro 
suo  regimine  lege  evangelica  impermixte.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  14,  fol.  32, 
col.  3  :  Videtur  mihi  summum  remedium  solide  credere  fidem  scripturae,  et  nulli 
alii  in  quocunque  credere,  nisi  de  quanto  se  fundaverit  ex  scriptura.  Ibid.,  c.  20, 
fol.  66,  col.  1  :  Utilius  et  undique  expeditius  foret  sibi  (ecclesiee)  regulari  pure  lege 
scripturae,  quam  quod  traditiones  humanse  sint  sic  commixtae  cum  veritatibus 
evangelicis,  ut  sunt  modo. 

68.  De  Veritate  Scripturae,  c.  7,  fol.  17,  col.  3  :  utqaidamDr.  traditionis  huraanse 
et  mixtim-theologus  dicit.  Comp.  De  Condemnatione  XIX  Conclusionum,  in 
Shirley,  Fasciculi  Zizan.,  1858.  The  opposite  to  this  is  purus  theologus,  De  Ecclesia, 
c.  10. 

69.  De  Blasphemia,  c.  8,  MS.  3933,  fol.  144,  col.  1  :  Lex  autem  Christiana  debet 
esse  solum  lex  Domini  et  immaculata  convertens  animas,  et  per  consequens  recusari 
debet  a  cunctis  fidelibus  propter  commixtionem  cujuscunque  attomi  {sic)  antichristi. 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   UI.  39 

70.  Sermons  for  Saints'  Bays,  No.  XLIX.,  MS.  3923,  fol.  99,  col,  1. 

71.  lb.  No.  XXXI.,  fol.  61,  col.  2,  No.  XXXVIII.,  fol.  76,  col  4.  Also  in 
the  24  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  XIX.  fol.  175,  col.  1.  Under  viri  evan{jeUci 
in  these  places,  at  least  in  the  two  last,  are  chiefly  meant  WicUf's  itinerant 
preachers.  But  of  doctores  cvaufjelici  he  speaks  in  De  Civili  Dominio,  MS.  1340, 
fol.  163,  col.  1. 

72.  De  Veritate  Scripturae,  as  above,  c.  14,  fol.  40,  col  4.  Comp.  fol.  41.  col.  3. 
Both  places  are  found  in  the  excerpt  from  this  work  given  in  Appendix. 

73.  E.g.,  Defensorium  contra  Joannem  papam  XII.,  in  Fasciculus  rerum  expe- 
tendarum,  etc.,  ed.  Brown,  1690,  fol.  439-957.  Dialogus  in  Goldast,  Monarchia, 
Frankfort,  1668,  II.,  fol.  398-957.  Opus  nonaginta  dierum  contra  errores  Joannnis 
XXII.  papae  de  utili  dominio  rerum  ecclesiasticarum,  etc.  Goldast,  II.,  f. 
993-1236. 

74.  Occam,  in  his  Dialogus,  Lib.  f.  II.,  fol.  410  f.,  in  Goldast,  mvestigates  the 
question  of  what  constitutes  false  doctrine,  and  he  brings  into  view  the  principle 
as  one  which  had  been  held  by  some,  while  at  the  same  time  himself  opposing  it, 
that  only  those  doctrines  should  be  held  to  be  orthodox  and  necessary  to  salvation 
which  are  taught  either  directly  or  indirectly  in  Holy  Scripture.  With  this  principle, 
Wiclif 's,  it  is  true,  is  identical,  but  there  is  nothing  to  show,  notwithstanding,  that 
he  had  borrowed  it  from  any  quarter. 

75.  Dieckhoff,  die  Waldenser  in  Mittelalter.     Gottingen,  1851,  p.  171  f.,  267  f. 

76.  In  Pref.  to  Book  I.,  De  Dominio  Divino,  MS.  1339,  fol.  1,  col.  1  :  Innitar 
....  in  ordine  procedendi  ration!  et  sensui  scripturae,  cui  ex  religione  et  speciali 

obedientia  sum  professus Sed  ut  sensum  hujus  incorrigibilis  scripturae 

sequar  securius,  innitar  ut  plurimum  duobus  ducibus,  scilicet  ration!  philosophis 
revelatae,  et  postillationi  sanctorum  doctorum  apud  ecclesiam  approbatse. 

77.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  26,  MS.  1340,  fol.  252,  col.  2  :  Spiritus  sanctus  docet 
nos  sensum  scripturae,  sicut  Christus  aperuit  apostolis  sensum  ejus. 

78.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  15,  fol.  45,  col.  1  :  Ne  pseudo-discipuli  fingant  se 
immediate  habere  a  Deo  suam  sententiam,  ordinavit  Deus  communem  scripturam 
sensibilem. 

79.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s,  c.  9,  fol.  23,  col.  1.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  19,  fol. 
162,  col.  2  :  Nemo  sufficit  intelligere  minimam  scripturae  particulara,  nisi  spiritus 
s.  aperuerit  sibi  sensum,  sicut  Christus  fecit  apostolis. 

80.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  6,  fol.  13,  col.  1.  Comp.  c.  2,  fol.  4,  col  4  : 
Nisi  Deus  docuerit  sensum  scripturae,  est  error  in  januis. 

81.  lb.,  c.  15,  fol.  45,  col.  1  :  Ad  irradiationem  confert  sanctitas  vitae ;  c. 
9,  fol.  22,  col.  4  :  virtuosa  dispositio  discipuli  scripturae,  is  viewed  as  including 
auctoritatis  scripturae  humilis  acceptatio  ;  c.  5,  fol.  12,  col.  1  ;  sensus  auctoris 
humiliter  indagandus. 

82.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.  o.  19,  fol.  62,  col.  3  :  Tota  scriptura  s.  est  unum 
Dei  verbum.  Comp.  c.  12,  fol.  31,  col.  1  :  Tota  lex  Christi  est  unum  perfectum 
verbum  procedens  de  ore  Dei ;  c.  4,  fol.  9,  col.  4  :  Non  licet  lacerare  scripturam  s., 
sed  allegare  earn  in  sua  integritate  ad  seusuni  auctoris.     Comp.  c.  6,  fol.  15,  col.  3  : 


40  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Hteretici  lacerando  ....  negant  scriptiiram  s.  esse  veram,  et  non  concedendo 
earn  ex  integro  capiiint  ;  e  contra  autein  catholici  allegant  pro  se  scripturam  s., 
....  cum  accej^tant  ejus  autenticam  veritatem  ex  integro  ad  sensum,  quern  sancti 
Doctores  docuerant.  Farther,  c.  9,  fol.  22,  col.  3  :  Crebra  lectio  partium  scripturae 
videtur  ex  hoc  necessarium  (sic),  quod  saepe  una  pars  scripturae  exponit  aliam. 
Prodest  crebro  legere  partes  scripturae  pro  habendo  conceptu  suae  concordantiae. 
Jn  the  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  XL..  MS.  3928,  fol.  213,  col.  1,  Wiclif  observes  : 
Sunt  enim  veritates  scripturae  quae  sunt  verba  Dei,  sic  connexae,  quod  unumquod- 
que  juvat  quodlibet. 

83.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  15,  fol.  45,  col.  1.     Comp.  c.  12,  fol.  31,  col.  4. 

84.  Lewald  in  ZeiUchrift  filr  Historiche  TheoJorjie,  1846,  p.  177.  De  Veritate 
Scripturae  s.,  c.  9,  fol.  22,  col.  4  :  Utrobique  in  scripturae  s.  est  conforraitas 
rationi,  et  per  consequens  ratio  est  testis  necessarius  ad  habendam  sententiam 
scripturarum, 

85.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  2,  fol.  4,  col.  3  :  Et  sic  posset  proterviens  totum 
sensum  scripturae  subvertere  negando  sensum  literalem  et  fingendo  sensum  figura- 
tivum  ad  libitum.  De  Civili  Dominio,  IIL,  19  :  Omnia  Christi  consilia — sicut  et 
tota  scriptura — ad  literatum  observanda,  etc.  Et  iste  sensus  est  spiritualis,  circa 
quem  doctores  sacrae  pagiuae  debent  specialiter  laborare.  Comp.  c.  9,  fol.  56, 
col.  2. 

86.  De  Quatuor  Sectis  NoveUis,  MS.  3929,  fol.  232,  col.  4  :  Non  valet,  saltus 
a  literali  sensu  scripturae  ad  sensum  misticum,  nisi  ille  sensus  misticus  sit  alicubi 
fundatus.  .  .  . 

87.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  12 :  Doctor  de  Lyra,  licet  novellus,  tamen 
copiosus  et  ingeniosus  postillatur  scripturae  ad  literam,  scribit,  etc. 

88.  De  Dominio  Divine,  III.,  c.  5,  fol.  84,  col.  2  :  Apostolus  autem  de  ratione 
notabili  respexit  praepositiones  et  adverbia. 

89.  Dc  Officio  Pastorali,  II.,  c.  7,  p.  39  :  Christus  renuit  judicium  seculars,  quod 
approbat  in  lege  veteri. 

90.  Liber  Mandatorum,  c.  7-9,  MS.  1339,  fol.  104,  col.  1  ;  fol.  112,  col.  1. 

91.  lb.,  c.  7,  fol.  1  i5,  col.  2  :  Brevis  est  diflferentia  legis  et  evangelii,  timor 
et  amor.  Comp.  c.  8,  fol.  107,  col.  1  :  Lex  nova  tanquam  amorosa  est  lege 
timorosa  perfectior. 

92.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  7,  fol.  17,  col.  4  :  quam  omnes  homines  tenentur 
cognoscei'e  defendere  et  servare,  cum  secundum  illam  tenentur  sub  obtentu  aeterni 
praemii  Domino  ministrare. 

93.  Speculum  Secularium  Dominorum,  c.  1.  Vide  my  essay,  Wiclif  und  die 
Lollardcn,  Zeitschrift  filr  histor.  Theologie,  1853,  p.  433,  note  30.  Comp.  Lewald, 
Theologische  Doctrin  des  JohannWycliffe,  in  the  same  Zeitschrift,  1846,  180  f. 


41 


Section  IV. — Doctrine  of  God  and  the  D'amie  Triniti/. 

In  the  first  four  chapters  of  his  Trialogus,  Wichf  goes  into 
the  proofs  of  the  existence  of  God,  He  occupies  himself 
partly  with  the  ontological  proofs,  in  which  he  closely 
follows  Anselm  of  Canterbury  in  his  Froslogium,  partly  with 
the  cosmological  proofs.  In  the  former  he  starts  from  the 
idea  of  "  The  Highest  Thinkable,"  and  comes  to  the  con- 
clusion that  this  highest  thinkable  also  exists.  In  the  latter 
he  starts  from  the  idea  of  a  cause,  and  arrives  at  the  exist- 
ence of  a  last  and  highest  cause,^^  As  Wiclif  in  this  place 
appropriates  to  himself  successions  of  thought  which  had 
already  been  made  use  of  by  previous  thinkers,  and  appears 
to  be  peculiar  only  in  the  reflections  which  he  makes  upon 
them,  it  cannot  be  necessary  for  me  to  enter  farther  into 
them  here,  and  I  content  myself  with  referring  to  the  ex- 
position of  them  given  by  Lewald. 

In  his  inquiry  into  the  attributes  of  God,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  come  in  siglit  of  a  peculiarity  of  Wiclif's  doctrine, 
which  we  may  briefly  indicate  as  positivity,  in  the  philosophi- 
cal sense,  or  as  realism.  The  subject  discussed  is  the  nature 
of  our  idea  of  the  infinitude  of  God.  Wiclif  sets  out  from 
the  axiom  that  God  is  the  absolutely  perfect  Being.  Follow- 
ing Anselm  of  Canterbury  and  his  Prosloghun,  he  lays  down 
the  twofold  principle — (1),  God  is  the  highest  that  can  be 
thought ;  (2),  God  is  the  best  which  exists ;  and  in  the 
inquiry  into  God's  attributes  he  always  proceeds  upon  the 
ruling  principle  that  God  is  all  which  it  is  better  to  be  than 
not  to  be.9^  But  according  to  all  this  an  idea  of  God  may  be 
formed  quite  different  from  Wiclif's  idea  of  Him.  The  in- 
finitude of  God  may  be  thought  of  in  a  vague  and  absolutely 


42  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

indefinite  sense,  or  in  the  sense  of  a  positive  and  substan- 
tive perfection.  Wiclif  takes  the  latter  view  with  distinct 
consciousness  and  decision.  He  insists  on  its  being  under- 
stood, not  raerely  in  a  negative  but  positive  sense,  that  God 
is  immeasurable  and  infinite,  as  God  possesses  a  positive 
perfection  in  this  respect.^^ 

How  this  is  meant  will  become  clear  when  we  take  up 
single  attributes  of  God.  As  to  God's  omnipotence,  Wiclif 
decidedly  rejects  the  idea  of  a  wholly  unlimited  power  of 
doing.  It  does  not  follow — e.  g.,  from  God's  omnipotence — 
that  He  has  the  power  to  become  less  than  He  is,  or  the 
power  to  lie,  etc.  Neither  is  it  allowable  to  conclude,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  God's  power  is  a  limited  one  because  He 
is  unable  to  do  what  men  do,  namely,  to  lie,  or  to  fall 
away  from  rectitude ;  for  to  lie,  or  to  fall  away,  does  not 
mean  the  doing  of  something,  but  abstaining  from  the  doing 
of  the  good.^^  Wiclif  regards  it  as  the  action  of  a  mis- 
taken imagination  when  men  suppose  that  God  is  able  to 
bring  into  existence  an  infinite  world  for  Himself;  he  puts  in 
the  place  of  an  alleged  unlimited  and  boundless  power  the 
idea  of  a  power  conditioned  and  limited  by  no  other  power, 
the  greatest  positive  power  of  all.^'''*  In  other  words,  he  con- 
ceives of  the  Divine  omnipotence  as  a  power  self-determining, 
morally  regulated,  ordered  by  inner  laws  (potentia  Dei  ordinata, 
in  opposition  to  pofgn^m  absolutci)}^'^  He  thus  arrives  at 
the  proposition  that  God's  almighty  power  and  His  actual 
work  of  creation  and  causation  are  coincident  with  and 
cover  each  other. 

In  a  similar  way  he  expresses  himself  respecting  the 
Di^due  omniscience.  This  appears  to  him  to  be  in  every 
respect  a  real  or  actual  wisdom.  God's  wisdom  is  a  thing 
of  absolute  necessity,  for  He  necessarily  knows,  first  of  all. 


god's  omniscience  and  eternity.  43 

Himself,  and  also  all  of  which  He  is  the  Creator.  But  the 
conclusion  is  a  peculiar  one,  which  Wiclif  draws  from  the 
Divine  all-knowledge,  viz.,  that  all  which  ever  was,  or  shall 
be,  is.  This  he  proves  in  the  following  way : — Whatever 
was  or  shall  be,  God  shall  know  it.  Shall  He  know  that  it 
is,  then  He  knows  it  note  that  it  is,  for  God  cannot  begin  or 
cease  to  know  anything ;  but  if  God  knows  anything  as 
being,  that  thing  is.  Therefore  if  anything  was  or  shall  be, 
so  is  it.^*^-  Further,  Wiclif  rejects  the  distinction  which  men 
were  inclined  to  make  between  God's  power  to  know  and 
His  actual  knowing,  and  instead  of  this  lays  down  tho  pro- 
position, God  CU71  know  nothing  unless  what  He  knows  in 
fact.  For  if  God  can  know  it.  He  knows  it  noio,  for  He  cannot 
make  a  beginning  or  an  end  of  knowing ;  and  God  knows 
nothing  but  what  is,  at  least  in  the  sense  of  the  ens 
intelligibilisJ^^ 

With  this  again  connects  itself  Wiclif's  view  of  God's 
eternity.  He  deduces  this  eternity  from  the  consideration 
that  if  there  existed  any  measure  (mensura)  which  was  ante- 
cedent to  God,  then  God  Himself  could  not  be  the  first  and 
highest  cause,  from  which  it  appears  that  eternity  is  the 
proper  name  for  the  measure  of  the  Godhead.  Accordingly, 
he  regards  eternity  expressly  not  as  a  mere  attribute  which 
indwells  in  God,  but  as  identical  with  God  Himself.  But 
eternity  in  itself  is  absolutely  indivisible — it  has  no  before 
and  after,  like  time.  From  this  last  proposition  he  then 
deduces  the  Divine  unchangeableness.  God  cannot  change 
His  thoughts,  His  understanding  and  knowing.  What 
He  thinks  and  knows.  He  knows  in  an  eternal  manner.  If 
He  were  to  change  His  thoughts  according  to  the  change  of 
their  object.  He  would  then  be  in  the  highest  degree  change- 
able in  His  thoughts.     Yea,  God's  thought  would  by  and  by 


44  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

be  constructed  out  of  observations  made  from  moment  to 
moment. i*'^  And  with  this  again  is  connected  the  doctrine 
of  what  he  calls  the  deep  31etaphi/sic — i.e.,  his  own  realistic 
philosophy,  viz.,  that  all  Avhich  ever  has  been  or  shall  be  is 
present  to  tlie  Divine  mind,  i.e.,  in  the  sense  of  real  exist- 
ence.^"'' 

The  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Trinity  Wiclif  evidently  took 
up  simply  in  the  form  in  which  it  had  been  in  part  con- 
ceived by  the  ancient  Church,  and  in  part  handed  down  by 
the  scholastic  doctors  before  him.  We  should  in  vain  seek 
in  his  writings  for  any  peculiar  and  original  treatment  of 
this  article,  especially  on  the  basis  of  Scripture  teaching. 
There  is  only  a  single  point  of  this  Trinitarian  doctrine,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  in  which  he  felt  a  peculiar  interest — the 
doctrine  of  God  the  Son,  as  the  Logos.  From  all  that 
Wiclif  says,  as  well  in  the  Trialogus  as  occasionally  in  other 
writings,  on  the  subject  of  the  Trinity,  it  appears  indubitable 
that  he  presupposes,  and  proceeds  upon  as  conclusively 
established,  the  whole  body  of  Church-dogma,  as  it  was 
sanctioned  in  the  fourth  century,  and  was  finally  com- 
pleted by  Augustin.  He  operates  with  the  technical  terms 
of  the  Latin  Church  Fathers  —  nature  and  person,  as  fixed 
by  ecclesiastical  sanction ;  and  yet  he  is  not  altogether 
unacquainted  with  the  definitions  of  the  Greek  theology. 
Still,  so  far  as  he  occupies  himself  with  definitions,  as, 
e.g.,  of  person,  he  by  no  means  penetrates  into  the  subject 
treated  of  any  deeper  than  others  had  done  before  him.io7 

Further,  as  to  what  concerns  the  speculative  proof  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  Wiclif,  it  is  true,  devotes  to  it 
much  attention.  In  the  Trialogus,  the  sophistical  opponent 
Pseustes  censures  it  as  an  undue  pretension  of  the 
reason,    and   as    an   injury  done  to  faith  and  its  exclusive 


DOCTRINE   OF   THE   TRINITY.  4o 

light,  that  80  specific  an  article  of  faith  as  that  of  the 
Trinity  should  be  proved  by  arguments  of  reason.io^  But 
Wiclif  himself,  speaking  in  the  character  of  Phrenesis,  ad- 
heres to  the  belief  that  the  reason  is  able  to  attain  to  a 
knowledge  of  this  truth.  He  finds  no  difficulty  in  main- 
taining that  Plato  and  other  philosophers  had  grasped  it. 
But  he  laid  particular  stress,  notwithstanding,  upon  the 
assertion  that  a  meritorious  knowledge  {meritorie  cognoscere), 
i.e.,  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity 
is  possible,  exclusively,  to  that  faith  Avhich  springs  from 
Divine  grace  and  illumiuation."^^  As  to  grounds  of  reason 
for  the  doctrine,  however,  Wiclif  remarks  that  it  is  self- 
evident  that  here  any  such  proof  of  the  "  why  "  is  out  of 
the  question,  and  that  only  the  "  that " — the  Divine  fact 
itself — can  admit  of  such  proof ;  in  other  words,  the  Divine 
Trinity  cannot  possibly  be  grasped  and  proved  from  its 
relation  to  any  cause  higher  than  itself,  because  God  Him- 
self is  the  highest  and  last  cause ;  rather  this  truth  can  only 
be  proved  from  facts  wdiich  are  the  effects  wrought  by  the 
Triune  God.^^'^  But  when  we  look  more  narrowly  at  the 
proofs  themselves,  which  Wiclif  partly  indicates  and  partly 
states  at  length,  we  find  that  they  are  merely  the  same 
which  were  first  brought  forward  by  Augustin  in  his  great 
work  on  the  Trinity,  founded  upon  natural  analogies — upon 
memory,  cognition,  will,  and  the  like,  and  which  among  the 
scholastics  had  already  been  appropriated  to  his  own  use 
by  Auselm  in  his  Ifonologium. 

As  already  observed,  Wiclif  interests  himself  much  the 
most  in  the  idea  of  God  the  Son  as  the  Logos.  For  in 
this  idea  of  the  Logos  lies  at  the  same  time  the  Wiclif 
doctrine  of  ideas ;  in  other  words,  the  doctrine  of 
Realism.     The  Logos  —  the  substantive  Word  —  is  the  in- 


46  LIFE   OF   WICLIF.      ' 

elusive  content  of  all  ideas  —  of  all  realities  intelligible 
(capable  of  being  realised  in  thought),  and  is  thereby  the 
mediating  element  or  member  between  God  and  the  world. 
And  yet  in  the  Logos  both  the  God-idea  and  the  world-idea 
are  immediately  one.  We  need  not  wonder,  therefore,  if 
in  Wiclif  we  sometimes  stumble  upon  propositions  which 
graze  all  too  nearly  upon  Pantheism,  such,  e.g.,  as  the  pro- 
position, "  Every  existing  thing  is  in  reality  God  Himself, 
for  every  creature  which  can  be  named  is,  in  regard  to  its 
'  intelligible  '  existence,  and  consequently  its  chief  existence, 
in  reality  the  Word  of  God  "  (John  i.  3).  But  hardly  has  he 
used  this  language  when  he  becomes  conscious  that  this 
thesis  has  its  dangerous  side,  and  therefore  immediately 
guards  himself  against  the  conclusion  which  might  be  drawn 
from  it,  that  God  is  the  only  existence.  His  words  are, — 
"  But  this  gives  no  colour  to  the  conclusion  that  every  crea- 
ture whatever  is  every  other  creature  whatever,  or  that 
every  creature  whatever  is  God."  ^^^  Here  we  see  that 
to  give  support  to  Pantheism  is  not  at  all  his  meaning  or 
design;  and  if,  notwithstanding,  he  approaches  it  here  all 
too  closely,  it  should  not  be  lost  sight  of,  in  excuse  for 
him,  that  Augustin  himself,  in  whose  footsteps  he  treads 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos  and  that  of  ideas,  has 
not,  in  all  parts  of  his  works,  known  how  to  set  aside  Pan- 
theistic thoughts. 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  IV. 

94.  Wyclcet,  Oxford  1828,  p.  5. 

95.  Trialogus,    I.    c.    1-4,    p.    39-53.      Comp.    Lewald,    Theologisclie    Doctrin 
Wycliffe's,  in  Zeitschrift  fur  histor.  Theoilogie,  1846,  188  f. 

96.  lb.,  I,,  c.  4,  p.  50  :    Deus  est,  quo  majus  cogitari  non  potest ;  p.  49  :    Deus 
est  optima  rerum  mundi. 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   IV.  47 

97.  Trialogus,  I.,  c.  4,  p.  62  :  Deus  est  quidquid  melius  est  esse  quam  non  esse. 

98.  lb.,  p.  54  :  Non  solum  negative  sed  positive  couceditur  Deum  esse  infinitum, 
....  cum  Deus  habeat  positivum  perfectionis  in  istis  denominationibus. 

99.  lb.,  c.  5,  p.  53.     Comp.  Lewald,  as  above,  p.  196,  215  f. 

100.  lb.,  I.,  c.  2,  p.  42  :  Deus  est  maximae  potentiae  positivae,  etc.  ;  comp.  c.  10, 
p.  69  :  Sicut  Deus  ad  intra  nihil  potest  producere,  nisi  absolute  necessario  illud 
producat,  sic  nihil  ad  extra  potest  producere,  nisi  pro  suo  tempore  illud  producat. 
As  above,  p.  71  :  Omniijotentia  Dei  et  ejus  actualis  creatio  vel  causatio  adae- 
quantur. 

101.  De  Dominio  Birino,  III.,  c.  5,  MS.  1340,  fol.  30,  col.  1  :  phantasiantes  de 
Dei  potentia  absoluta. 

102.  Trialogus,  I.,  5,  p.  52. 

103.  lb.,  I.,  9,  p.  67. 

104.  lb.,  I.,  c.  2,  p.  42  :  Aeternitas,  quae  est  omnino  indivisibilis,  et  cum  sit  ipse 
Deus,  non  accidentaliter  sibi  inest,  nee  habet  prius  et  posterius  sicut  tempus. 

105.  Be  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  19.  Vienna  MS.,  1294,  fol.  62,  col.  2  :  Deus 
non  potest  mutare  sensum— vel  intellectum  suum,  sed  omne  quod  sentit,  intelligit 
.  .  .  aeternalliter  illud  cognoscit.  Wiclif  appeals  in  support  of  this  partly  to 
Holy  Scripture,  e.g.,  Mai.  iii.  6,  etc.,  partly  to  authorities  such  as  Augustin, 
Anselm,  Bradwardine. 

106.  Ih.,  c.  6,  fol.  19,  col.  3. 

107.  Trialogus,  I,  c.  6  f.,  especially  p.  59  f. 

108.  lb.,  6,  p.  54. 

109.  lb.,  p.  56. 

110.  lb.,  c.  7,  p.  58,  appljdng  the  Aristotelian  distinction  between  proofs 
which  come  to  a  htdri,  and  such  as  come  to  a  on,  or,  as  Wiclif  expresses  himself, 
demonstratio  propter  quid,  imd  demonstratio,  quod  est.  Comp.  Lewald,  as  above, 
p.  199. 

111.  Liber  Mandatoruvi,  c.  9,  MS.,  fol.  110,  col.  1  :  Omne  ens  est  realiter  ipse 
Deus  ;  dictum  enim  est  in  materia  de  ydeis,  quod  omnis  creatura  nommabilis 
secundum  esse  intelligibile  et  per  consequens  esse  principalissimum  est  realiter 
verbum  Dei,  Joh.  1.  Nee  ex  hoc  est  color,  quod  quaelibet  creatura  sit  quaelibet, 
aut  quaelibet  sit  Deus.     Comp.  Trialogus,  I.,  c.  3,  p.  47. 


Section  V. — Doctrine  of  the  World,  of  the  Creation, 
and  of  the  Divine  Dominion. 

From  what  goes  before,  we  may  already  gather  what 
WicHfs  views  will  l)e  on  the  subject  of  the  loorld ;  for  his 
ideas  of  the    attributes  of  God,  such   as    omnipotence  and 


48  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

omniscience,  could  not  be  otherwise  determined  than  by  hav- 
ing regard  to  the  things  of  the  world.  Thus  it  is  nothing 
more  than  what,  from  the  foregoing,  we  might  expect,  that 
Wiclif  declares  the  Creation  to  have  been  an  act  of  God 
which  was  remote  from  all  arbitrariness  of  determination — 
an  act  which  in  its  own  nature  was  necessarily  determinate. 
The  School  of  the  Scotists,  following  the  lead  of  Duns  Scotus 
himself,  conceived  of  the  Divine  Will  and  creative  work  as 
a  matter  of  freedom  and  of  unconditioned  discretion,  and 
maintained,  in  logical  consistency  with  this  view,  that  God 
is  able  to  do  nothing  except  what  He  does  in  fact ;  He  does 
not  choose  to  do  anything  because  it  is  the  best,  but  it 
is  the  best  because  He  chooses  to  do  it ;  and  God  might 
have  created  the  world  otherwise  than  He  has  created  it.^^^ 
In  direct  opposition  to  such  views,  Wiclif  takes  the  side  of 
the  Thomists,  and  maintains  that  it  was  impossible  for  God 
to  have  made  the  world  larger  or  fairer  or  more  rapid  in  its 
movement,  etc.,  than  it  is.^^^  Like  Thomas  Aquinas,  he 
lays  great  stress  upon  the  aphorism  expressed  in  the  Book  of 
Wisdom  (xi.  22),  that  God  ordered  everything  by  measure, 
number  and  weight.^^^  But  he  believes  that  he  discerns 
therein  not  only  a  fact  of  experience,  but  also  an  inner  law 
of  the  Divine  Will  and  creative  action,  according  to  Avhich 
they  are  free  only  in  this  sense,  that  they  are  at  the  same 
time  determined  by  an  inward  necessity. 

Still,  it  does  not  follow  from  this  that  Wiclif  meant  to  say 
that  the  existence  of  the  world  is  a  necessity,  that  God  must 
needs  create  the  world.  In  one  passage  the  only  thing  he 
says,  and  yet  with  a  certain  timidity  of  tone,  is  that  God 
could  not  for  ever  have  withheld  Himself  from  creating  any 
being,  because  otherwise  He  would  not  have  been  in  the 
highest  degree  communicative  and  good.^^^     At  all  events, 


GOD   AND   THE   WORLD.  40 

that  is  only  a  moral  necessity,  conditioned  by  the  goodness 
and  love  of  God — attributes  most  peculiarly  his  own.  But 
Wiclif  concedes  so  much  as  this,  that  every  creature  of 
God,  in  so  far  as  we  regard  it  as  an  intelligible  nature,  is 
as  necessary  and  as  eternal  as  God  Himself,  for  its  intel- 
ligible nature  is  coincident  with  God  Himself — with  the 
substantive  Logos. ^^"^ 

On  the  other  hand,  he  draws  a  sharp  line  of  distinction 
between  God  and  the  World  in  respect  to  their  mode  of 
existence.  God  alone  is  eternal,  immutable,  without  fore  and 
after.  The  World  is  temporal,  i.e.,  it  has  a  mutable  existence, 
including  in  it  a  fore  and  after.  Wiclif  posits,  besides,  as 
Albertus  Magnus  had  done  before  him,  a  third,  middling 
existence,  which  he  calls  a^vum  or  wvitas,  and  which  belongs 
to  pure,  spiritual  beings,  as  angels,  and  the  blessed  in  heaven; 
and  here,  too,  there  is  no  succession  of  time.  Hereby  cevitas 
is  distinguished  from  time ;  but  how  it  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  eternity  cannot  be  gathered  from  his  explanations.^^'' 
Still,  time  and  eternity  form  a  decisive  difference  between 
the  world  and  God.  "  It  is  one  thing  for  a  thing  to  be 
always,  and  another  for  a  thing  to  be  eternal ;  the  world  is 
always,  because  at  every  time ;  and  yet  it  is  not  eternal, 
because  it  is  created  ;  for  the  moment  of  creation  must  have 
a  beginning,  as  the  world  had.''^^^ 

Accepting  the  ideas  of  the  Aristotelian  metaphysics,  as  taken 
up  and  further  developed  by  scholastics  like  Thomas  Aquinas, 
Wiclif  distinguishes  in  the  Creation,  and  all  single  exist- 
ences, substance  and  form,  i.e.,  the  substratum  capable  of 
receiving  determination,  and  the  being  which  determinates 
it.  It  is  only  both  these  united  which  make  a  creature  to  be 
what  it  is  ;  and  these  three,  including  the  resultant  creature, 
answer  to  the  Trinity.  The  determinating  form  answers  to 
VOL.  II.  D 


50  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

the  Logos;  the  substantive  matter  answers  to  God  the 
Father ;  and  their  union  into  one  points  significantly  to  tlie 
communion  of  the  uncreated  Spirit.^^^ 

Instead,  however,  of  going  further  into  the  cosmology  of 
Wiclif,  it  may  be  more  worth  while,  as  this  cosmology  con- 
tains little  that  is  peculiar  to  himself,  to  learn  what  he 
teaches  on  the  subject  of 

The  Divine  Dominion. 
This  is  a  part  of  his  teaching  which  is  quite  as  characteristic 
as  it  has  been  hitherto  little  known.  The  latter  circumstance 
is  very  easily  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  works  to  which 
Wiclif  committed  his  views  upon  this  subject  have  not  only 
never  been  printed,  but  are  also  nowhere  to  be  met  with  in 
England,  and  have  come  down  to  us  in  the  Vienna  manu- 
scripts alone.  The  three  Books  of  The  Divine  Dominion  (De 
Dominio  Divine^  form  a  preliminary  work  to  the  great  theo- 
logical collective  work  of  Wiclif,  the  Snmma  in  Theologia ;  and 
in  the  repeated  perusal  of  the  books  De  Dominio  Divino  I 
have  received  the  impression,  that  we  have  here  lying 
marked  out  before  us  the  path  of  transition  by  which 
Wiclif  passed  over  from  the  philosophical  to  the  properly 
theological  period  f)f  his  life  and  authorship.  The  work 
itself  is  of  a  mixed  nature  —  metaphysical  investigations 
and  biblico -theological  inquiries  passing  over  into  each 
other.  The  author,  also,  has  a  special  value,  not  only  in 
scholastics  like  Anselm  of  Canterbury,  but  also  in  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church,  for  their  philosophical  reasonings  in  support 
of  Christian  doctrines.  The  preface  to  the  work  gives  occa- 
sion to  conjecture,  as  Shirley  was  the  first  to  remark,  thai 
Wiclif  began  it  not  long  after  his  promotion  to  the  Theolo- 
gical Doctorate.  120 


"  I)E   DOMIXIO    DIVING."  51 

The  question  is  an  obvious  one  enough,  How  came  Wichf, 
at  this  stage  of  his  development,  to  make  precisely  this  idea 
of  dominion  the  pole  of  his  philosophico-theological  thinking. 
I  am  not  able  to  give  a  direct  answer  from  his  own  mouth, 
but  from  certain  hints  and  indirect  proofs,  I  think  I  am 
able  to  gather  that  two  facts  in  the  history  of  his  century 
became  points  of  attachment  for  Wiclif  s  thinking,  and  served 
to  link  on  his  thoughts  precisely  to  this  idea  of  Dominion. 
One  of  these  was  the  struggle  between  Church  and  State 
which  took  place  on  the  threshold  and  in  the  first  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century — namely,  the  conflict  between  France 
under  Philip  tlie  Fair  and  Pope  Boniface  VIII. ;  and  then  the 
conflict  between  Emperor  Louis  the  Bavarian  and  Pope  John 
XXII.  These  conflicts,  the  first  of  them  especially,  disclosed 
a  new  turn  of  the  public  mind  in  Europe,  and  tui'ned  much 
more  upon  questions  of  principle  than  the  earlier  wrestling 
matches  between  sacerdotium  and  imperium  under  the  Emperors 
of  the  Staufen  race.  Men  were  much  more  conscious  now 
than  before,  that  the  question  in  dispute  was  whether  the 
State  should  be  in  subjection  to  the  Popedom,  and  the 
latter  should  become  an  absolute  world-monarchy,  or 
whether  the  State  or  sovereign  power,  within  the  sphere 
of  civil  life  and  affiiirs,  should  be  independent  of  the  Pope- 
dom. It  was  a  question  of  lordship.  It  had  to  do  with 
dominion. 

The  other  fact  was  the  collision  between  the  Papacy  and 
the  stricter  party  of  the  Franciscans,  which,  taken  along 
with  the  ecclesiastico-theological  investigations  which  took 
their  rise  from  it,  did  not  pass  away  without  leaving  traces 
on  Wiclif  Hei  e  the  question  in  dispute,  which  was  answered 
in  the  affirmative  by  Occam  and  others,  was,  Ought  the 
Franciscan  Order  to  be  poor  and  without  property  ?     It  was 


52  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

a  dispute  about  dominium,  in  the  sense  partly  of  personal  and 
partly  of  corporate  property  and  rule. 

These  facts  appear  to  have  led  Wiclif  to  take  the  idea  of 
dominium  as  the  kernel  or  germ  of  a  whole  system  of  thought. 
But  as  a  mind  of  deep  penetration,  he  took  a  more  compre- 
hensive view  of  the  subject,  and  treated  it  on  a  much  grander 
scale,  than  his  predecessors  who  stood  nearer  to  those  con- 
flicts in  actual  life,  and  had  therefore  investigated  the   ques- 
tions involved  with  a  much  more  direct   practical   interest 
indeed,  but  also  under  a  more  restricted  point  of  view.     For 
example,  the  representatives  of  the  State  idea,  or  the  side  of 
Philip  the  Fair  and  Louis  the  Bavarian,  contended  for  the 
autonomy  of  the  State  in  purely  civil  affairs.     But  Wiclif 
goes  farther,  and  recognises,  as  attaching  to  the  State,  both  a 
right  and  a  duty  even  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  Church,     He 
widens  the  dominiimi  of  the  State.     Again,  the  contention  of 
the  Franciscans  was  that  the  obligation  of  poverty  should 
be  laid  only  upon  the  monks,  or  more  strictly  upon  the  Men- 
dicants, and  should  be  stringently    enforced.      Wiclif  goes 
farther  in  this  matter  also,  and  would  have,  in  place  of  do- 
minion, a  ministry  of  humility  in  poverty  imposed  xx^on  the 
clergy  at  large,  upon   the  spiritual  office   in   general.      He 
takes  a  deeper  view  of  the  subject,    and   treats  it  with  a 
more  penetrating  insight ;  and  herein  he  went  in  opposition 
to    a    mental    pre-occupation   which    everywhere   prevailed 
in   the  Middle  Age.      Through    the   feudal   system   all  the 
relations  of   life  had  been  converted  into  forms  of  landed 
possession,  all  offices  into  the  form  of  fiefs,  into  a  sort  of 
territorial  property  and  subordinate  dominion}'^^     A  natural 
consequence  of  this  was  that  the  majority  of  the  masters 
of  Canon   Law  viewed   the  spiritual  office  as  a  dominion. 
Wiclif,    on   the    contrary,   recognises  it,  not  as   a   mastery, 


THE   "SUMMA   IN   THEOLOGIA."  53 

but  as  a  sei'vice.     In  his  view  it  is  not  a  dominium  but  a 
minister  ium. 

To  come  nearer  to  the  subject  itself,  the  plan  of  Wiclif's 
great  work  —  the  Summa  in  Theologia  —  comprehending 
twelve  books  as  the  main  subject,  besides  three  preliminary 
books,  is  laid  out  in  such  a  way  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
Dominium  forms  at  bottom  the  kernel  of  the  whole 
subject.  For  he  treats,  first  of  all,  in  the  three  pre- 
liminary books  of  the  Divine  dominion,  in  such  wise  that 
the  First  Book,  after  some  observations  of  the  most  general 
kind,  investigates  the  Subject  of  the  dominion,  or  who 
is  its  lord ;  the  Second  Book,  the  Object  of  the  dominion, 
or  upon  whom  it  is  exercised ;  the  Third,  the  Acts  of  the 
dominion,  or  wherein  it  consists.  In  the  Summa  itself, 
the  First  Book — the  Liber  Mandatorum  or  De  Preceptis — 
developes  the  rightful  foundation  of  all  human  dominion, 
viz.,  the  commandments  of  God.  The  Second  Book — De 
Statu  InnocenticB — defends  the  nature  of  tlie  dominion  which 
obtained  in  the  state  of  innocency  as  a  dominion  of  man 
exclusivel}"  over  nature,  and  not  over  his  equal.  Then  the 
next  three  Books,  III.-V.,  treat  of  Civil  Dominion.  And  not 
till  now  Wiclif  enters  upon  the  properly  ecclesiastical  terri- 
tory. The  Sixth  Book — De  Veritate  Scriptural  Sacrw — proves 
the  standard  authority  of  the  Bible.  Then  the  Seventh  Book 
treats  De  Ecclesia.  The  Eighth — De  Officio  Regis — handles  the 
question  of  Christian  Magistracy,  or  of  the  relation  between 
Church  and  State.  The  Ninth  Book — De  Potestate  Papce — 
illustrates  the  Roman  Primacy ;  and  the  three  last  Books 
treat  of  the  chief  evils  under  which  the  Churcli  is  suffer- 
ing, viz..  Tenth,  De  Simonia;  Eleventh,  De  Apostasia ; 
Twelfth,  De  Blasphemia. 

In      the     preliminary     work,    0/     the     Divine     Dominion, 


54  LIFE  OF   WICLIF. 

Wiclif  illustrates  first  of  all  the  Idea  of  Dominion  in 
general.  He  remarks  that  it  has  fonr  sides :  the  subject 
ruling ;  the  object  ruled  over ;  the  relation  of  the  ruler  to 
the  ruled,  or  wherein  it  consists ;  and  the  law  whereon  the 
rule  is  founded.  He  decides  for  the  following  definition, 
"Dominion  is  the  relation  of  a  rational  being,  in  virtue 
of  which  he  is  set  over  another  as  his  servant,"  ^^^  mani- 
festly an  unsatisfactory  definition,  if  judged  by  a  logical 
standard,  as  it  is  only  verbal,  not  substantive,  and  expresses 
ide77i  jj^er  idem.  He  then  gives  a  survey  of  the  different 
species  of  dominion,  according  to  its  subjects,  its  objects, 
and  its  foundations.  There  are  three  kinds  of  rational 
beings,  and  therefore  also  three  kinds  of  dominion — divine, 
angelic,  and  human.  There  are  also  three  different  objects 
of  dominion,  and  therefore  the  distinction  between  monastic, 
municipal,  and  kingly  rule.  And  there  is  a  like  difference  in 
the  foundations  of  dominion, — natural  law,  evangelical  law, 
and  human  law, — and  thus  there  is  natural  dominion, 
evangelical  dominion,  which  is  nothing  else  but  a  tninis- 
terium — a  service  in  love  in  the  stead  of  Christ — and  human 
dominion,  i.e.,  the  dominion  of  force  or  compulsion.^^^ 

No  dominion,  of  whatever  kind  it  is,  is  absolutely  eternal, 
as  it,  of  course,  must  first  begin  with  the  existence  of  the 
ministering  creature.  God  Himself  is  not  called  "  Lord  " 
before  He  has  created  the  world.  But  God's  dominion 
comes  in  immediately  with  the  creation,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence of  it.  To  uphold  the  creatures  and  to  rule  them  are 
prerogatives  belonging  to  Him,  on  the  very  ground  that  He 
is  Lord.^-^ 

The  Divine  dominion  excels  every  other  in  all  respects — 
in  virtue  of  its  subject,  inasmuch  as  God  in  no  way  stands 
in  need  of  the  creature  put   under  Him ;  in  virtue  of  the 


i 


SUBJECTIOX   TO   THE   DIVINE   DOMINION.  55 

ground  upon  which  His  dominion  rests,  viz.,  His  infinite 
power  as  Creator,  on  which  account,  also,  God's  dominion 
never  comes  to  an  end ;  lastly,  in  respect  to  the  object  of 
His  dominion,  as  the  creature  must  be  subject  to  God 
whether  he  will  or  not.^-'' 

Wiclif  also  takes  up  the  question  whether  the  service 
of  God  admits  of  a  more  or  a  less,  which  he  answers  in 
the  negative;  for  every  creature  is  the  servant  of  God,  in 
the  sense  of  service  with  his  whole  and  full  being.  Here, 
however,  he  remarks  that,  besides  such  beings  who  stand 
directly  under  the  dominion  of  God — the  individual  crea- 
tures— there  are  also  things  which  stand  under  it  only 
indirectly  or  mediately,  e.g.,  errors  and  sins.  These,  indeed, 
do  not  themselves  serve  God ;  but  the  persons  who  commit 
sin  and  are  the  slaves  of  sin  are  subject  notwithstanding,  in 
the  main,  to  the  supreme  God.  Wiclif  repeatedly  returns 
to  this  difficult  point.  In  the  chapter,  especially,  where  he 
enquires  into  the  extent  of  the  Divine  dominion,  he  enters 
into  a  very  full  and  searching  investigation  respecting  the 
relation  of  the  human  will  to  the  absolute  dominion  of  God 
over  all  which  is  and  comes  to  pass.^-^  This,  however,  is  not 
the  appropriate  place  to  enter  into  this  investigation.  We 
shall  find  a  more  suitable  place  for  it  below. 

The  Second  Book,  as  remarked  above,  treats  of  the 
Objects  of  the  Divine  Dominion.  Here  Wiclifs  realistic  view 
of  the  universe  comes  at  once  into  view.  All  dominion 
applies  to  what  is  created,  consequently  God's  dominion 
connects  itself  with  the  order  in  which  the  creatures  were 
made.  And,  as  being  is  created  before  everything  else,  so 
God's  dominion  has  first  of  all  to  do  with  created  being. 
God  has  dominion  over  the  general  at  an  earher  stage  than 
over  anything  individual  which  can  be  named.^-^ 


56  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

Finally,  the  Third  Book  inquires  into  the  single  acts  by 
which  dominion  is  exercised.  Of  these  there  are  sixteen,  of 
which  there  are  three  which  belong  exclusively  to  the  Divine 
dominion — creating,  upholding,  and  governing;  and  thirteen 
acts  which  have  a  relation  to  human  dominion,  while  some  of 
them  likewise  belong  to  God  and  the  Divine  government.^^*^ 

The  first  among  these  acts  is  the  act  of  Giving.  Wiclif 
treats  of  this  first ;  but  as  the  manuscript  before  me  is  in- 
complete, and  breaks  off  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  chapter,  he 
does  not  get  much  beyond  this  act;  for  in  these  few  chapters 
he  investigates  only  the  idea  of  Giving,  with  the  correspond- 
ing idea  of  Receiving  ;^-^^  also  that  of  Granting  and  Recalling, 
as  also  that  of  Lending  and  Borrowing.  Meanwhile  we  may 
console  ourselves  over  the  fragmentary  condition  of  this 
Book  with  the  thought  that  enough  of  what  is  characteristic 
is  found  in  what  of  it  still  remains  to  us.  Wiclif  begins  his 
treatment  here  with  the  observation  that  the  act  of  giving 
belongs,  in  the  highest  measure,  to  God,  for  God's  giving  is 
of  all  the  richest,  and  to  the  creature  the  most  useful — the 
richest,  inasmuch  as  God  never  gives  to  His  servants  any 
gift  without  giving  to  them  his  chief  gift — Himself.^^^ 

Further,  the  inquiry  respecting  the  kinds  of  granting, 
lending,  and  so  forth,  leads  up  to  the  idea  of  merit,  and 
here  the  author  lays  down  the  principle  that  merit  and  the 
means  of  attaining  to  merit  are  absolute  grants  of  God. 
He  is  beforehand  with  us,  awakens  us,  moves  us  to  the 
acquiring  of  merit.  But  from  this  again  Wiclif  deduces  the 
consequence,  not  to  be  undervalued,  that  no  creature  can 
merit  anytliing  before  God  unless  it  be  in  consideration  of 
congruity  (de  congruo)^  but  under  no  circumstances  in  con- 
sideration of  worthiness  (de  condigno).  To  this  negative 
proposition,  to  which  plainly  the  chief  importance  attaches, 


THE   IDEA   OF   MERIT   BEFORE   GOD.  57 

Wiclif  often  returns  afresh,  in  ordcsr  to  lay  special  emphasis 
upon  it,  and  to  prove  it  in  the  most  convincing  manner — a 
thought  in  which  the  evangelical  ground-truth  does  not 
indeed  come  purely  into  daylight,  but  still  comes  into  view 
in  some  degree.  We  shall  by  and  bye  refer  again  to 
these  ideas  more  at  length  in  their  own  place. 

In  the  doctrine  of  the  good  and  evil  angels  Wiclif  has 
little  that  is  peculiar.  He  accepts  the  Patristic  and  Schol- 
astic ideas  with  regard  to  differences  affecting  them,  e.g., 
the  difference  between  the  morning-knowledge  and  the 
evening-knowledge  of  the  angels — i.e.,  their  foreknowledge 
and  their  knowledge  from  experience.  He  attaches  special 
imjjortance  to  the  occasions  of  various  kinds  which  are 
made  use  of  by  the  evil  spirits,  for  the  temptation  and 
seduction  of  men ;  as  well  as  to  the  conflict  with  the  powers 
of  darkness  which  at  the  end  of  all  things  will  take  the 
form  of  a  tremendous,  decisive  struggle  between  the  Church 
of  Christ  and  the  Antichrist. 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  V. 

112.  Comix  Erdmann,  Gundriss  cler  Geschlchte  der  Philosophk,  I.,  1866,  p.  424  f. 

113.  De  Dominio  Civiii,  III.,  c.  5,  MS.  1340,  fol.  29,  col.  1  :  Impossibile  fuissct 
ipsum  fecisse  mundum  majorem,  pulcriorem,  etc. 

114.  Trialoffus,  IV.,  c.  40,  p.  390,  and  De  Dominio  Civiii,  in  the  passage  just 
quoted  :    Christus  ponit  cuncta  in  mensnra,  numero,  et  pondore. 

115.  De  Dominio  {in  communi),  c.  7,  MS.  3929,  fol.  123,  col.  1  :  Concedunt 
quidam,  quod  Deus  non  posset  perpetuo  continei-e  non  producendo  aliquaiii  creatii- 
ram,  quia  tunc  non  esset  suinrae  communicativus  ac  bonus,  etc. 

116.  Trialogus  II,  c.  1,  p.  76. 

117.  lb.,  I.,  c.  2,  p.  79,  f. 

118.  lb.,  T.,  c.  1,  p.  76  :  Aliud  est  rem  semper  esse  et  earn  aeterualiter  esse, 
.     .     .     .      instans  creationis  oportet  incipere  sicut  munduui. 

119.  lb.,  II.,  c.  4,  p.  87. 

120.  Introduction  to  Fasciculi  Zizaniorum,  XVI.  f. 


58  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

121.  Augustin  Thierry,  Lettrcs  sur  Vkistoire  de  France,  7th  edition.  Paris,  1842. 
Lettre  IX.,  p.  148. 

122.  De  Dominio  Divino,  Lib.  I.,  in  19  chapters,  the  last  of  which  has  remained 
a  fragment  ;  at  least  this  applies  to  all  the  three  Vienna  MSS.  which  contain  this 
book.  Lib.  II.  contains  in  the  MSS.  only  five  chapters,  and  Lib.  III.  only  six  ; 
both  books  break  off  in  the  middle  of  the  treatment. 

123.  De  Dominio  Divino,  Lib.  I.,  c.  1,  MS.  1339,  fol.  1,  col.  2  :  Potest  dominium 
sic  describi :  dominium  est  habitude  naturae  rationalis,  secundum  quam  denom- 
inatur  sue  praefici  servienti. 

124.  Ih.,  I.,  0.  3,  MS.  1339,  fol.  5,  col.  1. 

125.  De  Dominio  Divino,  I.,  c.  2,  fol.  3,  col.  6.  The  observation  upon  the 
Divine  name  "Lord"  is  founded  upon  Genesis  ii.  2,  where  the  Vulgate  trans- 
lates the  two  Hebrew  names  which  here,  for  the  first  time,  occur  together, 
DTIpX  nin^  by  Do  minus  Deus. 

126.  lb.,  c.  3,  fol.  5,  col.  2,  f.  Comp.  c.  1,  fol.  2,  Col,  1  :  Quaelibet  creatura 
necessario  servit  l)eo,  ut  sibi  canit  ecclesia  :  "Serviunt  tibi  cuncta,  quae  creasti." 

127.  lb.,  c.  4,  fol.  9,  col.  2. 

128.  lb.,  c.  10,  14-18. 

129.  De  Dominio  Divino,  Lib.  XL,  c.  1.,  MS.  fol.  59,  col.  1.  As  the  author  at  this 
point  immediately  enters  more  deeply  into  his  favourite  doctrine  of  the  reality  of 
universals,  our  MS.  breaks  off  at  the  fifth  chapter  before  he  has  returned  to  his 
proper  subject.  Still  I  see,  from  the  commencement  of  Book  III.,  that  in  Book 
II,  he  had  treated  of  the  ideas  of  creation,  conservation,  and  government, 

130.  lb.,  Lib.  III.,  c.  1,  MS.  fol.  69,  col.  1. 

131.  lb.,  c.  1-3. 

132.  lb.,  0.  4-6. 

133.  lb.,  c.  3,  MS.  fol.  71,  col.  2 :  Deus  non  dat  suis  famulis  quodvis  donum, 
nisi  principaliter  det  se  ipsum. 

134.  lb..  III.,  c.  4,  fol.  78,  col.  2  :  Nulla  creatura  potest  a  Deo  mereri  aliquid 
nisi  de  congruo,  sic  quod  nihil  penitus  decondigno,  fol.  79,  col.  1.  Creatura  penitus 
nihil  a  Deo  merebitur  ex  condigno. 


Section  VI. — Doctrine  of  Man  and  of  Sin. 

In  his  treatment  of  the  Doctriue  of  Man,  WicHf  mixes 
up  an  extraordinary  amount  of  matter  which  is  either  of  a 
philosophical  kind,  or  entirely  belongs  to  the  natural  sciences, 
especially  anatomy  and  physiology — e.g.,  the  anatomy  of  the 
brain, ^^^  or  the  question   in   what  way   the   perceptions   of 


REDEMPTION   THE   KEY   TO   CREATION.  59 

tlie  senses  take  place.'^''  From  his  manner  of  speaking 
on  such  subjects  we  see  that  Wiclif  not  only  possessed 
extensive  knowledge  in  the  field  of  the  natural  sciences — 
on  the  scale,  of  course,  of  his  own  age — but  was  also  master 
of  a  sound  and  accurate  judgment  on  such  matters.  But 
this  is  not  the  place  to  take  notice  of  his  observations  in  this 
field,  and  as  little  of  his  philosophical  expositions  respect- 
ing the  distinction  of  a  double  soul  in  every  human  being ; 
concerning  the  mental  faculties,  cognition,  will,  and  memory 
(after  Augustin)  ;  and  touching  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.^^'^  We  hmit  ourselves  rather  to  what  is  important 
in  a  theological  sense ;  and  here  it  is  v/orth  remarking  that 
AViclif,  as  I  see  from  several  places  in  his  unprinted  works, 
finds  in  the  Redemption,  with  full  right,  the  key  to  the 
Creation ;  and  throws  a  reflex  light  from  the  eschatology 
of  Scripture  upon  its  anthropology,  in  holding  fast  to  the 
Biblical  idea  of  the  loliole  man  as  a  Unit  made  up  of  Soul 
and  Body.-'^s  tj^q  greatest  importance,  however,  seems  to 
attach  to  all  that  portion  of  his  treatment  of  "  Man  and  Sin'" 
which  belongs  to  the  moral  sphere,  viz.,  the  doctrine  of  the 
will,  the  question  concerning  the  Freedom  of  the  Will,  and 
concerning  Evil  and  Sin. 

In  reference  to  the  human  will,  Wiclif  lays  great  stress 
npon  its  freedom,  for  to  him  it  is  clear  that  the  moral 
worth  or  worthlessness  of  action  is  conditioned  by  the  free- 
dom of  the  will.  He  maintains  that  "  God  has  placed  man 
in  so  great  a  condition  of  freedom  that  He  can  demand 
from  him  absolutely  nothing  else  than  what  is  "  meritorious," 
{i.e.,  what  is  of  moral  worth),  and  therefore  under  the  con- 
dition that  man  performs  it  freely .^"'^  And  yet  Wiclif,  quite 
unmistakeably,  has  a  leaning  to  the  Augustinian  view. 
Among  all  the  fathers  Augustin   is  the  man  to  whom    he 


60  LIFE   OF   \nCLIF. 

is  at  all  times  most  iudebted,  to  whom  lie  renders  the 
profoundest  respect,  and  whose  disciple  he  was  held  to  be 
by  his  own  adherents,  who,  for  this  reason,  sometimes  gave 
him  the  name  of  Joannes  Augustini.^^^  Wiclif,  moreover, 
looked  upon  Thomas  of  Bradwardine — the  Doctor  profundus 
— as  a  teacher  with  whom  he  was  sensible  of  standing  in 
intellectual  affinity  ;^^^  and  manifestly  he  felt  himself  one 
with  him  not  only  in  a  general  sense,  in  virtue  of  his  zeal 
for  God's  honour  and  cause,^*^  but  also  in  his  fundamental 
view  of  the  all-sufficing  grace  of  God  in  Christ,  and  of 
God's  all-determining  will.  But  notwithstanding  this,  he 
is  so  fnlly  convinced  of  human  freedom,  that  in  its  defence 
he  places  himself  in  opposition  even  to  a  Doctor  'profundus. 
He  agrees  with  him,  indeed,  in  the  mam  principle  that  every 
thing  which  takes  place  takes  place  of  necessity,  and,  further, 
in  the  doctrine  that  God  co-operates  in  every  act  of  will 
in  the  sense  of  previously  determining  it  ;  ^^'^  but  notwith- 
standing this,  it  is  not  his  meaning  to  encroach  upon  the 
freedom  of  choice  of  the  human  will ;  in  particular,  he 
repudiates  the  conclusion  drawn  from  the  main  principle, 
that  if  any  one  does  an  act  of  sin,  it  is  God  himself  who 
determines  him  to  the  act  of  sinning. 

And  here  we  come,  at  the  same  time,  to  Wiclif's  doctrine 
of  eviL  In  every  action  he  distinguishes  two  things,  the  act 
of  a  being  created  by  God,  and  the  feelimj  from  which  the 
act  proceeds.  The  act  itself — the  doing  of  the  creature — is 
good,  and  is  determined  by  God,  who,  therefore,  so  far  co- 
operates in  producing  it.  But  the  feeling  from  which  the 
act  springs  may  be  a  bad,  ill-ordered  feeling,  i.e.,  morally  evil, 
sinful  feeling ;  in  the  production  of  this  Avrong  direction  of 
the  soul,  of  this  evil  condition  of  the  will,  God  in  no  way  co- 
operates.^^^     It  is   only  the  intention,  the  feeling  of  an  act, 


wiclif's  doctrine  of  sin.  G1 

which  makes  an  act  to  be  a  sin,  and  that  intention  or  feeling- 
is  not  from  God. 

It    is    the    distinction   between    snbstance    and   accident 
which  Wiclif  applies  here  to  the  subject  of  evil.^^^    "  Every 
action,"   he    says,    "  which    is    morally    evil,    is    evil    only 
accidenterr      But  evidently  this  investigation  of  the  -ques- 
tion is  not  of  a  character  to  solve  its  knots.     For,  first  of  all, 
there  is  a  multitude  of  actions,  e.g.,  of  deceit,  of  betrayal,  of 
malice,  in  which  a  line  of  distinction  can  only  be  drawn  in  a 
forced  and  artificial  way,  between  the  active  power  of  a  created 
being,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  bad  or  morally  censurable 
intention  and  feeling  of  the  act,  on  the  other.     But,  further, 
the  question  must  be  asked,  How  then  does  it  stand  with 
actions  which  are  moral,  pious,  and  well-pleasing  to  God  ? 
Does  God  co-operate  in  such  actions  only  to  the  extent  of 
aiding  the  active  power  of  His  creature,  and  not  also  towards 
the  production  of  the  pious  feeling  itself?     And  if  the  latter 
is  the  true  view,  viz.,  that  God's  co-operation  extends,  in  such 
cases,  both  to  active  power  and  feeling,  as  we  must  assume 
to  be  the  case,  according  to  the  words  of  the  Apostle  founded 
upon  by  Wiclif  in  another  place,  "  Not  that  we  are  sufficient 
of  ourselves  to  think  anything  as  of  ourselves"  (2  Cor.  iii.  5), 
then  arises  the  question,  how  it  comes  that  God  Himself,  in 
this  case,  awakens  and  determines  the  thoughts  and  feelings, 
but  does  not  do  so    in  the  other   case  %     And  either  there 
appears  to  be  a  marvellous  inequality,  if  not  arbitrariness, 
in   the  divine  procedure,  or  we  are  brought  back  again  to 
the    thought    that    God    wills    and  determines  ultimately 
also  the  willing  volition  of  evil  in  the  creature,  because  He 
determines  all,  and,  as  the  ultimate  cause,  is  the  Maker  of  all. 
This  is  precisely  the  point  on  which  Wiclif  consciously  and 
deliberately  departs  from  the  doctrine  of  Bradwardine.     He 


62  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

gives  a  decided  negative  to  tlie  view  held  by  the  latter,  that 
in  the  act  of  sin  there  obtains  a  necessity  which  excludes  all 
freedom  of  choice,  inasmuch  as  the  distinction  between  God's 
permission  and  His  positive  will  and  pleasure  is,  as  Bradwar- 
dine  alleges,  a  nullity;  and  the  truth  rather  is  that  God's  will 
precedes   every  action   of  man,  and  infallibly  determines  it, 
so  that  no  will  of  the  creature  is  in  itself  really  free.     Wiclif 
finds  here  in  the  Doctor  profundus  an  error  of  which  he  seeks 
an  explanation  in  a  false  antecedent  proposition,  viz,,  that 
every  volition  in  God  is  an  eternal,  absolute  substance.^^*^   The 
thought  that  God  Himself  works  and  occasions  the  evil  voli- 
tion in  the  soul  of  man  is  repugnant  to   the  feeling    and 
thinking  of  Wiclif,  not  only  on  the  ground  that  the  sinner 
would  then  be  in  a  position  to  excuse  himself  with  more  than 
a  mere  appearance  of  reason,  but  chiefly  on  the  ground  that, 
on  that  pre-supposition,  the  dark  shadow  would  fall  on  God 
Himself,  of  being  privy  to  sin  and  consentiug  to  it,  and,  there- 
fore, guilty  of  it.     Wiclif  says,  in  distinct  terms,  that  if  that 
were  a  correct  view,  every  murderer,  robber,  liar,  etc.,  would 
be  able  to  say  with  reason,  "  God  determines  me  to  all  these 
acts  of  transgression,  in  order  to  perfect  the  beauty  of  the 
universe."  ^•^''      But  it  is  precisely  such  blasphemous  conse- 
quences, so  dishonouring  to  the  holiness  of  God,  that  Wiclif 
intends  to  cut  away,  and  therefore  he  makes  a  reservation  of 
autonomous  freedom — not  absolute,  indeed,  but  relative,  and 
placed  out  of  reach  of  all  compulsion — to  the  innermost  sphere 
of  feeling  and  of  volition. 

With  this  result,  however,  in  reference  to  moral  volition 
and  action,  stands  connected  a  view  of  the  whole  world  of 
being  and  becoming,  according  to  which  evil  is  not  a  being 
but  a  not-being ;  not  a  positive  action,  but  a  defect  or  nega- 
tion.    This  idea  of  the  negativity  of  evil  Wiclif,  as  he  hints 


THE   NEGATIVITY   OF   EVIL.  03 

in  one  place,  borrows  from  no  less  ananthority  than  Augiistin 
himself.  And,  in  point  of  fact,  however  strongly  Augustin 
puts  forward  the  power  of  sin,  especially  in  his  controversial 
writings  against  the  Pelagians,  he  nevertheless  speaks  of 
sin  in  other  places  as  having  only  a  negative  existence. 
Such,  in  effect,  is  the  significance  of  the  thought  that  sin  is 
only  an  occasion  of  good — a  thought  which  scholastics  like 
Anselm,  Albertus  Magnus,  and  others,  have  also  appropriated 
from  Augustin.i*^  g^^  Augustin  also  expresses  himself  in  the 
most  direct  manner  to  the  effect  that  sin  is  not  a  doing  but 
a  defect  or  omission  of  doing;  ^^'^  it  is  not  anything  positive, 
and  therefore  has  no  causa  efficiens  but  only  a  causa  dejiciens ; 
or,  otherwise,  it  is  not  an  affectio  but  a  defectio,  etc.  This 
doctrine  of  the  negativity  of  evil  was,  in  the  case  of  Augustin 
at  least,  a  consequence  of  his  internal  struggle  with  Mani- 
chfeism.  In  order  to  avoid  the  concession  of  an  independent 
existence  of  evil  in  opposition  to  God,  he  endeavours  to 
represent  it  as  a  thing  which  has  in  truth  no  real  or  substan- 
tive being  of  its  own — an  unreality,  a  nonentity. 

This  Augustinian  thought  Wiclif,  in  fact,  made  his  own. 
Even  in  the  pulpit  (in  Latin  sermons)  he  does  not  shrink 
from  setting  forth  this  speculative  doctrine  of  sin.  From  the 
saying  of  Christ,  "  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  to  them  they 
had  not  had  sin,"  he  takes  occasion  to  handle  the  metaphysic 
of  sin,  and  to  maintain  its  negativity  quite  in  the  manner  of 
Augustin. ^'^i  He  expresses  the  same  thought  both  in  his 
earlier  and  later  writings.  For  example,  in  his  work,  De 
JJominio  Divino,  he  lays  stress  upon  the  assertion  that  sin, 
as  such,  is  a  defect,  a  want,  not  something  positive ;  ^-  and  in 
the  Trialogus  he  repeatedly  takes  occasion  to  say  that  sin  is 
not  a  being,  but  a  non-being — a  defection  ;  ^^^  that  sin,  even 
original  sin,  is  only  an  occasion  of  good ;  ^^^  that  there  does 


64  LIFE   OF   \YICLIF. 

not  exist  an  idea  of  evil  or  sin  ^-'^  {7ion  hahet  peccatum  ideam), 
and  that  therefore  it  is  out  of  the  question  to  speak  of  sin 
being  caused  or  worked  by  God.  There  is,  therefore,  a 
putting  forth  of  God's  will  and  power  and  government  in 
respect  to  evil,  only  in  so  far  as  God  turns  the  evil  into  an 
occasion  of  good,^^"  partly  in  visiting  it  with  punishment,  partly 
when  He  takes  occasion  from  sin  to  institute  salvation  and 
redemption.  In  this  he  goes  so  far  as  not  even  to  shrink  from 
maintaining  that  it  is  better  that  there  should  be  a  law  (the 
law  of  the  flesh,  Rom.  vii.)  opposing  itself  to  God,  than  that 
the  universe  should  be  without  such  opposition,  for  now  the 
Providence  of  God  is  revealed,  and  His  glorious  power.^^'' 
Even  in  his  Sermons  he  is  not  afraid  to  give  expression  to 
these  thoughts ;  not,  indeed,  without  guarding  his  hearers 
from  the  misunderstanding,  as  though  it  might  be  lawful  to 
do  evil  that  good  may  come  out  of  it  (Rom.  iii.  8)  ;  for  in  the 
case  of  obstinate  sinners,  their  sins  serve  only  to  land  them 
in  unutterable  miseries,  and  to  the  redeemed  their  guilt  is  of 
benefit  only  in  the  sense  of  being  the  occasion  of  the  Mediator's 
fulness  of  grace.^^^ 

We  shall  only  mention,  in  brief,  that  Wiclif  treats  of  the 
state  of  innocence  in  Paradise,  of  the  fall  of  the  first  man, 
and  of  original  sin,  entu-ely  in  the  sense  of  Scripture  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church,  keeping  specially  close  to  Augustin. 
In  his  view,  Adam  was  the  representative  of  the  whole 
human  race,  which  he  already  carried  in  germ  within  himself 
— a  view  Avhich  lay  all  the  nearer  to  his  hand  the  more  deeply 
he  was  imbued  with  the  realistic  mode  of  thought ;  for  as  he 
regarded  the  genus  humanity  as  a  real  collective  personality, 
it  became  easy  to  him  to  see  represented  in  Adam,  the  first 
transgressor,  his  whole  sinful  posterity.^^^  And  yet  in  this 
matter  Wiclif  is  not  without  a  mode  of  thinking  which  is  pecu- 


THE   COXVEYAXCE   OF   ORIGINxVL   SIX.  05 

liar  to  himself.  Personality  stands  so  high  in  his  regard  that 
he  is  not  content  with  looking  npon  the  first  sin  as  the  col- 
lective act  of  the  whole  hinnan  race,  but  he  attempts  to  con- 
ceive of  original  sin  as  a  personal  act  of  every  individual 
human  being,  i.e.,  in  the  intelligible  sense.^*^*^  Further,  in 
intimate  connection  with  this  subject,  he  pronounces  most 
decidedly  against  the  doctrine  which  regards  the  semen 
generativum  as  the  bearer  of  the  self-propagating  j)eccatiim 
originale.  However  much  he  sides  with  Augustin  and  differs 
from  Pelagius  in  other  things,  he  has  no  difficulty  in  openly 
acknowledging  that  the  latter  has  proved  convincingly  that 
the  semen  generativum  is  not  the  conveyer  of  original  sin. 
Wiclif  himself  pronounces  with  emphasis  that  not  what  is 
corporeal,  but  the  mind  is  the  conveyer  of  it.^'^^  This  does 
not  rest,  indeed,  upon  any  original  reflection  of  Wiclif  him- 
self, for  Thomas  Aquinas  had  already  given  expression  to 
the  same  thought.^^^  But  it  is,  nevertheless,  a  fact  of 
some  significance  for  Wiclif's  character  as  a  theologian  that 
he  preferred  the  mental  to  the  corporeal  view  of  the  subject, 
and  that  he  laboured  to  place  above  everything  else  the 
moral  personality  of  every  individual  man. 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  VI. 

135.  Trialogvs,  II.,  c.  6,  p.  94. 

136.  Ih.,  II.,  c.  7,  p.  97  f. 

137.  Ih.,  II.,  c.  5,  p.  90  f.,  and  c.  8,  p.  101  f.  Wiclif  himself,  however,  in  his 
sennons,  does  not  entirely  avoid  entering  into  philosophical  questions  of  this  kind, 
t.rj.,  in  No.  XXIX.  of  the  Sermons  for  Saints'  Days,  MS.  3928,  fol.  57,  col.  4  f. 

138.  E.g.,  in  the  sermon  just  now  mentioned,  fol.  58,  col.  1. 

139.  De  Ecdesia,  c.  13,  MS.  1294,  fol.  168,  col.  3. 

140.  According  to  the  testimony  of  Thomas  Waldensis,  Doctrinale  Antiquitatvm 
Fidel,  I.,  c.  34,  Venetian  edition  1571,  vol.  I.  fol.  105,  col.  2  :  Sui  discipuli  voca- 
Viant  eum  famoso  et  elato  nomine  Joannem  Augustini. 

VOL.  II.  E 


()6  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

141.  In  the  De  Dominio  Dlrino,  MS.,  c.  14,  fol.  139,  col.  1,  Wiclif  calls  Anna- 
chanus  Archbishop  Richard  Fitz-Kalph,  and  the  doctor  profundus,  duo  praecipui 
Doctores  nostn  ordinis,  which,  I  suppose,  could  only  be  intended  to  mean  that 
these  were  men  with  whom  he  was  conscious  of  being  at  one  in  his  views. 

142.  "  De  Causa  Dei"  was  the  title  which  Bradwardine  gave  to  his  principal 
work.     Comp.  p.  230  f.  above. 

143.  De  Dominio  Divino,  I.,  c.  14,  fol.  139,  col.  1 — a  passage  in  which  Wiclif 
entirely  follows  Bradwardiue's  course  of  thought. 

144.  Obliquitas  animi,  malitia  voluntatis.  De  Dominio  Divi^io,  I.,  c.  14,  f.  139, 
col.  2. 

145.  Jb.,  Omnis  actus — malus  moraliter  est  accidenter  solum  malus. 

146.  lb.,  c.  16,  fol.  144,  col.  1.  He  begins  by  remarking  that  this  subject  is  one 
of  those  things  which  are,  according  to  2  Peter  iii.  16,  hard  to  be  understood,  and 
that  not  all  the  Doctors  had  entertained  right  notions  about  it  :  Ideo  restat  ulte- 
rius  declarandum  :  si  ponatur  in  actu  peccati  necessitas  ultra  contingentiam  ad 
utrumlibet,  sicut  videtur  multis  Doctorem  j)rofundum  dicere,  ymo  quod  Deus  velit 
beneplacite  hominem  peccare  ; .  . .  quia,  ut  dicit,  omnis  Dei  permissio,  est  ejus  bene- 
placitum,  cum  tam  potens  dominus  non  permittit  aliquod  (aliud,  MS.  1339)  nee 
aliqualiter,  quod  non  placet.  Maximum  autem  fundaraentum  in  ista  materia  est 
de  actu  volitionis  divinae,  quod  non  subsequitur  sed  praecedit  naturaliter  quemlibet 
actum  vel  effectum  ...  Ex  isto  quidem  videtur  sibi  (Thomas  Bradwardine)  libro 
III.,  4  capitulo,  quod  omnis  actus  est  inevitabilis  creaturae,  et  per  consequens  nulla 
volitio  creata  est  pure  libera  (per  se  pure  libera,  MS.  1339).  Nee  mirum,  si  variet 
ab  aliis  in  ista  materia,  quia  III.  libro,  c.  6,  ponit  quotlibet  volitiones  in  Deo  esse 
aetemas  essentias  absolutas.  Ideo  cum  modicus  error  in  principio  (prime,  MS. 
1339)  scilicet  in  quaestione,  quid  est  (quidem,  MS.  1339)  hujusmodi  voluntatum, 
facit  variationem  maximam  in  opinione  de  i^assionibus  communiter  ;  non  mirum,  si 
variet  a  sapientibus,  qui  ponunt,  omnes  volitiones  hujusmodi  non  esse  absolutas 
substantias,  etc.  And  here  he  names  Thomas  (of  Aquino  I.,  Pars  Summae,  Quaest. 
15  and  16),  the  Doctor  subtilis  (Duns  Scotus)  as  well  as  Dominus  Ardmachanus, 
Lib.  xvi.,  c.  5,  De  quaestionibus  Armenoi'um.  In  the  following  chapter,  i/th,  he 
came  back  once  more  to  Bradwardine,  in  controverting  the  doctrine  maintained  in 
the  De  Causa  Dei,  II.,  c.  30,  of  the  inevitability  of  every  act  of  creaturely  will  in 
presence  of  the  Divine  will. 

147.  De  Dominio  Divino,  I.,  c.  15  ;  MS.  1339,  fol.  141,  col.  2  :  Deus  me  neces- 
sitat  ad  omnes  istos  actus  nefarios  pro  perfectione  pulcritudinis  universi. 

148.  Immediately  after  the  last  quoted  words  follows  the  reply:  Hie  dicitur, 
quod  creatura  rationalis  est  tam  libera,  sicut  creatura  aliqua  potest  esse  (licet  non 
pussit  ae(iuari  libertati  summi  opificis),  cum  sit  tam  libera,  quod  cogi  non  poterit 
(sic),  licet  tam  Deus  quam  bonum  infimum  (a  lower  good,  the  possession  or  enjoy- 
ment of  which  excites  desire)  ipsam  necessitare  poterit  ad  volendum.  Comp.  c.  18, 
fol.  151,  col.  2.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripiurae,  c.  23,  MS.  1294,  fol.  76,  col.  4.  Cum 
praedestinatione  et  praescientia  stat  libertas  arbitrii. 

149.  Augustinus,  De  Libera  Arbitrio,  III.,  13.  0pp.  Tenet,  1729.,  I.,  625  f.  En- 
chiridion, c.  ii.      Quid  est  aliud  quod  natura  dicitur  nisi  privatio  boni.     Comj). 


XOTES    TO    SECTION'    \l.  (w 

Auselini,  Cant,  tract.  De  conconlia  praescientiae  et  praedestiiiatiouis  .  .  .  cum  lioero 
arbitrio,  Qu.  I.,  c.  7.     Alberti  Magni,  Summa  Theol.,  Tract  VI. 

150.  Augustinus,  De  Civitate  Dei,  XII.,  7.    0pp.,  Tom.  VII.,  Venet.  1732,  306. 

151.  In  the  30th  of  his  Sermons  for  Saints'  Days,  MS.  3928,  fol.  60,  col.  2  :  Non 
habet  caiisam  nisi  in  quantum  sapit  bonum,  sicut  non  dicitur  esse,  sed  potius  de- 
esse  secundum  aliam  rationem.  .  .  .  Nee  valet  excusatio  capta  a  beato  Augustino, 
quod  peccatum  non  habet  causam  efficientem  sed  deficientem. 

152.  De  Dominio  Divino,  I.,  c.  14,  MS.  1339,  fol.  40,  col.  1:  Secus  est  de  effectu 
et  defectu  secundum  conditiones  oppositas  :  nam  omnis  effectus,  in  quantum  hujus- 
modi,  placet  Deo  secundum  Esse  primum,  quamvis  secundum  Deesse  .  .  .  siln 
displiceat. 

153.  Trialogus,  I.,  o.  10,  p.  71  :  Peccatum.  quod  est  defectus  hominis,  etc. 

154.  Ih.,  c.  11,  p.  74  ;  III.,  22,  p.  205.     Comp.  III.,  26,  p.  222. 

155.  lb.,  I.,  c.  9,  p.  67.  Non  habet  peccatum  ideam,  cf.,  c.  11,  p.  74.  Cum  pec- 
cati  non  sit  idea,  etc.  Comp.  Lewald,  Zeitsc/irift  filr  historische  Thcologie,  1846, 
p.  217. 

156.  Ih.,  lil.,  c.  22,  p.  205  :  Creatura  mala  facit  defectum,  dd  quo  Deus  facit 
gratiose  bonum.     Comp.  c.  4,  p.  141. 

157.  Liber  Mandatorum  sive  Decalogus,  c.  5.  MS.  1339,  fol.  100,  col.  2  : 
Melius  est,  esse  legem  Deo  adversantem,  ad  manifestandam  ejus  providentiam  et 
gloriosam  potentiam,  quam  esse,  quod  tota  universitas  sine  repugnantia  fundaretur. 

158.  Miscel.  Sermons,  No.  XXV.  ;  MS.  3928,  fol.  234,  col.  3. 

159.  Trialorjus,  III.,  c.  24-26. 

160.  lb.,  III.,  26,  p.  220.  Quilibet  ex  traduce  descendens  a  primo  homine  in 
principio  suae  originis  habet  proprium  peccatum  originale,  etc.  Comp.  Lewald, 
in  Zcitschrift  far  historische  Theologie,  1846,  231  f.,  517  f. 

161.  Ih.,  221:  Ideo,  sicut  bene  probat  Pelagius,  peccatum  originale  non  in  illo 
semine  subjectatur,  quamvis  illud  semen  sit  signum  vel  occasio  sic  peccandi ;  .  .  . 
patet,  quod  .  .   .  peccatum  illud  in  spiritu  subjectatur. 

162.  Thomas  Aquinas,  Samnia,  Secundae  Pars  I.,  Qu.  S3,  Art.  1,  ed.  Venet., 
1478.     Comp.  Lewald,  as  above,  p.  517. 


Section  VII. —  Doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Chrut  and  the 
Work  of  Redemption. 

WiCLiP  speaks  of  the  person  of  Christ  as  the  God-man  on 
innumerable  occasions,  and  he  takes  occasion  to  do  so  when 
treating  of  the  most  different  points  of  the  Christian  doc- 
trine and  hfe.  But  all  his  enquiries  into  the  personality 
of  the  Redeemer,  divine  and  human  in  one,  in  so  far  as  they 


68  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

are  of  a  doctrinal  cliaracter,  suffer  under  a  certain  monotony 
and  stiffness.  He  simply  repeats  in  a  stereotyped  fasliion 
the  traditional  Christology  of  the  Church,  along  with  the 
proofs  alleged  in  support  of  it  by  the  Fathers  and  the 
Scholastics.  But  of  profound  original  reflection  on  the 
godly  mystery  we  find  no  trace ;  his  thought  upon  it  never 
flows  in  the  channel  of  speculation. 

Wiclif  emphasises  the  truth  that  C-hrist  was  a  true  Man, 
that  He  is,  in  fact,  our  Brother;  and  he  defends  the  doctrine 
of  the  true  humanity  of  the  Eedeemer  against  dialectical 
objections.^*'^  On  the  other  side,  he  bears  testimony  to  the 
true  Godhood  of  Christ  as  the  Logos  on  so  many  occasions, 
not  only  in  sermons  but  also  in  treatises,  both  scientific  and 
practical,  that  it  hardly  seems  necessary  to  adduce  single 
passages  in  j)roof  of  the  statement.  It  will  suffice  to  men- 
tion that  Wiclif  maintains  with  all  distinctness  the  pre- 
existence  of  Christ,  the  eternity  of  His  personal  Being.^*^^ 
And  further,  the  idea  of  the  incarnation  of  God,  the  union 
of  both  natures  in  the  one  person  of  the  God-man,  as  well 
as  all  questions  respecting  the  possibility  and  necessity 
of  the  incarnation,  were  all  taken  up  into  his  sytem  by  Wiclif 
entirely  in  the  form  in  which  they  had  been  settled  in  the 
course  of  the  Christological  contests  of  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centm-ies,  and  in  which  they  had  been  speculatively  carried 
out  by  Augustin,  Anselm  of  Canterbury,  and  others.i'55  Qn 
these  points,  and  all  which  stands  m  connection  with  them, 
\ve  are  not  able  to  discover  anything  characteristic  or  peculiar 
in  his  mode  of  thought  or  treatment. 

And  yet  Wiclif's  Christology  has  one  remarkable  distinctive 
feature,  viz.,  that  he  always  and  everywhere  lays  the  utmost 
possible  emphasis  upon  the  incomparable  grandeur  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  only  mediator  between  God  and  men,  as  the 


THE  INCOMPARxVBLE   GRANDEUR   OF   JESUS   CHRIST.  69 

centre  of  humanitj,!*^*^  and  our  one  only   Head.     He  is  in 
truth    quite    inexhaustible    iu    the    task    of    bringing   these 
truths  into    full    expression   by  means    of  the    most   mani- 
fold ideas  and  figurative  illustrations.     He  loves  especially 
to   set   forth   Christ   as   the   centre    of  humanity.      In   the 
passages  of  his  festival  sermons,  referred  to  below,  he  says, 
Christ    in    His    Godhood    is    an    intelligible    circle,    whose 
centre  is   everywhere,   and  its  circumference  nowhere.      In 
His  Manhood  He  is  everywhere  in  the  midst  of  His  Church ; 
and  as  from  every  point  of  a  circle  a  straight  line  reaches 
the  centre,  so  the  Christian   Pilgrim,  in  whatever  position 
of  life  he  may  find  himself,  reaches  straight  to  Christ  Him- 
self as  the  centre ;  whereas  the  modern  Sects  (the  Mendicant 
Orders)    find   themselves,  so  to    speak,  as  the   angles    of  a 
straight-lined  figure,  outside  the  circumference  of  those  who 
are  in  a  state  of  salvation.     Wiclif  also  makes  use  of  the  most 
manifold   thoughts  and  figures   to  express  the   truth,  that 
Christ  is  the  one  incomparable  Head  of  redeemed  humanity. 
He    chooses    his   expressions   for    this   purpose    sometimes 
from   the   secular    and   political,    and   sometimes   from    the 
spiritual    and    ecclesiastical    sphere.      Thus,   in    a    sermon 
preached    on  All  Saints'  Day,    he  calls   Christ   the  best  of 
conquerors,   who    teaches   his   soldiers    how   to    conquer  a 
kingdom  for  Him  by  patience.^*^''     In  like  manner,  he  calls 
Him   "  our   Cesar,"   "  Cesar   always  Augustus,"  etc.^''^      His 
figure  of  a  Giant  marching  forward  with  joy  upon  his  path, 
applies  also  to  Christ,  resting  originally  upon  a  Bible  pass- 
age   (Ps.   xix.    G),    and    allegorically    applied    long    before 
Wiclif's   day   {e.g.,   by    Gregory   VII.    in    his    letters),   but 
applied   by   Wiclif  with  a    special    preference   to   the   Re- 
deemer.1^3     But  still  more    frequently  does    he    derive   his 
figures  and  descriptions  from  religious  and  Church  life,  when 


70  LIFE    OF   WICLIF. 

he  would  express  the  fundamental  thoughts  that  Christ  is 
the  true  Head,  and  the  only  authoritative  Superior  of  re- 
deemed, believing  men.  In  this  sense  he  calls  Christ 
"  The  Prior  of  our  Order,"  ^'O  or  "  The  Common  Abbot," 
"  The  Highest  Abbot  of  our  Order.''^'^  The  expression, 
in  like  manner,  is  borrowed  from  the  Monastic  sphere, 
when,  in  comparison  with  other  founders  and  holy- 
patrons,  such  as  St.  Francis  and  others,  Christ  is 
called  "  our  Patron."  ^"^  It  is  an  idea  borrowed  from  the 
general  constitution  of  the  Cliurch,  when  Wiclif  says  of 
Christ,  with  a  conscious  allusion  to  1  Peter  ii.  25,  that 
"  the  Bishop  of  our  souls  ^"^  and  our  eternal  Priest,  from 
whom  we  have  consecration,  is  one  who  far  surpasses  our 
Bishops  on  earth."  He  even  gives  to  the  Redeemer,  inas- 
much as  He  is  a  Royal  Priest,  the  title  of  Pope.^^^ 

But  not  only  from  human  ties  and  relations,  whether  civil 
or  ecclesiastical,  does  Wiclif  borrow  his  comparisons  when 
his  object  is  to  picture  forth  the  solitary  grandeur  of  the 
Redeemer ;  he  also  summons  to  his  aid  the  invisible  world, 
and  again  and  again  exclaims  that  Christ  is  the  Saint  of  all 
Saints.  This  description  rests  upon  the  passage  in  Daniel 
ix.  24,  where  the  promised  Messiah  appears  under  this  name, 
and  Wiclif  makes  frequent  use  of  it.^"^  What  he  means  to 
say,  in  doing  so,  he  developes  clearly  enough  when  he  goes 
on  to  remark  that  "  to  all  saints,  whosoever  they  be,  is  due 
remembrance,  praise,  and  veneration,  only  in  so  far  as  they 
derived  all  of  good  wliich  they  possessed  and  verified  in 
deed  and  suffering,  from  Christ  himself,  who  is  the  alone 
source  of  salvation ;  and  in  so  far  as  they  walked  in  the 
imitation  of  Christ.^'*'  In  accordance  with  this  is  the  judg- 
ment which  he  gives  on  the  subjects  of  the  invocation  of 
saints,   and  the  festivals  and   devotional   services  observed 


SALVATION   IX   CHRIST    ALONE.  71 

in  theii-  honour;  these,  he  says,  can  only  be  of  use  in  so 
far  as  the  souls  of  men  are  kindled  by  them  into  love 
for  Christ  himself.  But  it  results  from  the  multitude  of 
saints  whose  intercession  is  thus  sought,  while  yet  Christ 
is  the  only  true  mediator  and  intercessor,  that  the  soul  is 
drawn  away  from  Christ,  and  love  to  Him  is  made  weak. 
Id  all  this,  it  is  true,  there  is  nothing  set  forth  which  is 
new  and  important  in  a  scientific  and  dogmatic  sense ;  but 
the  devout  spirit  which  it  breathes,  and  the  whole  post- 
ure of  the  author's  heart  to  Godward,  enforces  a  truth 
which  is  one  of  the  most  decisive  weight,  "  that  there 
is  none  other  name  given  under  heaven  among  men 
whereby  we  must  be  saved,  save  the  name  of  Jesus  only; 
neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other."  Where  the  grand 
truth  of  ''  salvation  in  Christ  alone  "  is  so  consciously  and 
clearly,  as  it  is  here,  set  over  against  the  piebald  variety  of 
saint-worships.  Church-authorities,  foundations,  and  institu- 
tions in  which  men  sought  salvation,  side  by  side  with 
Christ,  we  find  ourselves  in  presence  of,  and  are  able  to  re- 
cognise, a  knowledge,  a  feeling,  and  an  action  truly  refor- 
mational.  And  undoubtedly  Wiclif  had  a  distinct  self-con- 
sciousness of  I'egarding  Christ  as  the  only  Mediator,  as  the 
alone  source  of  salvation. ^"^  Thus  he  lays  down  the  follow- 
ing principle,  that  "  If  we  had  Christ  alone  before  our  eyes, 
and  if  we  served  Him  continually  in  teaching  and  learning, 
in  prayer,  and  work,  and  rest,  then  would  we  all  be  brothers, 
sisters,  and  mothers  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ "  (Mark  iii.  35).^"^ 
He  looks  upon  himself  and  those  wlio  were  like  minded  with 
him,  as  those  who  before  all  things  seek  the  honour  of  Christ, 
who  contend  for  the  Grace  of  God  and  Christ's  cause,  who 
carry  on  a  warfare  against  the  enemies  of  the  Cross  of  Christ; 
in  a  word,  as  the  party  of  Christ.^so     ^n^l  when  "Wiclif,  as 


12  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

was  shown  above,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  and  on  many 
sides,  affirms  the  sole  standard  authority  of  the  Bible,  this, 
the  formal  principle  of  his  system,  ve7'bo  solo,  has  a  con- 
nexion of  the  most  intimate  and  essential  kind  with  its 
material  principle,  viz.,  that  "  Christ  alone  is  our  Mediator, 
Saviour,  and  Leader,"  not  only  in  itself,  but  also  in  refer- 
ence to  Wiclif's  own  personal  consciousness  of  the  fact  of 
such  a  connection.  For  to  him,  and  in  his  view,  Christ  and 
the  Bible  are  not  two  separated  powers,  but  in  the  most 
intimate  sense  one,  as  we  have  already  seen  above. 

This  characteristic  thought  of  Wiclif — Chi-ist  alone  the 
source  of  Salvation — rests,  indeed,  not  only  upon  the  idea  of 
the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  God-man,  but  quite  as 
much  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  icork  of  Christ.  Proceeding, 
then,  to  develope  Wiclif's  view  of  the  salvation-work 
of  Christ,  the  fact  immediately  presents  itself  to  us  that 
he  contemplates  Christ  in  a  threefold  character,  as  pro- 
})het,  priest,  and  king.  It  is  not  properly  the  phrase  so 
current  among  ourselves,  of  the  threefold  o^^ce  of  Christ, 
which  we  meet  with  in  Wiclif;  but  his  representation  of  the 
threefold  personal  dignity  of  the  Redeemer  comes  in  sub- 
stance to  the  same  thing.^^^ 

1.  As  to  what  concerns  Christ  as  a  prophet,  we  meet  here 
again  with  a  one-sidedness  of  view  which  has  been  already 
mentioned.  It  is  that  by  which  the  Gospel  is  predominantly 
regarded  in  tlie  light  of  a  new  law,  and  Christ  accordingly  is 
seen  as  a  lawgiver.  Wiclif  indeed,  as  was  shown  above  in 
the  investigation  of  his  formal  principle,  knows  how  to 
place  in  a  clear  light  the  manifold  difference  between  the 
two  covenants  and  the  infinite  superiority  of  the  new  over 
the  old;  but  notwithstanding  this  he  places  the  Redeemer  in 
so  far  on  the  same  line  Avith  Moses,  as  he  holds  Christ  to  be 


CHRIST  AS  A  PROPHET  AND  TEACHER.  73 

a  lawgiver.  Occasionally,  indeed,  be  comes  very  near  to  the 
right  view,  but  almost  only  in  an  unconscious  way.  Thus, 
e.g.,  when  he  answers  the  question,  why  Christ,  our  lawgiver, 
did  not  deliver  the  new  law  in  a  written  form,  as  Moses 
delivered  the  old  one,  his  answer  is  threefold — first,  Christ, 
as  the  perfectly  sinless  One,  behoved  to  conform  his  life  to 
the  state  of  unfallen  innocence,  in  which  men  knew  and 
fulfilled  God's  will  in  a  purely  natural  way,  without  the  help 
of  writing  or  paper;  secondly,  his  work  was,  in  the  power 
of  his  Godhood,  to  write  the  commandments  of  life  upon 
the  inner  man  created  after  His  own  image ;  and  thirdly, 
if  Christ  had  occupied  himself  with  the  business  of  a  written 
record,  the  holy  Evangelists  would  never  have  undertaken 
to  write,  and  they  would  not  in  particular  have  accomplished 
that  miracle  of  unity  in  so  great  diversity  (concordia  tante 
distantium)  which  we  see  in  their  narratives.-'®^ 

When,  however,  Wiclif  designates  Christ  as  a  prophet  and 
teacher,  it  is  by  no  means  only  His  spoken  word  that  he  has 
in  his  eye,  but  also  quite  as  much  the  Example  which  He 
exhibited  in  His  actions  and  suff'erings;  for,  as  he  observes, 
"  the  works  of  Christ  are  the  best  interpreters  of  His  law,^^^ 
and  all  the  doings  of  Christ  are  an  instruction  for  us."  ^^^  It 
is  on  these  grounds  that  he  demands  that  the  life  of  Christ 
should  be  placed  before  the  eyes  of  men  of  all  classes,  in 
schools,  in  sermons,  and  in  churches,^^'^  because  it  is  a  life 
which  concerns  every  man,  and  is  known  to  the  whole 
Church  as  a  city  set  on  a  hill.  To  mention  here  shortly  only 
one  particular,  Wiclif  is  accustomed  to  hold  uj?  with  special 
preference  one  feature  of  the  character  of  Jesus,  His 
humility  and  gentleness,  and  another  from  the  history  of 
His  life.  His  poverty.  In  one  of  his  sermons  he  remarks  that 
it  is  to  Christ  that  men  must  look  for  a  perfect  example,  for 


74  LIFE    OF   WICLIF. 

"  He   is   our  siuless  Abbot ;   whereas  the    saints,    even   the 

Apostles  Peter,  Paul,  John,  and  the  rest,  were  not  free  from 

sin,  and  error,   and  foolishness,  as  we  know  from  Scripture 
itself."  186 

Here  we  may  be  allowed  to  add  what  was  Wiclif's 
manner  of  thinking  respecting  the  holy  Virgin.  In  his 
sermons  preached  on  the  Festivals  of  Mary,  he  could  not  do 
otherwise  than  speak  of  her.  On  the  Festival  of  the  Puri- 
fication, Wiclif  touches  the  question  whether  she  was 
absolutely  without  sin,  and  he  speaks  in  the  close  to  this 
effect — that  in  no  case  is  it  necessary  to  salvation  to  believe 
that  Mary  was  free  from  original  and  all  actual  sin.  Yea,  it 
is  a  pharisaic  folly  to  contend  so  much  upon  such  a  question. 
The  most  advisable  course  is  not  to  give  any  categorical  de- 
cision upon  either  of  the  two  sides.  His  own  personal  view 
is  that  the  holy  Virgin  was  prohahly  without  sin.^'^''  From  this 
it  appears  evident  enough  that  Wiclif,  who  acknowledges 
clearly  and  emphatically  the  siulessness  of  the  Kedeemer, 
was  at  least  not  disposed  to  recognise  the  siulessness  of 
Mary  as  a  matter  of  dogma.  In  a  sermon  preached  on  the 
Festival  of  the  Assumption,  he  also  handles  the  ques- 
tion whether  Mary  was  taken  up  to  Heaven  corporeally, 
or  only  in  her  soul.  In  doing  so  he  weighs  the  reasons  for 
and  against  the  alleged  Assumption  in  an  unprejudiced 
and  cool  tone,  and  so  as  to  show  that  the  scale  inclined 
to  the  negative  of  that  opinion.^^^  He  remarks  that  God  has 
kept  such  things  secret  from  us  in  order  that  we  may  humbly 
confess  our  ignorance,  and  may  hold  fast  all  the  more 
earnestly  the  things  which  are  more  necessary  to  the  faith. 

2.  Christ  as  "  everlasting  Priest "  (Heb.  vii.),  and  the  power 
of  His  reconciliation,  Wiclif  commends  with  a  warmth  alto- 
gether peculiar.     He  never  fails  to  lay  a  simple  and  truly 


CHRIST    AS   "  EVERLASTING    PRIEST."  75 

duvout  emphasis  upon  Christ's  Passion.  In  a  Passion  sermon 
he  remarks  tliat  Christ  is  saying  every  day  in  onr  hearts — 
"  This  I  suffered  for  thee,  Avhat  dost  thou  suffer  for  me  ?  "  ^''" 
And  peciiharly  worthy  of  notiee  is  what  he  says  of  tlie 
infinite  power  and  eternal  importance  of  the  Passion 
of  Christ  and  the  ReconciHation  accomplished  by  Him. 
Again  and  again  he  affirms  that  the  effect  of  the  pas- 
sion of  Christ  extends  as  well  to  later  ages  as  to 
the  ages  preceding  it,  and  therefore  reaches  forwards 
to  the  world's  end,  and  backwards  to  the  world's  beginning. 
And  were  this  not  so,  then  never  would  a  single  member 
of  the  human  family  since  the  fall  of  the  first  man  have 
become  morally  righteous  or  a  saved  man.^-'^  No  one  can  be 
saved  unless  he  is  washed  in  the  blood  of  Christ  (Rev.  i.  5). 
The  blood  of  Christ,  in  virtue  of  His  spiritual  nature,  is  so 
constituted  that  it  penetrates  to  the  kernel  of  the  mind  and 
purifies  it  from  sin  both^"^  original  and  actual.  The  bound- 
less power  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  Wiclif  describes  in  such 
terms  as  to  say  that  it  is  enough  for  the  redemption  of  many 
worlds ;  ^'-'^  and  he  places  the  state  of  grace,  which  has  its 
ground  in  the  redemption  of  Christ,  higher  than  the  state 
of  innocence  in  Paradise.  Christ,  he  affirms,  has  gained 
more  for  mankind  than  Adam  lost.^'''* 

This,  however,  is  to  be  understood  only  of  the  intensive 
])oioer  of  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ,  not  of  the  extensive 
reach  of  the  reconciliation.  For  Wiclif,  quite  in  Augustiu's 
manner,  limits  the  work  of  redemption  to  the  elect,  and  does 
not  fear  to  say  that  Christ  has  not  redeemed  all  men,  for 
there  are  many  who  shall  remain  in  the  eternal  prison  of 
sin^^^ — a  proposition  respecting  whose  unscriptural  character 
we  do  not  need  here  to  throw  away  a  single  word. 

Only  one  point  more  may  still  be  mentioned  in  this  place, 


76  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

viz.,  the  continued  mediation  and  intercession  of  Christ, 
which  Wiclif  warmly  affirms,  on  the  ground  of  Scripture 
(1  John  ii.  1),  in  opposition  to  the  pretended  intercession  of 
the  saints.i^'5 

3.  The  dignity  of  Christ  as  "  King  of  kings  "  Wiclif  chiefly 
mentions,  in  so  far  as  he  deduces  from  it  the  duty  of  worldly 
rulers  to  serve  Christ  and  to  further  His  kingdom.  In  rela- 
tion to  which  he  calls  to  remembrance  the  fact  that  Christ 
more  than  once  made  use  of  His  royal  power,  when  in  His 
own  person  He  drove  the  buyers  and  sellers  out  of  the 
temple,  etc.^^^ 


Section  VHI. — Doctrine  of  the  Order  of  Personal  Salvation. 

To  the  question  concerning  the  personal  application  of  the 
salvation  wrought  out  by  Christ,  Wiclif  gives  the  same 
general  answer  as  the  Church-  doctrine  of  his  time  and  as 
Scripture  itself;  the  way  in  which  the  individual  becomes 
a  partaker  of  salvation  is  by  conversion  and  sanctification. 

With  regard  to  conversion,  Wiclif  recognises  that  it  in- 
cludes two  things — turning  away  from  sin,  and  a  believing 
appropriation  of  the  saving  grace  of  Christ ;  in  other  words, 
repentance  and  faith.  Repentance  he  regards  as  an  indis- 
pensable condition  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  of  a  real 
participation  in  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer.  He  acknow- 
ledges without  reserve  that  "  no  man  would  be  in  a  condi- 
tion to  make  satisfaction  for  a  single  sin,  if  it  were  not  for 
the  unmeasurable  mercy  of  the  Redeemer.  Let  a  man, 
therefore,  give  proof  of  fruitful  repentance  before  God,  and 
forsake  past  sins,  and  by  virtue  of  the  merits  of  Christ  and 
His  grace,  his  sins  have  all  been  deleted  and  done  away."^^^ 

But  the  repentance  which  he  holds  to  be  indispensable 


REPENTANCE   AND   FAITH.  77 

must  not  only  be  sincere  and  heartfelt,  must  not  only  have 
respect  to  sin  itself  and  not  merely  to  its  punishment,  must 
not  only  be  a  "  godly  sorrow,"  as  the  apostle  calls  it,  but  it 
must  also  be  a  "  fruitful "  repentance  ;  it  must  verify  itself  in 
an  actual  and  abiding  leaving  off  of  sin.  In  other  words, 
Wiclif  here  views  the  penitence  and  turning  from  sin  in- 
cluded in  conversion  as  one  and  the  same  with  the  work  of 
sanctification,  in  which  self-denial,  or  the  constant  avoidance 
of  sin  forms  the  one  side,  while  the  love  of  God  and  our 
neighbour  forms  the  positive  completing  side.  But  precisely 
this  blending  together,  without  any  distinction,  of  initial 
repentance,  Avith  the  subsequent  and  abiding  giving  up  of  sin, 
is  a  defect  which  Wiclif  has  in  common  with  the  teaching 
which  prevailed  in  his  time ;  and  this  defect  corresponds 
with  another  of  much  greater  moment  in  reference  to  faith. 

Passing  on  to  the  idea  of  faith  as  constituting  the  other 
side  of  the  work  of  conversion,  Wiclif  distinguishes,  as  had 
been  usual  since  Augustin  set  the  example,  a  threefold  use 
of  the  term.  By  "  Faith "  is  understood — (1),  The  act 
by  which  a  man  believes ;  (2),  The  condition  of  soul  in 
which  a  man  believes ;  (3),  The  truth  which  a  man  be- 
Heves.^^^  Further,  he  makes  the  distinction,  also  a  favourite 
one,  between  explicit,  or  conscious  faith,  and  implicit  or 
unconscious  faith  ;  meaning  by  the  latter  the  faith  which  a 
good  Christian  who  explicitly  believes  in  the  Catholic 
Church  in  general,  extends  to  every  particular  item  of 
doctrine  which  is  included  in  the  Church's  whole  belief.^oo 
When  now  we  hear  Wiclif  say  that  "Faith  is  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Christian  religion,  and  without  faith  it  is  impos- 
sible to  please  God;"2°^  or  when  he  lays  down  the  principle 
that  faith  is  the  primary  foundation  of  the  virtues,  and 
Tmbelief  the  first  mischief  which  leads  to  sin,  which  was  the 


78  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

reason  why  the  Devil  enticed  men  first  of  all  into  unbelief,-°- 
we  might  naturally  be  led  to  suppose  that  Wiclif  must  have 
grasped  the  idea  of  faith  at  its  very  kernel,  and  must  have 
understood  it  to  mean  a  heartfelt  turning  of  the  soul  to  God 
— a  most  inward  laying  hold  of  the  reconciliation  in  Christ. 
And  yet  this  is  not  the  case.  After  careful  investigation, 
the  result  which  I  have  arrived  at  is  this,  that  Wiclif  views 
faith  as  being,  on  one  of  its  sides,  a  knowledge  and  recog- 
nition of  certain  truths  of  Christianity,  and  as  being,  on 
another  side,  a  moral  acting  in  imitation  of  Christ  from 
a  motive  of  love  ;  whereas  that  element  of  faith  which,  to  a 
certain  extent,  forms  the  connecting  link  between  these 
two,  viz.,  the  heartfelt  turning  of  one's  self  to,  and  laying 
hold  of,  the  redeeming  love  of  God  in  Christ,  is  almost  over- 
looked and  overleaped.  For  in  places  where  Wiclif  de- 
scribes faith  more  closely,  the  kernel  of  it  appears  to  be 
something  intellectual  —  a  faith-knowledge,  which,  how- 
ever, has  for  its  consequence  and  fruit  a  course  of  moral 
action.  In  particular,  he  adduces,  as  a  proof  of  the  neces- 
sity of  faith,  the  fact  that  all  those  who  have  reached  the 
years  of  youthful  ripeness  are  obliged  to  learn  their  credo.^^^ 
And  in  a  connexion  quite  different  from  this,  where  faith  is 
his  subject,  Wichf  lays  it  down  as  a  principle,  "  that  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  salvation  that  every  Christian  should 
believe,  at  least  implicitly,  every  article  of  the  faith."-^*  It  is 
not  at  all  his  meaning  in  this  to  say  a  word  in  favour 
of  easy  belief  or  credulity.  He  is  much  too  sensible  and 
critical  to  mean  that.  Even  in  his  sermons  this  critical 
vein  reveals  itself 

Turning  now  to  the  other  side  of  faith,  Wiclif  evidently 
assumes  that  the  kernel  of  faith  is  a  state  of  feeling — a  moral 
activity — when,  in  accord  with  the  theology  of  his  age  and 


THE   KERNEL   OF   FAITH   A   STATE   OF   FEELING.  79 

agreeably  to  Aristotelian  metaphysics,  he  lays  particular 
stress  upon  the  /Ides  fo^nnata,  and  defines  faith  to  be  a  stead- 
fast cleaving  to  God  or  to  Christ  in  love  {per  amorem  cari- 
tatis  perpetuo  adhaerere).'^^^  In  so  defining  it,  VViclif,  hand-in- 
hand  with  his  theological  contemporaries,  passes  immediately 
beyond  the  moment  of  conversion,  and  takes  his  standpoint 
within  the  work  of  sanctificatiou ;  in  other  words,  he  mixes 
np  conversion  and  sanctification,  faith  and  works.  And.  for  ^ 
this  reason,  we  can  hardly  expect  beforehand  to  find  Wiclif 
doing  homage  to  the  Pauline  Reformation-truth  of  the 
justification  of  the  sinner  by  faith  alone.  There  are  not 
wanting,  indeed,  expressions  which,  at  first  sight,  graze 
upon  this  truth,  e.g.,  when,  founding  upon  Heb.  xi.,  he 
describes  faith  as  "  the  ground  of  the  justification  of  man 
before  God,"^°''  or  when  he  sets  forth  the  purposes  for  which 
faith  is  profitable,  as  follows  : — (1)  It  animates  all  the  re- 
generate in  the  path  of  virtue ;  (2)  It  wakes  up  and 
strengthens  pilgrims  to  do  battle  with  their  enemies ; 
(3)  It  covers  the  enemy  with  defeat.  And  here  it  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  Wiclif  grounds  the  first  of  these 
statements  upon  Rom.  i.  17,  and  Habakkuk  ii.  4,  "The  just 
shall  live  by  his  faith."  ^"^ 

But  the  nearer  he  approaches  to  the  truth,  it  comes  out  to 
view  all  the  more  unmistakeably  that  Wiclif,  in  his  estimate 
of  faith,  still  occupies  the  standpoint  of  mediasval  scholasti- 
cism, and  has  not  even  a  presentiment,  to  say  nothing  of  an 
understanding,  of  what  faith  was  to  the  mind  of  the  Apostle 
Paul.  In  the  perusal  of  his  writings  I  have  scarcely  met 
with  a  more  characteristic  passage  than  the  following,  which 
occurs  in  a  sermon  on  that  purely  Pauline  passage,  Rom.  x.  10, 
"  With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and 
with   the    tongue    confession    is    made   unto    salvation."  ^o^ 


80  LIFE    OF   WICLIF. 

Wiclif  remarks,  in  the  course  of  liis  sermon,  that  "as  life 
precedes  all  life  acts,  so  faith  goes  before  all  other  virtues. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Apostle,  in  Heb.  x.,  says,  in  the 
words  of  the  prophet,  '  The  just  man  lives  by  his  faith ; '  as  if 
he  would  say  that  the  spiritual  life  of  the  just  springs  out  of 
faith.  In  order  that  a  man  may  be  righteous,  it  is  necessary 
that  he  should  believe  what  he  knows.  And  as  faith  under 
favourable  circumstances  works  great  things,  inasmuch  as  it 
is  impossible  that  a  seed  so  great,  when  sown  in  fruitful  soil, 
should  not  spring  forth  and  work  to  good  effect,  it  is  for 
this  reason  the  Apostle  adds,  '  Confession  is  made  with  the 
mouth  unto  salvation.' "  Wiclif,  it  is  manifest,  failed  to  seize 
the  evangelical  idea  of  faith.  One  might  almost  say  that  in 
his  case,  as  in  that  of  other  scholastics,  as  Thomas  Aquinas, 
Duns  Scotus,  and  others,  the  very  organ  was  wanting 
which  was  needed  for  this.  He  has,  therefore,  no  faculty  of 
perception  for  the  truth  of  justification  by  faith  alone.  On 
the  contrary,  he  is  inclined  to  put  "righteousness  before 
God"  to  the  account  of  good  works  along  with  faith,  and 
for  this  reason  docs  not  even  deny  to  these  all  "  merit." 

This  leads  us  from  the  work  of  conversion  to  the  work  of 
eanctification ;  and,  on  going  more  closely  into  the  latter,  we 
come,  at  the  same  time,  in  sight  of  Wiclifs  fundamental 
thoughts  on  the  subject  of  morals.  And,  if  we  are  not 
mistaken,  his  ethical  system  is  worthy  of  a  more  careful 
study  than  it  has  ever  hitherto  received. 

To  the  question  respecting  the  highest  good,  summum 
honum,  Wiclif  replies  that  there  are  three  kinds  of  good, 
which  are  graduated  according  to  their  value  tlius : — The 
good  things  of  fortune,  which  possess  the  smallest  value  ; 
the  good  things  of  nature,  which  have  a  middling  value  ; 
and  lastly,  the  good  things  of  virtue  and  grace,  which  are  of 


J 


wiclif's  doctrine  of  virtue.  81 

the  highest  worth.^w  The  hig-hest  good,  then,  to  him  is  coinci- 
dent with  virtue,  which  virtue  is  conditioned  by  grace.  The 
good  things  of  virtue  are,  at  the  same  time,  the  good  things 
of  grace.  The  standing  in  grace  is  the  condition  of  Christian 
freedom,  and  freedom  from  sin  is  the  summit  of  all  freedom.^'^ 
In  the  standing  of  grace  the  Christian  has  a  right  to  all 
things ;  not  in  the  sense  of  municipal  right,  but  in  virtue  of 
grace,  titulo  gratioe?^^ 

Coming  up  closer  to  Wiclif's  doctrine  of  virtue,  we  have, 
it  is  true,  at  first,  the  well  known  old  song  of  the  five  philo- 
sophical or  cardinal  vu-tues,  righteousness,  courage,  prudence, 
and  moderation  (this  is  Wiclif's  usual  way  of  arranging 
them),  and  of  the  three  theological  virtues,  faith,  hope,  and 
love.^^^  But  still,  on  a  closer  examination,  ethical  ideas 
peculiar  to  himself,  and  characteristic  of  his  mode  of  Chris- 
tian thought,  are  not  altogether  lacking.  These  I  find  in 
what  Wiclif  says  of  humility  and  of  love.  In  humility  ho 
recognises  the  root-virtue ;  as  in  pride  he  discovers  the  first 
sin.  In  the  third  book  of  the  Tnalogus  he  gives  an  outline 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  his  ethics  (c.  i.-xxiii.).  In 
particular  he  treats  (c.  ix.-xxiii.)  of  the  seven  mortal  sins  and 
the  opposite  virtues,  and  there  he  places  pride  foremost 
among  the  sins,  and  humility  foremost  among  the  virtues. 
And  why  so  ?  Because  the  root  of  every  kind  of  pride  lies 
in  this,  that  man  does  not  humbly  believe  that  all  that  ho 
has  comes  to  him  fi:om  God.^i^  Pride  is  the  first  step  to  apos- 
tacy  from  God.  When  man  is  proud  he  is  guilty  of  an  implicit 
blasphemy,  for  he  denies  by  implication  that  he  has  any  one 
above  him  to  Avhose  laws  he  owes  obedience.^^^  On  the 
other  hand  humihty,  according  to  expressions  of  Wiclif  often 
repeated,  is  the  root  of  all  virtues.  It  is  even  the  root  of 
Christian  piety.  The  more  humility  a  man  has  the  nearer  is 
VOL.  II.  F 


82  LIFE  OF  WICLIP. 

he  to  Christ.  HumiHty — i.e.,  the  heartfelt  and  practical 
recognition  that  we  are  God's  servants,  and  that  to  Him 
alone  belongs  the  glory — is,  so  to  speak,  the  mild  atmosphere 
in  which  all  other  virtues  can  alone  grow  and  flourish. ^^^ 
This  view  of  humility  as  the  basis  and  root  of  all  virtue 
rests  unmistakeably  upon  a  religious  sentiment,  and  upon  a 
dogmatic  conviction  which  gives  to  God  alone  the  glory,  and 
which  sees  in  Christ  alone  the  salvation  of  mankind.  These 
ethical  thoughts  of  Wiclif  are  thus  a  mirror  of  his  religious 
and  dogmatic  individuality. 

The  proper  kernel  of  all  Christian  virtue  Wiclif  declares 
to  be  the  love  of  God  and  our  neighbour.  Without  love  to 
God  with  all  the  heart  and  all  the  soul,  there  dwells  no  moral 
virtue  in  man.  No  one  can  reach  the  blessed  home  without 
it;  it  is  the  wedding  garment  without  which  we  cannot 
stand  in  the  final  judgment.21''  Love  to  God  is  the  chief 
lesson  which  man  learns  in  the  school  of  the  virtues ;  and 
no  action  of  a  man  has  value  except  that  which  is  animated 
by  the  love  of  God  above  everything  else.^^^  In  his  treatise, 
Of  the  Ten  Commandments,  Wiclif  investigates  psychologically, 
in  the  hand  of  St.  Bernard,  the  different  gradations  of  the 
love  of  God ;  and  he  declares  to  be  the  highest  stage  of  it 
that  state  of  feeling  which,  in  virtue  of  a  certain  relish  of 
the  Divine  sweetness,  passes  beyond  all  created  things  and 
goes  forth  in  love  to  God  Himself,  purely  for  His  own  sake  ; 
while  there  is  also  a  love  of  God  which  seeks  a  recompense 
for  its  affection,  which  loves  Him  not  for  what  He  is  in  Him- 
self, but  in  view  of  reward.212  From  the  pure  love  of  God 
springs  the  love  of  our  neighbour.220  On  this  subject  Wichf 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  love  has  its  own  order,  accord- 
ing to  which  it  is  bound  to  love,  in  the  first  line,  the  members 
of  its  own  household,  etc.  (1  Tim.  v.  8).     But  honest  love 


THE   LOVE   OF   OUR   NEIGHBOUR.  83 

manifests  itself,  according  to  circumstances,  by  candid  remon- 
strance and  earnest  censure  (like  as  God  Himself  cliasteneth 
those  whom  He  loveth),  while  that  weak  indulgence  which 
allows  everything  to  take  its  own  way  is  nothing  else  but  a 
blind  love  and  a  false  compassion.^-i  The  principle,  that  the 
love  of  our  neighbour  should  begin  with  what  stands  nearest 
to  it  ("Charity  begins  at  home,"  according  to  the  modern 
proverb),  is  connected  with  another  held  by  Wiclif,  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  man  to  do  what  belongs  to  his  position 
and  calling,  be  that  calling  what  it  may.  The  more  faith- 
fully and  conscientiously  he  fulfils  his  nearest  duty,  the  more 
certainly,  in  virtue  of  a  certain  concatenation  in  things,  will 
he  be  useful  to  others  and  advance  their  welfare.^^^ 

I'his  thought  stands  in  unmistakeable  opposition  to  the 
one-sidedness  of  a  narrow,  monkish  mode  of  feeling  and 
thinking  on  moral  subjects,  which  considered  the  contem- 
plative life  and  seclusion  from  the  world  as  the  surest  means 
of  virtue.  Wiclif,  on  the  contrary,  sets  out  with  the  design 
of  restoring  the  active  life  of  the  Christian  man  in  the  most 
different  callings  to  its  true  moral  rights,  so  often  ignored  in 
his  day ;  and  how  he  did  this  in  respect  to  civil  life  and  the 
State  we  shall  show  below. 

But  when  the  question  is  put.  What  is  the  moral  standard 
which  the  individual  should  apply  in  any  given  case,  when 
he  is  concerned  to  know  what  is  well-pleasing  to  God,  or 
what  is  conformable  to  the  love  of  God  and  our  neighbour — 
we  are  pointed  by  Wiclif  to  the  example  of  Christ,  the  imita- 
tion of  which  will  lead  us  in  an  unerring  and  sure  path. 
Christ  says  to  us — "Follow  me,"  and  every  man  who  desires 
to  be  saved  must  follow  Him,  either  in  suffering  or  at  least 
in  moral  conduct.^^^  To  give  a  particular  instance,  Wiclif, 
taking  occasion  from  the  Gospel  concerning  "the  woman  that 


84  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

was  a  einner"  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  Pharisee,**^  deduces 
from  the  intercourse  of  Jesus  with  sinners,  rules  as  to  the 
way  and  manner  in  which  a  servant  of  Christ  has  to  carry 
himself  in  such  intercourse.  He  lays  down  this  principle, 
"  The  nearer  the  hfe  of  a  Christian  comes  to  Christ,  the  more 
rich  it  is  in  vu'tue.  It  follows  that  men's  departure  from  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion  is  owing  to  their  having 
too  high  a  value  for  many  teachers  who  stand  in  opposition 
to  Christ,  to  the  neglect  of  the  doctrine  and  example  of  the 
best  Master  and  Leader.  Manifestly,  Wiclif  applies  here  an 
ideal  standard ;  he  is  also  clearly  conscious  of  doing  so ;  at 
least  he  censures,  in  the  sharpest  manner,  the  practice  of 
attempting  to  reduce  at  pleasure  the  moral  standard,  and  of 
pretending,  e.g.,  that  the  commands  of  Christ  are  indeed  bind- 
ing upon  every  man,  but  not  so  his  counsels,  for  these  last  are 
obligatory  only  upon  heroic  Christians  like  the  saints,  but  not 
upon  people  of  an  average  sort.  Proceeding  on  such  an 
allegation,  men  would  extinguish  the  religion  of  Christ,  for 
then  every  man  might  set  aside  all  Christ's  counsels  together, 
and  maintain  that  they  were  not  binding  upon  him,  for  he  is 
one  of  the  weak.  Wiclif,  on  the  contrary,  lays  down  the 
principle  that  "Every  counsel  which  Christ  has  imparted  is 
binding  upon  every  one  to  whom  it  is  given."  ^^^ 

With  this  view  stands  connected  the  circumstance  that 
Wiclif  pronounces  a  moral  neutrality  to  be  entirely  inadmis- 
sible, yea,  unthinkable  :  "like  as  no  man  can  be  neutral  in  re- 
gard to  virtue  and  vice,  so  neither  can  the  life  and  walk  of 
any  man  be  neutral."  ^^^  He  rightly  looks  upon  the  moral 
character  of  a  man  as  a  complete  whole,  whose  prevailing 
trait  gives  its  value  to  every  single  feature  and  act — or 
takes  it  away.  Wiclif  is  far  removed  from  that  atomistic 
view  which,  as   in   the   instance    of    Pelagius   and   others. 


GOOD   WORKS.  85 

regards  every  single  act  as  au  isolated  phenomenon.  Ho 
prefers,  on  the  contrary,  a  comprehensive  way  of  looking  at 
the  subject,  which  recognises  the  connection  of  the  moral  life 
as  constituting  a  whole  made  up  of  many  parts.  "As  the 
earlier  drops  have  a  preparatory  effect,  and  the  last  drop  com- 
pletes the  hollowing  of  the  stone,  so  sins  which  have  full 
swing  in  the  middle  of  a  man's  life  prepare  the  way  for  his 
despair  at  last."  Wiclif  admits,  indeed,  that  any  one  may  do 
a  work  which  is  in  its  own  nature  good  {oj)Us  boniim  de  genere) 
while  living  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin ;  but  he  holds  that  in 
that  case  the  work  is  a  sin,  and  the  doer  of  it  even  incurs,  in 
the  act,  a  mortal  sin,  as,  e.g.,  when  a  parish  priest,  while 
living  in  an  unconverted  and  dissolute  state  of  life,  adminis- 
ters the  sacraments  correctly,  does  good  to  the  poor,  etc.,  etc. 
Not  only  what  a  man  does  is  to  be  considered,  but  how  he 
does  it,  and  from  what  feeling  and  motive.  Wiclif  is  fojid  of 
expressing  this  in  the  words  of  St.  Bernard,  "  God  recom- 
penses not  the  good  thing  which  is  done,  but  that  which  is 
done  in  a  good  way,  as  God  rewards  not  the  lohat  but  the 
hoio.^^^  And  from  this  it  fm-ther  follows,  that  every  pilgrim 
upon  earth  has  need  to  test  his  own  life  most  carefully  in 
reference  to  this  point,  whether  he  is  living  in  the  hope  of 
salvation,  and  has  a  standing  thereby  in  the  state  of  grace." 

After  this  survey  of  the  ethical  thoughts  of  Wiclif,  we 
return  to  his  view,  before  touched  upon,  respecting  the  way 
in  which  the  sinner  attains  to  righteousness  before  God. 
Bringing  all  he  says  together,  the  view  he  takes  amounts 
to  this — that  man  can  obtain  righteousness  before  God,  for- 
giveness of  sins,  and  hope  of  eternal  life,  only  in  the  way  of 
grace,  but  not  without  his  own  moral  work  and  sanctification. 
Now,  it  is  true  that  he  is  wont  to  express  this  in  a  way  which 
looks  as  if  he  had  stood  at  no  great  distance  from  the  delusion 


8fi  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

that  heaven  can  be  earned  or  merited  by  men."^'-*  But  we 
must  be  on  our  guard  not  to  mete  WicHf  s  theology  with 
the  measuring  Kne  of  the  Reformed  Confessions.  For,  in  the 
first  place,  he  goes  to  work  with  quite  a  different  apparatus 
of  ideas  from  an  evangelical  theologian  of  the  present  day. 
Ideas  such  as  meritum  and  demeritum  (for  he  makes  very  fre- 
quent use  of  these  correlative  ideas)  he  took  over,  like  the 
Scholastics  before  him,  from  the  Latin  Fathers,  chiefly  in  the 
sense  of  moral  worth  and  unworth.  The  proper  idea  of 
merit,  i.e.,  of  an  independent  performance,  conferring  a  full 
legal  claim  upon  God's  recognition  and  recompense,  in  the 
form  of  eternal  blessedness,  he  designates  according  to 
scholastic  ue^l^b meritum  de  condiyno ;  while  the  mm^wm  cZe 
congruo  obtains  validity  and  recognition  only  by  way  of  what 
is  fair  and  reasonable,  not  of  strict  right.^so  Then,  secondly, 
when  it  comes  to  the  application  of  these  ideas  to  the  actual 
state  of  things,  Wiclif  contends,  quite  categorically,  against 
all  thoughts  of  proper  merit  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word, 
i.e.,  meritum  de  condigno.  We  have  already  quoted  above  an 
unmistakeable  utterance  of  his  to  the  effect  that  under  no 
circumstances  can  a  creature  merit  anything  of  God  in  virtue 
of  its  own  worthiness,^^^  and  he  expresses  repeatedly  the 
same  thought  with  the  greatest  emphasis.  He  declares  it  to 
be  a  vain  imagination,  when  the  case  is  put  that  "  nature  " — 
I.e.,  the  will-power  naturally  inherent  in  man — might  be  able  to 
perform  anything  good  without  the  co-operation  of  grace ; 
and  in  his  judgment  this  would  amount  to  God's  making 
a  creature  of  His  own,  which  should  in  such  sort  acqnire 
merit  of  its  own  by  its  own  powers,  to  be  God.  In  connection 
with  that  point  he  gives  a  detailed  interpretation  of  tlie 
words  of  St.  Paul  in  2  Cor.  iii.  5,  "Not  that  we  are  sufficient  of 
ourselves  to  think  anything  as  ot  ourselves,  but  our  sufficiency 


WICLIF'S   doctrine   of   ''MERIT."  87 

is  of  God."  His  meaning  is  that  Paul,  in  these  words,  saves, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  freedom  of  the  will,  and  the  power  of 
acquiring  a  merit  de  congruo,  but  denies,  at  the  same  time,  that 
we  are  able,  without  the  prevenience  of  grace,  to  merit 
anything  de  condigno ;  i.e.,  he  declares  that  we  merit  absolutely 
nothing  in  the  sense  of  legal  claim. 

Thirdly,  When  we  come  still  nearer  to  the  actual  facts  of 
the  case,  no  fewer  than  four  different  questions  come  under 
discussion.  (1.)  Can  man  make  satisfaction  for  sin  by  good 
works  %  i.e.,  Can  he  merit  the  forgiveness  of  sins  thereby  1 
(2.)  Can  he,  by  his  moral  behaviour,  merit  the  gift  of  grace 
requisite  to  conversion  ?  (3.)  Can  he,  after  conversion,  merit 
by  good  works  eternal  life  or  blessedness  ?  (4.)  Is  there  in 
reality  such  a  thing  as  supererogatory  merit?  The  first 
question  Wiclif  answers  in  the  negative.  His  straight- 
forward confession  upon  this  point  is  this — "  I  do  not  believe 
that  even  the  smallest  sin  committed  against  the  Lord  can 
be  deleted  by  any  merit,  unless  it  is  done  away  in  the  main 
or  principally  by  the  merit  of  this  Man  (the  Redeemer) .^^^ 
Quite  similarly  he  speaks  on  this  subject  in  one  of  his 
sermons.  "  I  do  not  see  how  any  sin  can  be  done  away  by 
means  of  meritum  de  condigno  in  the  sinner,  since  infinite 
grace  is  required  (he  refers  to  the  individual's  standing 
in  grace)  in  order  to  satisfaction  for  sin."  The  passage 
also  already  quoted  from  the  sixth  of  his  Twenty-four 
sermons  contains  the  same  thought,  that  the  infinite  com- 
passion of  the  Redeemer  and  His  all-availing  merit  alone 
make  possible  the  forgiveness  of  sins  ;  while  it  is  by  no 
means  excluded  that  some  moral  performance  of  the  indi- 
vidual sinner  is  requisite,  if  his  own  committed  sins  are  to  be 
forgiven  him. 

As   to   the  second  question,   Can  man   by  his  moral  be- 


00  LIFE  OF  WICLIF, 

liaviour  merit  tlie  gift  of  grace  for  couversion'?  it  is  well 
known  that  many  scholastics  were  accustomed  to  answer  it 
in  the  affirmative — in  assuming  that  God  grants  to  those 
who  are  honest  in  their  endeavours  after  a  better  life  the 
grace  which  is  needed  in  order  to  conversion.  He  does  this, 
indeed,  not  de  condigno,  as  if  he  were  bound  in  law  to  do  it ; 
but  still  he  does  it  de  congruo,  for  it  is  fair  and  meet  that 
honest  strivers  should  be  met  so  far  with  the  needed  help. 
What  position  does  Wiclif  take  up  in  relation  to  this  teach- 
ing? He  rejects  it  with  the  utmost  decision  as  a  vain 
imagination  234  [vanitas).  He  declares  himself  clearly  and 
roundly  in  opposition  to  the  supposition  that,  before  his 
conversion,  man  can  contribute  anything  by  his  moral  be- 
haviour towards  the  object  that  God  should  give  him  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  needful  to  conversion.  In  other 
words,  he  rejects  the  error  that  converting  grace  is  conferred 
by  God  as  at  least  a  half-and-half  merited  reward.  Indeed, 
Thomas  Aquinas  had  also  declared  against  the  supposition 
that  any  one  could  merit  this  grace  de  condigno,  but  the 
milder  view  of  the  possibility  of  meriting  the  grace  de 
congruo  he  had  passed  over  in  silence. 

The  third  question  is  as  follows — Can  man,  after  his  con- 
version, merit  eternal  blessedness  by  "good  works  ?  To  this 
question,  also,  Wiclif  replies  in  the  negative,  in  so  far  as 
any  meritum  de  condigno  is  thought  of.  On  this  point  we 
simply  recall  the  expressions  already  adduced  above,  to 
which  we  only  add  what  follows,  in  the  way  of  confirma- 
tion. Wiclif  is  honestly  striving  to  set  aside  all  vain  self- 
approbation,  which  gives  the  glory  not  to  God,  but  to 
itself.  For  this  reason  he  lays  stress  upon  the  words  of 
Cln-ist — "  When  ye  have  done  all,  then  say  we  are  unprofit- 
able servants."235     The  holy  life  of  Christ  alone  is  deemed 


MERIT  DE  CON  DIG  NO   EXCLUDED.  89 

by  him  to  be  absolutely  meritorious,  and  taken  to  be  the 
principle  whicli  first  lends  life,  i.e.,  power  and  weight,  to 
every  other  merit.^^*'  And  in  another  place  he  brings  into 
view  the  thought  that  every  moral  virtue,  every  truly  God- 
pleasing  action,  is  conditioned^  in  its  coming  into  existence 
by  the  gracious  working  of  God,  by  the  "power  from  on 
high,"  while  its  availment  and  weight  in  God's  eyes  is 
dependent  on  this,  that  God  is  pleased,  in  the  riches  of 
His  grace,  to  accept  it.^^^  There  cannot,  then,  well  exist 
any  doubt  regarding  so  much  as  this,  that  Wiclif  consciously 
and  distinctly  rejects  the  notion  that  the  converted  Chris- 
tian can  have  any  full  and  perfect  merit  to  show,  i.e.,  any 
moral  performance  or  achievement,  in  virtue  of  which  he 
acquires  a  right  in  law  to  the  coming  blessedness — a 
meritiun  de  condigno.  Herein  he  agrees  with  Thomas 
Aquinas,  except  that  the  latter  acknowledges  such  a  merit 
as  existing  in  cases  where  this  meritorious  work  is  viewed 
as  effected  by  the  Holy  Ghost.238  This,  indeed,  does  not 
exclude,  but  indirectly  concedes,  the  fact  that  there  is 
a  moral  merit,  improperly  so  called — a  merituni  de  congruo — 
or  works  meritorious  in  the  widest  sense.  The  latter  are 
what  are  meant  when  Wiclif  says,  on  one  occasion,  "  If  the 
husbandman  already  has  joy  in  the  hope  of  the  fruit  of  his 
sowing,  how  much  more  may  a  'pilgrim,  who  may  believe 
that  he  has  done  many  meritorious  works,  rejoice  in  the 
hope  of  the  fruits  which  these  will  yield  to  him."^^^ 

From  what  precedes,  the  fourth  question  answers  itself — 
Whether  such  a  thing  as  supererogation  really  exists  ?  For 
if  human  merit,  in  the  strict  and  proper  sense  of  the  word, 
is  not,  speaking  generally,  recognised,  much  less,  of  course,  can 
there  be  anything  to  say  for  a  pretended  surplus  merit  {meritum 
snpererogatum).      It    is    no   wonder,    therefore,    that   Wiclif 


90  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

pronounces  the  notion  of  a  bonndless  treasure  of  superero- 
gatory merit,  which  it  belongs  to  the  Church,  and  in  part  to 
every  Pope  for  the  time  being,  to  administer,  to  be  nothing 
less  than  a  "  lying  fiction."^**' 

According  to  all  this,  Wiclif  absolutely  rejected,  indeed, 
the  notion  that  man  is  able  to  acquire  any  moral  merit  in 
the  full  sense  of  the  word,  whether  in  order  to  make  satis- 
faction for  sin,  or  to  attain  thereby  to  conversion  or  eternal 
blessedness.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  conceded  that 
he  recognised  a  merit  bearing  an  improper  sense,  and 
80  also  some  co-operation  of  man's  own  moral  power, 
partly  in  the  matter  of  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  partly  in 
reference  to  the  hope  of  the  eternal  blessedness. 

When  Melanchthon,  in  a  short  critique  upon  Wiclif,  pro- 
nounces, among  other  things,  the  judgment  that  he  was 
totally  ignorant  of  the  righteousness  of  faith,  i.e.,  of  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone,^*^  we  cannot  do 
other  than  acknowledge  this  judgment  to  be  exact  and 
just.  It  was  reserved  for  Luther,  first  of  all  men,  to  be 
called  of  God  to  separate  by  felicitous  tact  this  kernel  of 
saving  truth  from  the  husk,  and  to  make  it  the  central 
doctrine  of  the  Evangelical  Confession. 

NOTES  TO  SECTIONS  VII.  AND  VIII. 

163.  Trialogus,  III.,  29,  p.  230  f.,  cf.  IV.,  39,  p.  386. 

164.  Ih.,  III.,  30,  p.  235  :  Personalitaa  Christi  est  aeterna,  et  suae  humanitatis 
assumptio  aeternaliter  praeparata,  etc. 

165.  lb.,  II.,  7,  p.  99 ;  cf.  III.,  30,  p.  235  :  unlo  hypostatica  naturarum.  III., 
25,  p.  215  :  necesse  fuit  Verbum  divinum  incarnari,  etc.  Comp.  Lewald,  Zeit- 
schriftfiir  historische  Theologie,  1846,  519  f.,  523  f. 

166.  lb.,  III.,  11,  p.  164.  Comp.  Sermons  for  Saints'  Days,  No,  XVII.,  MS. 
3928,  fol.  33,  col.  2.     Miscel.  Sermons,  XXV.,  fol.  234,  col.  3. 

167.  Sermons  for  Saints'  Bays,  XXXIX.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  77,  col.  4  :   Christus 


NOTES   TO   SECTIONS   VII.   AND   VIII.  91 

conquestor  ojDtimus  docet  suos  milites  per  fugam  et  patientiam  conquirere  sibi 
regnum. 

168.  De  Stata  Inmcentiae,  c.  1,  MS,  1339,  fol.  238,  col.  1.  Be  Civili  Dominio,  III., 
c.  25.  Liher  Mandatorum,  c.  8,  f.  106,  col.  2,  Christus  qui  existens  Caesar  semper 
augustus  semper  meliorando  procedit.  De  Veritate  Sci'ipturae  s.,  c.  28,  MS.  1294, 
f.  98,  col.  1. 

169.  De  Divino  Dominio,  III.,  4,  MS.  1339,  f.  81,  col.  1.  De  Civili  Dovilnio,  III., 
c.  7,  MS.  1340,  f.  37,  col.  1.  Miscel.  Sermons,  No.  III.,  MS.  3928,  f.  134,  col.  1. 
In  the  latter  passage  is  combined  with  the  Biblical  image  of  the  victorious  giant, 
the  antique  image  of  Atlas  bearing  up  the  world,  inasmuch  as  Christ  (Heb.  i.  3) 
upholdeth  all  things  by  His  mighty  Word, 

170.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  c.  8,  MS.  1341,  fol.  179,  col.  1  :  Christus,  qui  est 
prior  nostri  ordinis  atque  principium. 

171.  Trialogus  IV.,  6,  p.  263  ;  c.  33,  p.  364.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  5.  DeSex  Jugis,  c. 
2.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  13  ;  MS.,  1341,  fol.  212,  col.  1.  Sermons  for  Saints'  Days, 
No.  6,  MS.  3928,  fol.  12,  col.  1.  English  Sermons  on  the  Gospels,  No.  XXX,  God 
made  him  ....  priour  of  al  his  religioun  ;  and  he  was  abbot,  as  Poul  seith, 
of  the  best  ordre  that  may  be.  Select  English  Works,  ed.  Thorn.  Arnold,  Vol.  I., 
fol.  77.  The  expression,  somewhat  strange  to  us,  occurs  also  elsewhere,  e.g.,  in 
John  Gerson. 

172.  lb.,  IV,,  35,  p,  371  :  sequi  Christum  patronum,  etc, 

173.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No,  VII,  MS.,  3928,  fol.  148,  col.  4  :  Ei^iscopus 
nos  consecraus  et  excedens  nostros  episcopos  est  episcopus  animarum  et  sacerdos  in 
aeternum,  etc, 

174.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No,  VIII.,  fol.  149,  col.  1  :  Illi  ergo  episcopo 
(Christo)  fuit  gloria  et  imperium,  cum  sit  simul  rex  et  imperator,  cum  sit  simul  rex 
et  imperator  et  sacerdos  sanctissiums  sive  papa,  De  Ecclesia,  c,  2,  MS,  3929, 
f.  8,  col,  2  :  Quilibet  laicus  fidelis  tenetur  credere,  quod  habet  Christum  sacerdotem 
suum,  rectorem  (parish  priest),  episcopum  atque  papam,  etc,  De  Civili  Dominio, 
III.,  22,  MS.  1340,  fol.  196,  col.  2.  He  calls  Christ,  in  order  to  distinguish  Him 
from  the  Roman  Pontiff,  Summus  Poutifix  longe  majoris  auctoritatis  ,  .  .  , 
cui  oportet  amplius  obedire, 

175.  z.  B.  De  Statu  Inmcentiae,  c.  2,  MS.  1339,  fol.  239,  col.  1,  Saints'  Day 
Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  1,  col.  1.     Comp.  Trialogus,  III.,  30,  p,  234  f, 

176.  Trialogus,  III.,  30, 

177.  Trialogus,  III.,  30,  p.  234  :  NuUus  homo  potest — sine  illo  ut  fonte  salvari, 

178.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  13,  MS.  1341,  fol.  212,  col,  1, 

179.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  VII.,  MS,  3928,  fol,  13,  col,  1  :  Totus  honor 
Dei  gratiae  ex  integro  tribuatur.  No,  III.,  fol,  6,  col.  2  :  Christus — fortificat 
pugnantes  pro  causa  sua,  etc.  When  in  No.  II.,  fol.  3,  col.  1,  Wiclif  says  of  St.  Paul 
that  he  lifts  the  banner  of  his  Captain  in  glorying  only  in  the  C'ross  of  Christ,  his 
words  admit  of  being  justly  applied  to  Wiclif  himself.  In  the  Liber  Mandatorum, 
c.  26,  MS,  3928,  fol.  206,  col,  2,  he  remarks  that  pars  Christi  sit  parte  adversa 


92  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

potentior ;  and  in  the  same  treatise,  c.  28,  fol,  214,  col.  2,  he  speaks  of  doctores 
detegentes  sensum  scrlpturae  as  Clinsti  discipuli. 

180.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  c.  8,  MS.  1341,  fol.  179,  col.  1  :  Ule  enim,  qui  est 
sacerdos  in  aeternum,  propheta  magnus  atque  magister,  exhortatus  est  saluberrLme 
crebrius  praedicando  ;  sed  cum  sit  rex  regum,  exercuit  tam  auctoritative  quam 
ministerialiter  correptionem  humanitus  coactivam.  Comp.  the  words  quoted  in  the 
preceding  note,  174  :  iUi  ergo  episcopo     ....     papa. 

181.  Liber  Mandatorum,  c.  6,  MS.  1339,  fol.  102,  col.  1. 

182.  Trialogus,  IV.,  16,  p.  300  :  Opera  Christi  sunt  interpres  optimus  legis 
suae,  of.  III.,  31. 

183.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  28,  MS.  65,  col.  1  :  Omnis  Christi  actio  est  nostra 
instructio. 

184.  De  Veritate  s.  Scrijoturae,  c.  29,  MS.  1194,  fol.  101,  col.  4  :  Vita  Christi 
tanquam  communissima  et  toti  ecclesiae  notissima  super  verticem  montium  posita, 
est  in  scolis,  in  sermonibua  atque  ecclesiis  omni  generi  hominum  detegenda. 

185.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  VI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  12,  col.  1  :  Petro,  Paulo, 
evangelistae  Johanni  et  ceteris  citra  Christnm  scriptura  imponit  grave  peccatum, 
et  per  consequens  errorem  et  stultitiam,  ....  ideo  abbas  noster  Christus 
impeccabilis  est  videndus. 

186.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  VIII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  14,  col.  2. 

187.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  XXVI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  235,  col.  3  and  4  : 
Adhuc  Deus  celavit  a  nobis  pimcta  talia,  ut  recognoscentes  humiliter  nostram 
ignorantiam,  fidei  nec'essarioribus  fortius  insistamus. 

188.  XL.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  XVIII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  222,  col.  4  :  Christus 
dicit  in  nobis  cottidie  :  Hoc  passus  sum  pro  te,  quid  pateris  pro  me  ?  Comp.  the 
well-known  word,  "This  I  did  for  thee,  what  doest  thou  for  me  ?  " 

189.  Trialogus,  IV.,  12,  p.  288  :  Non  dubito  quin  passio  Christi  tam  ad  pos- 
terius  tempore  (sic)  quam  ad  anterius  in  fructus  efficacia  se  extendit.  Miscellaneou 
Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS.  3128,  fol.  193,  col.  2  :  Sicut  virtus  meriti  Christi  se  extendit 
usque  ad  finem  mundi  post  ejus  completionem ,  sic  virtus  ejusdem  meriti  se  extendit 
usque  ad  principium  mundi  ante  ejus  impletionem.  Et  nisi  sic  esset,  nunquam 
fuisset  persona  humani  generi?,  post  praevaricationem  primi  hominis,  justa  moraliter 
sive  salva. 

190.  XXIV.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  VIII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  148,  col.  4. 

191.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  3;  MS.  3929,  fol.  11,  col.  2:  Christus  salvavit  totum 
mundum  humani  generis,  cum  apposuit  medicinam  passionis,  quae  suffecit  redimere 
multos  mundos. 

192.  De  Veritate  s.  Scrlpturae,  c.  30,  MS.  1294,  fol.  1()7.  col.  3  :  Humanum 
genus  est  in  majori  gratia,  per  reparationem  domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi,  quam 
fuisset,  posito,  quod  nemo  a  statu  innocentiae  cecidisset,  etc. 

193.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  25 ;  MS.  1340,  fol.  246,  col.  1 :  Patet,  quod  Christus 
non  redemit  omnes  homines  a  damnatione  ad  regnum,  cum  multi  sunt  qui  non 
resurgent  in  jvdicio.  sed  manebunt  in  perpetuo  carcere  peccatorum.     Comp.  De 


NOTES   TO   SECTIONS  VII.   AND   VHI.  93 

Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  c.  30.     Tertii  dicunt,   sicut  ego  saepe  locutus  sum,  quod 
Christus  solum  redemit  praedestinatos,  quos  ordinavit  ad  gloriam. 

194.  Trialogus,  III.,  30,  p.  236. 

195.  Trialogus,  IV.,  18,  p.  306. 

195.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  VI.,  MS.  3628,  fol.  143,  col.  4  :  Verum  concluditur, 
quod  pro  nullo  peccato  sue  posset  homo  satisfacere,  nisi  esset  immensitas  miseri- 
cordiae  Salvatoris.  Poeniteat  ergo  homo  Deo  fructuose,  et  deserat  peccata  prae- 
terita,  et  virtute  meriti  Christi  et  suae  gratiae  sunt  deleta. 

196.  Trialogus,  III.,  2,  p.  133.  Be  Ecdesia,  c.  2,  MS.  1294,  fol.  133,  col.  4  : 
Fides  nunc  sumitur  pro  actu  credendi,  quo  creditur,  nunc  pro  habitu  credendi,  per 
quern  creditur,  et  nunc  pro  veritate,  quae  creditur,  ut  docet  Augustinus  XIIIo  De 
Trin,  (c.  2  and  3). 

197.  Ih.,  Alia  est  fides,  quae  est  credulitas  fidelis  explicita,  et  alia  fides  impli- 
cita,  ut  catholicus,  habens  habitum  fidei  infusum  vel  acquisitum  explicite  credit 
ecclesiam  catholicam  in  communi,  et  in  ilia  fide  communi  credit  implicite  ,  .  . 
quodcunque  singulariter  contentum  sub  s.  matre  ecclesia. 

198.  XL.  Sermons,  No.  XII.  ;  MS.  3928,  fol.  214,  col.  1:  Tides  est  fundamentum 
religionis  Christianae,  sine  qua  impossibile  est  placere  Deo. 

199.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  21,  MS.  1594,  fol.  71,  col.  4  :  Sicut  primum 
fundamentum  virtutum  est  fides  (Heb.  xi.),  sic  primum  detrimentum  alliciens  ad 
peccandum  est  infidelitas,  etc.  And  some  lines  before  he  says  it  is  certain,  non  esse 
quenquam  possibile  peccare,  nisi  propter  defectum  fidei.  Trialogus,  III.,  2,  p.  135. 
Cum  impossibile  sit  quenquam  peccare,  nisi  de  tanto  in  fide  deficiat. 

200.  XL.  Miscell.  Serm.,  No.  XII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  214,  cols.  1-3.  The  connec- 
tion of  thought  in  this  passage  is  significant  :  Nemo  potest  placere  Deo  nisi  ipsum 
diligendo  ;  sed  nemo  potest  Deum  diligere,  nisi  ipsum  per  fidem  cognoscendo. 

201.  De  CivUi  Dominic,  I.,  c.  44,  MS.  1341,  fol.  143,  col.  2 :  Oportet— omnem 
christianum  de  absoluta  necessitate  salutis  quemlibet  articulum  fidei  saltern  im- 
plicite credere. 

202.  XXIV.  Miscellaneous  Sernmis,  No.  X.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  155,  col.  1 :  Quantum 
ad  illud  de  (rregorio  orante  pro  Trajano,  credere  potest,  qui  voluerit ;  sed  ratio 
exigit,  quod  quaelibet  talis  credulitas,  si  infvierit,  insit  homini  citra  fidem,  Wiclif 
refers  at  some  length  to  the  same  tradition  in  the  tractate  De  Ecclesia,  c.  22,  MS. 
1294  f. 

203.  Trialogus,  III.  2,  p.  133  :  Fides  (ut  dicunt  scholastici)  alia  est  inforniis, — et 
alia  est  fides  caritate  formata.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  10,  MS.  1294,  fol.  25, 
col.  1:  Nisi  habuerint  fidem  formatam,  damnabuntur  tanquam  vacui  inutiks ;  c.  2, 
fol.  133,  col.  4:  si  habuerit  fidem  caritate  formatam.  XXIV.  Serm.,  No.  XVII., 
MS.  3928,  fol.  169,  col.  1 :  in  Christum  credere — sibi  (Christo)  per  amorem  caritatis 
perpetuo  adhaerere.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  21 :  Credere  in  Deum  est  cre- 
dendo  ipsum  sibi  adhaerere  firmiter  per  amorem. 

204.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  10,  MS.  1294,  fol.  25,  col.  3:  Probat  apostolus 
11"  Hebr.,  quod  fides  sit  fundamentum  justificationis  hominis  quoad  Deum. 

205.  XL.  Sermons,  No.  XII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  214,  col.3 :  Inter  alia,  in  quo  (sic)  fides 


94  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

est  utilis,  prodest  generaliter  ad  haec  tria  :  1 ,  omnea  regeneneratos  in  via  virtutum 
vivificat ;  2,  viantes  ad  invadendum  inimicos  excitat  et  comfortat ;  3,  protegendo 
impugnantes  confundit Habak.  ii,  4  :  *' Justus  meus  ex  fide  vivit,"  etc. 

206.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  XX.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  175,  col.  3:  Sicut  vita  praecedit 
omnes  alios  actus  secundos,  sic  fides  virtutes  alias,  et  hinc  dicit  apostolus  Hebr.  x. 
extestimonio  prophetae  :  "Justus   ex  fide   vivet;"   ac    si    intenderet,    quod   vita 

sj^iritualis  justoruin  originatur  ex  fide Ideo  dicit  apostolus  :  Corde  creditur 

ad  Justitiani,  i.e.,  quod  homo  sit  Justus,  requiritur  ipsum  credere  intellectuni. 
Et  cum  fides,  habita  opportunitate,  operatur  magna,  si  est,  cum  mpossibile  est 
tantum  semen  in  terra  fructifera  non  in  bonam  operam  ebullire,  ideo  subjungit 
apostolus,  quod  "ore  confessio  fit  ad  salutem." 

207.  Sai7its'  Bay  Sermons,  No.  V.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  8,  col.  1 :  bona  fortunae 
quae  sunt  minima,  bona  naturae,  quae  sunt  media,  bona  virtutis  et  gratiae,  quae 
sunt  maxima. 

208.  Trialofjus,  III.,  29,  p.  229.  De  Ecclesia,c.  11,  MS.  1294.,  fol.  161,  col.  2: 
Libertas  a  peccato  est  maxima,  sine  qua  non  est  aliqua  vera  libertas. 

209.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  14,  MS.  1294,  fol.  174,  col.  1,  on  mentioning  the  pretended 
donation  of  Constantine  Wiclif  says  of  Silvester :  Fuit  dominus  super  astra  et 
omnia  inferiora  homine  in  natura,  sed  non  titulo  civili,  imo  titulo  gratiae,  quo  justi 
sunt  omnia. 

210.  Triahgiis,  III.,  1  and  2,  p.  128  f. 

211.  lb..  III.,  10,  p.  168:  Tota  radix  cujuslibet  speciei  superbiae  stat  in  isto 
quod  homo  errat  non  credendo  humiliter,  quod  quidquid  habuerit  est  a  Deo. 

212.  Be  Christo  et  ejus  Adversario,  c.  10,  MS.  3933,  fol.  74,  col.  3:  Superbia  est 
primus  pes,  per  quern  peccator  a  Deo  decidit,  ut  patet  de  Lucifero,  etc.  XL.  Mis- 
cellaneous Sermons,  No.  VI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  8,  col.  1 :  Superbia  est  implicite  blas- 

phemia Quum  homo  superbit,  negat  implicite  se  habere  suijeriorem, 

legibus  cujus  obediat. 

213.  Trialogus,  III.,  11,  p.  164  f . :  Humilitas  est  aliis  virtutibus  funda- 
mentum.  Quicunque  est  humilior,  est  Christo  propinquior ;  religio  in  humilitate 
fundata.  Be  Graduationlbui  Scholasticis,  c.  2,  MS.  1337,  fol.  Ill,  col.  3:  Radix 
religionis  Christi  est  humilitas.  XL.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  VI.,  MS.  3927, 
fol.  202,  cols.  3  and  4  :  Fides  et  humilitas  connexae  sunt  fundamentum  religionis 
Christianae.  Humilitas  est  quasi  aura  temperata,  in  qua  oportet  omnia  plantaria 
aliarum  virtutum  conseri,  si  debeant  crescere  in  christiano.  In  his  English  vtrit- 
ings,  sermons,  etc.,  Wiclif  insists  often  enough,  and  with  the  greatest  emphasis,  upon 
meekness,  e.g.,  in  the  121st  sermon  in  Arnold's  edition,  I.,  399,  he  says,  "Ever  as  a 
man  is  more  meek,  evere  the  betere  man  he  is."  And  meek,  meekness  signify  with 
Wiclif,  according  to  his  Bible  translations — vide  WicUffe's  Versions  of  the  Bible, 
Vol.  IV.,  10 — not  softness  or  gentleness,  but  humility. 

214.  Trialogus  III.,  2,  p.  132,  136  f. 

215.  Be  Civili  Bominio,  III.,  26,  MS.  1340,  fol.  247,  col.  2  :  Ars  praecipua, quam 
in  schola  virtutem  addiscimus,  est  ars  diligendi  Deum.  XL.  Misrel.  Serm.,  No.  I., 
MS.  3928,  fol.  194,  col  2  :  NuUus  actus  hominis  nieritorius  est,  nisi  in  quo  Deus 
supereminenter  diligitur.     In  one  of  his  English  sermons  Wiclf  says,  "  Humility  is 


NOTES   TO   SECTIONS   VII.    AND   VIH.  95 

the  foundation  of  all  virtues,   and  Love  their  Bummit  which  reaches  to  heaven. " 
Select  English  WorTcs,  Vol.  I.,  64. 

216.  Liber  Mandatorum  sive  Decalogus,  c.  31,  MS.  1339,  fol.  126,  col.  2. 

217.  Trialof/us,  III.,  2,  p.  136 :  Consistit  autem  caritas  in  amore,  quo  Deus  debite 
dUigitur  et  tota  sua  fabrica. 

218.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  LVI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  114,  col,  4  :  Ordo  caritatis 
exigit,  quod  homo  primo  in  ordine  diligat  suos  doinesticos,  etc.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  15 
MS.  1294,  fol.  177,  col  2:  Patet,  quod  de  lege  caritatis  et  spiritualis  elemosinae — 
tenetur  praepositus,  subjectos  corripere.  Unde  inter  omnia  peccata,  de  quibus 
magis  timeo  in  superioribus  regni  nostri,  sunt  caeca  pietas,  falsa  misericordia,  etc. 

219.  Liher  Mandatorum  {Decalogus),  c.  23,  MS.  1339,  fol.  186,  col.  2 :  Faciat  ergo 
quodlibet  membrum  ecclesiae,  quod  incumbit  officio  sui  status,  et  de  quanto  facit 
solicius  {sic,  from  soUicicte),  de  tanto  quadam  naturalitate  cuilibet  membro  capaci 
prodest  amplius,  etc.,  cf.,  fol.  187,  col.  1. 

220.  Saints^  Day  Sermons,  No.  III.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  4,  col.  2 :  Omnem  salvandum 
oportet  sequi  ipsum  vel  in  passione  vel  saltem  in  moribus.  Et  si  sit  virtuosus, 
quomodo  Dei  virtus  causans  et  exemplans  virtutem  suam  non  erit  dux,  quern 
eequitur  in  moribus? 

221.  lb.,  No.  XVIII.,  fol.  36,  col.  3. 

222.  De  Veritates.  Scripttirae,  c.  29,  MS.  1294,  fol  101,  col.  4:  De  quanto  vita 
Christiani  est  Christo  proi^inquior,  de  tanto  est  virtuosior.  Et  patet  correlarie, 
quod  declinatio  a  religione  Christiana  ex  hoc  oritur,  quod  nimis  attenditur  ad 
multos  magistros  Christo  contraries,  doctrina  et  sequela  magistri  et  ducis  optimi 
praetermissa. 

223.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  13,  MS.  1341,  fol.  208,  cols.  1  and  2  :  Secundus 
fucus  hoc  dicit,  quod  sic  (cf.  Hebr.  xi.,  36)  pati  injurias,  cum  sit  consilium,  non 
obligat  nisi  heroicos,  cujusmodi  sunt  sancti  ab  ecclesia  canonizati ;  talia  consilia  non 
obligant  mediocres. 

224.  lb.,  L,  43,  MS.  1341,  fol.  123,  col.  1  :  Sicut  nemo  potest  esse  neuter 
quoad  virtutem  et  vitium,  sic  nuUa  conversatio  hominis  potest  esse  neutra. 

225.  lb.,  I.,  43,  MS.  1341,  fol.  202,  col.  1  ;  fol.  203,  col.  1  :  Sicut  malum 
de  genere  potest  bene  fieri  {e.g.,  Execution  of  Criminals),  sic  bonum  de 
genere  potest  male  fieri.  Glossa  Bernhardi  "Deus,  inquit,  non  est  remunerator 
hominum  sed  adverbiorum,"  hoc  est  tantum  dicere ;  non  remunerat  {sic)  Deua 
bonum  quod  fit,  sed  quod  bene  fit.  Comp.  De  Officio  Pastorali,  I.,  10,  p.  1 8.  Ideo 
dicunt  loquentes  communiter,  quod  Ueus  est  remunerator  adverbiorum.  Farther, 
De  Veritate  s.  Scrijjturae,  c.  14,  MS.  1294,  fol.  116,  col.  4  :  Non  solum  debet 
attendi,  quid  homo  faciat,  sed  qualiter  et  qua  intentione,  cum  Deus  sit  remunerator 
adverbiorum,  quae  faciunt  maxime  ad  moralitatem,  quam  oportet  fundari  in  gratia 
et  caritate,  quae  non  possunt  inesse,  nisi  insit  moralitas. 

226.  The  expressions  mercri  praemium  in  alio  seculo,  merltum,  opera  meritoria, 
are  of  such  frequent  occurrence  with  Wiclif,  that  the  slightest  doubt  can  evidently 
never  have  occurred  to  him  of  the  propriety  of  applying  them  to  Christians.     They 


96  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

are  also  repeated  so  often  that  it  appears  superfluous  to  quote  passages  in  proof  of 
the  fact. 

227.  Wiclif  defines  meritum  in  one  place  to  be  something  done  by  a  rational 
creature  which  is  worthy  of  reward  ;  and  he  remarks  that,  as  the  same  man  may 
be  both  father  and  son,  so  the  same  act  may  be  de  condigno  in  relation  to  one  set  in 
authority,  who  rewards  without  any  grace,  and  de  congruo  in  relation  to  a  Lord 
who  rewards  only  of  grace.     De  Domiiiio  Diiino,  III.,  MS.  1339,  fol.  87,  col.  1. 

228.  Be  Dominio  Divino,  III.,  4,  MS.  1339,  fol.  79,  col.  1  :  Creatura  penitus 
nihil  a  Deo  merebitur  ex  condigno,  cf.  78,  col.  2. 

229.  Ih.,  III.,  5,  MS.,  1339,  fol.  84,  col.  1,  f.,  iiber  2  Cor.,  iii.  5:  In  quo  dicto 
videtur  mihi,  quod  apostolus  more  suo  profunde  primo  innuit,  nos  posse  cogitare 
aliquid  "a  nobis,"  et  per  consequens  salvatur  nobis  liberum  arbitrium  cum 
potentia  merendi  de  coiigruo  ;  secundo  per  hoc,  quod  negat  nos  posse  aliquid 
cogitare  "ex  nobis,"  explicat,  quod  non  possumus  mereri aliquid  sine  praecedeute 
gratia,  et  sic  nihil  simpliciter  de  condigno. 

230.  76.,  III.,  4,  MS.,  1339,  fol.  30,  col.  2  :  Non— reor  peccatum  vel  minimum 
commissum  contra  dominum  per  aliquod  meritum  posse  tolli,  nisi  jjer  meritum 
hujus  viri  principaliter  sit  ablatum. 

231.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  II.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  132,  col,  3  f. :  Ego  non  video, 
quomodo  ex  condignitate  meriti  peccantis  deleri  possit  quodcunque  peccatum,  cum 
ad  satisfactionem  requu-itur  gratia  infinita  specialis. 

232.  Trkdogus,  III.,  7,  p.  153.  Et  patet  vanitas  nostrorum  loquentium,  qui 
ponunt,  quod  gratia  talis  datur  homini.  .  .  .  de  congruo,  ut  facilitet  hominem  ad 
merendum. 

2.'53.  De  Dominio  Divino,  III.,  MS.  1339,  fol.  89,  col.  2.  Here  Wiclif  lays 
down  the  principle  that  worldly  rulers  should  ever  remember  that  they  are  the 
servants  and  stewards  of  God,  and  he  continues  as  follows  :  Si  ergo  istam  senten- 
tiam  haberemus  prae  oculis,  tunc  non  inaniter  gloriaremur,  quasi  hoc  haberemus 
ex  nobis,  sed  cum  timore  distribueremus  bona  domini  solum  dignis,  ascribentes  Deo 
honores  (sic)  et  non  nobis,  qui  solum  sumus  dispensatores  et  "  servi  sibi  inutiles." 

234.  lb..  III.,  4,  MS.  1339,  fol.  80,  col.  1  :  Ejus  (Christi)  quidem  conversatio 
snrame  meritoriain  plenifcudine  temporis  ordinata  est  principium  vivificans,  quodlibet 
aliud  meritum  subsequens  vel  praecedens. 

235.  Trialogus,  III.,  2,  p.  132  f.  :  Quomodo  quaeso  posset  homo  mereri 
beatitudinem,  vivendo  et  agendo  secundum  beneplacitum  Dei,  nisi  Deus  ex  magna 
sua  gratia  hoc  acceptet  ?  Ideo  quidquid  homo  egerit  vel  natura  ci'eata  in  ipso 
genuerit,  non  dicitur  virtus  moralis  meritoria  praemii  vel  laudis  perj^etuae,  nisi  ilia 
virtus  ab  alto  venerit,  et  per  consequens  ex  gratia  Dei  sui. 

236.  Summa,  II.,  1  Quaest.  114,  3. 

237.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XXXIV.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  67,  col.  2  :  Si  agricultor 
in  spe  gaudet  de  fructu  sui  seminis,  quanto  magis  viator,  qui  debet  credere,  se  fecisse 
multa  opera  meritoria,  debet  eorum  fructibus  spe  gaudere. 

•    238.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  VII.,  MS.    3928,  fol.    146,    col.    2  :    Cautela  sub- 
tilissima  a  fratribus  inventa  stat  in  mendaci  fictione  thesauri  infiniti  supererogati 


I 


NOTES    TO    SECTIONS   Yll.    AND   VIII.  97 

meriti  ecclesiae  triumphantis,   qiiem  Dens  ponit  in  potestate  distributiva   cujus- 
cunque  papae  caesarii.     Comp.  Trialogua,   IV.,  32,  p.  158.       Rup])onunt,  quod  in 

ciilis   sint  infinita   sanctorum    supererogata    merita et    super   totum  ilium 

thesaurum  Christus  papam  constituit,  etc. 

239.  Preface  to  Sententiae  veterum  de  cona  Domini,  in  a  letter  to  Frederick 
Myconius,  about  March  1530,  Corpus  Heformatorvm,  Vol.  II.,  32  :  Prorsus  nee 
intellexit  nee  tenuit  fidei  justitiam. 

240.  Life  and  Opinions  of  John  de   Wycliffe,  ed.  2,  Lond.  1831,  II.,  324  f. 

241.  De  Christo  et  ejusAdversario,  c.  1,  MS.  3933,  fol.  70,  col.  1  :  Secundum 
catholicos  ecclesia  est  praedestinatorum  universitas,  et  sic  est  triplex  ecclesia 
scilicet,  ecclesia  triumphantium  in  coelo,  ecclesia  militantium  hie  in  mundo,  et 
ecclesia  dormientium  in  purgatorio.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XL VIII., 
MS.  3928,  fol.  97,  col.  3;  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  XII.,  fol.  157,  cols.  3  and  4.  In 
both  sermons  I  find  the  above  sequence  introduced.  Comp.  Daniel,  Tkesaurits 
Hymnologicvs,  V.,  106. 

242.  Comp.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  1,  MS.  1294,  fol.  2,  col.  1 ;  De  Ecclesia, 
c.  1,  fol.  145,  col.  2. 


Section  IX. — Doctjnne  of  the  Church  as  the  Communion 
of  the  Saved. 

If  we  ask  for  Wiclif's  most  general  and  most  comprehen- 
sive idea  of  the  Church,  he  meets  our  inquiry  with  a  view 
which  is  wide  enough  to  embrace  both  what  is  visible  and 
invisible,  both  the  temporal  and  the  eternal.  "  The  Church," 
he  says,  "  is  threefold,  of  the  triumphant  (triumphantium  in 
coelo)  ;  of  the  militant  {militantium  hie  in  mundo)  ;  and  of  the 
sleepers  (dormientium  in  purgatorio) T  The  first  division 
embraces  the  angels  and  the  blessed  saints  in  heaven ;  the 
second,  the  Christians  who  are  alive  on  earth  in  conflict 
with  the  world ;  the  third  embraces  those  who  are  fallen 
asleep,  in  so  far  as  they  have  not  yet  reached  the  estate  of 
blessedness,  but  are  still  in  Purgatory.  More  than  once 
Wiclif  compares  these  three  parts  of  the  whole  Church  to 
the  threefold  division  of  Solomon's  Temple,  as  set  forth  in 
the  well-known  sequence — 

VOL.  II.  a 


-98  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Rex  Solomon  fecit  templum, 
Cujus  instar  et  exempliim 
Christus  et  ecclesia. 
Sed  tres  partes  sunt  in  tem25lo 
Trinitatis  sub  exempLi  ; 
Ima,  summa,  media. 

This  division  of  the  Church,  however,  is  not  a  thought 
peouhar  to  Wichf ;  it  is  acknowledged  by  himself  to  be  an 
ancient  division,  and  he  regards  it  simply  as  a  Catholic 
doctrine.2*3  Ancient,  indeed,  it  is  not,  but,  no  doubt, 
mediaeval,  and  everywhere  current  among  the  scholastic 
divines.  There  is  nothing,  then,  characteristic  of  Wiclif  in 
this  division  any  more  than  there  is  in  the  oneness  of 
the  Church  on  earth  with  the  Church  in  heaven  and  in 
Purgatory  which  it  assumes. 

But  there  is  certainly  one  peculiar  feature  in  his  funda- 
mental idea  of  the  Church.  Not  that  this  peculiarity  was 
anything  new,  or  belonging  only  to  Wiclif  (he  has  it,  as  he 
was  well  aware,  in  common  with  Augustin),  2«  j^^it  it  is  a 
peculiarity  of  very  great  importance,  and  runs  like  a  red 
thread  through  the  whole  system  of  Wiclif 's  thinking — 
we  mean  the  thought  that  the  Church  is  nothing  else  than 
the  whole  number  of  the  elect.  It  is  to  this  view  that 
we  have,  before  every  other,  to  direct  our  attention,  for  this 
leads  back  to  the  eternal  ground  of  the  Church,  while  its 
other  features  relate  to  its  tempoi-al  physiognomy  and  life. 

According  to  Wiclif,  the  eternal  ground  or  basis  of  the 
Church  lies  in  the  Divine  election.  He  always  defines 
the  Church  to  be  the  communion  or  the  whole  body  of  the 
elect.-^^  In  other  words,  he  places  himself  in  deliberate 
opposition  to  the  idea  of  the  Church  which  prevailed  in 
his  time,  and  expressly  disapproves  of  those  notions  and 
forms  of  speech  according  to  which  men  took  the  Church 


WICLIF'S   doctrine   of   ''  THE   CHURCH."  9i^ 

to  mean  tlie  visible  Catholic  Church — the  organised  com- 
munion of  the  hierarchy.  Wiclif,  on  tlie  contrary,  seeks 
the  Church's  centre  of  gravity  in  the  past  eternity,  in  the 
invisible  world  above ;  for  to  him  the  Church  is  essentially 
Christ's  body  or  Christ's  bride,  according  to  the  well-known 
apostolic  figures.  A  soul  is  incorporated  with  Christ,  or 
betrothed  to  Christ,  not  by  any  act  of  man,  not  by  any 
earthly  means  and  visible  signs,  but  by  the  counsel  of  God, 
by  His  eternal  election  and  fore-ordination.-^^  The  Church 
therefore,  has  in  the  visible  world  only  its  manifestation, 
its  temporary  pilgrimage  ;  its  home,  and  its  origin,  as  also 
its  end,  it  has  in  the  invisible  world,  in  eternity.  Every 
individual  devout  Christian  owes  all  that  he  possesses  in 
his  inner  life  to  the  regeneration  Avhich  springs  out  of  the 
seed  of  election.^*"  It  is  only  in  virtue  of  the  gracious 
election  of  God  that  the  individual  belongs  to  the  number 
of  the  saved,  and  is  a  member  of  the  body  of  Christ,  a 
child  of  the  Holy  Mother  Church,  of  which  Christ  is  the 
Husband. 

It  is  self-evident  that,  with  such  a  view  of  the  Church  as 
this,  Wiclif  could  not  but  regard  as  radically  false  the 
prevailing  notion,  according  to  which  the  Church  and  the 
clergy  were  looked  upon  as  one  and  the  same  thing,  all 
the  members  of  the  clerical  order  being  included  in  the 
Church,  and  all  non-clergy  excluded  from  it,-^^ — an  error  in- 
volving immense  consequences,  against  which  Luther  in  his 
day  had  still  to  contend.  But  the  idea  of  the  Church  as 
the  whole  body  of  the  elect  is  not  only,  on  the  one  hand, 
wider  than  that  conception  of  it  which  identified  the 
Church  with  the  clergy ;  it  is  also,  on  the  other  hand, 
narrower  and  more  exclusive  than  that  conception  which  it 
contests — narrower,  inasmuch  as  it  shuts  out  from  the  com- 


100  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

munion  of  the  Church  the  ungodly,  the  hypocrites,  and  the 
half-hearted,  even  when  they  fill  the  offices,  high  or  low, 
of  the  Clmrch.  Further,  as  Wiclif  carries  back  conversion, 
salvation,  and  membership  of  the  Church  to  the  election  of 
grace,  i.e.,  to  the  eternal  and  free  counsel  of  God  in  Christ, 
he  also  distances  himself  at  the  same  time  from  the  assump- 
tion, which  up  till  that  time  was  universal,  that  participation 
in  salvation  and  the  hope  of  heaven  were  conditioned  exclu- 
sively by  a  man's  connection  with  the  official  Church,  and 
were  dependent  entirely  upon  the  mediation  of  the  priest- 
hood. There  is  thus  included  in  Wiclif's  idea  of  the  Church 
the  recognition  of  the  free  and  immediate  access  of  believers 
to  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ,  in  other  words,  of  the  general  1 
priesthood  of  believers. 

After  thus  indicating  in  general  terms  the  extreme  bear- 
ings and  the  Reformational  importance  of  Wiclifs  idea  of 
the  Church,  let  us  now  look  at  it  from  a  nearer  point  of  view. 
There  is  included    or  implied  in   the   idea  of  "  the    whole 
body  of  the    elect"  an   unexpressed   antithesis   which  not 
only  runs   through   all   time,   or  all   the   present,  but   also 
reaches  into  eternity,  backwards  to  the  counsel  of  election, 
and  forwards  into  the  eternity  both  of  the  blessed  and  the 
condemned.     The  eternal  purpose  of  God  Wiclif  conceives: 
of  as  a  twofold  ordaining :  God  has  fore-ordained  some   to  j 
salvation  and  glory,  in  virtue  of  his  election  (praedestinatio); 
to  others  he  has  appointed  everlasting  punishment,  in  virtuej 
of  his  foreknowledge  of  their  sin  (jyraescientia).     The  formei 
Wiclif  calls  praedestinati,  the  latter  ordinarily  praesciti ;  onl^ 
in  one  instance  do  I  find  him  using  instead  the  expression! 
reprohi."^*^     He  purposely  and  persistently  avoids  to  speal 
of  a  purpose  of  rejection  {reprohatio,  or  such   like),  follow-' 
ing,    therein,    in    Augustin's    steps.      But    in    so   doing    h( 


THE   RELATION   OF   THE   CHURCH   TO   GIOD'S  ELECTION.      lOl 

avoids  also  to  maintaiu  a  twofold  predestination.  And 
yet  it  is  not  his  meaning,  tliat  the  Divine  adjudication  of 
eternal  punishment  and  damnation  is  conditioned  entirely 
and  purely  by  God's  omniscient  prevision  of  men's  own 
spontaneous  choice  of  evil,  and  their  final  continuance  in 
sin.  For  Wiclif  is  well  assured  of  the  principle  that  in  the 
nature  of  things  it  cannot  be  the  creature  which  is  the 
cause  of  any  action  or  even  any  knowledge  in  God,  but 
that  the  ultimate  ground  of  these  must  lie  in  God  himself.^^" 
But  it  by  no  means  follows  from  this,  in  his  judgment,  that 
the  guilt  of  sin,  on  account  of  which  a  man  is  punished 
eternally,  should  be  laid  in  any  wise  upon  God's  ordination 
or  decree.  His  meaning  rather  is  this,  that  when  predes- 
tination to  punishment  is  viewed  passively,  it  is  the  result 
of  the  concurrent  working  of  several  causes — (1),  God  him- 
self; (2),  The  esse  intelligibile  of  the  creature;  (3),  The  future 
entrance  of  sin  or  crime."''^  The  final  issue,  accordingly,  i.e., 
the  eternal  reward  or  punishment,  is,  on  the  one  hand,  it 
is  true,  brought  about  by  the  moral  action  of  man  or  his 
transgression  {factum  meritoriuni  sive  demeritorium) ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  this  action  of  man  in  time  is  preceded  by 
a  conditioning  cause  in  eternity,  viz.,  God's  election,  or  else 
his  ordination  in  respect  to  the  future  action  of  his  creature. 
But  when  God  ordains  a  punishment  or  act  of  this  kind 
{ordinat  punitionem  vel  actum  hujusmodi),  He  has  an  end  in 
view  which  is  morally  good,  which  subserves  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  Church,  and  contributes  to  the  perfection  of 
the  world.^" 

It  needs  no  lengthened  investigation  to  make  it  clear 
that  Wiclif  has  by  no  means  succeeded  by  these  statements 
in  solving  all  the  difficulties  which  confront  his  view  of 
election   and   the   fore-ordination    of  God.      For,   assuunng 


102  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

this  view,  only  two  cases  are  thinkable.  Either  tiie  self- 
determiuation  of  a  man  (as  foreknown  by  God)  on  the  side 
of  evil,  and  an  impenitent  persistency  in  it,  is  a  really  free 
act,  and  then  God's  eternal  prevision  of  it  and  His  decree 
of  damnation  awaiting  the  sinner  must  be  thought  of  as 
conditioned  by  the  self-determination  of  the  creature 
emerging  in  its  own  time ;  in  other  words,  the  Eternal 
in  this  case  must  be  determined  by  the  temporal ;  the 
infinite  God  in  His  kc  owing  and  willing  must  be  thought 
of  as  dependent  upon  His  own  finite  creature.  Or,  alter- 
natively, the  Divine  election  and  eternal  ordination  of  what 
comes  to  pass  is  absolutely  free  and  independent  and  all- 
conditioning,  and  then  the  logical  sequence  cannot  be 
escaped,  that  the  transgression  of  the  creature,  the  sin  of 
man,  comes  of  God's  own  will  and  ordering — a  conclusion 
which  would  throw  a  dark  shadow  of  blame  upon  God 
Himself,  and  destroy  the  responsibility  of  man. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  further,  in  regard  to  Wiclif's  doctrine 
of  the  election  ot  the  saved,  and  the  eternal  foreknowledge 
of  those  w^ho  fall  into  the  state  of  eternal  punishment,  that  { 
be  does  not  ground  it,  as  Augustin  does,  upon  the  doctrine  of  | 
original  sin,  and  the  utter  impotency  of  fallen  man  for  moral 
good,  but  exclusively  upon  the  idea  of  the  omnipotence  of  I 
God,  and   His  all-conditioning  work  in  regard  to   all  that 
comes  to  pass. 

Wiclif's  fundamental  idea  of  the  Church  as  "  the  whole  ■ 
body  of  the  elect,"  includes  in  it,  as  already  remarked,  an 
antithesis  which  runs  through  the  present  and  actual,  as  well 
as  through  the  eternal  past  and  future.  He  gives  clear  and 
sharp  expression  to  this  himself.  "  There  are  two  kinds  ofj 
men,"  he  observes,  "  who  stand  over  against  each  other,  since 
the   world's  begmning  to   the  world's  end.     The   first  kind. 


THE   CHURCH  :    "  THE   WHOLE   BODY   OF   THE   ELECT."      103 

that  of  tlie  elect,  begins  with  Adam  and  descends  through 
Abel  and  all  the  elect  to  the  last  saint  who,  before  the  final 
judgment,  contends  for  the  cause  of  God.  The  second  kind 
is  that  of  the  reprobate,  which  begins  with  Cain  and  descends 
to  the  last  man  whom  God  has  foreseen  in  his  persistent  im- 
penitence. To  the  latter  Christ  addresses  the  words,  "  Woe 
unto  you,  for  ye  build  the  sepulchres  of  the  prophets,"  etc. 
(Luke  xi.  47),  in  which  special  reference  is  made  to  Abel's 
blood,  and  the  afflicted  lot  of  all  the  prophets  and  righteous 
men.  Here  Wiclif  has  in  his  eye  the  whole  history  of  man- 
kind, not  the  Church  of  Christ  exclusively.-^^  As  to  the 
latter,  the  fundamental  conception  of  it  as  the  whole  num- 
ber of  the  elect  draAvs  a  separating  line  in  connection  with 
it  also ;  and  the  only  question  is  whether  this  line  is  drawn 
within  the  Church  or  outside  of  it.  There  are  some 
authors  well  acquainted  with  Wiclif's  writings  who  are  of 
opinion,  that  his  conception  of  the  Church  draws  the  separ- 
ating line  outside  and  around  the  Church;  and  that  precisely 
this  is  the  fundamental  error  of  his  teaching  on  the  subject 
of  the  Church,  viz ,  his  maintaining  that  only  those  who  are 
saved  souls  are  members  of  the  Church  on  earth,  while  the  un- 
godly, on  the  contrary,  are  in  no  sense  of  the  word  Church 
members.^^'^  In  this  judgment  we  cannot  entirely  concur. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  English  tract  adduced  in  support  of 
this  view  by  Dr.  Todd  of  Dublin,  Wiclif,  it  is  true,  makes  use 
of  language  which  appears  to  warrant  it.^s^  And  in  other 
places  besides  we  find  the  same  principle  expressed  in  the 
most  decided  manner,  as  one  agreeable  to  Scripture  and  eon- 
firmed  by  many  testimonies  of  the  Fathers — i.e.,  that  only 
the  elect  man  is  a  member  of  the  Church.^st^  And  it  is  only 
an  application  of  this  doctrine  when  Wiclif,  speaking  of 
worldly  -  minded     and     immoral    bishops,     says     of    them 


104  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

— **That  they  are  indisputably  no  members  of  the  Holy 
Church,  but  members  of  Satan,  disciples  of  Antichrist,  and 
children  of  the  synagogue  of  Satan/' ^57  Here  we  have  a 
strong  antithesis,  not  between  the  Church  and  the  world 
outside  of  Christendom,  but  between  holy  Mother  Church 
and  the  Church  of  the  malignants,  ecclesia  malignantiurn,  a 
term  borrowed  from  Ps.  Ixiv.  3  in  the  Vulgate  version  \^^  and 
between  the  members  of  the  Holy  Church  and  the  members 
of  Satan  and  the  disciples  of  Antichrist.^^^  The  harshness 
of  this  dualism  may  seem  strange  to  us,  as  though  it  were  an 
utterance  of  excited  feeling  and  very  violent  antagonism. 
We  shall,  however,  judge  it  more  mildly  when  we  remember 
that  even  with  a  Pope  like  Gregory  VH.  the  very  same  dualism 
between  members  of  Christ  and  members  of  the  devil  or 
members  of  Antichrist  was  quite  a  common  usage  of  speech. 
The  application  of  the  language,  it  is  true,  is  exactly 
opposite  in  the  hands  of  Gregory  VII.  and  Wiclif,  but  that 
makes  no  difference  with  regard  to  the  dualism  itself. 

But  still,  on  the  other  hand,  I  find  that  Wiclif  not  very 
unfrequently  gives  expression  also  to  another  view,  accord- 
ing to  which  his  fundamental  conception  of  the  Church  as 
the  whole  body  of  the  elect  draws  a  separating  line  through 
the  heart  of  the  Church  itself.  In  other  words,  Wiclif  at 
times  makes  use  of  language  which  shows  that  he  distin- 
guishes within  the  circle  of  the  Church  between  true 
members  and  only  apparent  members,  which  is  an  approxi- 
mation to  the  distinction  made  by  the  Reformers  of  the 
sixteenth  century  between  the  visible  and  the  invisible 
Church.  Thus,  in  a  sermon  on  the  marriage  feast  and  the 
guest  without  a  marriage  garment,  he  says  of  the  Apostles 
that  they  filled  the  Church  militant  with  the  elect  and  the 
foredoomed    {praedestinatis    et  praescitis) ;     and    in    another 


THE  TRUE  AND  THE  SIMULATKD  BODY  OF  CHRIST.   105 

sermon  he  observes  on  the  words  of  Christ  (John  x.  26), 
"  Ye  are  not  my  sheep,"  that  there  are  two  flocks  in  the 
miHtant  Church,  the  flock  of  Christ  and  manifold  flocks  of 
antichrist;  and  the  shepherds,  too,  are  of  opposite  kinds ;^''° 
and  by  the  Church  miHtant  Wichf  always  understands  the 
Church  upon  earth.  Thus,  in  his  view,  there  is  not  only  a 
separating  line,  drawn  like  a  tangent  to  the  circle  outside 
the  Church,  to  serve  as  a  bounding  line,  but  there  is  another 
also,  like  a  cord  drawn  through  the  Church  itself.  Wiclif 
took  over  from  Augustin  the  distinction  between  the 
true  body  of  Christ  and  the  mixed  or  simulated  body  of 
Christ,  permixtum,  simulatum}^^  It  was  his  contest  with 
the  Donatists  which  led  Augustin  to  that  distinction.  He 
holds,  indeed,  firmly  to  the  truth  that  only  true  believers 
— the  elect — belong  to  the  Church  in  the  proper  sense,  and 
form  the  true  body  of  Christ ;  but  still  he  concedes  that 
these  true  members  of  the  Church  are  for  the  present 
mixed  with  the  unconverted,  as  wheat  and  chaff  are  mixed 
together  on  the  thrashing-floor  {permixtum).  He  acknow- 
ledges that  in  the  present  life  the  unconverted,  to  all  ap- 
pearance, form  also  a  part  of  the  Church  {corpus  simulatmii). 
Thus  Augustin  recognises,  indeed,  the  whole  body  of 
elect  and  truly  converted  men  as  the  proper  kernel  of  the 
Church,  and  yet  does  not  shut  his  eyes  to  the  observation 
that  in  actual  experience  that  kernel  exists  only  with  a 
shell -like  surrounding  of  seeming  Christians — ^a  view 
which  coincides  Avith  the  Reformation  doctrine  that  the 
Church  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word  is  the  congrega- 
tion of  believers.^^^  And  inasmuch  as  Wiclif  accepts  that 
Augustinian  distinction,  he  recognises  the  unconverted,  the 
only  apparently  holy,  etc.,  as  beicg  also  members  of  the 
Church  in  a  wider  or  improper  sense,  and  thus  draws  by 


106  LIEE  OF  WICLIF. 

his  conception  of  "the  whole  body  of  the  elect"  a  separat- 
ing line  which  runs  through  the  Church  itself,  when  the 
Church  is  taken  in  the  wider  sense. 

The  fact  is,  that  Wiclif  did  not  disengage  himself  from  a 
certain  wavering  of  view  between  these  two  ideas.  I  can- 
not find  that  he  was  attached  to  one  of  the  two  only  in  an 
earlier  stage  of  his  thinking,  while  giving  his  preference  to 
the  other  in  a  later  stage ;  at  least  the  last  quoted  passages 
of  his  sermons  belong  to  very  different  periods  of  his  life — 
the  one  to  a  collection  of  sermons  preached  in  his  earlier 
years,  the  other  to  another  collection  belonging  to  his  latest 
ljfe2C3 — j^j^(^  j^^  both  alike  he  avers  that  even  within  the 
Church  militant  the  elect  of  God  and  the  adherents  of  Anti- 
christ exist  side  by  side.  This  wavering,  however,  serves  to 
prove  that  Wiclif  cannot  have  made  the  idea  of  the  Church 
the  subject  of  very  mature  reflection  in  a  dogmatic  sense ; 
he  attached  more  importance  to  the  practical  side  of  the 
subject. 

So  much  is  certain  that  the  real  members  of  the  Church, 
or  of  the  true  body  of  Christ,  are,  upon  Wiclif  s  fandamental 
principle,  exclusively  those  who  have  been  chosen  of  God 
unto  salvation,  and  who  therefore  persevere  in  the  stand- 
ing of  grace  to  the  end ;  from  Avliich  it  necessarily  fol- 
lows that  no  man  knows  with  certainty  the  extent  of 
the  Church,  or  who  does,  or  does  not,  belong  in  fact  to 
it.  No  one  knows  of  another  whether  he  is  an  elect 
man  and  a  child  of  the  Church  or  no  ;  and  Wiclif 
thinks  that  this  ignorance  is  a  real  advantage  to  us ;  it 
keeps  us  from  hasty  judgments  respecting  the  spiritual 
condition  of  those  among  whom  we  live, — for  no  one  has 
a  right  to  pass  judgment  upon  a  man  that  he  is  a  true 
member  of  the  Church,  or  to  condenm  and  excommunicate 
him,  to   canonise  him  as  a  saint,  or  to  allow  himself  in  any 


ASSURANCE   OF   FINAL   SALVATION.  107 

•other  sentence  upon  liim,  unless  on  the  footing  that  he  has 
received  a  supernatural  revelation  upon  the  subject.-'^*  Nor 
only  so;  Wiclif  also  holds  to  the  purely  Roman  Catholic  view, 
that  no  Christian  can  even  be  sure  of  his  own  standing  in 
grace,  and  so  be  able  to  arrive  at  an  assured  conviction  of 
his  own  j)roper  membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ ;  no 
more  than  probability,  and  by  no  means  assurance,  is  to  be 
reached  on  the  question. ^''^  A  man  may,  indeed,  have  know- 
ledge of  his  standing  in  grace  for  the  present,  but  the  main 
point  concerns  the  question  whether  he  will  continue  therein 
to  the  end ;  and  this  is  what  no  one  can  know  of  himself 
with  certainty  for  the  future.^*^''  But  the  probability  that 
any  one  is  of  the  number  of  God's  elect,  and  therefore  a 
real  child  of  the  Church,  rests  upon  a  life  of  piety  and 
morality,  upon  good  works  and  the  imitation  of  Christ.-'^'^ 
Every  pilgrim  upon  earth  should  have  the  hope  of  eternal 
blessedness,  and  therefore  should  be  able  to  rest  in  the  calm 
belief  that  he  has  a  standing  in  grace  which  makes  him  well- 
pleasing  to  God ;  and  for  this  very  reason  it  is  needful  that 
he  should  carefully  search  and  try  his  walk  and  conversation, 
whether  he  is  conscious  to  himself  of  no  mortal  sin,  and 
whether,  without  any  misgiving,  he  is  able  to  believe  that 
he  has  a  standing  in  love.^*^^ 

The  thought  is  no  doubt  one  of  great  importance — that 
a  Christian,  as  Avell  in  regard  to  his  own  standing  in  grace 
as  in  regard  to  the  membership  of  others  in  the  Church 
of  Christ,  can  only  find  in  the  moral  fruits  of  grace  a  true 
standard  of  measurement,  and  distinctive  marks  which  are 
really  certain.  It  establishes  the  right,  at  all  times,  to 
apply  the  moral  standard  in  testing  the  actual  life  of  the 
Church,  as  it  presently  is ;  and  this  moral  feature  is  one 
which  we  find,  from  Wiclif  downwards,  in  all  the  Precursors 
of  the  Reformation. 


108  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  IX. 

243.  Trialogus,  IV.,  22,  p.  324  f. :  Vere  dicitur  ecclesia  corpus  Christi 
mysticum,  quod  \erbis  praedestinationis  aeternis  est  cum  Christo  sponso  ecclesiae 
copulatum,  etc.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  43,  MS.  1341,  fol.  116,  col.  1.  Necesse 
est  supponere  unam  veritatem  metaphysicam  ....  scilicet  quod  ecclesia  catholica 
sancta  apostolica  sit  universitas  praedestinatorum  .  .  .  .  et  istam  ecclesiam  necesse 
est  esse  sponsam  capitis,  quam  ratione  praeordinationis  ac  promissionis  non  potest 
ipsaiu  (sic)  deserere.  Liber  Mandatorum  (Decalogus),  c.  23,  MS.  1339,  fol.  184, 
col.  1  :  Omnes  Cliristiani  praedestinati  simul  collecti  constituuut  unam  personam, 
quae  est  sponsa  Christi.  De  Ecclesia  et  membris  ejus,  c.  1,  p.  4,  and  this  chirche 
is  moder  to  eche  (each)  man  that  shal  be  saved,  and  conteyneth  no  membre  but 
oonly  men  that  shulen  be  saved. 

244.  Trialogus,  IV.,  22,  p.  324  f.,  where  this  doctrine  of  the  church  is  signi- 
ficantly enough  attached  to  the  treatment  of  the  sacrament  of  marriage. 

24.5.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  XII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  158,  col.  1  :  De  nativitate  ex 
semine  praedestinationis,  after  1  Joh.  iii.  9. 

246.  In  the  English  tract  under  the  title  Octo  in  quibus  seducuntur  simplices 
Christiani,  in  Wiclif's  Select  English  Wwks,  ed.  Arnold,  III.,  447,  Wiclif  says  : 
"  VVhanne  men  speken  of  holy  Chirche,  thei  understonden  anoon  prelatis  and 
prestis,  monkis,  and  chanouns,  and  freris,  and  alle  men  that  han  crownes  (that 
have  the  tonsure)  though  thei  lyven  nevere  so  cursedly  agenst  Goddis  lawe,  and 
clepen  not  ne  holden  seculei'is  men  of  holy  churche,  though  thei  lyven  nevere  so 
trewely  after  Goddis  lawe,  and  enden  in  perfect  charite.  But  netheles  alle  that 
schullen  be  savyd  in  blisse  of  hevene  ben  membris  of  holy  Chirche,  and  ne  moo." 

247.  In  a  passage  of  his  Saints'  Bay  Sermons,  No.  XLVII.,  given  below  in 
note  251. 

248.  Trialogus,  II.,  14,  p.  122.  Praedestinationis  aut  praescientiae  divinae  est 
causa  indubie  ipse  Deus,  cum  nulla  creatura  causat,  formaliter  intelligendo,  hos 
actus  sive  notitias  Deo  intrinsecas  atque  aeternas. 

249.  lb.,  II.,  14,  p.  122.  Intelligendo  autem  passive  praedestinationem  vel 
praeparationem  ad  poenam,  videtur,  quod  illae  sunt  a  Deo,  ab  esse  intelligibili 
creaturae,  et  a  futuritione  criminis  concausatae. 

250.  Comp.  the  whole  14th  chap,  of  2d  Book  of  the  Trialogus,  and  the  Analysis  of 
the  same  in  Lewald.     Zeitschrift  fiir  Historische  Theologie,  1846,  p.  222-225. 

251.  Saints  Bay  Sermons,  No.  XLVII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  94,  col.  1.  Duo  genera 
a  principio  mundi  usque  ad  finem  contraria,  primum  electorum  ab  Adam  incipiens 
et  descendens  per  Abel  et  cunctos  electos  usque  ad  sanctum  novissimum  ante  diem 
judicii  militantem;  secundum  genus  reproborum  a  Caym  incipiens  et  transiens  per 
alios  reprobos  usque  ad  praescitum  novissimum ;  et  illis  Christus  dirigit  hunc 
sermonem. 

252.  Dr.  Todd  has  taken  this  view  in  his  notes  to  Wiclif's  tract,  Be  Ecclesia  et 
membris  ejus,  vide  Three  Treatises  by  John  Wycklyffe,  Dublin,  1851,  p.  CLVII.  f. 

253.  Be  Ecclesia  et  membris  ejus,  c.  1,  p.  543,  note  2,  end. 


XOTES   TO   SECTION   IX.  109 

254.  Supplementum  Trkdoyi,  c.  2,  p.  415  :  Patet  ex  fide  Christi  scripturae  et 
multiplici  testimonio  sanctorum,  quod  nullum  est  membrum  sanctae  raatris 
ecclesiae  nisi  persona  praedestinata.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  19,  MS.  1294,  fol.  189,  col.  4  : 
Supposito  ex  fide  scripturae  elaborata  a  Sanctis  doctoribus,  quod  solum  prae- 
destinati  sunt  membra  s.  matris  ecclesiae,  restat  dubium  ulterius :  si  praesciti 
gerant  ordines  et  officia  illius  ecclesiae  ?  Et  videtur  ex  dictis,  quod  non,  etc.  In 
the  same  Book,  c.  3,  Wiclif  appeals,  in  support  of  this  view,  particularly  to 
Thomas  Aquinas  :  Non  enim  vidi  in  S.  Thoma  vel  alio  Doctore  probabili,  quod 
totum  genus  (humanum)  sed  pars  ejus  praedestinata  sit  sancta  mater  ecclesia  .  .  . 
et  universalis  ecclesia,  etc. 

255.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  IL,  MS.  3928,  fol.  3,  col.  1  :  Omnes  episcopi, 
qui  ad  temporalia,  ad  mundanos  honores  in  farailia,  in  apparatibus,  vel  expensis 
ministerio  Christi  superfluis  anhelant,  omnes  inquam  tales  apostotant  (sic)  cum 
antichristo  et  solvunt  infidelitur — totum  decalogum  ;  et  tales  indubie  non  sunt 
membra  s.  matris  ecclesiae.  Vita  eorum  mundana  ostendit  patule,  quod  sunt 
membra  diabuli  et  discipuli  antichristi.  Comp.  Trialogtis,  IV.,  32,  p.  325  :  Filios 
sanctae  matris  ecclesiae.  .  .  .  filios  synagogae  Satanae  (after  Apocal.  ii.,  9). 

256.  E.g.,  Siq^plementum  Trialogi,  c.  2,  p.  416  ;  c.  8,  p.  447. 

257.  XX.  Sermons,  in  Select  Wo7-ks,  ed.  Arnold,  I.,  50  :  There  ben  (are)  here  two, 
manere  of  chirche,  holy  Chirche  or  Chirche  of  God,  that  on  no  manere  may  be 
dampned,  and  the  cherche  of  the  fend,  that  for  a  time  is  good,  and  lastith  not ;  and 
this  was  nevere  holy  Chirche,  ne  part  therof . 

258.  Miscel.  Sermons,  No.  XXXIII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  243,  col.  2  :  Et  impleverunt 
(sc.  apostoli)  ecclesiam  militantem  de  praedestinatis  et  praescitis.  And  XXIV. 
Serin.,  No.  IV.,  fol.  136,  col.  4  :  Sunt  autem  greges  duplices  in  ecclesia  militante, 
scilicet  grex  Christi  et  greges  multiplices  antichristi,  etc. 

259.  Augustinus  de  Doctrina  Christ.,  III.,  c.  32. 

260.  Confessio  Augustana,  Art.  VII. :  Est  autem  ecclesia  congregatio  sanctorum, 
in  qua  evangelium  recte  docetur  et  recte  administrantur  sacramenta. 

261.  The  XL.  Miscellaneous  Sermons  belong  to  the  earlier  years,  the  XXIV. 
Sei-mons  to  the  very  latest  period  of  Wiclif's  life. 

262.  Trialogus,  IV.,  22,  p.  325  :  Ex  istis  videtur,  quod  non  solum  quantitatem 
ecclesiae  sed  ejus  quidditatem  communiter  ignoramus,  etc. 

263.  De  Ecclesia  et  membris  ejus,  c.  7,  L.  ed.  Todd  :  Certis  this  pope  wot  not 
him  silf,  i.e.,  whether  he  is  one  of  the  members  of  Christ. 

264.  Trialogus,  III.,  6.,  p.  150  :  Concedi  debet,  quod  multi  praesciti  sunt  in 
gratia  secundum  praesentem  justitiam,  praesciti  tamen  nunquam  sunt  in  gratia 
finalis  perseverantiae,  etc. 

265.  Ih.,  IV.,  22,  p.  325  :  Reputare  tamen  debemus  recte  nobiscum  viventes 
esse  filios  sanctae  matris  ecclesiae,  et  contrarie  viventes  esse  filios  synagogae 
Satanae.  Supplementuni  Trial.,  c.  2,  p.  416  :  Non  enim  supponeret,  quod  sint 
tales  (real  members  of  the  Holy  Church),  nisi  ab  evidentia  capta  ex  opere,  quo 
Nequerentur  dominum  Jesum  Christum. 

266.  De  Veritate  s.  Scri'pturae,  c.  14,  MS.  1294,  fol.  33,  col.  3. 


110  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Section  X.—  T/ie  Worship  of  the  Church. 

We  pass  on  now  to  the  temjioral  existence  and  life  of  the 
Church,  and  direct  onr  attention  (1)  to  its  Worship. 

One  principal  side  of  the  worship  of  the  Church — viz.,  the 
preaching  of  tlie  Word — we  do  not  think  it  necessary  to 
speak  of  in  this  place  at  any  length,  as  we  have  already 
shown  (chap,  vi.)  what  Wiclif's  judgment  was  regard- 
ing the  manner  of  preaching  which  was  prevalent  in  his 
time.  We  only  remind  the  reader  in  a  word  that  there  were 
two  things  which  he  censured  in  the  sermons  of  his  age : 
first,  that  men,  as  a  general  rule,  did  not  preach  the  Word 
of  God,  but  other  things ;  and  secondly,  that  when  the  Word 
of  God  was  preached,  this  was  not  done  in  a  way  suitable 
to  make  its  influence  felt  as  a  "  Word  of  eternal  life." 

With  regard  to  the  other  parts  of  Divine  service,  Wiclif 
again  and  again  censures  its  degeneracy  in  the  direction  of 
an  extreme  sensuousness.  "  Would  that  so  many  ceremonies 
and  symbols,"  he  exclaims  in  one  place,  "  were  not  multi- 
plied in  our  Church,"269  foj-  in  this  he  recognises  a  relapse 
into  Judaism,  which  seeks  after  signs,  and  a  departure  from 
the  spiritual  nature  of  Christianity.  "  There  lies  a  danger 
for  the  Church  militant  in  the  practice  of  Judaising — i.e.,  of 
valuing  in  a  carnally  sensuous  spirit  those  symbols  and  the 
human  traditions  connected  with  them  more  highly  than  the 
spiritual  things  which  they  signify ;  and  even  of  giving  heed 
to  the  AVord  of  God  more  with  the  bodily  eye  than  with  the 
eye  of  the  mind  and  by  the  light  of  faith.^-'o  When  the 
monks  appealed,  in  defence  of  the  splendour  of  their  cloister 
churches,  to  the  glory  of  Solomon's  temple,  as  a  proof  that 
the  Basilicas  ought  to  be  more  beautiful  still  in  the  period  of 
grace,  Wiclif  in  one  passage  replies  that  one  must  only  mar- 


DEGENERACY   OF   CHRISTIAN   WORSHIP.  1  ]  L 

vel  that  the  mouks  should  miitate  so  closely  that  idolatrous 
and  luxurious  king  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  not  the 
example  of  Christ,  the  Head  of  the  Church  and  the  King  of 
kings,  who  also  had  foretold  the  destruction  of  the  Temple 
of  Jerusalem."'^  And  he  gives  on  another  occasion  a  reply 
still  more  severe.  "Those  senseless  Galatians  (Gal.  iii.  1) 
wished  to  burden  the  Church  with  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  and  to  leave  on  one  side  the  counsels  of  Christ ; 
and  yet  it  is  the  inner  man  tluit  should  be  adorned  with 
virtues,  as  every  moral  virtue  is  infinitely  better  than  all  the 
riches  or  all  the  ornaments  of  a  body  without  a  soul.^"^ 

What  gave  most  offence  to  Wiclif's  eye  in  the  sensuous 
degeneracy  of  Christian  worship  was  the  numerous  images 
in  the  churches,  and  the  veneration  paid  to  them.  He  was 
prudent  enough,  indeed,  to  admit  that  images,  though  pro- 
hibited in  the  law  of  Moses,  are  not  in  themselves  forbidden 
in  the  Christian  Church,  He  acknowledges  it  also  to  be  in- 
disputable that  images  may  be  made  with  a  good  design, 
when  it  is  done  for  the  purpose  of  stirring  up  the  believing 
to  a  devout  adoration  of  God  Himself.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  recalls  the  fact  that  in  the  early  Church  images 
were  not  used  in  such  great  numbers  as  they  are  at  present. 
Nor  does  he  conceal  the  fact  that  the  use  of  images  operates 
mischievously  on  men's  minds  in  more  than  one  direction.  It 
leads,  e.g.,  to  error  in  the  faith,  and  to  the  idea  that  God  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  are  corporeal,  when  the  Trinity  is 
represented  by  artists  in  such  a  way  that  God  the  Father 
appears  as  an  old  man  who  holds  between  His  knees  God 
the  Son  hanging  upon  the  cross,  while  God  the  Holy  Ghost 
lights  down  in  the  form  of  a  dove  upon  them  both ;  and  such 
like.  Very  many  besides  have  fallen  into  the  error  of  takin^r 
an  image  for  something  animated,  and  solemnly  bowing  to  it, 


112  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

which  indisputably  is  idolatry.  Many  also  have  been  led  to 
believe  in.  miracles  performed  by  the  image,  a  superstition 
resting  upon  mere  delusion,  or  at  most  a  diabolical  deception. 
"  And  by  such  delusions  of  an  adulterous  generation  which 
seeketh  after  a  sign"  (Matt.  xvi.  4)  are  the  people  of  Christ 
blinded  more  and  more;  and  therefore  must  we  preach  against 
all  such  costliness,  beauty,  and  other  arts,  Avhichare  employed 
more  for  the  purpose  of  extracting  gold  from  deluded 
strangers  than  to  promote  the  religion  of  Christ  among  the 
people,^''^ 

"  The  effect  of  every  image  should  only  be  this,  to  wake 
up  the  mind  and  heart  of  a  man  to  attend  to  heavenly 
things ;  but  when  this  effect  has  been  produced,  the  sooner 
the  imagination  of  the  man  drops  all  attention  to  the 
qualities  of  the  image  so  much  the  better,  for  in  the  con- 
tinued dwelling  of  the  imagination  upon  these  qualities  lies 
concealed  the  venom  of  idolatry.  As,  now,  the  first  and 
greatest  commandment  forbids  us  to  pray  to  any  work  of 
man,  insomuch  that  it  was  prohibited  to  the  Jews  to  make 
any  images  whatsoever,  it  is  manifest  that  we  behove  with 
the  highest  care  to  be  on  our  guard  against  the  poison 
under  the  honey,-"^  i.e.,  against  an  idolatrous  worship  of 
the  image  instead  of  the  Divine  being  imaged."  "  The 
people,  therefore,  must  be  faithfully  warned  of  the  danger 
which  lies  in  this  matter,  especially  as  merely  nominal 
Christians,  men  of  an  animal  nature,  dismissing  all  faith 
in  spiritual  things,  are  wont  at  the  present  day  to  feed 
their  senses  to  excess  in  religion,  as,  e.g.,  their  eyes  with 
the  sumptuous  spectacle  of  the  Church's  ornaments,  their 
ears  with  bells  and  organs  and  the  new  art  of  striking  the 
hour  of  the  day  by  the  wonderful  chimes,  not  to  men- 
tion   many    other    sensuous    preparations    by    which    their 


SAINT-WORSHIP.  113 

otlier   senses   are    moved,    apart    altogether   from    religious 
feeling."  -'•' 

By  far  the  largest  number  of  images  were  representations 
of  the  saints,  their  acts,  and  their  martyr  deaths.  What 
Wiclif  thought  of  saint-worship  has  been  much  better 
known  hitherto  than  his  judgment  respecting  images,  for 
he  has  given  sufficient  expression  to  his  views  upon  it  in 
the  Trialogus.  Vaughan  remarked  with  truth  that  Wiclif 
became  step  by  step  more  clear  and  decided  in  his  re- 
pudiation of  saint-worship/'"''  and  we  are  in  a  position  to 
confirm  this  general  statement  by  particular  proofs.  Thus, 
e.g.,  it  appears  worthy  of  remark  that  in  a  sermon  of 
his  earlier  life,  preached  on  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption 
of  Mary,  he  is  still  teaching,  quite  unsuspectingly,  that 
the  mother  of  our  Lord  is  to  her  worshippers  a  mediatrix 
full  of  mercy.  "  Even  pilgrims  upon  earth,  moved  by  the 
love  of  their  neighbours,  come  to  their  help  in  the  time 
of  need,  but  now  the  blessed  Virgin  in  heaven  beholds 
our  necessities,  and  is  still  fuller  of  love,  still  richer  in 
compassion ;  and  all  the  more  faithfully  does  she  care 
for  our  needs,  as  she  knows  that  she  has  attained  to  so 
high  honour  in  order  that  she  might  become  the  refuge  of 
sinners.  What  would  men  have  more  ?  "  ^"^  The  preacher 
makes  only  one  condition,  that  we  be  the  imitators  of 
Mary's  virtues,  especially  of  her  humility,  purity,  and 
chastity,  for  she  loves  so  much  only  those  who  are  like 
herself.  If,  however,  the  objection  should  be  raised  that 
any  one  who  exercises  these  virtues  will  certainly  obtain 
the  eternal  reward  even  without  Mary's  help,  Wiclif 
replies — "  It  seems  to  me  to  be  impossible  that  we  should 
obtain  the  rewai^  without  the  help  of  ]\Iary.  There  are, 
however,  degrees  in  her  help.  No  one  goes  away  from 
VOL.  II.  H 


114  LIFE  OF  WICTJF. 

her  quite  empty  of  her  overflowing  aid  ;  even  those  who 
have  done  no  good  thing  as  yet  shall  have  experience  of 
her  soothing  power  ;  for  the  sake  of  her  humility  and  in- 
tercession for  mankind  they  shall  be  more  mildly  punished. 
For  she  was  herself  in  some  measure  the  cause  of  the  incar- 
nation and  passion  of  Christ,  and  so  of  the  whole  redemption 
of  the  world.  There  is  no  sex  or  age,  no  rank  or  position 
of  any  one  in  the  whole  human  race,  which  has  no  need  to 
call  for  the  help  of  the  Holy  Virgin."  -"^  Thoughts  these — 
which  vie  with  the  most  ardent  glorifications  of  Mary  and 
her  merits. 

In  his  later  years  Wiclif's  judgment  was  entirely  different. 
There  were  two  questions  here  which  engaged  his  further 
reflections — first,  the  right  of  the  Church  to  canonise  certain 
personalities  ;  and  next,  the  moral  value  of  the  devotions 
and  rituals  which  are  offered  to  the  saints. 

The  first  question  occupied  Wiclif,  as  we  are  able  to  see, 
for  a  length  of  time.  I  find  traces  of  this  in  his  work  De 
Civili  Dominio.  But  here  he  still  expresses  himself  with 
caution,  even  with  a  certain  degree  (jf  reserve ;  for  he  main- 
tains only  the  possihility  that  the  Church  in  her  canonisa- 
tions may  deceive  both  herself  and  others,  either  from  the 
love  of  money,  or  from  the  inordinate  love  of  those  persons 
who  stand  in  near  relation  to  the  individuals  concerned,  or 
through  illusions  of  the  devil.  He  puts,  also,  the  case  that 
many  holy  monks  stand  higher  in  blessedness  than  certain 
Saints  whose  festivals  the  Church  celebrates.  Still,  how- 
ever, it  surpasses  the  judgment  of  man  to  decide  upon  this 
subject  in  individual  cases,  and  therefore  men  must  defer  to 
the  determination  of  the  Church,  It  may,  indeed,  well  be, 
that  the  holders  of  the  Primacy  receive  special  directions  j 
from  heaven  in  this  matter."^*^     Wiclif  takes  a  step  in  ad- 


CANONIZATION   OF   SAINTS.  115 

vance   of  tin's   in   his  Avork    De  Ecdesia,   when   he   observes 
"  that  certainly  no  Christian  can  believe  that  it  is  necessary 
to  salvation  to  believe  of  this  or  that   person   whom    the 
Church  canonises,  that  he  is  in  glory  on   that  account,  espe- 
cially  in   respect   to    certain   modern   saints/'^si     g^t   most 
strongly  of  all  does  he  speak  in  the  Trialogus  when  he  puts 
into  the  mouth  of  others  the  assertion  that  it  is  nothing  less 
than  a  blasphemous  pretension  of  the  Romish  Curia  when 
apart  from  any  special  revelation,  it   pronounces  persons  to 
be  saints,  of  whose  holiness  she  can  know  as  little  as   the 
priest-prince  John  in  far-off  Asia,  or  the  Sultan  of  Turke}^. 
And  the  hearing  of  witnesses  in  such  a  matter  cannot  pos- 
sil)ly  supply  any  proof.^*^     Here  the  authority  of  the  Church 
to  confer  canonisation  is  denied  in  the  most  distinct  and 
decided  way. 

The  second  question  concerns  the  moral  value  or  the  con- 
trary, of  the  devotions  and  festivals  celebrated  in  honour  ot 
the  saints.     On  this  subject  Wiclif  took  up,  in  his  later  life,  a 
position  essentially  different  from  that  which  we  have  seen 
him  occupying  in  his  earlier  years  ;  for  now  he  lays  down 
with  entire  decision,    the    principle    that  a  devotion    or    a   ■■ 
festival  offered  to  any  saint  is  only  of  value,  in  so  far  as  it  is 
fitted  to  promote  and  to  heighten  the  feeling  of  pious  devo- 
tion towards  the  Saviour  Himself.^**^     And  it  is,  at  bottom, 
only  another  turn  of  the  same  thought  when  he  says  that 
the  blessed  saints  in  heaven  look  down  with  contempt  upon 
the  perverted  praise  which  men  offer  to  them,  and  upon  the 
nany  commemorations  and  numerous  festivals,    often  of  a 
irery  worldly  character,  with   which  men   desire  to    honour 
;hem;  and  they  withdraw  their  assistance  from  all  such  wor- 
ihippers.^'^^    In  so  saying,  he  expresses  also  an  unfavourable 
udgment  of  the  excessive  number  of  saints'  days,  which  he 


116  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

looked  upon  as  in  no  way  promoting  tlie  good  of  the 
Church.  "  As  the  Apostles,  without  any  such  saints'  days, 
loved  Jesus  Christ  more  than  we  do,  it  appears  to  many 
orthodox  Christians  a  rasli  and  dangerous  thing  to  institute 
so  many  saints'  festivals,  and  tliat  it  would  be  better  not 
to  have  so  many  celebrations  burdening  the  Church.  "^^^ 
"  It  would  be  no  sin  in  a  parish  priest,"  he  says,  "in  dealing 
with  people  who  did  bodily  labour  on  one  of  the  saints'  days 
appointed  to  be  kept  holy  by  the  Church,  but  having  no 
confirmation  of  their  sanctity  from  holy  Scripture,  if  he  did 
not  censure  nor  trouble  them  as  transgressors  of  the  Ten 
Commandments,  xohereas  he  should  rather  preserve  the  liberty 
of  the  Christian  Church  witliin  the  limits  prescribed  by  Christ 
Himselfr 

In  these  circumstances  it  would  have  surprised  us  if  Wiclif 
had  not  also  spoken  with  disapproval  of  the  veneration  of 
relics  as  well  as  of  pilgrimages,  both  of  which  practices  were 
so  closely  connected  with  saint-worship  ;   and  in  fact  he  has 
done  so  in  an  unmistakeable  way,  although  sometimes  with 
much  caution.     The  language,  however,  is  sufficiently  strong 
when  he  remarks  that  "  a  culpable  blindness,  an  immoderate 
and  greedy  worshipping  of  relics  cause  the  people  to  fall  into 
gross  error,   as  the  punishment  of  their  sin.     Whence,  in 
many  countries,  the  love  of  money  brings  things  to  such  a| 
pass,  that  in  numerous  churches  a  portion  of  the  body  of  some 
one  who  has  been  canonised  as  a  confessor  or  martyr  is  morej 
honoured  with  pilgrimages,  and  costly  oblations,  and  orna- 
ments of  gold  and  precious  stones  lavished  upon  his  grave,! 
than  the  body  of  the  mother  of  God,  or  the  apostle  PeterJ 
or    Paul,    or    any    other    of   the    acknowledged    saints."^** 
"  For  my  part  I  condemn  no  act   of  this  kind,  but  at  the! 
same  time  there  are  few  or  none  which  I  can  positively  coni-| 


VENERATION   OF   RELICS.  117 

mend,  because  those  who  go  on  pilgrimage,  worship  reHcs, 
and  collect  money,  might  at  least  occupy  themselves  more 
usefully,  if  they  omitted  these  practices.  From  the  Word  of 
God  it  even  appears  to  be  the  duty  of  all  such  persons  to 
employ  themselves  better  at  the  present  time,  and  conse- 
quently that  they  are  guilty  of  great  sin  in  failing  so  to  em- 
ploy themselves.  I  say  nothing  of  the  sins  which  occur  on 
these  occasions,  and  how  the  practice  itself  is  a  pharisaical 
one,  savouring  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  without  any 
ground  in  the  new  law."^^^ 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  psychologically,  that  in  the  same 
sermon  on  the  feast  of  the  Assumption,  which  is  so  strongly 
marked  with  Mary-worship,  there  already  occurs  a  refer- 
ence to  the  errors  which  develope  themselves  from  the 
veneration  of  relics.  As  stated  above,  Wiclif  is  there  in- 
vestigating the  question  whether  Mary  went  up  corporeally 
to  heaven,  or  was  taken  up  after  her  death,  and  shows  his 
leaning  rather  to  the  latter  view.  He  then  adds  the  re- 
mark, "and  because  the  contrary  might  happen  in  con- 
sequence of  erroneous  worship  and  the  covetousness  of  the 
clergy,  it  seems  to  me  probable  that  God  ordered  it  so  that 
the  bodies  of  Moses,  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  of  the  Evangelist 
John,  and  of  many  other  martyrs,  should  remain  unknown 
to  us  on  account  of  the  errors  which  might  result  from  such 
veneration."  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  sermon  delivered  in 
the  last  year  of  his  life,  on  the  feast  of  John  the  Baptist, 
Wiclif  expresses  the  thought  that  God  and  the  Church  tri- 
umphant regard  the  worshipping  of  corporeal  relics  at  large 
with  no  appr(jbation ;  and  then  he  continues  as  follows: — 
"  It  would  therefore  be  to  the  honour  of  the  saints  and  the 
fit  of  the  Church,  if  the  costly  ornaments,  so  foolishly 
lavished  upon  their  graves,  were  divided  among  the  poor.     I 


118  .  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

am  well  aware,  however,  that  the  man  who  would  sharply 
and  fully  expose  this  error  would  be  held  for  a  manifest 
heretic  by  the  image  worshippers,  and  the  greedy  people  who 
make  gain  of  such  graves ;  for  in  the  adoration  of  the  eucharist, 
and  such  worshipping  of  dead  bodies  and  images,  the  Church 
is  seduced  by  an  adulterous  generation.^"  The  diiference  of 
tone  between  the  two  last  mentioned  passages  falls  so 
strongly  on  the  ear,  as  to  show  clearly  enough  what  important 
progress  VViclif  must  have  made  in  the  interval  in  his  insight 
into  the  night  side  of  saint-worship.  Only  one  thought  on 
the  subject  of  pilgrimages  may  yet  be  touched  here;  it  is 
this — that  the  Christian  people  would  do  better  to  stay 
at  home,  and  keeps  God's  commandments  in  private,  than  to 
make  pilgrimages  and  bring  gifts  to  the  thresholds  of  the 
saints."**** 

In  quite  a  similar  spirit  Wiclif  expresses  himself  on  the 
Bubject  of  masses  for  the  dead,  and  all  that  concerns  them. 
He  attaches  little  importance  to  them,  and  though  he  does 
not  exactly  deny  that  such  masses  and  prayers  for  the  dead, 
and  foundations  for  their  benefit,  may  be  of  some  benefit  to 
the  departed,  he  yet  affirms  with  all  emphasis  the  view  that 
in  all  circumstances  the  good  which  a  man  does  in  his  hfe- 
time,  should  it  be  only  the  giving  of  a  cup  of  cold  water, 
out  of  love  and  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  is  of  more  use  to  him 
than  the  spending  of  thousands  on  thousands  of  pounds  by 
his  executors  after  his  death,  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.-'*'^ 

3.  Another  side  of  the  life  of  the  Church  on  earth  in  regard 
to  which  Wiclif's  judgment  may  be  of  importance  for  us,  is 
the  moral  condition  and  character  of  the  Church. 

Everywhere  Wiclif  sets  out  from  ethical  ideas,  and  applies 
to  all  conditions  and  actions  the  standard  of  morals.  There 
are   occasions   also   when  he  speaks   under  the  influence  of] 


wiclif's  judgmext  on  the  state  of  the  church,      119 

strong  feeling  in  the  representations  he  makes  and  the 
censures  he  pronounces  upon  such  subjects.  At  such  times 
his  discourse  has  a  tone  of  deep  earnestness,  and  becomes 
truly  impressive,  even  incisive. 

The  judgment  which  he  pronounces  upon  the  religious  and 
moral  condition  of  Christendom,  when  he  tries  it  by  the  stan- 
dard of  the  first  commandment,  is  sufficiently  unfavourable. 
He  finds  that  idolatry  and  creature  worship  are  in  the  ascend- 
ant everywhere.  "  It  is  clear  as  day,"  says  he,  "  that  Ave  so- 
called  Christians  make  the  creatures  to  be  our  gods.  The 
proud  or  ambitious  man  Avorships  a  likeness  of  that  which 
is  in  heaven  (Exod.  xx.  4),  because,  like  Lucifer,  he  loves, 
above  all  things,  promotion  or  dignity  in  one  form  or  an- 
other. The  covetous  man  Avorships  a  likeness  of  that  which  is 
in  the  earth  beneath.  And  although  going  in  sheep's  clothing 
we  hypocritically  confess  that  our  highest  of  all  serAace  is  in 
the  worship  of  God,  yet  it  would  very  well  become  us  care- 
fully to  inquire,  Avhether  we  faithfully  carry  out  this  confes- 
sion in  our  actions.  Let  us  then  search  and  examine  AAdiether 
Ave  keep  the  first  and  greatest  commandment,  and  Avorship 
God  above  all.  Do  Ave  not  bend  and  boAv  ourselves  before 
the  rich  of  this  Avorld,  more  Avith  the  view  of  being  rewarded 
for  this  obeisance  A\atli  Avorldly  honour  or  temporal  advan- 
tage, than  for  the  sake  of  their  moral  good  or  spiritual  profit? 
Does  not  the  covetous  man  stretch  out  noAv  his  arms  and 
noAV  his  hands  to  grasp  the  gold,  and  does  he  not  pay  court 
with  all  his  pains  to  the  men  Avho  have  it  in  their  power  to 
hinder  or  to  help  his  gains  ?  Does  not  the  sensual  man,  as 
though  he  Avere  making  an  offering  to  the  idol  Moloch,  cast 
himself  down  Avith  his  Avhole  body  before  the  harlot?  Does 
he  not  pat  upon  such  persons  worldly  honour?  Does  he  not 
ofter  to  them  the  iucense  of  purses  of  gold,  in  order  to  scent 


120  LIEE  OF  WICLIF. 

the  flow  of  sensual  delight  with  the  sweetest  perfumes "? 
Docs  he  not  lavish  upon  his  mistress  gift  upon  gift,  till  she  is 
more  wonderfully  bedizened  with  various  ornaments  than  an 
image  of  the  Holy  Virgin  ?  And  does  not  all  this  show  that 
we  love  the  flesh,  the  world,  and  the  devil  more  than  God, 
because  we  are  more  careful  to  keep  their  commandments? 
What  violence  do  we  hear  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  suffer- 
ing in  our  times  (Matt,  xi.  12),  while  the  gates  of  hell  are 
bolted?  But,  alas  !  broad  and  well  trodden  is  the  way  which 
leadeth  to  hell,  and  narrow  and  forsaken  the  way  which 
leadeth  to  heaven  !  This  it  is  which  makes  men,  for  lack  of 
faith,  love  what  is  seen  and  temporal  more  than  the  blessings 
which  they  cannot  see,  and  to  have  more  delight  in  buildings, 
dress,  and  ornaments,  and  other  things  of  art  and  men's  in- 
vention, than  in  the  uncreated  architypes  of  heaven."  In 
the  end  Wiclif  concludes  that  at  least  the  greatest  part  of 
Christendom  is  infected  with  the  prevailing  idolatry,  and  in 
reality  treasures  the  work  of  its  own  hands  more  highly 
than  God  the  Head.-'^^ 

Taking  all  things  into  view,  Wiclif  arrived  at  the  con- 
viction that  the  moral  condition  of  the  race  was  sinking 
lower  and  lower.  As  the  world  is  forsaking  the  law  of 
Christ,  and  in  conformity  to  human  maxims  is  surrender- 
ing itself  to  the  lust  of  secular  things,  it  cannot  but  be 
that  offences  aud  scandals  will  arise.^^^  And  when  he  com- 
pares the  various  classes  of  wicked  men  with  one  another, 
it  appears  to  him  that  there  is  a  threefold  gradation 
of  evil  among  them.  The  common  people  are  bad,  the 
secular  rulers  are  worse,  and  the  spiritual  prelates  are 
worst  of  all.^^^ 

It  may  be  anticipated  from  this  language  that  Wiclif  would 
not  be  blind  to  the  moral  corruption  of  the  clergy  of  his  own 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   X.  121 

age.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  quite  clear  to  him  that  the 
Church  has  much  more  to  fear  from  enemies  within  than 
without,  and  especially  from  "  a  clergy  who  are  given  up  to 
avarice,  and  therefore  enemies  to  the  Cross  of  Christ  and  the 
Gospel."^'-'^  These  few  words  alone  are  sufficient  to  show 
that  while  his  eye  was  open  to  all  the  religious  shortcomings 
and  all  the  moral  faults  of  the  clergy  of  his  time,  he  looked 
upon  their  worldly-mindedness  and  love  of  wealth  as  the 
proper  root  of  all  their  evil.  But  this  topic  does  not  admit 
of  being  fully  treated  except  in  connection  with  the  whole 
body  of  his  teaching  on  the  subject  of  the  constitution  of 
the  Church. 

NOTES  TO  SECTION  X. 

269.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  2,  MS.  1294,  fol.  134,  col.  2  :  Utinam  non  multiplicarentur 
tot  cerimoniae  et  signa  in  nostra  ecclesia ! 

270.  lb.,  c.  19,  MS.  1294,  fol.  192,  col.  1:  Seel  in  isto  stat  pericnlnm  militantis 
ecclesiae,  quod  judaizando  secundum  senium  carnalem  signa  ilia  cum  traditionibus 
huniauis  plus  suis  signatis  praeponderet,  vel  etiam  legem  Dei  plus  attendat  judicio 
seiisus  corporei,  quara  oculo  mentis  vel  etiam  lumine  fidei. 

271.  SahUs'  Bay  Sermon$,  No.  XVI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  32,  col.  1. 

272.  Dc  Blasphemia,  c.  6,  MS.  3933,  fol.  134,  col.  4  :  Sed  isti  insensati  Galatae 
volunt  monstrose  onerare  Ckristi  ecclesiam  cum  cerimoniis  legis  antiquae,  dimissis 
Christi  consiliis,  etc. 

273.  Life  and  Opinions  of  John  de  Wifcliffe,  II.,  296,  f. 

274.'  Liber  Mandatm-tim  {Dccalogus),  c.  14,  MS.  1339,  fol.  133,  col.  2,  f.  particu- 
larly 134,  col.  1  :  Et  de  ista  deceptione  generationis  adultei-ae  signa  quaerentis 
populus  Christi  continue  plus  caecatur,  etc. 

275.  Ih.,  fol.  134,  col.  2  :  Ideo  de  quanto  expeditius  post  expergefactionem  ad, 
colestia  imaginativa  hominis  dimittit  accidentia  imaginis,  de  tanto  est  melius,  quia 
in  mora  imaginandi  latet  venenum  idolatriae  ;  .  .  .  .  patet,  quod  summa  diligentia 
cavere  debemus  venennm  sub  melle,  adorando  idolatrice  signum  loco  signati. 

276.  lb.  :  Videtur  mihi  periculum  diligeutius  exponendum,  specialiter  cum 
nomine  tenus  christiani  tanquam  animales  vel  bestiales  dimissa  fide  credendonua 
spirituaJium  nirais  hodie  pascunt  sensus,  ut  visum,  spectaculis  oruamentorura 
ecclesiae  sumptuosis,  auditum,  campanis  org-anis  et  novo  mode  discemendi  horas 
diei  per  campanam  mirabiliter  tintioantem,  et  sensibilia,  quibus  irreligioee  moven- 
tur  sen.sus  alii,  sunt  parata. 


122  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

277.  Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  293  f. 

278.  XL.  Miscell.  Sermons,  MS.  3928,  fol.  235,  col,  2  ;  fol,  36,  col.  2,  particularly 
236,  col.  1 :  Tertium,  quod  debemus  credere  de  matre  domini,  quod  ipsa  est  suis  et 
veris  cultoribus  propitia  procuratrix.  Nam  viatores  ex  impetu  caritatis  sufifragantur 
egentibus.  Sed  b.  virgo  JNIaria  videt  in  verbo  (ci5lo  ?)  nostram  egentiam,  et  est 
magis  caritativa  et  magis  misericors.  Ideo  credendum  est,  quod  fidentius  procurat 
contra  nostram  egentiam  et  eo  specialius,  quo  noscit  se  adeptam  tantum  honorem, 
ut  sit  refugium  pecatorum. 

279.  XL.  Miscell.  Sermow,  fol.  236,  col.  2  :  Hie  videtiir  mihi,  quod  impossibile 

est  nos  praemiari  sine  Mariae  suffragio Imo  illi,  qui  nihil  meruerunt, 

sentient  ejus  levamen,  cum  occasione  suae  humilitatis  et  interjjellationis  pro  humano 
genere  mitius  punientur.  Ipsa  enim  fuit  quodammodo  causa  incarnationis  et 
passionis  Christi,  et  per  consequens  totius  salvationis  mundi. 

280.  De  Givili  Dominio,  III.,  c.  10,  MS.,  1340,  fol.  67,  col.  1  :  Contingit  etiam, 
quod  multi  ss.  monachi  et  fratres  sint  in  beatitudine  altiores  quam  dati  sancti, 
quorum  festa  solemnisat  ecclesia,  verumtamen  discretio  liujus  in  particular!  excedit 
humanum  judicium.     Ideo  standum  est  determination!  ecclesiae. 

281.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  2,  MS.  1294,  fol.  134,  cols.  1  and  2  :  Absit  christianum 
credere,  quod  de  necessitate  saiutis  oportet  omnem  fidelem  credere  explicite  de  isto 
et  quocunque,  quern  ecclesia  nostra  canonizat,  ut  eo  ipso  sit  beatus.  De  aliis 
autem  modernioribvis;,  qui  canonizantur  ratione  parentelae,  questus  vel  muneris, 
non  oportet  nos  apponere  tantam  fidem,  etc. 

282.  Trialogus,  III.,  30,  p.  237  :  Insuper  videtur  multis,  quod  curia  ista  sic 
canonizans  sanctos  blaspheme  praesumit,  cum  subducta  revelatione  tam  plane 
ignorat  sanctitatem  defunct!,  quam  plane  ignorat  Johannes  presbiter  vel  Soldanus. 

283.  Saints'  Day  Sermons  (delivered  later  than  1378),  No.  1.  3928,  fol.  1,  col.  1  : 
Non  valet  festum  vel  devotio  cujuscunque  sanct!  citra  dominum,  nisi  de  quanto 
in  ejus  devotionem  supereminenter  persona  solemnisans  accenditur. 

284.  lb.,  No.  II.,  fol.  3,  col.  1  :  Cum  sancti  viatores  graviter  ferunt  exaltationem 
sui,  multo  magis  beat!  despiciunt  illam  laudem  eorum  perversam  ;  et  sic  beati 
creduntur  contemnere  multas  canonisationes  ;  et  ita  cum  beati  contemnunt 
quoscunque  Deus  contemserit,  necessario  subtrahunt  suffragia  a  sic  eos  colentibus. 

285.  lb.,  No.  I.,  fol.  1,  col.  1  :  Cum  apostoli  sine  talibus  festis  sanctorum  plus 
nobis  dilexerunt  Jesiim  Christum,  videtur  multis  catholicvim  (pure  Christian  truth), 
tot  sanctorum  festa  instituere  esse  temerarium  ;  unde  videtur  quibusdam,  quod 
melius  esset  non  fore  tot  solemnitates  ad  onus  ecclesiae,  etc. 

286.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  19,  MS.  1294,  fol.  192,  col.  4  :  Unde  talis  culpanda  caecitas, 
inordinatus  ac  cupidus  cultus  circa  reliquias  faciunt  in  pcenam  peccati  populura 
multum  fall!.  Unde  in  multis  patriis  cupido  pecuniae  facit  in  multis  ecclesiis, 
quod  pars  personae,  emtae  ut  canonizetur  pro  confessore  vel  martyre,  plus  hon- 
oretur  peregrin atione,  sumptuosa  oblatione  et  sepulcri  ornatione  auro  et  lapidibus 
preciosis,  quam  corpus  matris  Dei,  etc.  Comp.  Sermo7is  on  the  Gospel,  No. 
XXXII.,  Select  Works,  I.,  83. 

287.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XXII.,  MS.,  fol.  43,  col.  3.    The  following  words 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   X.  123 

occur  at  the  end  of  the  Sermon,  fol.  44,  col.  1  :  Unde  ad  honorem  foret  sanctornm 
et  utilitatem  ecclesiae,  quod  distributa  forent  pauperibus  jocalia  (jewels)  sepul- 
croi-um,  quibus  stulte  .  .  .  sunt  ornata.  Scio  tamen,  quod  acute  et  diffuse  detegens 
hunc  eiTorein  foret  a  cultoribus  signorum  et  avaris  reportantibus  ex  talibus 
sepulcris  lucrum,  manifestus  haereticus  reputatus  ;  nam  in  cultu  et  veneratione 
eucharistiae,  tali  cultu  mortuorum  corporum  atque  imaginum,  per  generationem 
adulteram  ecclesia  est  seducta. 

288.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  10,  MS.  1340,  fol.  67,  col.  1  :  Melius  occuparetur 
populus  domi  in  praeceptorum  Dei  observantia,  quam  in  peregrinatione  et  oblatione 
visitando  sanctorum  limina. 

289.  XL.  MisceUaneom  Sermons,  No.  VI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  203,  col.  3:  Licet  mortuis 
prosint  suffragia  ecclesiae,  verumtamen  quantumlibet  opus  meritorium  .  .  .  factum 
a  superstite  est  sibi  magis  utile,  quam  foret,  ipso  mortuo,  quantumlibet  magnum 
suffragium  ;  sic  (juod  plus  prodest  humini  viventi  dare  in  caritate  "  calicem  aquae 
frigidae  "  pro  Christi  nomine,  quam  pro  ipso  mortuo,  in  purgatorio  punito,  darentur 
ab  executoribus  millies  mille  librae.  Liber  Mandatorum  {Decalogus),  c.  23, 
MS.  1339,  fol.  186,  col.  2  :  Si  quaeritur  de  praestantiori  modo  juvandi  mortuos, 
dicitur  quod  juvando  vivos  amplius  indigentes,  ut  seminando  opera  misericordiae 
tam  corporalia  quam  spiritualia  secundum  spiritum  consilii.  Non  enim  oportet 
inqirudenter  in  uno  globo  una  die  celebrare  tot  missas,  facere  tot  distributiones  aut 
simul  tot  jejunationes. 

290.  Liber  Mandatorum  {Decalogus),  c.  15,  MS.  1339,  fol.  136,  col.  1  ;  fol.  137, 
col.  2. 

291.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  17,  MS.  1341,  fol.  238,  col.  1  :  Mundo  quidem, 
relicta  Christi  lege,  declinante  secundum  traditiones  humanas  ad  cupiditatem 
teinporalium,  neccsse'est  ut  contumeliae  et  scandala  oriantur. 

292.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  5,  MS.  1294,  fol.  142,  col.  3  :  Omnes  praesciti  constituunt 
unum  corpus.  .  .  .  Ex  quo  patet,  quod  oportet  esse  unam  generationem,  quae 
fuit  mala  in  vulgaribus,  pejor  in  secularibus  praepositis,  sed  pessima  in  praelatis. 

293.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  2,  MS.  1341,  fol.  156,  col.  1  :  Si  non  faUor,  longe 
plus  infestatur  ecclesia  ab  inimicis  domesticis,  ut  clero  avaritiae  dedito  et  sic  cruel 
Christi  ac  legi  evangelicae  inimico,  quam  a  Judaeis  paganis  forinsecus. 

Section  XI. —  Constitution  of  the  Clmrdi. 

The  first  foundation-principle  of  tlie  Roman  Catholic  Consti- 
tution is  the  division  of  the  Church  into  two  ranks — Clergy 
and  Laity — or  the  division  between  the  teaching  and  hearing 
Church — the  governing  and  obeying  Church.  A  disthiction 
which  the  Reformation  a  priori  abohshed  by  putting  the  idea 
of  office  in  the  place  of  a  distinction  of  rank,  or  in  other 
•words,  by  maintaining  the  universal  priesthood  of  believers. 


124  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

This  fundamental  principle  of  the  Church  of  Rome  Wiclif 
does  not  deny  with  any  clear  consciousness  of  the  opposite 
conception,  but  nevertheless  he  puts  forth  views  which 
are  indirectly  opposed  to  it.  For  the  personal  respon- 
sibility, and  the  consequent  liberty  of  conscience  of  the 
private  members  of  the  Church,  are  principles  Avhich  he 
is  far  from  ignoring ;  on  the  contrary,  he  requires  that 
every  Christian  sliould  have  knowledge  of  the  truth,  should 
in  a  sense  be  a  theologian,  for  faith  is  the  highest  theology. 
The  difference  in  knowledge  between  Church  member  and 
priest  is  only  one  of  degree.""^  He  goes  further  stih. 
Not  only  does  he  think  the  case  possible  that  theologians 
and  priests  might  take  a  wrong  direction  in  doctrine  and 
life,  while  the  laity  remained  steadfast  in  the  truth,  but 
he  maintains  the  existence  of  this  state  of  matters  as  a 
matter  of  actual  fact.  Upon  occasion  of  his  opposing  the 
doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  he  observes  that  God  always 
preserves  natural  knoioledge  among  the  laity,  and  keeps  up 
among  some  of  the  clergy  the  right  understanding  of  the 
Faith,  as  in  Greece  and  elsewhere,  as  seemeth  to  him 
good.^'*'^  He  does  not  even  shrink  from  laying  down  the 
principle,  however  much  offence  it  may  excite,  that  the 
Ldty  have  the  right,  in  case  their  spiritual  rulers  fail  to 
do  their  duty,  or  give  themselves  up  to  certain  vices  and 
evil  ways,  to  withhold  from  them  the  Church's  revenues 
— a  principle  which  undoubtedly  rests  on  the  assumption 
that  the  laity  are  in  a  position  and  are  entitled  to  judge 
respecting  the  life  of  their  spiritual  superiors,  and  the 
way  in  which  they  execute  the  duties  of  their  office. 

To  maintain  such  a  principle  would  have  been  an  astound- 
ing pitch  of  boldness  if  the  Canon  Law  itself  had  not  been 
on    its    side,    and   papal   precedents    had    not    conceded    to 


THE  RIGHT  OF  THE  LAITY  AS  AGAINST  THE  CLERGY.       125 

the  congregations  of  tlie  Church  that  right.  And  these 
facts  Wiclif  knew  right  well  how  to  avail  himself  of  in 
his  own  support.  We  mention  only  the  measure  which 
Gregory  VII.  had  recourse  to  in  his  day  in  order  to  carry 
through  his  reforms,  and,  in  particular,  to  root  out  the 
marriage  of  priests.  For  this  end  he  laid  his  injunctions 
upon  the  congregations — that  is  upon  the  laity — that  they 
should  no  longer  hear  masses  read  by  married  priests, 
that  they  should  cease  to  visit  the  churches  where  such 
priests  officiated,  and  should,  eo  to  speak,  put  a  mark  of 
infamy  upon  them — all  by  papal  command.^^'' 

Wiclif,  it  is  true,  makes  a  different  application  of  the  prin- 
ciple from  Hildebrand,  but  the  principle  in  both  cases  is  still 
the  same,  i.e.,  that  unfaithful  and  conscienceless  clergy  de- 
serve the  reprimand  and  actual  repudiation  of  the  laity. 
Wiclif  emphasises  the  right  of  the  laity  so  strongly  that 
he  puts  it  forward  as  a  formal  duty,  the  neglect  of  which 
cannot  be  justified.  A  member  of  the  congregation  who 
omits  such  a  reprimand  makes  himself  a  partner  of  the 
sin  of  his  spiritual  rulers  ;-'•"■  while  laymen,  who  withhold 
the  temporalities  of  the  Church  from  an  unworthy  object, 
take  them  from  him  not  as  a  spiritual  ruler  or  Church 
minister,  but  as  an  enemy  of  the  Church.^'^*  And  Wiclif 
does  not  think  of  such  a  case  as  a  mere  possibility  which 
might  occur  in  single  exceptional  instances,  but  believes 
that  abuses  of  all  kinds  —  the  incorporation  of  benefices 
with  foundations  —  the  granting  of  indulgencies  —  the 
neglect  of  necessary  censures — may  be  pushed  to  such  a 
length  that  the  so-called  clergy  w^ould  become  an  utterly 
worldly  body.-"^  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  holds  it  as 
no  inconceivable  thing  that  the  Church  might  consist  for 
a  time  of  lay  members  alone.""" 


/ 


126  LIFE  OF  WICLIP. 

From  the  foregoing  it  appears  clearly  enough  that 
Wiclif  by  no  means  accepted  of  the  Romish  division  of 
the  Church  into  two  ranks — the  clergy  and  the  laity — 
according  to  which  the  laity  have  only  to  hear  and  obey, 
and  should  be  destitute  of  all  independent  judgment  and 
free  self-decision  in  ecclesiastical  matters.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  recognises  the  general  priesthood  of  believers, 
although  he  never  makes  use  of  this  phrase.  His  conception 
of  the  Church  as  "  the  whole  body  of  the  Elect "  is  itself 
an  indirect  proof  of  this,  for  it  is  as  clear  as  day  that 
measured  by  this  conception  the  chasm  which  exists  be- 
tween the  "  Elect "  and  the  "  Foreknown  "  must  be  thought 
of  as  incomparably  greater  than  that  which  is  placed 
between  a  cleric  and  a  laic.  And,  undoubtedly,  an 
"Elect"  man  —  a  believing  and  earnest  Christian  (trew 
man),  layman  though  he  is,  yet  stands  before  God  infinitely 
higher  than  a  priest,  or  a  bishop,  or  even  a  pope,  when 
the  latter,  however  high-placed  in  "  the  mixed  Church,"  in 
virtue  of  priestly  consecration  and  hierarchical  order,  is 
yet  only  in  name  a  Christian  and  priest,  but  in  truth 
an  enemy  of  the  Church  and  a  limb  in  the  body  of  the 
wicked  fiend. 

This  dualism  between  "  Elect "  and  "  Foreknown,"  between 
members  of  Christ  and  members  of  Anti-Christ,  runs  through 
the  whole  ascending  scale  of  the  hierarchy.  To  the  pastoral 
office,  as  we  have  already  shown  in  chapter  6th,  Wiclif 
devoted  the  most  unremitting  pains,  as  well  in  the  practical 
fulfilment  of  his  own  calling,  as  in  the  labour  of  thought  and 
the  exercise  of  his  influence  upon  others,  by  speech  and 
writing.  In  particular,  his  whole  tractate.  Of  the  Pastoral 
Office,  is  devoted  to  it;  but  in  addition  to  this,  there  is 
scarcely  one  of  his  writings,  large  or  small,  in  which  he  does 


"THE   F.VLSE   SHEPHERDS.'*  127 

not  return  to  tlie  subject,  duscribiug  the  actual  condition 
into  which  the  office  had  fallen,  and  striving  that  it  should 
again  become  what  it  ought  to  be.  With  great  outspokenness 
he  brings  to  light  the  negligences  and  sins  of  the  "false 
shepherds."^"^  Above  all  he  complains  of  their  neglect  of  the 
chiefest  duty  of  the  office — the  preaching  of  God's  word; 
they  take  no  heed  to  feed  the  sheep ;  the  pastors  are  often 
dumb  dogs.^*^^  Oftentimes  and  bitterly  enough  he  rebukes 
the  total  worldiness  of  many  pastors,  who  postpone  the 
service  of  God  to  the  service  of  noblemen,  or  waste  their 
time  in  hunting,  drinking,  boon  companionship,  and  such 
like ;  men  so  utterly  earthly-minded  that  they  can  be 
compared  only  to  moles ;  they  give  themselves  up  wholly  to 
money- gathering,  partly  by  preaching  only  for  gain,  partly 
by  fleecing  the  poor  of  whom  they  should  rather  be  the 
protectors.-""-^ 

Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  Wiclif  had  the 
same  bad  opinion  of  all  the  parish  priests.  He  was  himself 
a  conscientious  curate  of  souls,  and  may  very  well  have 
knoAvn  many  like  himself  in  the  land.  He  knows  well  how 
to  make  the  right  distinctions.  "  There  are  three  kinds  of 
pastors,"  he  observes  in  one  place,  some  who  are  true  shep- 
herds both  in  name  and  in  truth,  and  some  who  are  only 
shepherds  in  name.  And  these  latter  again  divide  them- 
selves into  two  sorts — there  are  some,  namely,  who  preach 
and  do  the  Avork  of  a  shepherd,  but  they  do  it  chiefly  for 
worldly  fame  or  profit;  and  these  Augustin  calls  "hirelings." 
Men  of  the  second  sort  fail  to  fulfil  their  pastoral  office,  but  at 
the  same  time  inflict  upon  their  flocks  no  visible  damage  or 
Avrong;.  and,  yet,  they  are  described  by  Christ  as  thieves  and 
robbers  (Matt.  vii.  15),  because  in  virtue  of  their  office  they 
defraud  their  parishioners  of  a  full  return  for  those  Church 


128  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

revenues  which  are  the  inheritance  of  the  poor.  But  the  third 
sort  not  only  rob  openly  the  goods  of  the  poor,  without  ren- 
dering any  corresponding  service,  but  like  wolves  they  also 
attack  and  destroy  their  flocks,  and  incite  tbem  in  many  ways 
to  sin ;  and  these  are  "  the  ravening  wolves  "  (Matt.  vii.  15). 
But  a  "shepherd"  enters  into  office  through  the  door,  which  is 
Christ,  in  order  to  serve  God  and  his  Church  in  humility,  and 
not  for  the  sake  of  earthly  gain  or  worldly  advantages. 
Such  an  one  leads  the  sheep  upon  the  way  which  conducts 
to  heaven,  by  the  example  of  a  holy  life ;  he  heals  the  sick, 
by  application  of  the  sacramental  means  of  grace ;  he  feeds 
the  hungry,  by  reaching  to  them  the  food  of  holy  preaching ; 
and  finally  he  gives  drink  to  the  thirsty,  by  opening  up  to 
them  the  wisdom  of  the  Scriptures  with  the  help  of  the 
reading  of  holy  commentary.^"* 

On  the  subject  of  the  Celibacy  of  the  Priesthood,  VViclif 
gives  repeated  expression  to  his  views.  In  several  places  he 
characterises  the  Church  law  which  enjoins  it,  as  an  ordinance 
plainly  unscriptural,  hypocritical,  and  morally  pernicious. 
Neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  have  forbidden  the  marriage 
of  priests  ;  they  have  rather  approved  it.^"^  He  points  not 
only  to  the  usage  of  the  most  ancient  Church  to  consecrate 
married  men  as  bishops,  but  also  to  the  still  existing 
practice  of  the  marriage  of  the  clergy  in  the  Greek  Church.^"^ 
And  as  concerns  the  present,  he  confesses  himself  unable  to 
see  why  in  all  parts  of  Christendom  allowance  should  not 
be  given  to  married  men  to  continue  in  the  priesthood, 
especially  if  no  candidates  of  equal  qualifications  for  the 
priesthood  should  be  forthcoming.  In  particular,  he  urges 
that  it  would  undoubtedly  be  the  lesser  evil  of  the  two,  that 
men  who  are  living  in  honourable  matrimony,  and  who  are 
ruling  equally  well  the  Church  and  their  own  houses,  should 


THE   CELIBACY   OF   THE   CLERGY.  129 

e  consecrated  to  the  priesthood  without  disturbance  to 
heir  married  life,  than  that  priests  should  be  living,  indeed, 
ut  of  the  married  state,  but  should  be  practising  unchasity 
n  spite  of  their  vows,  with  wives  and  widows  and  virgins.^"^ 
'he  hypocrites,  it  is  true,  who  set  the  ordinances  of  men 
xbove  the  word  of  Scripture,  abhor  the  marriage  of  a  priest 
as  poison,  while  allowing  themselves  in  uncleanness  of  the 
most  shameful  kind.  And  yet  Scripture  nowhere  forbids 
the  marriage  of  a  priest,  but  prohibits  unchastity  to  all 
without  exception,  even  to  every  laic^"^  But  even  apart 
from  such  sins  and  vices,  Wiclif  is  of  opinion  that  in  all 
cases  it  would  be  better  that  a  priest  should  live  as  a 
married  man,  than  that  while  remaining  out  of  matrimony, 
le  should  live,  along  with  this,  a  wholly  secular  life,  addicted 
to  ambition  and  the  love  of  mone3^'^"^^  But  let  this  be  as 
it  will,  Wiclif  never  allows  himself  to  be  shaken  in  his  con- 
viction that  the  pastoral  office,  more  than  any  other,  when 
rightly  exercised,  is  the  most  useful,  and  for  the  Church  the 
only  indispensable  office ;  that  all  the  other  gi-ades  of  the 
hierarchy  may  fall  into  disuse,  but  that  the  cure  of  souls 
must  always  be  continued  and  steadfastly  upheld  in  the 
congregations  of  the  Church.^^*' 

This  last  declaration  is  in  accord  with  Wiclif  s  view  of  the 
higher  gradations  of  the  hierarchy,  especially  with  his  con- 
viction, to  Avhich  he  had  before  given  expression,  that 
between  priest  and  bishop  there  is  no  difference  arising 
from  consecration — that,  on  the  contrary,  every  priest 
regularly  ordained  possesses  full  power  to  dispense  in  a 
sufficient  manner  all  the  sacraments.  Among  the  nineteen 
propositions  of  Wiclif  which  Pope  Gregory  XI.  rejected 
in  1377,  this  one  now  stated  is  already  found ;  and  I  find 
that  it  was  extracted  from  his  work,  De  Civili  Dominio,^^'^ 
VOL.  n.  I 


130  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

This  convictiou  was  not  only  always  held  fast  by  him  from 
that  time  forward,  but  was  developed  still  more  boldly  and 
logically,  as  may  be  seen  from  his  later  writings ;  and  he 
was  confirmed  in  it  partly  by  holy  Scripture  and  partly  by 
the  history  of  the  Church.  From  Scripture  he  derived  the 
knowledge  that  the  Church  of  the  apostles  knew  exclusively 
the  distinction  between  Presbyters  and  Deacons,  but  made 
no  difference  between  Presbyter  and  Bishop,  which  in  the 
apostolic  age  were  identical.^^^  And  the  history  of  the 
Church  revealed  to  him  the  further  fact,  that  even  for  some 
considerable  time  after  the  apostolic  age,  the  equality  of  the 
presbyterate  and  the  episcopate  continued  to  subsist — a 
fact  for  which  Wiclif  appeals  to  the  testimony  of  Jerome, 
and  which  was  known  to  the  middle  age  chiefly  from  the 
Corpus  Juris  Canonici,  which '  contained  the  passage  from  - 
Jerome  just  referred  to.^^-^  % 

Wiclif,  it  is  true,  had  an  erroneous  idea  of  the  manner  in 
which  this  original  equality  of  the  two  offices  passed  into  the 
tage  of  the  superiority  of  the  bishop  above  the  presbyter,  and 
into  the  further  development  of  the  hierarchy  in  all  its  grada- 
tions. But  if  his  conception  of  this  differed  from  what  actually 
took  place,  according  to  the  testimony  of  history,  the  blame 
of  his  error  lay  not  in  himself,  but  in  the  time  when  he  lived — 
when  the  unhistorical  and  mythical  traditions  of  the  middle 
age  were  still  in  possession  of  unchallenged  prevalency.^^* 
Wiclif,  that  is  to  say,  proceeds  on  the  assumption  that 
Constantine  the  Great  not  only  endowed  the  Bishop  ot 
Rome,  in  the  person  of  Silvester  I.,  with  rich  temporal 
possessions,  but  also  with  new  power  and  dignities — a  con- 
sequence of  which  was  the  elevation  of  the  bishops  above 
the  presbyterate  not  only  in  the  Roman  See,  but  everywhere 
in  the  Church,  and  the  development  of  a  graduated  hier- 


PROGRESS   OF   WICLIF'S   OPINIONS   ON   THE   PAPACY.       131 

archy,  including  the  Papal  Primacy  itself.^^^  Hence  Wiclif 
in  numberless  places  speaks  of  the  imperial  plenary  power  of 
the  Pope — e.g.,  Trialogus,  iv.  32 ;  Supploneiitum  Irialoyi,  c. 
10 — whereby  he  took  occasion  to  exalt  himself,  allowed  him- 
self to  be  blinded,  etc.  And  when  Wiclif  speaks  of  Cesarean 
bishops  (Episcopi  Ca'sarei)  the  alleged  donation  of  Constan- 
tine  is,  in  like  manner,  present  to  his  mind  as  that  which  was 
the  first  occasion  of  the  original  equality  of  bishops  and 
presbyters  being  disarranged,  and  a  power  being  attributed 
to  bishops  which  did  not  belong  to  them,  and  was  without 
warrant.  Wiclifs  ideas  of  the  Papacy  are  assumed  to  be 
known  with  exactitude,  and  yet,  up  to  the  present  time,  they 
have  been  known  only  from  his  latest  writings,  and,  on  this 
account,  only  very  incompletely.  When  I  bring  into  view 
his  earlier  writings  as  well,  I  find  that  his  opinions  on  this 
subject  underwent  no  unimportant  amount  of  change  ;  so 
much  so,  indeed,  that  we  are  able  to  trace  a  steady  progress 
in  his  judgments  respecting  it. 

I  think  I  am  able  to  distinguish  three  stages  in  this  devel- 
opment. These  admit  of  being  distinguished  from  each  other 
both  chronologically  and  substantively.  In  point  of  time, 
the  first  stage  reaches  down  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Papal 
schism  in  1378 ;  the  second  stage  embraces  the  years  from 
1378  to  1381 ;  and  the  third  extends  from  thence  to  his 
death  in  1384.  In  substance  the  successive  stages  may  be 
clearly  and  briefly  discriminated  thus — first,  the  recognition 
within  certain  limits  of  the  Papal  primacy ;  next,  emancipa- 
tion from  the  primacy  in  principle  ;  finally,  the  most  decided 
opposition  to  it.     I  have  now  to  point  out  this  in  detail. 

The  first  stadium,  beginning  with  the  earliest  appear- 
ance of  Wiclif  in  ecclesiastico-political  questions,  and  ex- 
tending to  the  year  1378,  is  marked  by  a  recognition  of 


132  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

the  Papal  primacy  witliiu  certain  limits.  Here  Wiclif  is 
still  far  removed  from  attacking  the  Papacy  as  such  in 
its  very  core  and  essence.  As  the  central  power  of  the 
Church,  he  still  accords  to  it  a  real  recognition  and  a 
sincere  reverence,  but  only  within  certain  limits,  on  the 
maintenance  of  which  he  lays  great  stress ;  and  in  these 
is  discerned  the  free,  reformative  tendency  which  is  char- 
acteristic of  even  the  earliest  stadium.  What  are  these 
limits!  They  are  of  two  kinds:  First,  in  relation  to  the 
State,  they  bar  all  attacks  of  the  Papacy  upon  it,  whether 
on  questions  of  finance  or  of  civil  jurisdiction.  Here  belong 
the  investigations  which  Wiclif  at  the  outset  of  his  public 
career  set  on  foot  respecting  the  claims  of  the  Papacy  to  the 
payment  of  a  feudal  tribute  on  the  side  of  England — and 
partly  in  regard  to  other  questions  of  the  like  kind.  Of 
the  same  character  was  the  part  he  took  in  the  tra,nsactions 
at  Bruges  in  1374-75.  In  this  direction  he  speaks  here  and 
there  with  great  caution  and  reserve,  though  sometimes 
also  with  emphasis.^^*'  As  a  rule  it  is  in  reference  to 
the  financial  spoliation  of  countries  that  Wiclif  expresses 
himself  in  a  sharper  tone — calling  it  downright  theft — a 
robbery  of  the  Church.  ^^^  Then,  as  concerns  the  purely 
ecclesiastical  and  spiritual  domain,  Wiclif  in  so  far  imposes 
a  limit  upon  the  Papacy  as  he  denies  its  pretended  necessity 
for  the  ends  of  salvation,  and  its  unconditioned  plenary 
power.  It  is  itself  an  indication  of  this  opinion  that  he 
maintains  the  moral  right  of  entering  into  a  scientific  inquiry 
into  this  plenary  power.  ^^^ 

In  more  than  one  place  he  disputes  with  clearness  and  de- 
cision the  proposition  that  the  place  and  Church-authority  of 
the  Pope  is  absolutely  indispensable  and  necessary  to  salva- 
tion.^^^     Wiclif  reaches   the  same  result  which  Melancthon 


THE   FIRST   STAGE   OF   HIS   THOUGHT.  133 

expressed  in  the  words,  that  the  Pope  may  be  recognised  to 
be  the  Head  of  the  Chnvchjuj^e  huinano,  but  not  jitre  divi7io.  Of 
coui'se,  on  the  assumption  of  such  views  Wichf  could  not 
possibly  concede  the  infallibility  and  the  plenary  power  of  the 
Pope  in  spiritual  things.  On  the  contrary,  he  declares  quite 
explicitly  that  the  Pope  may  err  in  judgment.  God  alone 
is  without  sin.  Godhead  alone  is  infallible.^^"  An  "  elect 
man"  may  believe  that  the  Pope  and  the  Roman  Church 
are  guilty  of  injustice  in  putting  him  to  the  bann ;  and  this 
assertion  he  bases  on  the  proposition  that  it  is  possible  that 
not  only  the  Pope  but  the  whole  Roman  Church  may  fall 
into  mortal  sin  and  be  damned;  it  follows  that  he  may 
also  abuse  his  power  by  putting  men  under  the  bann  in  an 
unlawful  manner,  from  motives  of  avarice  and  ambition. 
Even  Peter  three  times  sinned  after  his  consecration, 
and  the  conveyance  to  him  of  representative  power; 
and  therefore  still  more  may  a  later  successor  in  his 
office  be  capable  of  sinning.  These  are  views  which  are 
still  held  by  many  decided  Episcopalians,  e.g.,  among  the 
Gallican  clergy.  But  although  Wiclif  contested  with  head 
and  heart  the  doctrines  of  the  Curialists  and  flatterers  of 
the  Pope  touching  his  absolute  power,^'^  he  was  still  very 
far,  during  this  first  stadium,  and  as  late  as  1378,  from 
impugning  the  prerogatives  of  the  Roman  Church.  On  the 
contrary,  he  expressly  concedes  them,  and  defends  himself 
in  the  most  earnest  manner  against  every  suspicion  of  his 
meaning  in  this  respect.'^^^ 

We  must  not  forget  indeed  on  this  point,  that  the  Pope 
and  the  Roman  Church  are  always  two  distinct  things ; 
as,  in  fact,  Luther  still  held  fast  his  veneration  for  the 
Romish  Church  at  a  time  of  his  life  when  he  had  already 
taken  up  a  sufficiently  decided  position  against  the    Pope. 


134  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

But  even  towards  the  Pope  himself  AYichf  at  that  stage 
Btill  cherished  a  confidence  which  is  really  touching.  I  am 
able  to  produce  in  proof  of  this  an  expression  of  Wiclif 
"which  has  hitherto  remained  unknown.  After  the  election 
of  Urban  YL,  on  the  8th  April  1378,  the  news  of  his  first 
speeches  and  measures  was  quickly  conveyed  to  Eng- 
land, and  these  evidently  made  upon  Wiclif  a  quite  extra- 
ordinary impression.  How  he  rejoiced  in  every  sign  of 
good  intention  and  moral  earnestness  in  that  quarter  I 
He  conceived  the  hope  that  the  man  who  had  just 
ascended  the  Papal  chair  would  prove  a  reformer  of  the 
Church.  Under  the  fresh  impression  of  the  news  he  breaks 
out  into  the  words,  "Blessed  be  the  Lord  who  in  these 
days  has  given  to  his  Church,  in  Urban  YL,  a  Cathohc 
head,  an  evangehcal  mau,  a  man  who  in  the  Avork  of  re- 
forming the  Church,  that  it  may  live  conformably  to  the 
law  of  Christ,  follow^s  the  due  order  by  beginning  with 
himself  and  the  members  of  his  own  household.  From  his 
works,  therefore,  it  behoves  us  to  believe  that  he  is  the 
head  of  our  Chui'ch." -^-^  Wiclit's  soul  is  filled  -sN-ith  time 
entnusiasm  and  joy.  He  believes  that  in  Urban  YL  may 
be  recognised  a  Pope  of  evangelical  spu-it  and  true  Chris- 
tian earnestness,  who  has  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  moral 
disorders  of  the  Chm-ch  at  the  present  time,  and  who  pos- 
sesses as  well  the  courage  as  the  self-denial  to  begin  the 
necessary  retorm  with  himself  and  the  Curia.  One  might 
indeed  be  disposed  to  attach  the  less  weight  to  this  lan- 
guage, on  the  ground  that  it  is  only  the  presumed 
evangehcal  and  reformative  spuit  of  Urban  that  he  so 
joyfully  salutes.  But  what  fills  him  with  such  exalted 
feeling  and  hope  is  precisely  this  circumstance  that  it  was 
in  a  Pope  that  he  saw  such  a  spnit.     On  one  point  alone 


THE   SECOND   STAGE.  135 

he  has  still  his  misgivings,  whether  this  worthy  head   of 
the  Church  will  persevere  in  the  good  way  to  the  end.^-^ 

What  Wiclif  had  foreboded  came  only  too  soon  to  pass. 
Urban's  efforts  for  reform,  however  well-meant,  were  carried 
out  in  so  high-handed  a  manner,  and  with  such  reckless 
severity,  that  they  gave  offence  to  a  portion  of  his  cardinals 
in  such  a  degree  as  not  only  to  alienate  them,  but  even  to 
convert  them  into  open  enemies.  In  the  end,  in  August 
1378,  under  pretence  of  doubts  regarding  the  regularity  and 
validity  of  his  election  to  the  See — which  they  alleged  had 
been  forced  upon  them  by  terrorism — they  proceeded  to  the 
election  of  a  rival  Pope  in  the  person  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Geneva,  Clement  VII.  With  this  step  began  the  Papal  schism 
which  continued  for  nearly  forty  years.  The  consequences 
were  that  the  one  Pope  put  the  othei"  to  the  bann,  thej 
fought  each  other  with  all  the  weapons  they  could  think  of 
and  the  whole  of  Western  Christendom  was  split  asunder  by 
a  deep  rent.  This  is  not  the  place  to  follow  out  the  moral 
and  religious  effects  of  this  mischievous  event.  We  have  to 
examine  here  only  the  effect  which  it  had  upon  Wiclif,  on  his 
view  of  the  Papacy,  and  on  his  moral  attitude  towards  it. 
AYe  have  remarked  above  that,  from  the  year  1378,  Wiclif 
emancipated  himself  from  the  Papal  primacy  as  a  question 
of  principle,  and  this  is  what  we  have  now,  with  more 
particularity,  to  show. 

This  second  stage  of  his  con^i'ction  and  judgment  in  refer- 
ence to  the  Papacy  was  only  gradually  reached  as  we  might 
beforehand  expect.  In  the  time  immediately  succeeding 
the  outbreak  of  the  Papal  schism,  he  was  still  incliupd  to 
recognise  Urban  VI.  as  the  legitimate  Pope — as,  in  tact,  all 
England  remained  attached  to  him  and  to  his  successors  in 
Rome  as  long  as  the  schism  lasted — and  refused  to  recognise 


136  LIFE    OF   WICLIF. 

the  French  anti-Pope.  But  notwithstanding  this,  Wiclif 
even  thus  early  expressed  his  opinion,  that  in  case  Urban 
also  should  fall  into  evil  ways,  it  would  then  be  better  and 
more  wholesome  for  the  Church  to  dispense  with  both  Popes 
together.  To  this  date,  which  may  probably  fall  towards 
the  close  of  1378,  I  believe  I  may  assign  several  declarations 
which  Wiclif  made  use  of,  partly  in  one  of  his  scientific 
writings,  and  partly  in  a  Latin  sermon  delivered  by  him,  no 
doubt,  in  Oxford.^^^ 

But  when  Urban  VI.  allowed  himself  to  adopt  the  extreme 
measures  against  Clement  VII.  and  the  cardinals  and 
national  churches  that  supported  his  cause,  of  not  only 
laying  them  under  the  bann  of  excommunication,  but  ako  of 
using  against  them  all  other  possible  means  of  hostility, 
Wiclif  went  farther,  and  casting  off  his  allegiance  to  Urban, 
took  up  a  position  of  entire  neutrality.  He  now  declared  it 
to  be  probable  that  the  Church  of  Christ  would  find  herself 
in  better  case,  and  in  particular  would  enjoy  a  greater 
degree  of  peace  than  she  did  at  present,  if  both  the  Popes 
were  set  aside  or  condemned,  as  it  was  a  probable  conclusion 
which  many  were  drawing  from  the  lives  of  both,  that  they 
had  nothing  in  common  with  the  holy  Church  of  God.^^^ 
By  the  experience  which  resulted  from  the  Papal  schism 
Wiclif  was  brought  step  by  step  to  the  conclusion  of 
cutting  himself  off  from  all  moral  connection  with  the 
Papacy  as  such. 

The  third  stage  was  only  a  further  development  and  cul- 
mination of  the  second.  Having  already  gone  so  far,  Wiclif 
found  it  impossible  to  remain  in  a  position  of  bare  neutrality. 
It  was  inevitable  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  an  ever- 
sharpening  antagonism,  and  a  polemic  against  the  Papacy 
bec'oming  ever  more  fearless,  should  develop  itself.     And  to 


THE   THIRD   STAGE.  137 

this  the  controversy  concernmg  tlie  Lord's  Supper  essentially 
contributed,  in  which  Wiclif  began  to  engage  in  the  year  1382. 
The  more  violently  he  was  calumniated  and  attacked  by 
the  friends  of  the  Papacy  on  account  of  his  criticism  on  the 
Doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  all  the  more  did  the  Papacy 
itself  appear  to  him  to  be  a  limb  of  Antichrist.  To  this 
period  of  his  life  belong  all  the  strong  assaults  upon  the 
Church  which  have  been  heretofore  known  to  the  world 
from  his  Trialogus  and  several  popular  writings  in  English. 
But  these  attacks  become  better  understood,  both  psycholo- 
gically and  pragmatically,  only  when  we  think  of  them  as 
a  climax  gradually  realised.  All  the  usurpations  of  the 
Papacy  hitherto  censured  and  opposed  by  Wiclif  were  now 
seen  by  him,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  light  of  a  corrup- 
tion of  Christianity  of  the  widest  extent,  and  immeasur- 
ably deep,  for  which  he  could  find  no  more  appropriate 
name  than  Antichristianism.  The  systematic  spoilation  of 
the  national  churches  —  the  haughty  pride — the  worldly 
character  of  the  Papal  Government — the  claims  to  hierarchi- 
cal domination  over  the  whole  world — all  these  features  of 
the  degenerate  Papacy  were  attacked  by  Wiclif  after  this 
date  as  well  as  before,  but  were  now  for  the  first  time  seen 
by  him  in  their  connection  with  what  was  the  worst  feature 
of  all,  with  an  assumption  of  Divine  attributes  and  rights 
which  seemed  to  him  to  stamp  the  Pope  as  the  Antichrist. 

The  Pope's  claims  to  absolute  power,  and  to  a  heaven 
entirely  special  to  himself,  appeared  to  Wiclif  all  the  more 
astounding,  because  he  held  fast  to  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple that,  in  point  of  right,  there  are  only  deacons  and 
priests  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  that  the  whole  graduated 
hierarchy  within  the  priesthood  had  no  other  basis  than  the 
illegitimate    smuggling    of   secular    arrangements    into    the 


138  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

Church,  aucl  grants  obtained  from  imperial  patronage.  It  is 
therefore,  says  Wiclif,  truly  ridiculous  or  rather  blasphemous 
when  the  Roman  Pontiff,  without  any  foundation  to  stand 
upon,  says,  "  It  is  our  will,  so  must  it  be."''-''  From  this  time 
forward,  however,  lie  handles  the  Papacy  much  more  as  a 
God-blaspheming  institution  than  as  a  subject  of  ridicule. 
In  earlier  years,  indeed,  Wiclif  had  censured  absolutistic 
ideas  of  Papal  dignity  and  power,  but  only  as  the  ideas 
of  individual  administrators  and  flatterers  of  the  Pope.  But 
now  he  regards  the  assumption  of  such  absolutism  as  the 
very  kernel  of  the  Papacy  itself.  For  the  claim  to  the 
dignity  of  a  vicegerent  of  Christ  upon  earth,  taken  along 
with  the  strongest  contrast  to  Christ  in  all  respects,  in 
character,  teaching,  and  life,  was  a  combination  which  ap- 
peared to  him  to  be  only  fully  expressed  in  the  idea  of  the 
Antichrist ;  and  this  name  Wiclif  applied  to  the  Pope  in 
numberless  passages  of  the  writings  of  his  latest  years. 
He  now  not  only  called  both  Popes  alike  "  false  Popes,"  ^^^ 
and  gave  the  name  of  Antichrist  in  the  roundest  style 
to  Clement  VII.  in  particular;  he  also  applied  this  name 
to  "  the  Pope,"  taken  generally,  that  is  to  all  the  Popes 
collectively ;  for,  says  he,  "  they  come  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
and  declare  themselves  to  be  His  immediate  vicegerents,  and 
claim  unlimited  power  in  spiritual  things,  while  their  whole 
position  rests  exclusively  upon  the  imperial  grant  of  Con- 
stantine."  ^-^  But  with  special  frequency  he  applies  to  the 
Pope  the  well-known  words  of  the  apostle  Paul  (2  Thess. 
ii.  3)  concerning  the  apostacy,  when  the  Man  of  Sin  is  re- 
vealed who  exalts  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  is 
worshipped.  "  But  now,"  he  remarks,  "  it  is  nothing  else  but 
blasphemy  when  the  Pope  puts  forward  claims  to  Divine 
rights  and  Divine  honours,  and  almost  raises  himself  above 


THE   POPE   THE   ANTICHRIST.  139 

Christ,  whose  position  upon  earth  he  pretends  to  represent."^"" 
No  wonder  that  Wiclif,  when  he  once  went  so  far  as  this, 
did  not  shrink  even  from  the  thought  that  the  Papal  office 
itself  is  of  the  wicked  one,  seeing  no  divine  warrant  existed 
for  more  than  the  pastoral  care  of  souls,  and  an  exemplary- 
walk  in  humility  and  sanctity,  along  with  faithful  contendings 
in  the  spiritual  conflict,  but  none  at  all  for  any  worldly 
greatness  and  dignity.^^^  The  veneration,  therefore,  which  is 
rendered  to  the  Pope,  appears  to  him  to  be  an  idolatry,  all 
the  more  detestable  and  blasphemous  {plus  detestanda  atque 
hlaspliema  idolatria),  because  hereby  divine  honour  is  given 
to  a  limb  of  Lucifer,  who  is  an  abominable  idol,  a  painted 
block,  etcP' 

The  roughness  and  unmeasured  tone  of  this  polemic  may 
have  in  it,  at  first  sight,  something  oflfensive.  But  we  will 
judge  it  more  mildly  if  we  remember  that  it  was  by  no 
means  a  new  thought,  or  one  never  heard  of  before  in  its 
application  especially  to  the  Papacy,  which  Wiclif  now 
expressed.  We  point  to  the  fact  mentioned  above  that 
Gregory  VII.,  as  appears  from  his  collected  letters,  was 
accustomed  to  distinguish  between  the  "Members  of  Christ" 
and  the  "  Members  of  the  Devil  or  of  the  Antichrist."  Of 
course  it  was  the  enemies  of  his  own  aims  and  designs  whom 
Gregory  looked  upon  as  the  members  of  Antichrist.  But 
it  was  only  an  application  of  the  same  thought  from  an 
opposite  standpoint,  when  the  opposition  party  in  the 
Church  gave  the  name  of  Antichrist  to  a  holder  of  the  Papal 
dignity  himself.  And  this  was  what  was  done  in  high  places 
in  an  instance  lying  close  at  hand.  The  same  cardinals  who 
opposed  themselves  to  Urban  VI.,  before  proceeding  to  the 
election  of  a  rival  Pope,  issued  a  manifesto  against  Urban, 
wherein  they  roundly  declared  that  Urban  ought  to  be  called 


140  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

Anticlirist  rather  than  Pope.  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  if 
VViclif  walked  in  the  footsteps  of  Their  Eminences,  and  de- 
clared to  be  the  Antichrist,  first  the  Pope  set  up  by  them- 
selves Clement  VII.,  and  afterwards  Urban  VI.,  and  finally 
the  Popedom  at  large.  He  operated  with  ideas  traditionally 
handed  doAvn  to  him,  and  he  carried  the  application  of  these 
to  the  highest  place  in  Christendom,  but  only  under  the 
pressure  of  conscience,  and  for  the  honour  of  Christ  as  the 
alone  Head  of  the  Church. 

In  setting  forth  the  doctrine  of  Wiclif  regarding  the 
Church,  it  would  be  a  serious  omission  not  to  include  his 
thoughts  on  the  subject  of  the  Monastic  Orders. 

Wiclif  s  controversy  with  the  Mendicant  Orders  takes  so 
prominent  a  place  in  his  writings,  especially  in  the  Tri- 
alogus,  that  it  became  usual,  even  at  an  early  period,  to 
look  upon  this  polemic  as  one  of  the  most  distinctive 
features  of  his  thought  and  practical  activity.  In  particu- 
lar, since  the  days  of  Anthony  a  Wood  and  John  Lewis,^^* 
it  has  been  taken  as  an  established  fact  that  Wiclif  put 
himself  forward  as  the  adversary  of  the  Mendicant  Friars 
as  early  as  1360,  i.e.,  in  the  very  commencement  of  his 
public  career.  Even  Dr.  Vaughan,  to  whom  we  are  so  much 
indebted  for  our  knowledge  of  Wiclif,  concedes  no  more  than 
this  in  his  latest  work  upon  his  life,  that  no  documentary 
proof  is  to  be  found  in  the  extant  writings  of  Wiclif  to 
show  that  he  had  at  so  early  a  date  as  1360  engaged  in  any 
discussion  respecting  these  orders.  But  nothwithstanding 
this  admission,  he  still  represents  the  matter  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  imply  that  Wiclif,  from  the  very  commence- 
ment of  his  work,  appeared  as  their  opponent.^^'^  It  was 
Professor  Shirley  who  was  the  first  to  discover  that  the 
prevailing  assumption  was  groundless,  and  in  fact  contra- 


CONTROVERSY   WITH   THE   MENDICANT   ORDERS.  141 

dieted  hj  one  of  Wiclif's  contemporaries.  For  a  well- 
known  opponent  of  his,  William  Woodford,  states  expressly, 
that  before  he  drew  upon  himself  the  disapprobation  of  the 
Mendicants  by  his  erroneous  teaching  concerning  the  Sacra- 
ment of  the  altar,  he  had  never  meddled  with  them,  but  had 
afterwards  often  made  them  the  objects  of  his  attachs.^''*^ 
When  Woodward  adds  that  Wiclif's  hostilities  against  the 
Friars  were  therefore  prompted  by  personal  vexation,  we 
may  regard  such  an  imputation  of  motive  as  purely  sub- 
jective on  our  informant's  part,  without  the  weight  of  the 
facts  which  he  gives  as  purely  historical  being  thereby  at 
all  diminished.  Shirley,  therefore,  takes  at  least  a  first  step 
towards  a  correction  of  the  hitherto  prevailing  view,  when 
he  pronounces  the  tradition  to  be  a  fable  which  relates  that 
on  the  death,  in  1360,  of  Richard  Fitzralph,  the  active  Arch- 
bishop of  Armagh,  Wiclif  inherited,  so  to  speak,  his  spirit 
and  work,  and  took  up  and  carried  forward  the  conflict 
which  he  had  so  earnestly  urged  against  the  Beggmg 
Orders.  This  correction,  however,  of  Shirley's,  has  not  yet 
attracted  so  much  attention  as  was  to  be  wished ;  and  Shirley 
himself,  besides,  with  the  materials  at  his  command,  has 
only  been  able  to  prove  a  negative  in  opposition  to  the 
tradition  hitherto  received.  A  positive  exposition  of  Wiclif's 
whole  mode  of  thought  and  feeling  on  the  subject  of  Monas- 
ticism,  can  only  be  furnished  by  making  use  of  those  chief 
writings  of  Wiclif  which  still  exist  only  in  manuscript. 

When  these  documents  are  laid  under  contribution,  the 
following  well-established  results  are  obtained.  As  matter 
of  fact,  there  is  no  truth  in  the  tradition  that  Wiclif,  fi-om  the 
very  first,  was  in  confiict  especially  with  the  Mendicant  Orders. 
On  the  contrary,  I  find  in  his  earlier  writings  evidence  to 
show  that  to  a  certain  extent  he  regarded  them  with  moral 


142  LIFE  OF   WICLIF. 

esteem  and  sympathy.  In  the  same  writings,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  is  not  wanting  some  polemic  against  the  endowed 
orders — e.  g.,  the  Benedictines.  At  a  later  period,  say  from 
the  year  1378,  he  began  to  attack  the  former  also  in  part, 
and  finally,  from  1381,  he  carried  on  against  them  a  war  of 
fundamental  principle.  These  three  periods  correspond  to 
those  which  have  been  pointed  out  above  in  reference  to 
Wiclif  s  position  on  the  question  of  the  Papacy.  In  the 
first  2^^^"iod,  in  Avritings  Avhere  he  developes  his  "  Scrip- 
tural theology,"  without  any  application  to  Roman  Catholic 
dogma,  but  rather  around  the  central  idea  of  Doiviidmv, 
and  in  which  he  is  chiefly  occupied  with  Temporcdia,  it  is 
chiefly  the  endowed  Monastic  Orders  tliat  he  keeps  in  view. 
It  was  principally  men  belonging  to  these  orders  who  stood 
forward  to  oppose  his  views ;  and  of  coiuse  he  did  not  fail  to 
meet  them  with  suitable  rejoinders.  For  example,  in  his 
book,  Of  the  Truth  of  Holy  Scripture,  which  must  have  been 
written  in  1378,  I  find  that  Wiclif  speaks  almost  exclusively, 
or  at  least  mainly,  of  monks  of  these  orders,  as  men  who 
deny  both  in  word  and  deed  the  doctrine  of  Scripture, 
and  are  apostates  from  it.  It  is  also  only  members  of  these 
orders  whom  he  speaks  of  as  his  personal  opponents,  sparing 
no  trouble  and  money  to  blacken  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  Papal 
Court,  in  order  to  obtain  the  Pope's  condemnation  of  cer- 
tain doctrines  which  he  has  set  forth.  It  is  manifest  that 
the  reference  here  is  to  several  of  the  nineteen  propositions 
which  were  condemned  in  1377  by  the  decree  of  Gregory 
XI.^^^  In  other  places  also  he  names  as  persons  who  derogate 
from  the  Word  of  God  and  its  authority  "  the  modern  theo- 
logians," "the  monks  of  the  endowed  orders"  {religiosi  jws- 
sessionati),  Sindi.  "  the  Canonists"  (sarerdotes  causidici)P^  In  the 
enumeration  of  these  three  classes  the  Mendicants  are  con- 


THE  TRUE  DATE  OF  THE  CONTROVERSY.       143 

spicuous  by  their  absence.  But  tliis  is  not  all.  I  find  even 
language  which  amounts  to  positive  proof  that  Wiclif  at  that 
time  was  inclined  to  give  a  preference  to  the  Rule  of  the 
Mendicants  over  that  of  the  Endowed  orders,  as  well  as  over 
the  religious  and  moral  standing  of  the  richer  portion  of  the 
parochial  clergy.  In  one  passage  he  even  places  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi  with  his  mendicancy  side  by  side  with  the  Apostles 
Peter  and  Paul  with  their  hand-labour,  in  opposition  to  the 
worldly  possessions  and  honours  of  the  clergy  of  his  time.*^'-' 
And  in  other  places  he  expresses  himself  in  such  terms  as 
to  show  that  he  looks  upon  the  Foundations  both  of  St. 
Francis  and  St.  Dominic  as  a  species  of  reformation  of  the 
church,  yea,  as  a  thought  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost  him- 
self. It  is  possible,  however,  he  concedes,  that  the  Mendi- 
cants too  may  become  degenerate  and  worldly  like  the 
rest.340 

From  1378  we  date  a  period  of  a  few  years  in  which 
Wiclif  began  to  attack  the  Mendicants  upon  single  points  of 
error  and  abuse.  But  from  the  year  1381,  when  he  began  to 
make  a  definite  application  of  his  theological  principles,  and 
especially  of  his  Scripture  principle,  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
dogmatic  system  in  a  critique  of  its  doctrine  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  in  particular  of  the  dogma  of  Transubstantiation, 
not  only  did  his  judgment  respecting  the  Papacy  become,  as 
we  have  seen,  much  more  severe,  but  he  also  opened  at 
the  same  time  a  conflict  with  the  Mendicant  monks,  which 
went  on  from  that  time  till  his  death  with  ever-increasing 
violence.  It  may  well  be,  as  in  fact  we  cannot  doubt  it 
was,  that  in  this  matter  the  circumstance  had  some  influ- 
ence, that  it  was  the  Mendicants  who  charged  him  with 
heresy  for  his  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  But  certainly 
this  was  not  the  sole   cause   of  the   phenomenon.      Mani- 


144  LIFE   OF   ^VICLIF. 

festly  another  co-operated  in  producing  the  effect,  viz.,  that 
Wiclif  had  now  come  to  recognise  in  the  Begging  Friars  the 
most  zealous  promoters  of  Papal  absolutism,  and  the  most 
systematic  defenders  of  Church  errors  and  abuses.  Now  it 
was  that  he  reached  the  stand-point  which  we  have  long 
been  familiar  with  in  the  Trialogus.  Whether  it  is  the 
scholastic  system  which  he  exposes  in  its  nakedness  (sophistce 
theologi),  or  the  practical  worldliness  of  the  Church;  whether 
he  has  to  do  with  scientific  ideas,  or  with  life  and  manners, 
— always  it  is  against  the  new  orders  (sectce  novellce),  or  the 
private  religions  {religiones  privatce),  as  he  calls  the  Mendi- 
cant Orders  in  opposition  to  the  religion  of  Christians  in 
general,  that  he  deals  his  blows.  Not  only  in  passages 
where  he  censures  the  proceedings  of  the  Friars  themselves, 
or  the  vices  which  attached  specially  to  their  convents,  but 
also  in  places  where  he  blames  the  usurpations  of  the  Papacy, 
the  sins  of  the  clergy,  and  the  theological  errors  of  his  time, 
all  concentrates  itself  in  a  violent  polemic  against  the 
Begging  Orders.  These  appeared  to  him  in  that  age  nearly 
in  the  same  light  as  that  in  which  we  regard  the  order  of  the 
Jesuits  of  the  present  day,  as  the  most  ready  instruments 
of  Papal  despotism,  the  promoters  of  an  anti-scriptural  the- 
ology, etc.  But,  instead  of  following  his  polemic  against 
them  through  its  various  turns,  let  a  single  point  be  here 
mentioned,  which  is  significant  of  the  evil  opinion  which 
Wiclif  had  conceived  of  them  as  a  body.  He  sees  in  Cain 
the  Bible  original  of  the  four  Mendicant  Orders,  and  he  is  of 
opinion  that  when  the  blood  of  Abel  cried  from  the  earth  to 
heaven  for  vengeance  on  the  fratricide,  that  heinous  deed 
was  a  type  of  the  wickedness  of  these  fraternities.  This 
somewhat  odd  thought  is  coDnected  with  a  certain  play 
upon  the  letters  of  the  name  Cairn  (so  written  instead  of 


THE   FRIARS  WILL   ONE   DAY   BE   REFORMERS.  145 

Cain),  viz.,  that  these  four  letters  are  the  initials  of  the 
names  of  the  four  Orders — the  Carmelites,  the  Augustinians, 
the  Jacobites  or  Dominicans,  and  the  Minorites  or  Francis- 
cans.^"*^ 

Wiclif,  however,  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  carried  away 
so  far  by  his  controversy  with  the  Begging  Friars,  as 
to  see  in  them  nothing  but  error  and  wickedness,  and  to 
expect  from  them  only  what  was  evil  in  all  time  to  come. 
On  the  contrary,  he  makes  the  following  explicit  declaration  : 
— "  I  anticipate  that  some  of  the  friars  whom  God  shall  be 
pleased  to  enlighten  will  return  with  all  devotion  to  the 
original  religion  of  Christ,  will  lay  aside  their  unfaithfulness, 
and  with  the  consent  of  Antichrist,  offered  or  solicited,  will 
freely  return  to  primitive  truth,  and  then  build  up  the  church, 
as  Paul  did  before  them.^*^  This  thought  of  Wiclif  was  a  pre- 
sentiment, a  prophecy  of  the  Reformation.  Let  us  remember 
that  not  only  Luther  himself  was  an  Augustinian,  but 
that  a  number  of  his  most  active  fellow-workers  belonged  to 
houses  of  that  order;  that  Eberlin  of  Giinzburg,  and  Francis 
Lambert  of  Avignon,  were  Franciscans  ;  that  the  other  Mendi- 
cant Orders  in  like  manner  contributed  no  unimportant  pro- 
moters of  the  work ;  while  the  last  prophet  of  the  Reform 
was  Savonarola,  a  Dominican.^*^  Let  us  further  keep  in  view 
that  the  founders  of  the  Reformation,  Luther  himself  before 
all,  owed  their  evangelical  insight,  in  the  main,  not  to  them- 
selves, and  not  to  others,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  to  God 
Himself ;  and  that  their  own  personal  enlightenment  and  con- 
version led  the  way  to,  and  qualified  them  for,  the  task  of 
renovating  the  Church.  Let  us  also  reflect  on  the  fact 
that  the  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  with  a  con- 
sciousness more  or  less  clear,  aimed  at  nothing  else  but  the 
restoration  of  primitive  Apostolic  Christianity ;  and  that  iu 
VOL.  n.  K 


146  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

the  person  of  Luther  especially,  the  Pauline  spirit  revived 
and  worked  out  not  only  a  purification  of  the  Church,  and 
an  effectual  edification  of  it,  but  also  its  elevation  to  a  higher 
level  of  faith  and  life.  Taking  all  this  together,  and  com- 
paring it  with  that  presentiment  of  Wiclif,  we  cannot  fail  to 
see  in  the  Reformation  a  remarkable  fulfilment  of  what  he 
presaged;  and  we  have  no  difiiculty,  in  view  of  the  promise 
of  Christ,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  show  his  servants 
things  which  were  to  come  (John  xvi.  13),  in  regarding  the 
above  declaration  of  Wiclif  as  a  prophecy,  the  like  of  which 
the  history  of  Christ's  church  has  many  more  to  show.  True, 
indeed,  the  fulfilment  in  more  than  one  particular  went 
beyond  Wiclif's  personal  and  conscious  thought  when  he 
penned  those  words  ;  in  particular  his  sicut  Paulus  was  no 
doubt  conceived  much  more  narrowly  than  what  appeared 
of  the  Pauline  spirit  in  the  Reformation.  But  that  such  a 
prophetic  presentiment  of  the  Reformation  fruits  which  were 
to  spring  from  the  bosom  of  the  Mendicant  Orders  should 
have  come  from  the  pen  of  so  determined  and  implacable  an 
enemy  of  these  Orders,  was  a  fact  all  the  more  astonishing 
and  remarkable.^''* 

This  is  perhaps  no  unsuitable  place  to  add  something 
touching  Wiclif's  views  in  other  parts  of  his  works  on  the 
necessity  and  means  of  a  Reformation  of  the  Church.  He 
declares  in  many  places  that  such  a  Reformation  is  a 
pressing  and  indispensable  necessity.  And  upon  what 
ground'?  Because  the  Church  as  she  is  is  not  what  she 
ought  to  be.  For  the  Church  is  departed  from  the  Institu- 
tion and  the  Word  of  Christ — from  the  Bible — is  corrupted 
from  its  original  condition  in  apostolic  times.^^^  If  we  inquire 
into  the  view  he  took  of  the  historical  course  through  which 
the  Church  passed  in  its  progress  of  corruption,  it  must,  on 


THE   NECESSITY   OF  A  EEFORMATION.  147 

the  one  hand,  be  confessed  that  in  many  particulars  of  the 
subject  he  thinks  unhistorically,  e.g.,  when  he  carries  back 
the  whole  secularisation  of  the  Church  exclusively  to  Con- 
stantino the  Great, — a  notion  which  he  shares  indeed  with 
Dante  and  other  enlightened  minds  of  his  century.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  he  knows  with  entire  accuracy  that  the 
corruption  and  depravation  of  Christianity  came  in  quite 
gradually,  and  from  step  to  step.  In  answer  to  the  plea  of 
a  false  conservatism  that  the  Church  from  time  immemorial 
had  stood  in  the  faith  which  the  Church  of  Rome  teaches, 
and  that  therefore  it  is  heresy  and  impiety  to  depart 
from  this  religion,^^^  he  points  not  only  to  the  earlier 
Roman  Church,^^^  but  goes  much  further  back,  and  lays 
down  the  principle  that  the  errors  of  the  present  age  ought 
not  to  be  measured  by  the  nearest  and  latest  error  which 
has  received  Church  approval,  but  by  the  institution  and 
life  of  Christ  as  the  primary  standard.  Men  would  then  per- 
ceive immediately  how  far  our  priests  depart  from  the  first 
rule  or  measure,  in  their  law  and  life  and  preaching  of  the 
gospel.^^^  Considered  broadly  and  on  the  whole,  nothwith- 
standing  the  fact  that  the  secularisation  of  the  Church  had 
already  begun  through  the  alleged  Donation  of  Constantino, 
the  first  thousand  years  of  Church  history  appear  to  him  as 
the  millennium  of  Christ  {millenarium  Cliristi) ;  but  from  that 
date  Satan  was  let  loose,  and  the  millennium  of  lies  broke 
in  {millenarium  mendacii).^^'^  Wiclif,  moreover,  is  persuaded 
that  upon  the  inclined  plane  on  which  Christianity  now  finds 
itself,  it  will  descend  loAver  still,  even  to  the  deepest  point. 
"  The  Antichrist  (here  the  personal  Antichrist  himself)  will 
not  come  before  the  law  of  Christ  is  dissipated  and  cast 
away  both  in  thought  and  feeling."  ^'''^  Still  even  here,  look- 
ing out  upon  the  deepest  and  latest  apostacy,  God's  word 


148  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

stands  out  clearly  before  his  mind,  not  only  as  the  measure  of 
the  Church's  fall,  but  also  as  the  principal  means  of  her 
restoration. 

If  now  we  farther  inquire  what  were  Wiclif  s  thoughts 
touching  the  means  by  which  a  reformation  of  the  Church 
was  to  be  brought  to  pass,  it  follows  from  what  has  already 
been  stated,  that  this  Reformation,  according  to  his  ideas, 
could  only  be  on  the  one  hand  a  purification  of  the  Church 
from  the  errors  and  abuses  which  had  invaded  her,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  a  restoration  of  primitive  Christianity  in 
its  purity  and  perfection.^^^  As  now  Wiclif,  along  with 
many  true  Christians  of  those  centuries,  regarded  the 
secularisation  of  the  Church  as  its  worst  evil,  and  saw  this 
seciilarisation  chiefly  in  the  worldly  possessions  of  the 
Church,  so  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  most  indispensable 
means  of  reform,  and  as  he  hoped  the  richest  in  blessing,  was 
the  unburdening  of  the  Church  of  her  worldly  goods  and 
property. 

Innumerable  times,  and  almost  from  every  conceivable  point 
of  view,  Wiclif  returns  to  this  thought,  either  in  the  form  of 
calling  for  the  withdrawal  and  secularisation  of  the  Church's 
endowments,  if  need  be  by  force,  or  in  the  form  of  suggesting 
thought  of  a  voluntary  renunciation  by  the  bishops,  abbots, 
and  others,  of  all  their  worldly  lordships,  in  conformity  with 
the  example  of  Christ  and  the  standard  of  His  word.^^^  It  is 
due  to  the  truth  that  we  should  express  frankly  our  convic- 
tion that  in  tliis  thought  Wiclif  deceived  himself.  We  share 
with  him  indeed  the  faith  which  he  expresses  in  these  words 
— "  It  is  impossible  that  the  Lord  should  forsake  His  priest, 
or  suffer  him  to  want  for  food  and  clothing ;  and  therewith, 
according  to  the  apostles'  rule  (1  Tim.  vi.  8),  should  he  be 
content."^"     But  Wiclif  was  unquestionably  in  error  when 


DISENDOWMENT   OF   THE   CHURCH.  149 

he  SO  confidently  assumed  tliat  the  single  external  mea- 
sure of  a  secularisation  of  the  Church's  endowments  would 
have  the  effect  of  carrying  back  the  clergy  and  the  Church 
at  large  to  the  Christianity  of  the  apostles.  That  was  not 
only  a  too  sanguine  hope,  resting  upon  notions  all  too  ideal, 
but  it  proceeded  from  a  reformation-zeal  which  was  over 
hasty  and  deficient  in  depth  of  insight.  It  seems  never  to 
have  occurred  to  him  that  by  the  dissolution  of  monas- 
teries and  the  calling  in  of  Church  property,  the  selfish- 
ness of  Christendom  would  be  woke  up,  passions  stirred, 
and  pious  endowments  alienated  from  their  original  objects. 

In  order  to  have  a  full  knowledge  of  Wiclif's  idea  of 
Church  reform,  we  must  direct  our  attention  also  to  the 
personal  question, — "  Who  can,  and  should  undertake  the 
reform  ?  "  To  this  question  he  replies — "  Every  one  can  do 
something  to  help  in  it.  Some  should  help  by  setting  forth 
reasons  for  it  taken  out  of  God's  Word ;  others  should  help 
by  worldly  power,  such  as  the  earthly  lords  whom  God  has 
ordained  ;  and  all  men  should  help  by  good  lives  and  good 
prayers  to  God,  for  it  is  in  Him  stands  our  help  against  the 
wiles  of  the  wicked  fiend.  And  so  should  Popes,  bishops,  and 
begging  monks  give  help  in  this  work  to  reform  them- 
selves."^^^  He  assigned  no  small  share  in  the  work,  as 
already  indicated,  to  earthly  princes  and  lords,  or  in  one 
word,  to  the  State.  He  maintains  that  worldly  lords  have 
not  only  power  to  take  away  the  Church's  temporalities 
when  she  is  habitually  at  fault  {haUtualiter  delinquente), 
but  that  they  are  even  bound  to  do  it.^^  Wiclif  indeed 
means  this  in  no  other  sense  than  that  the  Church  and 
cloister  endowments  should  be  applied  to  other  pious 
uses,  especially  to  the  relief  of  poverty.  He  holds  it, 
therefore,  to  be  advisable  that  the  King  should  call  a  synod 


150  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

in  order  to  proceed  in  the  matter  with  the  aid  of  its  advice, 
in  the  manner  most  suitable  to  the  object  in  view.^^^  But 
he  holds  that  princes  and  lords  have  not  only  authority  to 
v^ithdraw  monastic  and  Church  endowments  and  to  dissolve 
monasteries,^^'^  but  also  to  deprive  clerics  of  their  office  who, 
in  a  spirit  of  worldliness,  have  estranged  themselves  from 
the  pure  religion  of  Christ.'^"  And  how  much  in  earnest  he 
was  in  the  opinion  that  princes  and  lords  are  not  only  em- 
powered to  adopt  such  measures,  but  are  even  bound  in 
duty  to  have  recourse  to  them,  in  virtue  of  the  obligation 
laid  upon  them  to  protect  the  Church  and  their  own  sub- 
jects, appears  from  the  manifold  calls  which  he  makes  upon 
them  to  take  action,  and  especially  from  the  fact  that  he 
charges  them  with  blindness  and  indifference  to  the  Church's 
interests, — that  they  in  truth  are  chiefly  to  blame  that  the 
wholesome  reform  of  the  Church  is  so  long  delayed.^^^  Still, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  desires  to  prescribe  certain  limitations 
as  a  bar  against  despotism  and  arbitrary  power.  He  lays 
it  down  as  an  express  principle  that  no  priest  or  cleric 
should  be  subjected  to  punishment  by  the  secular  arm  in 
the  shape  of  the  loss  of  his  endowments,  except  by  full 
authority  of  the  Church  (when  his  ecclesiastical  superior 
fails  in  his  duty),  and  only  in  the  case  when  he  falls  away 
from  the  true  faith.^^^  If  the  clergy  would  do  their  duty  by 
brotherly  punishment  and  censure,  the  calling  in  of  the 
secular  arm  could  be  entirely  dispensed  with.^^*'  On  the  other 
hand,  whea  churchmen  are  notoriously  delinquent,  it  would 
be  a  sin  to  defend  them,  especially  against  pious  princes, 
when  they,  in  the  exercise  of  their  catholic  duty,  apply  coer- 
cion to  them  in  a  way  in  which  prelates  have  no  power  to 
do  so.^*^^ 

This  view  of  the  right  and  the  duty  of  princes,  to  proceed 


THE    ''EVANGELICAL   STATE."  151 

in  certaiu  circmnstances  against  clerics  with  pains  and 
penalties,  not  because  guilty  of  any  civil  offences,  but  for  .. 
unfaithfulness  to  their  ecclesiastical  office  and  for  departure 
from  the  faith,  is  sufficient  of  itself  to  show  that  Wiclif  was 
no  adherent  of  the  Romish  view  of  the  relation  between 
Church  and  State.  But  it  is  in  other  ways  uumistakeable 
that  he  is  already  under  the  influence  of  the  modern  idea 
of  the  State,  as  this  began  to  develope  itself  since  the  thir- 
teenth and  fourteenth  centuries.  Not  only  so,^''^  he  has  in 
his  eye  an  ideal  of  the  State ;  and  that  is  the  "  Evangelical 
State  " — which  he  evidently  figures  to  himself  as  a  common- 
Avealth  or  commune,  in  which  not  rigid  right  and  private 
property,  but  love  is  in  the  ascendant,  and  all  is  common 
gQQ(j363 —  g^jj  {^QQ^  which  cannot  be  absolved  from  the  charge 
of  sanguine  idealisation. 

But  besides  the  State,  Wiclif  assigns  to  all  true  evangeli- 
cally minded  Christians  an  important  part  in  bringing  about 
that  reform  of  the  Church  which  was  so  urgently  needed, 
and  so  much  to  be  aimed  at.  And  here  it  is  that  he  brings 
into  view  that  the  "men  of  the  Gospel"  (viri  evangelici) — the 
"  evangelical  doctors  " — or  the  "  apostolic  men,"  as  he  also 
calls  them,  are  the  men  on  whom  he  places  his  reliance. 
He  is  well  aware  what  a  single  man,  if  true  and  stead- 
fast, can  accomplish.  But  he  also  bethinks  himself  of 
the  power  which  lies  in  united  forces,  and  therefore  he 
requires  of  evangelical  men,  that  when  locally  separated 
they  should  in  will  and  action  stand  together  as  one  man, 
and  steadfastly  defend  the  word  of  Christ  which  they 
have  among  them.^^*  His  language  sounds  in  fact  like  the  ^  '5^ 
trumpet  call  of  a  leader  who  is  collecting  a  party,  and  lead- 
ing them  in  closed  ranks  into  the  battle.  And  Wiclif  in 
truth  has  the  consciousness  of  being  such  a  leader  in  the 


152  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

struggle  for  Church  reform.  Indeed,  in  an  important  pass- 
age of  the  Appendix  to  the  Trialogus,  now  first  pubHshed, 
he  acknowledges  quite  openly  that  he  has  formed  the 
design  to  lead  back  the  Church  to  the  institution  of 
Christ,  and  in  pure  conformity  to  His  word.^^^  Nor  does 
he  conceal  from  himself  that  in  such  an  undertaking  he  will 
meet  with  the  most  violent  opposition,  and  perhaps  will 
encounter  the  martyr's  death ;  for  not  alone  Antichrist  (the 
Pope)  and  his  disciples,  but  the  devil  himself  and  all 
his  evil  angels  are  full  of  hate  against  the  institution  of 
Christ  having  any  place  on  the  earth.^^®  A  thought  which 
is  by  no  means  an  isolated  one  in  his  writings,  and  which 
vividly  reminds  us  of  Luther,  who  knows  himself  in  conflict 
Avith  the  wicked  fiend.  But  in  view  of  this  mighty  and  im- 
minent battle,  Wiclif  is  strong  and  of  good  courage,  not  only 
because  he  can  depend  upon  the  good  comrades  who  have 
hitherto  stood  side  by  side  with  him  in  God's  cause,  that  they 
will  abide  by  him  to  the  end,  for  they  have  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  apostates,^^'^  but  chiefly  in  the  unshakeable  assurance 
that  it  is  God's  cause  and  Christ's  cross  for  which  he  is  contend- 
ing, and  that  God's  cause  in  the  end  must  always  carry  ofi"  the 
victory.  "  0  that  God,"  he  exclaims  in  one  place,  "  would 
give  me  a  docile  heart,  persevering  steadfastness,  and  love  to 
Christ,  to  His  Church,  and  to  the  members  of  the  devil  who 
are  butchering  the  Church  of  Christ,  that  I  might  out  of  pure 
love  encounter  and  lay  hold  of  them  {ipsa  corripiam).  What 
a  glorious  cause  for  me  to  give  up  the  present  miserable 
life  for !  For  this  same  was  the  cause  of  the  martyr-death 
of  Christ."  ^^^  And  in  another  passage,  which  has  long  been 
well-known,  he  says :  "  I  am  assured  that  the  truth  of  the 
Gospel  may  indeed  for  a  time  be  cast  down  in  particular 
places,  and  may  for  a  while  abide  in  silence  in  consequence 


THE   REFORMATION   MUST   BE   GOD'S  WORK.  153 

of  the  menaces  of  Antichrist ;  but  extinguished  it  can  never 
be,  for  the  truth  itself  says,  '  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away,  but  my  words  shall  never  pass  away.'  "^^^ 

But  in  the  last  resort  his  hope  of  the  accomplishment  of 
the  necessary  reformation  of  the  Church  rests  upon  the  help 
of  God  and  the  workings  of  His  grace.  However  true  and 
steadfast  believing  men  may  be  to  God's  cause,  God  alone 
has  power  to  awaken  and  to  enlighten  men  for  this  work, 
and  with  God  alone  stands  our  help  against  the  coming  of 
the  evil  one."^""  And  it  is  for  this  reason  that  he  even 
concedes  the  possibility  that  the  reformation  of  the  Church, 
which  he  so  earnestly  longs  and  confidently  hopes  for,  may 
be  brought  to  pass  in  ways  which  he  has  no  conception  of, 
and  by  a  miracle  of  God,  with  whom  is  no  respect  of  persons, 
for  among  every  people  and  in  every  land  he  who  loves 
Him  is  accepted  of  Him.'^'^  These  last  words  sound  almost 
like  a  far-off  presentiment  of  the  event,  that  the  decisive 
battle  of  souls  for  the  reform  of  the  Church  of  Christ  would 
be  fought  out  in  another  land  than  his  own  and  in  the 
midst  of  another  people.  At  all  events,  Wiclif  is  conscious 
that  the  fulfilment  of  his  dearest  hope  is  for  himself  a 
mystery,  and  will  come  to  pass  in  the  end  only  by  a  miracle 
of  God's  power. 

Taking  all  this  into  one  view — what  Wiclif  thought  and 
said  of  the  necessity  of  a  reformation,  of  the  ways  and  means 
by  which  it  was  to  be  effected,  and  of  the  personalities  by 
whom  it  was  to  be  introduced — it  is  impossible  for  us  not  to 
receive  this  as  our  total  impression — that  his  soul  is  full  of 
longing  and  pressure  after  a  God-pleasing  restoration  of  the 
Church's  purity;  the  vision  of  it  is  continually  before  his  eyes; 
for  this  he  engages  his  whole  powers — for  this,  if  it  should  be 
God's  will,  he  is  resolved  to  endure  persecution  and  even 


154  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

a  martyr's  deatli.     It  cannot,  therefore,  admit  of  a  doubt  that 
Wiclif  was  a  Church  reformer  of  the  true  evangelical  type. 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  XL 

294.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  24,  MS.  1294,  fol.  78,  col.  2  :  Omnem  chris- 
tianum  oportet  esse  theologum,  quia  necesse  est  omnem  Christianum  addiscere 
fidem  ecclesiae,  vel  scieatia  inf usa  vel  cnm  hoc  scientia  humanitus  acquisita ;  aliter 
enim  non  foret  fidelis,  fides  autem  est  summa  theologia.  Ideo  oportet  omnem 
catholicum  esse  theologum ;  sed  sacerdotem,  in  quantum  superior,  secundum 
quandam  excellentiam.  Comp.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I,  44,  MS.  1341,  fol.  130,  col. 
2  :  Omnis  homo  debet  esse  theologus  et  legista  ;  nam  omnis  debet  esse  christianus, 
quod  tamen  non  potest  esse  nisi  legem  mandatorum  Dei  cognoverit,  II.,  c.  13,  fol. 
210,  col.  2.  Every  Christian  is  bound  to  follow  the  counsels  of  Jesus  Christ,  at 
least  some  of  them,  ad  quod  judicandum  erit  discretus  sibi  ipsi  judex  optimus. 

295.  Trialogus,  IV.,  5,  261:  Sed  Deus  sicut  semper  servat  notitiam  naturalem 
in  laicis,  sic  semper  servat  sensum  catholicum  in  quibusdam  clericis,  ut  in  Graecia 
vel  alibi,  ubi  placet.  In  his  piece,  Cruciata,  MS.  3929,  fol.  237,  col.  2,  Wiclif 
maintains  that  it  is  possible  that  a  time  may  come  when  the  militant  Church  may 
consist  only  of  poor  believers,  scattered  in  many  lands,  of  peoj^le  who  follow  Christ 
more  faithfully  in  their  moral  walk  than.  Pope  and  Cardinals. 

296.  Be  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  25,  MS.  1294,  fol.  82,  col.  4  ;  Ex  istis  colligi 
potest  sententia,  quam  saepe  inserui,  licet  sit  mtindo  odibilis,  quod  licet  laicis  in 
casu  tam  subtrahere  quam    auferre  bona  ecclesiae  a  suis  praepositis.      Et  voce 

praepositos  quoscunque,  qui  debent  juvare  suos  subditos  spirituali  suffragio 

ut  patet  de  episcopis  et  clericis,  etc.  In  the  sequel  Wiclif  refutes,  fol.  86,  col.  2, 
the  objection  that  laymen  are  not  at  all  entitled  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  life 
and  official  conduct  of  their  spiritual  superiors.  This  idea  he  repudiates  with  the 
remark,  that  this  would  be  as  much  as  to  say  that  it  was  not  competent  for  the 
laity  to  concern  themselves  about  their  own  salvation. 

297.  De  Veritate  Scripturae  s.,  26,  fol.  88,  coL  2  :  Non  excusatur  parochianus 
taU  praeposito  innuitive  consentiens  ;  quin  participat  peccatis  praepositi,  qui  sic 
favet. 

298.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  MS.  fol.  88,  col.  4  :  Laici  legitime  auferentes 
bona  ecclesiae  ab  indigno  non  auferunt  ab  eo  tanquam  praelato  vel  ministro 
ecclesiae,  sed,  ut  vere  debent  credere,  ab  ecclesiae  inimico. 

299.  lb.,  0.  24,  fol.  80,  col.  2. 

300.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  43,  MS.  1341,  fol.  127,  col.  2.  Wiclif  remarks  here 
that  when  men  comfort  themselves  with  the  thought  that  "  Peter's  little  ship  "  can 
never  go  down,  it  will  depend  upon  the  way  in  which  this  is  understood,  whether 
it  is  not  a  jjiece  of  sophistry.  The  Church  militant  may  exist  sometimes  among 
one  people  and  sometimes  among  another,  and  sometimes  among  a  very  small 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   XL  155 

number  of  persons.     Nee  video,  quin  dicta  navis  Petri  possit  pure  pro  tempore 
stare  in  laicis. 

301.  De  Verltate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  23,  MS.  1294,  fol.  77,  col.  2,  and  fol.  78,  col. 
1  (pseudopastores)  after  Ezech.  xxxiv. 

302.  De  Officio  Pastorali,  II.,  c.  1-4,  p.  81  f.  Liber  Mandator  urn,  c.  30  :  Clerici 
caecantur  ignorantia  proprii  ofBcii,  quod  est  praedicatio  verbi  Dei.  XI.  Miscel- 
laneous Sermons,  No.  XXIX.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  238,  col.  3  :  Quidam  sunt  canes 
muti  non  valentes  latrare,  etc. 

303.  Liber  Mandatorum,  c.  10,  MS.  1339,  fol.  114,  col.  2  ;  c.  26,  fol.  205,  col.  1. 
De  Givili  Dominio,  I.,  25,  MS.  1341,  fol.  59,  col.  1.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  V., 
MS.  3928,  fol.  141,  col.  2.  XL.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  XXIX.,  fol.  238,  col. 
3.     Select  Works,  I.,  11  f  ;  II.  60. 

304.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  23,  MS.  1294,  fol.  75,  cols.  2  and  3. 

305.  Of  Weddid  Men  and  Wifis  in  Select  English  Works  of  John  Wyclif,  ed. 
Arnold,  Oxford  1871,  III.,  189  f.     On  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins,  ib.  c.  29  f. 

306.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  24,  fol,  81,  col.  2  :  In  primitiva  ecclesia  ordi- 
nati  sunt  monogami  in  episcopos,  .  ,  .  et  sic  oontinuata  est  talis  copula  in 
Orientali  Christianismo. 

307.  Ib.,  fol.  81,  col.  3  :  Numquid  credimus  communius  malum  fuisse  con- 
jugates literatos  et  castos  gubernationi  ecclesiae  et  domus  suae  intentos,  stante 
conjugio  ordinari  presbyteros,  quam  nos  extra  conjngium  post  votum  continentiae 
cognoscere  omne  genus^mulierum  ut  meretrices,  conjugatas  atque  viduas  et  virgines, 
imo  proprias  filias  speciales  ? 

308.  Mesponsiones  ad  Argumenta  Eadulphi  de  Strode ;  MS.  1338,  fol,  120,  col.  4. 

309.  De  Officio  Pastorcdi,  II.,  11,  p.  46  :  The  disciples  of  Christ  are  turned  into 
Pharisees,  who  strain  at  gnats  and  swallow  camels.  Nam  conjugium  secundum 
legem  Christi  eis  licitum  odiunt  ut  venenum,  et  seculare  dominium  eis  a  Christo 
prohibitum  nimis  avide  amplexantur.  Quite  similarly  De  Officio  Regis,  c.  2,  MS. 
3933,  fol.  8,  col.  1.  Comp.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  13,  MS.  1341,  fol.  105,  col.  1  : 
Unde,  si  non  fallor,  minus  malum  foret  clericum  uxorari,  quam  circa  mundum 
esse  sollicitum. — Of  Weddid  Men  and  Wifis  in  Selecf,Works,  III.,  190. 

310.  Saints'  Day  Sermom,  No.  XLVI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  93,  col.  3  :  Ratificari 
quidem  debet  status  residentium  curatorum,  et  subtrahi  totum  residuum. 

311.  In  the  schedule  added  to  the  Papal  Brief  of  22d  May  1377,  No.  16  reads 
as  follows: — Hoc  debet  catholice  credi,  quilibet  sacerdos  rite  ordinatus  habetpotes- 
tatem  sufficienter  sacramenta  quaelibet  conferendi  et  per  consequens  quemlibet 
contritum  a  peccato  quolibet  absolvendi.  And  the  original  passage  to  which  this 
refers  is  plainly  the  following  {De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  38,  MS.  1341,  fol.  93,  col.  1)  : 
—  Hoc  ergo  catholice  credi  debet,  quod  quilibet  sacerdos  rite  ordinatus  hahet  pote- 
statem  sufficientem  quaelibet  sacramenta  conferendi  ....  absolvendi,  nee  aliter 
potest  papa  absolvere.  Nam  quantum  ad  potestatem  ordinis  omnes  sacerdotes  sunt 
pares,  licet  potestas  inferioris  rationabiliter  sit  ligata. 

312.  Trialogus,  IV.,  15,  p.  296  :  Unum  audacter  assero,  quod  in  primitiva 
ecclesia  ut  tempore  Pauli  suffecerunt  duo  ordines  clericorum,  scilicet  sacerdos  atque 


156  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

diaconus.  Secundo  dico,  quod  in  tempore  apoatoli  fuit  idem  presbyter  atque  epis- 
copus  ;  patet  1  Timoth.  iii.  et  ad  Titum  i.  Comp.  Supplementum.  Trialogi,  c.  6,  p. 
438  :  ut  olim  omnes  sacerdotes  vocati  fuerunt  episcopi.  De  Officio  Pastorali,  I.,  4, 
p.  11  :  Apostolus  voluit  episcopos,  quoa  vocat  quoscunque  curatos. 

313.  Trialogus,  IV.,  15.  p.  296.  Comp.  DecTeti  Pars,  I.,  Distinct.,  95,  c.  5,  and 
Hieron.  Comm.  in  ep.  ad  Tit.  i.  5,  0pp.,  Vol.  VII.,  694  f.,  ed.  Vallarsi  Venet.  1766. 

314.  Comp.  Dollinger,  Die  Papstfabeln  des  Mittelalters,  2,  Aufl.  p.  186. 

315.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XL VI.,  MS.,  3928,  fol.  93,  col.  3.  Tertio  intro- 
ducta  est  secundum  ordinationem  caesaream  praesidentia  episcoporum.  Comp. 
Trialogus,  IV.,  15,  p.  296  f.  Verum  videtur,  quod  superbia  Caesarea  hos  gradus 
et  ordines  adinvenit.  He  names  immediately  before  Pope  and  Cardinals,  patri- 
archs and  archbishops,  bishops  and  archdeacons,  ofScials  and  deans,  besides 
the  other  officers,  quorum  non  est  Humerus  neque  ordo.  In  like  manner 
in  many  other  places,  e.g.,  Saints''  Day  Sermons,  No.  XL.,  fol  81,  col.  3  :  Licet 
Constantinus  Imperator  decrevit,  suum  episcopum  atque  clerum  esse  superiorem  in 
mundana  gloria  quam  reliquos  in  privatis  aliis  provinciis,  et  licet  Antichristus 
seqviens  in  hoc  error e  ampliavit  istam  haeresim,  tamen  fidelis  debet  recognoscere 
fidem  Christi  dictam  Gal.  ii.  6. 

316.  E.g.,  In  De  Civili  Dominic,  II.,  4,  Vienna  MS.  1341,  fol.  164,  col.  2,  he 
mentions,  it  is  true,  the  infeftment  of  John  Lackland  with  the  crown  of  England 
on  condition  of  the  payment  of  feudal  tribute,  the  transfer  of  the  crown  of  Castile 
from  Peter  the  Cruel  to  Henry  the  bastard  by  Urban  V.  (1366),  but  he  remarks 
immediately  upon  these  and  other  cases,  in  which  the  Pope  claimed  the  right,  as 
Peter's  successor,  to  dispose  of  kingdoms,  that  it  was  not  his  business  to  inquire 
whether  the  Pope  thus  acted  from  fatherly  affection  or  in  love  to  his  allies,  or 
to  censure  the  abuses  of  secular  princes  (non  est  meum  discutere).  One  of  the 
most  emphatic  passages  is  that  in  Book  I.,  19,  of  MS.  1340,  fol.  160,  coL  1,  where 
he  remarks  that  the  greatness  of  the  Pope  stands  in  his  humility,  poverty,  and 
readiness  to  serve.  When  he  becomes  degenerate  and  secularised,  and  an  obstinate 
defender  of  his  worldly  greatness,  then  it  seems  to  the  author  that  the  Pope  be- 
comes an  arch  heretic,  and  must  be  put  down  from  his  spiritual  dignity  as  well  as 
his  earthly  dominion. 

317.  In  Liber  Mandatorum,  c.  26,  MS.  1339,  fol.  205,  col.  1,  he  treats  of  this 
subject,  under  the  commandment  "Thou  shalt  not  steal." 

318.  De  Veritates.  Scripturae,  c.  11,  MS.,  1296,  fol.  30,  col.  3. 

319.  In  one  of  his  earliest  writings  (De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  43,  MS.  1341,  fol. 
123,  col.  11,  he  maintains  that  no  person  in  the  Romish  Church  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  government  of  the  Church  ;  and  in  the  book  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae, 
which  he  wrote  in  1378,  he  treats  it  as  a  mere  fiction  when  it  is  pretended  esse  de 
necessitate  salutis  credendum,  quod  papa  quicunque  sit  caput  universalis  ecclesiae, 
etc.— Vienna  MS.  1294,  c.  20,  fol.  65,  col.  4. 

320.  De  Civili  Dominio,  Vienna  MS.  1341,  I.  35,  fol.  84,  col.  1.  Wiclif  observes 
that  he  who  maintains  that  all  bulls  and  instruments  of  the  Pope  are  absolutely 
right  and  just  gives  it  indirectly  to  be  understood   that  the  Pope  is  without  sin, 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   XI.  157 

and  therefore  God  (implicat,  papam  esse  impeccabilem,  et  sic  Deum ;  potest  ergo 
errare  in  judicio).     Comp.  3.  43,  fol.  120,  col.  1. 

321.  E.g.,  De  Ecclesia,  c.  12,  MS.  1294,  fol.  164,  col.  3  :  Blasphemant  qiiidam 
extoUentes  papam  sophistice  super  omne  quod  dicitur  Deus,  etc.  Comp.  De  Veri- 
tate  s.  Scrijiturae,  c.  20,  fol.  65,  col.  4  :  they  break  out  in  blasphemiam  summe 
execrabilem,  quod  dominus  papa — sit  paris  auctoritatis  cum  Christo  humanitus, 
cum  sit  Deus  in  terris,  etc. 

322.  Be  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  14,  MS.  1294,  fol.  43,  col.  3.  vide  Appendix. 

323.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  2,  MS.  3929,  fol.  7,  col.  2,  MS.  1294,  fol.  133,  col.  2  : 
Benedictus  dominus  matris  nostrae,  qui  nostrae  peregrinanti  juvenculae  (an  image 
of  the  Church  from  the  Song  of  Songs)  diebus  istis  providit  caput  catholicum, 
virum  evangelicum,  Urbanum  sextum,  qui  rectificando  instantem  ecclesiam  (the 
Church  of  the  present),  ut  vivat  conformiter  legi  Christi,  orditur  ordinate  a  se  ipso 
et  suis  domesticis  ;  ideo  oportet  ex  operibus  credere,  quod  ipse  sit  caput  nostrae 
eoclesiae.     Comp.  c.  15,  fol.  178,  col.  4. 

324.  lb.,  c.  2,  MS.  1294,  fol.  133,  col.  2  :  Ista  autem  fides  de  nostro 
capite  tarn  gratiose  et  legitime  nobis  dato  est  credenda  cum  quadam  formidine  de 

corona  suae  finalis  perseverantiae Nee  dubiuni,  quin  nos  omnes  tenemur 

subesse    sibi    (sc.    Urbano),   de  quanto    tanquam    verus    Christi   vicarius    mandat 
magistri  sui  consilia  et  non  ultra. 

325.  76.,  c.  15,  MS.  1294,  fol.  178,  col.  1  :  Si  nos  Anglici  gratis  tantum 
obedimus  papae  nostro  Urbano  VI.  tanquam  humili  servo  Dei,  sicut  schismatiei 
obediunt  Clementi  propter  dominium  et  potestatem  secnlarem  :  quis  dubitat,  quin 
ut  sic  habemus  rationem  meriti  amplioris  ?  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  X.  (on 
Matthias's  Day),  MS.  3928,  fol.  19,  col.  1.  The  preacher  maintains  that  the  elec- 
tion of  Matthias  to  be  an  apostle  was  legitimate  and  well  done.  Would  that  men 
now-a-days  would  proceed  in  like  manner  in  elections,  especially  to  high  places. 
That  was  not  the  case  in  the  election  of  Robert  of  Geneva,  although  it  certainly 
was  so  in  the  election  of  Urban  VI.     Ideo  maneat  Urbanus  noster  m  justitia  verus 

Petri  vicarius,  et  valet  sua  electio Quod  si  Urbanus  noster  a  via  erraverit 

sua  electio  est  erronea,  et  multum  prodesset  ecclesiae,  ultroque  istorum  carere. 

326.  Cruciata,  c.  3,  MS.  3929,  fol.  238,  col.  1  :  Probabiliter  creditur,  quod 
utroque  istorum  subtracto  de  medio  vel  damnato,  staret  ecclesia  Christi  quietius, 
quam  stat  modo,  cum  multi  supponunt  probabiliter  ex  vitis  eorum,  quod  nihil  illis 
et  ecclesiae  sanctae  Dei. 

327.  Saiiits'  Day  Sermons,  No.  LVI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  116,  col.  3  :  Revera  tarn 
derisorium  vel  blasphemum  est,  quod  romanus  presbyter  dicat  sine  fundatione  : 
"  Nos  volumus  ita  esse  !  "     Comp.  117,  col.  1. 

328.  Supplementum  Trialogi,  c.  9,  p.  450  :  Manifesto  patet,  quod  uterque 
istorum  pseudopaparum  tanquam  membrum  diaboli  in  causa  stultissima  provocat 
homines  ad  pugnandum,  etc. 

329.  Trialogus,  IV.,  32  ;  Supplementum  Trialogi,  c.  4,  p.  423,  f.  447,  450.  He 
carries  out  these  thoughts  even  in  sermons — e.g.,  in  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No. 
XLIV.,  on  Matt.  xxiv.  3,  where  the  subject  is  false  prophets  and  false  Messiahs  : 
Omnes  isti  pseudo-papae  "  veniunt  in  nomine  Christi  "  dicentes,  se  esse  immediatos 


158  LIFE  OP  WICLIF. 

vicarios  ejus,  sic  quod  infinitum  plus  possunt  de  dispensatione  quoad  spiritualia 
quam  alius  christianus.  .  .  .  Sed  fundamentum  taciturn  stat  in  donatioue  caesarea 
et  concessione  quadam  Constantina.     Comp.  Select  Works,  II.,  394  f. 

330.  De  Blasphcmia,  c.  1,  MS.  3933,  fol.  117,  col.  2  :  Videtur  multis  ex  fide 
scripturae  et  facto  hominum,  quod  in  Curia  romana  sit  radix  hujus  blasphemiae, 
quia  homo  peccati  antichristus  insignis  loquitur,  quod  sit  summus  Christi  vicarius, 
in  vita  et  opere  inter  mortales  sibi  simdlimus  Trialogus,  IV.,  32,  p.  359  :  Extol- 
litur — super  omne  quod  dicitur  Deus,  quod  declarat  apostolus  competere  antichristo, 
etc.  De  Apostasia,  c.  1,  MS.  1343,  fol.  37,  col.  1  :  If  the  Pope  breaks  his  cove- 
nant (liga)  by  which  he  is  bound  conscientiously  to  follow  Christ  in  his  acts,  non 
apostolicus  sed  apostaticus  habeatur. 

331.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  IX.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  152,  col.  1  :  Breviter  totum 
papale  officium  est  venenosum  ;  deberet  enim  habere  purum  officium  pastorale,  et 
tanquam  miles  praecipuus  in  acie  spiritualis  pugnae  virtuose  procedere,  et  posteris, 
ut  faciant  simpliciter  (Conj.  ;  Hs.  simiKter),  exemplare.  Sic  enim  fecit  Christus 
in  humilitate  et  passione,  et  non  in  seculari  dignitate  vel  ditatione.  Et  haec  ratio, 
quare  praelati  versi  sunt  in  lupos,  et  capitaneus  eorum  sit  diabolus  vita  et  opere 
antichristus,  etc.  Wiclif  even  goes  so  far  as  to  have  no  difficulty  in  maintaining 
that  no  man  upon  earth  is  better  fitted  to  become  Antichrist  and  vicar  of  Satan 
than  the  Koman  Pontiff  himself,  ut  sit  vicarius  principalis  Satanae  et  praecipuus 
antichristus,  just  because  he  can  easily  deceive  the  Church  with  hypocrisy  and 
every  kind  of  lie.  De  Blasphemia,  c.  3,  Vienna  MS.  3933,  fol.  126,  col.  1.  The 
idea  of  Antichrist  becomes  in  the  end  so  common  with  him  that  he  uses  the  name 
as  convertible  without  more  ado  with  the  name  of  the  Pope.  He  speaks  of  legates 
a  latere  antichristi,  and  more  in  the  same  style — e.g.,  Saints^  Day  Sermons,  No.  V., 
MS.  3928,  fol.  8,  col.  2  :  legates  cum  bullis  missos  a  latere  antichristi. 

332.  De  Blasphemia,  c.  2,  MS.  3933,  fol.  123,  col.  3. 

333.  Raynaldi,  Annales  ad.  arm.  1378,  No.  48. 

334.  Wood,  Antiquitates  Oxonienses.  Lewis,  History  of  the  Life  and  Suffenngs 
of  John  Wiclif,  1820,  6  f. 

335.  R.  Vaughan,  John  de  Wycliffe.  a  Monograph,  London  1853,  87  f. 

336.  Shirley,  Fasc.  Zizan.,  Introduction,  xiv.  The  passage  of  Woodford  occurs 
in  his  unprinted  72  Questiones  de  Sacramento  Altaris,  Qu.  50,  dub.  7. 

337.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  20,  MS.  1294,  fol.  65,  col.  3  :  Eeligiosi  autem 
possessionati,  ut  defendant  (instead  of  defending)  in  vita  et  verbis  legem  scripturae 
patenter  apostatant,  cum  laboribus  et  expensis  laborant  ad  curiam  romanam  pro 
damnanda  sententia  dicente,  multas  cartas  humanitus  adinventas  de  hereditate 
perpetua  esse  impossibiles.  Et  tamen  Oxoniae  tarn  publice  quam  procuratorie 
dicunt  testamenta  Dei  et  legem  Christi  impossibilem  et  blasphemam.  Quodsi 
legem  scripturae  diligerent  plus  quam  cartas  proprias  de  dotatione  in  perpetuam 
elemosynam,  laborarent  forte  in  contrarium,  etc. 

338.  lb.,  c.  20,  fol.  65,  col.  2  :  Videtur, — quod  magis;culpandi  sunt  nostri  theologi, 
nostri  religiosi  possessionati,  et  nostri  sacerdotes  causidici,  etc.  Wiclif  is  wont  to 
give  this  name,  causidici,  to  the  reverers  of  canonical  law,  whose  spirit  was  more 
juristic  than  theological,  particularly  the  advocates  of  Papal  absolutism. 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   XI.  159 

339.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  23,  MS.  1340,  fol.  200,  col.  1  :  Veritas  qiiam 
saepe  inculoavi,  scilicet  quod  status  religiosorum  viventium  secundum  paupertatem 
evangelicam  est  perfectissimus  in  ecclesia  sancta  Dei.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  13, 
MS.  1341,  fol.  208,  col.  1.  In  this  latter  place  he  speaks  of  such  an  one  who  is 
utterly  disinclined  to  give  up  worldly  power  und  splendour  for  the  sake  of  Christ, 
and  mamtains  that  such  a  man's  faith  is  plainly  not  of  the  right  sort.  Such  a  man 
has  no  fancy  to  go  afishing  with  Peter,  or  to  make  tents  with  Paul,  nee  mendicare 
cum  Francisco.  There  is  only  one  thing  that  troubles  him,  that  he  is  not  ruler  of 
the  world  like  Augustus. 

340.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  2,  MS.  1340,  fol.  7,  col.  2  :  Necesse  fuit  Spiritum 
s.  fratres  de  ordine  Dominici  et  Francisci  statuere  ad  aedificationem  eeclesiae,  etc. 
Comp.  c.  1,  fol.  5,  col.  1. 

341.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  33,  p.  362.  Comp.  Supplementum  Trialogi,  c.  8,  p.  444. 
De  Officio  Pastorali,  II.,  c.  16,  castra  Cainitica.  Hence  the  name  he  gives  to  the 
mendicant  monks  at  large,  Ca'inifiae,  in  Siqypl.  Trial.,  c.  6,  p.  437,  and  to  the  whole 
institution.  Cainitica  Institutio  Trial.,  IV.,  17,  p.  306.  In  his  English  tracts, 
Wiclif  calls  the  cloisters  of  the  begging  monks  Cain's  castles — e.g.,  The  Church, 
and  her  Members,  c.  5,  Select  Works,  III.,  348  ;  and  Fifty  Heresies  and  Errors  of 
Friars,  c.  2,  p.  368.  The  name  Jacobites  for  the  Dominicans  sprang  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  their  first  monastery  in  Paris  stood  near  the  gate  of  St.  Jacques. 
But  the  fastening  of  the  name  upon  them  as  a  mark  of  Cain  was  very  ill  taken  by 
the  monastic  orders  and  their  friends,  which  it  would  he  easy  to  prove  from  Wand- 
ford  and  Walsingham  if  it  were  worth  the  pains. 

342.  Trialogus,  IV.,  30,  p.  349  :  Suppono  autem,  quod  aliqui  fratres,  quos  Deus 
dignatur  docere,  ad  religionem  primaevam  Christi  devotius  convertentur,  et  relicta 
sua  perfidia,  sive  obtenta  sive  petita  antichristi  licentia,  redibunt  libere  ad  religionem 
Christi  primaevam,  et  tunc  aedificabunt  ecclesiam  sicut  Paulus.  A  similar  but 
much  vaguer  expression  I  find  in  the  treatise  De  Apostasia,  c.  2,  MS.  1343,  fol.  51, 
col.  1  :  Si — placet  benefacere  istis  sectis,  tribueter  eis  abscondite  seorsum  elemosyua, 
ut  dissolvantur  coUigationes  impietatis,  et  reducautur  ad  perf  ectionem  religionis 
primaevae. 

343.  Comp.  On  the  Co-operation  in  Refoinnation  Efforts  of  the  Augustinians  in  the 
Netherlands,  the  Lower  Rhinelands,  and  Westphalia,  C.  A.  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des 
Munsterischen  Aufruhrs,  1855,  I.,  33  f.  Friar  Barnes  in  London,  also,  to  whom, 
in  1528,  two  Wicliflates  out  of  Essex  came  to  purchase  from  him  a  printed  English 
New  Testament,  was  an  Augustinian.  Strype  Ecclesiastical  Memorials.  Oxford, 
1832,  I.,  2,  p.  54. 

343.  Comp.  Leopold  Ranke,  Deutsche  Geschichte  in  Zeitalter  der  Keformatum, 
11.,  66  f. 

344.  Neander  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  this  passage,  as  a  prediction  that 
the  Reformation  would  proceed  from  the  Mendicant  Orders.  Bohringer,  Wycliffe, 
p.  568,  and  Oscar  Jager,  John  Wicliffe,  Halle  1854,  p.  57  f.,  have  observed  in  op- 
position to  Neander's  view  and  my  own  expressed  in  Zeitschrift  fur  historische 
Theologie,  1853,  p.  452  f.,  that  this  is  going  too  far.  But  if,  as  Jager  himself 
admits,  we  see  "  in  Wiclif'a  whole  personality  a  comprehensive  fact-prophecy  of 


160  LIFE  OF  WICLTF. 

the  Reformation,"  is  there  anything  impossible  or  even  improbable  in  the  idea 
that  there  should  have  been  also  a  word -prophecy  of  it  ?  And  if  Wiclif  says  no 
more  than  /  suppose,  and  not  /  prophecy,  does  it  follow  that  there  is  no  question 
here  of  prophecy  at  all  ? 

345.  It  cannot  be  attempted  to  bring  together  all  the  passages  in  which  Wiclif 
has  given  expression  to  this  judgment.  A  few  may  suffice,  instar  omnium.  Begin- 
ning with  external  matters,  it  is  to  such  he  refers  when,  in  the  Liber  Mandatorum, 
c.  8,  MS.  1339,  fol.  108,  col.  1,  he  says  that  the  stiff  demand  of  the  Church  for  its 
temporalities  far  out-goes  the  example  of  the  primitive  Church  (ultra  exemplum 
primitivae  ecclesiae).  The  Apostolical  Church,  that  church  of  martyrs,  was  also 
a  church  of  poor  confessors  (ecclesia  pauperum  confessorum),  but  on  that  very 
account  it  did  a  much  greater  work  than  the  richly-endowed  Church  of  later 
times.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  c.  22.  MS.  1340,  fol.  193,  col.  1.  That  Wiclif,  in 
the  matter  of  worship,  affirmed  that  the  Church  had  departed  from  ancient  usage, 
to  which  the  use  of  so  many  images  and  saints  was  unknown,  has  been  already 
noticed  above,  vide  p.  110  f.  The  hierarchial  despotism  to  which  the  Popes  had 
reached,  he  paints  in  the  strongest  colours.  De  Officio  Regis,  c.  7,  MS.  3933,  fol. 
37,  col.  3  :  But  not  only  in  life  but  in  doctrine  also  has  this  departure  taken  place 
from  the  word  of  God  and  the  true  Christian  standard,  and  it  is  here  that  he  lays 
the  main  stress.  Saints'  Day  Scrinons,  XXI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  41,  col.  4  :  At  the 
time  of  the  first  advent  of  Christ  the  synagogue  was  manifestly  corrupt.  Scrip- 
tural doctrine  was  hidden  away  or  perverted — human  traditions  multiplied,  etc. 
At  His  second  advent  the  antichrist  will  be  still  more  deeply  and  manifoldly 
apostate.  But  the  priests  and  Pharisees  of  the  Old  Testament  were  more  excus- 
able than  the  Romish  Church-  -non  enim  tantum  a  lege  Mosaica  declinaverant, 
quantum  nostri  prelati  decUnant  tam  vita  quam  scientia  a  lege  et  regula  Christiana. 
They  deceive  others,  indeed,  and  themselves  by  assuming  that  they  are  the  Holy 
Church  to  which  Christ  has  promised  that  i^  shall  endure  to  the  end.  But  in  the 
Old  Testament  times  men  had  indulged  in  like  false  confidences.  "  The  temple  of 
the  Lord  are  we,"  Jerem.  vii.  4.  But  the  principal  cause  of  this  falling  away  from 
true  Christianity  lies  here,  as  Wiclif  sets  forth  in  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  29, 
MS.  1294,  fol.  101,  col.  4,  that  men  have  set  aside  the  one  only  Lord  and  Master, 
and  have  given  heed  to  many  other  masters  who  are  opposite  to  Christ — that  the 
corrupt  traditions  of  men  have  been  followed  and  not  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

346.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XL.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  8,  col.  4. 

347.  Prior  Romana  ecclesia  cui  magis  debemus  credere.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No. 
I.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  128,  col.  4.  He  refers  here  to  the  eleventh  in  comparison  with 
the  twelfth  and  fourteenth  centuries. 

348.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XXI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  65,  col.  2  :  Because  the 
antichrist  is  aware  of  the  great  importance  of  the  institution  of  Christ,  he  has 
managed  that  it  should  be  departed  from  only  gradually  but  craftily  ;  and  under 
his  blinding  influence,  worldly-minded  people  have  been  thus  led  to  look  upon 
errors  which  were  still  not  excessive,  as  of  no  consequence,  or  as  no  errors  at  all. 

349.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  1,  MS.,  3928,  fol.  130,  col.  1  :  Aliter  errarent  tam 
ecclesia  quam  doctores  de  millennario  Christo,  qui  sic  esse  credendnm  docuerant. 


NOTES   TO   .SECTION'   XL  161 

Saints'  Day  Sermonn,  No.  XL.,  fol.  80,  col.  4  :  Istis  ducentis  annis  et  ainplius  fuit 
cursus  talis  antichristi  cum  sectis  snis — nam  par  taiitum  temporis  et  amplius 
diabolus  est  solutus.  In  the  Trialogus,  the  period  when  the  devil  was  set  loose 
is  assumed  to  be  well  known — almost  as  much  so  as  an  established  era  in 
chronology,  e.g.,  B.  III.,  c.  7,  p.  153  ;  c.  31,  p.  240  ;  B.  IV.,  c.  2  and  33,  p.  249, 
362  :  Ante  solutionem  satanae,  post  solutionem  satanae,  etc.  This  apocalyptic  view 
was  everywhere  prevalent  in  the  Middle  Age.  To  quote  only  one  document  in  illus- 
tration of  this  fact,  I  refer  to  the  letter  from  Liege,  which  was  addressed  t<> 
Paschalis  II.  during  the  Investiture  controversy.  There  the  same  thought  occur."* 
more  than  once — Satan  is  loose,  and  has  great  wrath — Satanas  solutus  ....  jam 
divisit  regnum  et  sacerdotium. 

350.  De  Vcritate  s.  Scripturae,  o.  15,  MS.  1294,  fol.  45,  col.  2  :  Antichristus  non 
veniet  antequam  lex  Christi  sic  dissipata  tam  intellectu  quam  aflfectu. 

351.  Be  Blasphemia,  c.  1,  MS.  3933,  fol.  118,  col.  4  :  Purgatio  gloriosa  ecclesiae 
ab  antiqua  blasphemia,  etc.  De  Ecclesia  et  memhris  ejus,  ed.  Todd,  c.  6,  p.  xli.  : 
purging  of  the  churche.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  22,  MS.  1340,  fol.  193,  col.  2  : 
Ecclesiae  ad  primam  perfectionem  restitutio.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  3,  MS.  1294,  fol. 
1 35,  col.  1  ;  Correctio  nostra  secundum  statum  primaevum. 

352.  A  single  passage  for  a  thousand  may  here  find  a  place.  In  the  Saints' 
Day  Sermons,  No.  XXXVI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  72,  col.  4,  Wiclif  says  :  Medicina 
necessaria  ad  extinguendum  venenum  diaboli  foret,  totum  clerum  exproprietarium 
facere,  et  ordinationem  Christi  quoad  suam  eccle.siam  innovare,  etc.  Comp.  De 
Officio  Pastorali,  II.,  11,  p.  45  ;  Trialogus,  IV.,  28,  p.  310  ;  Dialor/ns,  c.  34, 
MS.  1387,  fol.  159,  col.  2  :  Si  autem  ipsi  episcopi  .  .  .  .  et  alii  dotati  praepositi 
conciperent  in  hoc  vitam  et  legem  Christi,  et  sic  gratis  renunciarent  omnibus  niun- 
danis  dominiis,  foret  illis  magis  meritorium  et  gloriosior  triumphus  ecclesiae  mili- 
tantis  super  diabolum  et  alia  membra  sua.  The  whole  tractate  De  Officio  Pastora'i 
turns  in  like  manner  upon  the  thought  that  it  would  be  more  wholesome  for  the 
parish  clergy,  but,  at  the  same  time,  quite  sufficient  for  their  worldly  comfort,  to 
live  upon  the  voluntary  gifts  of  their  congregations  ;  food  and  clothing  would  not  be 
wanting  to  them. 

353.  The  Church  and  her  Members,  cap.  6  ;  Select  English  Works,  III.,  351  f. 

354.  Trialogus,  IV.,  18,  p.  310  :  Nos  autem  dicimus  illis,  quod  nedum  possunt 
auferre  teraporalia  ab  ecclesia  habitualiter  delinquente,  nee  solun  quod  licet  illis  hoc 
facere,  sed  quod  debent,  etc.  De  Civili  ^Dominio,  c.  22,  MS.  1340,  fol.  183,  col.  2  : 
Licet  dominis  temporalibus  aufferre  a  religiosis  (Monks)  collatas  elemosinas  pro- 
genitorum  suorum  {i.e.,  endowments)  in  casu  quo  habitualiter  eis  abusi  fuerint. 

35\  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  22,  MS.  1340,  fol.  176,  col.  2  :  Si  ....  sit  ration- 
abile,  ut  retrahatur  elemosyna  regis  nostri  in  alios  pios  usus,  non  oportet  currere 
Romam  ad  habendum  consensum  sui  pontificis  .  .  .  .  ne  tamen  illud  fiat  indiscrete, 
congreganda  est  synodus  auctoritate  regis,  etc. 

356.  lb.,  193,  col.  2  :  Claustrorum  di.ssipatio  ....  posset  verisiniilius  c^c 
eorum  (claustraliun;)  correctio,  etc. 

357.  76.,  c.  19,  fol.  163,  col.  1  :  Expediens  est  ....  seculares  domincs  aufferre  .> 
clericis  onus  ministerii  hnjusmodi,  si  viderint  eos  a  religione  Christi  avprsos,  etc. 

VOL.  11,  L 


162  LIFE  OF   WICLIF. 

858.  De  Simonia,  c.  5,  MS.  1343,  fol.  21,  col.  1  :  Nee  dubium,  qm  caecus  torpor 
dominorum  secularium  sit  in  causa,  quare  tarn  gloriosus  fructus  et  emend  atio 
ecclesiae  retardatur.  In  the  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  MS.  3928,  fol.  117,  col.  2,  the 
LVIth  closes  with  the  wish,  "  0  that  kings  would  wake  up  and  shake  off  this  faith- 
lessness of  the  antichrist,  and  in  divine  things  take  the  sense  of  scripture  pure  and 
undefiled." 

359.  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  8,  MS.  1341,  fol.  177,  col.  2:  NuUus  sacerdos  vel 
clericus  debet  per  coactam  ablationem  bonorum  corripi  per  brachiuni  seoulare, 
nisi  auctoritate  ecclesiae,  in  defectu  spirituahs  praepositi,  et  casu  quo  fuerit  a 
fide  devius. 

360.  Ih.,  fol.  178,  col.  2. 

361.  Ih.,  I.,  39,  MS.  1341,  fol.  95,  col.  2  :  Et  quum  notabiliter  delinquunt, 
peccatum  esset  ipsos  defendere,  specialiter  contra  pios  principes  catholice  coercentes, 
qualiter  praelati  non  sufEciunt. 

362.  I  bring  into  view  here  two  particulars  —  first,  The  way  in  which  Wiclif 
emphasizes  the  inherent  rights  of  the  crown,  according  to  which  the  claim  of  the 
Pope  to  the  first  fruits  of  a  prelacy,  and  also  the  pretended  exemption  of  the  clergy 
in  their  person  and  property  from  the  king's  jurisdiction,  are  both  irreconcileable 
with  the  interiritas  regaliae  regis  nostri.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  15,  MS.  1294,  fol.  176, 
col.  2.  Comp.  De  Officio  Regis,  c. -4,  MS.  3933,  fol.  15,  col.  2;  Omnis  rex 
dominatur  super  toto  regno  suo ;  omnis  clericus  regis  legius  (vassal  or  liege) 
cum  tota  possessione  sua  est  pars  regni ;  ergo  dominatur  super  omnibus  istis. 
Secondly,  The  way  in  which  Wiclif  sets  forth  the  dignity  of  the  king  as 
derived  immediately  from  God,  and  as  independent  of  the  Church,  and  even 
of  the  Papacy.  The  governing  power  of  the  king  is  conferred  by  God,  and 
acknowledged  by  the  people.  De  Officio  Regis,  as  above,  fol.  176,  col.  3:  Rex,  in 
quantum  hujusmodi,  habet  privilegium  concessum  a  Deo  et  acceptum  a  populo  ad 
regnandum.  The  king,  therefore,  is  a  vicar  of  God,  as  good  as  the  pope,  who 
should  exhibit  divine  justice  in  his  actions  ;  ista  exemplaris  justitia  in  Deo,  debet 
esse  exemplar  cuilibet  ejus  vicario  tarn  papae  quam  regi,  etc.  Rex  enim  est  Dei 
vicarius.  This  is  properly  the  ground-thought  of  this  whole  book.  In  connection 
with  this  subject,  Wiclif  more  than  once  supports  himself  upon  a  thought  of 
Augustin's,  Epist.  185,  according  to  which  a  king  is  a  representative  of  God,  but 
a  bishop  a  representative  of  Christ.  TriaJogus,  IV.,  15,  p.  297  ;  Saints'  Day 
Sermons,  No.  XL.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  81,  col.  4,  in  the  latter  of  which  two  places 
episcojnis  is  the  word  used,  in  the  former  x'fipc-  Comp.  De  Blasphemia,  c.  7, 
MS.  3933,  fol.  140,  col.  3.  As  a  fruit  of  the  contest  between  Church  and  State 
which  went  on  from  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  between  Boniface  VIII. 
and  Philip  the  Fair,  we  especially  must  regard  the  judgment  expressed  by  Wiclif 
in  Liber  Mandatorum,  c.  26,  MS.  1339,  fol.  205,  col.  2,  in  the  following  terms: — 
The  king  in  temporal  things  stands  above  the  pope,  and,  therefore,  the  pope  must 
acknowledge  him  as  in  this  respect  the  higher  upon  earth,  though  in  spiritual 
things  the  pope  has  the  superiority  :  Rex  autem  est  in  temporalibus  supra  papam  ; 

.  .  .  ideo  quoad  istud  oportet  papam  superiorem  in  terris  cognoscere,  licet  in 
spiritualibus  antecellat.  Wiclif  defines  the  relation  between  Church  and  State 
between  temporal   and  spiritual  government,  sharply  and  clearly,  as  follows  : — 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   XI,  163 

Secular  princes  govern  their  subjects  directly  and  immediately  in  reference  to 
the  body  and  temporal  goods,  but  only  mediately,  or  in  the  second  line  (accessorie) 
in  relation  to  the  soul,  which  latter  interest,  however,  in  the  order  of  the  two 
objects  or  ends  of  government,  should  be  the  first.  On  the  other  hand,  the  priests 
of  Christ  exercise  government  chiefly  and  directly  in  relation  to  spiritual  gifts, 
e.g.,  the  virtues  ;  yet  along  with  this,  and  in  the  second  line,  in  relation  to  temporal 
things.  But  both  jurisdictions  must  take  hold  of  each  other  and  render  each 
other  reciprocal  support.  As  the  Church  has  two  estates,  clergy  and  laity — so  to 
say  soul  and  body— so  she  has  two  sorts  of  censure  and  discipline — spiritual,  in 
the  shape  of  admonition  ;  corjioreal,  in  the  shape  of  compulsion  ;  of  which  the 
former  takes  effect  by  tlie  i^reaching  of  the  law  of  Christ  and  conviction  of 
reason,  and  belongs  to  the  doctors  and  priests  of  Christ,  while  the  latter  takes 
effect  by  the  deprivation  of  the  gifts  of  nature  and  temporal  goods,  and  is  exercised 
in  the  hands  of  the  laity.  De  Civili  Domiriio,  11.,  8,  MS.  1341,  fol.  178,  col.  1  ; 
fol.  179,  col.  1. 

363.  Be  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  16,  MS.  1341,  fol.  235,  col.  2  :  Tunc  necessitaretur 
republica  redire  ad  politiam  evangelicam,  habens  omnia  in  communi. 

364.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XXXL,  MS.  3928,  fol.  65,  col.  2  :  Viri  quidem 
evangelic!  debent  in  voluntate  et  in  conversatione  tanquum  vir  unus  concurrere, 
quanquam  loco  distiterint  (MS.,  destituerint),  et  legem  Christi  sibi  praesentis  con- 
stanter  defendere.  Doctores  evangelici.  De  Civili  Dominio,  III.,  19,  MS.  1340, 
fol.  163,  col.  1. 

365.  Supplementum  Tricdogi,  c.  8,  p.  447  :  Tunc  foret  facilius  .  .  .  errores  corri- 
gere,  et  statum  ecclesiae  ad  ordinationem  Christi  pure  secundum  legem  suam 
reducere,  quod  attendere  desidero.  Comp.  Dialog  us,  c.  18  :  Intendimiis  purga- 
tionem  et  perfectionem  cleri,  quam  scimus  non  stare  in  multitudine  personarum, 
sed  in  observantia  status,  quern  Christus  instituit. 

366.  Hoc  tentans  pro  parte  Christi  habebit  plurimos  adversantes,  quia  non  solum 
antichristum  et  omnes  ejus  discipulos,  sed  ipsum  diabolum  et  omnes  suos  angelos, 
qui  summe  odiunt,  quod  Christi  ordinatio  stet  in  terris  :  Saints''  Day  Sermons,  No. 
III.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  6,  col.  1. 

367.  De  Ajwstasia,  c.  2,  MS.  1343,  fol.  52,  col.  1  :  Confido  de  bonis  sociis,  qui 
mihi  confidenter  in  causa  Dei  astiterant,  quod  .  .  .  usque  in  finem  assistent,  qui.v 
nihil  illis  et  dictis  apostatis. 

368.  De  Vcritate  s.  Scriptnrae,  c.  23,  MS.  1294,  fol.  78,  col.  1  :  O  si  Deus  dederit 
mihi  cor  docile,  perseverantem  constantiam  et  caritatem  ad  Christum,  ad  ejus 
ecclesiam  et  ad  membra  diaboli  ecclesiam  Christi  laniantia,  ut  pura  caritate  ipsa 
corripiam !  Quam  gloriosa  causa  foret  mihi  praesentem  miseriam  finiendi  !  Haec 
enim  fuit  causa  martyrii  Christi.  Comp.  the  beautiful  conclusion  of  the  II.  Book, 
De  Civili  Dominio,  c.  18,  MS.  1341,  fol.  251,  col.  2  :  Concedat  Deus  nobis  olericis 
arma  apostolorum  et  patientiam  martyrum,  ut  possinius  in  bono  (the  evil  with 
good)  vincere  adversarios  crucis  Christi  !     Amen. 

369.  Trialogus,  IV.,  4,  p.  258.  Comp.  Dialogus,  c.  25,  MS.  1387,  fol.  156,  col.  1  : 
Dicam  ergo  istam  sententiam  pro  bono  papae  atque  ecclesiae,  et  si  occisio  vol  alia 


164  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

poena  inde  eveniat,  rogo  Deuni  meum  dare  virtutem  ad  constanter  et  humiliter 
patiendum. 

370.  De  Blasphemia,  c.  1,  MS.  3933,  fol.  119,  col.  1  :  Verum  potens  est  Deus 
illuminare  et  excitare  inentes  paucorum  fidelium,  qui  constanter  detegant  et  mone- 
ant,  si  digni  sumus,  ad  destructionem  hujus  versutiae  antichristi.  Sic  enim  incipi- 
endo  a  femina  convertit  per  paucos  apostolos  totum  mundum. 

371.  lb.  (one  of  Wicliff's  latest  writings),  c.  1,  MS.  3933,  fol.  120,  col.  4: 
Ideo  videtur  tutius  a  generatione  ista  saltern  in  mente  aufugere  et  ad  pro- 
tectionem  Chriati  conf ugere,  relinquendo  destructionem  antichristi  cum  suis  satrapia 
Dei  miraculo.  Scimus  quidem,  quod  oportet,  ut  viis  nobis  absconditis  istud 
eveniat ;  sed  scimus,  quod  jjersonarum  acceptio  non  est  apud  Deum,  sed  in  omni 
gente  vel  loco,  qui  ipsum  dilexerit,  acceptus  est  illi. 


Section  XII. — Doctrine  of  the  Sacraments. 

Of  the  doctrinal  system  of  Wiclif,  there  still  remains  for 
us  to  examine  that  chief  head  wherein  he  placed  him- 
self in  strongest  opposition  to  the  teaching  of  the  Church 
of  Rome — namely,  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper — and 
generally  of  the  Sacraments.  We  shall,  however,  handle  the 
doctrine  of  the  other  sacraments  with  comparative  brevity, 
because  we  are  able  to  refer  upon  this  subject  to  the  full 
and  satisfactory  treatment  which  it  has  received  from 
Lewald.^^^  Several  points,  however,  still  need  more  precise 
definition  and  some  degree  of  correction. 

A. —  Of  the  Sacraments  in  general. 

Here  the  three  following  questions  come  under  considera- 
tion : — 1.  What  is  the  notion  and  nature  of  a  sacrament  ? 
2.  What  are  the  several  sacraments'?  or,  in  other  words,  how 
many  sacraments  are  there  1  3.  What  view  is  to  be  taken 
of  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments  ? 

With  regard — (1)  to  the  notion  of  a  sacrament,  it  is  to  be 
premised  that  Wiclif  has  devoted  the  first  half  of  the  fourth 
book  of  the   Triahgus  to  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments,  in 


THE   GENERIC   IDEA   OF   A   SACRAMENT.  1(55 

the  first  chapter  of  which  he  treats  of  the  sacraments  in 
general,  and  especially  of  the  notion  of  a  sacrament. 

He  sets  out  from  the  generic  idea  of  the  sign;  a  sacrament 
is  a  sign ;  to  every  sign  there  corresponds  a  thing  signified, 
the  object  of  which  the  former  is  a  sign.  But  this,  as 
Wiclif  himself  allows,  is  so  general  an  idea,  that  it  must  be 
said  that  everything  which  exists  is  a  sign — for  every 
creature  is  a  sign  of  the  Creator,  as  smoke  is  a  sign  of  fire. 
But  God  Himself  is  also  a  sign — viz.,  of  everything  which 
can  be  named  ;  for  He  is  the  book  of  life,  wherein  every- 
thing that  can  be  named  is  inscribed  (an  allusion  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  ideas  of  all  things  in  God).  This  generic  notion 
of  a  sign,  tJierefore,  is  too  general.  Wiclif  accordingly  ad- 
vances to  a  more  precise  definition  of  the  notion — a  sacra- 
ment is  a  sign  of  a  holi/  thing.  But  this  definition  also 
appears  to  our  Thinker  to  be  too  wide,  for  every  creature  is 
a  sign  of  the  Creator  and  of  its  creation — existence — and 
therefore  a  sign  of  a  holy  thing.^"  But  even  if  we  advance 
still  further,  and  define  a  sacrament  with  yet  more  precision 
as  "  the  visible  form  of  an  invisible  grace,"  so  as  that  the 
sacrament  bears  in  itself  a  resemblance  to,  and  becomes  a 
cause  of  the  grace,  even  this  definition  appears  to  Wiclif  to  be 
of  such  a  kind  that  every  possible  thing  might  be  called  a 
sacrament ;  for  every  creature  perceptible  by  the  senses  is 
the  visible  appearance  of  the  invisible  grace  of  the  Creator, 
carries  in  itself  a  resemblance  to  the  ideas  embodied  in  it, 
and  is  the  cause  of  their  resemblance  and  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  Creator  (who  is  known  to  man  from  the  creature). 
Here  too,  accordingly,  we  find  again  those  metaphysical 
ideas  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  Wiclif's  thoughts 
and  views  of  God  and  the  world. 

(2.)  From  what  he  has  observed  regarding  the  idea  of  the 


166  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

sacrament  results,  of  itself,  his  judgment  concerning  the 
number  of  the  Sacraments.  The  sacramental  idea,  according 
to  his  view,  is  much  too  wide  to  allow  of  his  conceding  that 
only  the  so-called  seven  sacraments  are  really  such.  In 
other  words,  Wiclif  holds  that  there  are  more  than  seven 
eacraments.^"*  He  thinks,  e.g.,  that  the  preaching  of  the 
Divine  Word  is  as  truly  a  sacrament  as  any  one  of  those 
seven  well-known  actions.  He  makes  it  clearly  understood 
that  he  looks  upon  it  as  an  arbitrary  limitation — as  an  arti- 
ficially constructed  dogma — when  no  more  than  the  septem 
sacramenta  vulgaria  are  recognised  as  sacraments.^^^  It  is  a 
mere  irony  when  he  complains  that  it  is  owing  to  his 
poverty  of  faculty  that  he  conceives  that  many  things  on 
this  head  of  doctrine  rest  upon  too  weak  a  foundation ;  nor 
has  he  yet  become  acquainted  with  the  labels  which  must  be 
affixed  if  the  name  of  sacrament  is  to  be  limited  to  these 
seven  in  one  and  the  same  sense.^^^ 

While  Wiclif  in  most  places  inclines  to  the  opinion  that 
the  seven  sacraments  had  no  exclusive  right  to  be  re- 
garded as  such,  i.e.,  that  seven  is  too  small  a  number 
for  them  in  case  we  set  out  from  the  generic  idea  which 
is  common  to  them  all,  he  nevertheless  also  indicates  an 
opinion  that  the  number  seven  is  too  large,  namely,  when 
tried  by  the  standard  of  Scripture  authority.  This  thought 
indeed  he  does  not  express  in  plain  terms.  He  only 
hints  at  it  —  at  one  time  by  the  order  in  which  he 
treats  of  the  several  sacraments,  placing  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per and  Baptism  first  in  order,  while  leaving  the  remain- 
ing five  to  follow ;  while,  in  another  place,  he  observes 
expressly  that  the  right  order  of  the  sacraments  is  de- 
termined by  tlie  measure  in  which  they  have  for  their 
warrant  the  express  foundation  of  Scripture.^"     In  particu- 


SACRAMENTAL   EFFICACY.  167 

lar  he  says  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  he  handles  as  first 
in  order,  that  he  does  so,  among  other  gi-ounds,  upon  this 
one,  that  it  has  the  strongest  Scripture  warrant  of  all ;  ^^* 
whereas  of  Extreme  unction,  which  is  the  last  of  the  seven 
to  be  examined  by  him,  he  remarks  that  it  has  too  weak 
a  foundation  in  that  passage  of  Scripture  (James  v.)  upon 
which  it  is  commonly  rested.  ^"^  When,  notwithstanding 
this,  he  abstains  from  entering  into  any  proper  critique  of 
the  other  sacraments,  with  the  exception  of  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper,  but  follows,  on  the  whole,  the  same 
manner  of  teaching  which  had  been  in  fixed  use  since 
Peter  the  Lombard,  this  circumstance  was  owing  to  the 
fact  that  Wiclif's  attention,  within  the  area  of  this  whole 
locus  of  doctrine,  was  directed  to  one  definite  point  and 
concentrated  upon  it. 

3.  The  third  question  touches  the  efficacy  of  the  Sacra- 
ments. 

That  by  virtue  of  God's  ordinance  a  certain  efficacy,  a 
real  communication  of  grace,  is  connected  with  a  sacrament, 
Wicliff  has  an  assured  belief.  He  takes  notice  how,  in  con- 
trast with  actions  and  arrangements  of  human  origina- 
tion, such  as  the  Pope's  election,  which  have  no  promise 
of  God  that  He  will  connect  grace  with  them,  God  has 
given  the  covenanted  promise  really  to  communicate  grace 
with  the  sacraments  of  Baptism  and  Repentance,  which 
are  obviously  named  only  by  way  of  example.^^"  And  on 
another  occasion,  he  lays  down  quite  generally  the  prin- 
ciple that  "all  sacraments,  when  rightly  administered, 
possess  a  saving  efficacy."  ^^^  True,  this  saving  efficacy  is 
conditional ;  and  what  are  the  conditions  and  limitations 
ac(>,ording  to  Wiclif  within  which  they  have  this  effectual 
working'?     One  condition,  the  most  undoubted  of  all,  and 


168  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

recognised  in  the  teaching  of  the  evangehcal  Church,  is 
already  mentioned  in  the  passage  hist  quoted,  viz.,  that 
tlie  sacraments  put  forth  a  saving  efficacy  only  when  rightly 
administered  {rite  ministrata),  i.e.,  only  then  do  they  serve 
to  the  real  communication  of  divine  strength  when  they 
are  administered  conformably  to  their  first  institution. 
Wiclif  is  hkewise  thoroughly  aware  of  the  truth  that  a 
further  condition  of  the  gracious  working  of  every  sacra- 
ment lies  in  the  mind  and  spiritual  state  of  the  receiver. 

On  this  subject  there  is  room  for  doubt  on  a  single  point 
only,  whether  Wiclif  required  a  positive  preparedness  and 
receptivity  in  virtue  of  a  penitent,  believing,  and  devout 
spirit,  as  a  condition  of  the  sacrament's  possessing  a  saving 
efficacy;  or  whether  he  held  it  to  be  sufficient  that  the 
receiver  should  not  oppose  a  positive  hindrance  thereto, 
by  an  ungodly  state  of  mind  and  feeling.  Expressions  occur 
which  seem  to  favour  the  latter  idea.  But  in  by  far  the 
most  numerous  instances  Wiclif  demands  a  positive  recep- 
tivity on  the  side  of  the  person  to  wdiom  the  sacrament 
is  administered,  if  a  gift  of  grace  and  a  blessing  are  to 
flow  to  him  therefrom.^*^  Manifestly  he  is  not  satisfied  with 
the  conditions  first  formulated  by  Duns  Scotus,  that  only 
no  barrier  should  be  put  in  the  way  of  the  efficacy  of 
the  sacrament  by  mortal  sin  in  the  receiver,  or  by  the  set 
purpose  to  commit  such ;  but  he  prescribes  a  truly  penitent 
and  pious  frame  of  mind  as  a  condition  of  the  blessing  which 
should  accrue  to  the  receiver. 

These  explanations  stand  in  a  certain  connection  with  the 
other  question,  whether  the  saving  efficacy  of  a  sacrament 
is  conditioned  by  the  worthiness  and  the  grace-standing  of 
the  priest  who  dispenses  it  ?  It  is  usual  to  assume,  and  for 
sometime  back  it  h<as  been  the   settled   opinion,  that  Wiclif 


A   MISUNDERSTANDING   OF   WICLIF'S   DOCTRINE.  169 

answered  this  question  in  the  affirmative.  This  assumption 
has  even  passed  into  the  confessions  of  our  evangelical 
Lutheran  Church.^®^  This,  however,  is  no  proof  of  the  point. 
Our  German  Reformers,  if  I  am  not  quite  mistaken, 
came  into  possession  of  this  thesis  as  one  alleged  to  have 
been  held  by  Wiclif,  from  no  other  source  but  the  Council 
of  Constance.  In  the  list  of  those  articles  of  Wiclif  upon 
which  this  Council  pronounced  its  condemnatory  judg- 
ment, it  set  forth  no  fewer  than  four  articles  all  bearing 
upon  the  principle  in  question.^*^  But  it  is  well  known  with 
how  little  conscientiousness  and  trustworthiness  this  Council 
went  to  work  with  the  question  whether  a  certain  article  had 
been  really  set  forth  and  defended  by  Wiclif  or  by  Huss  ?  If 
we  go  still  farther  back,  I  find  that  the  enemies  of  Wiclif,  in 
his  lifetime,  on  only  one  occasion  brought  under  discussion 
the  particular  thesis  which  is  now  before  us,  namely,  in  the 
list  of  twenty-four  articles  which  Archbishop  Courtenay  pro- 
cured to  be  condemned  at  the  so-called  Earthquake  Council 
held  on  24th  May  1382.  Among  these  is  condemned  as 
heretical  the  article  (No.  4),  that  a  bishop  or  priest,  standing 
guilty  of  mortal  sin,  has  no  power  to  ordain,  or  consecrate, 
or  baptise.^*^  It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  Wiclif  is 
not  here  named  expressly  as  the  holder  of  this  doctrine. 
Among  the  eighteen  articles  of  Wiclif,  which  a  provincial 
Synod  under  Archbishop  Arundel  of  Canterbury,  in  February 
1396,  declared  to  be  in  part  erroneous,  in  part  heretical, 
there  is  not  found  any  article  of  the  content  in  question, 
although  that  whole  series  of  articles  Math  few  exceptions 
relates  precisely  to  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments. 

But  Thomas  of  Walden,  no  doubt,  makes  mention  of  a  doc- 
trine of  this  kind.  He  opposes  it  as  a  Donatistic  error  and  as  a 
wrong  against  all  the  sacraments  taken  together,  when  Wiclif 


170  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

puts  it  as  doubtful  whether  Christ  supports  and  owns  in  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments  a  priest  wliose  walk  is 
contrary  to  the  life  of  Christ.^^^  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  it  was  not  till  1422,  and  the  following  years,  that 
Walden  wrote  his  great  polemical  work — nearly  forty  years 
therefore  after  Wiclifs  death,  and  several  years  after  the 
Council  of  Constance  which  he  himself  attended.  And  this 
enemy  of  the  Wiclifites,  when  dealing  with  the  question  now 
before  ns,  has  unmistakeably  in  his  eye  the  form  of  the  first 
of  those  articles  which  the  Council  had  set  forth  as  Wiclifs 
doctrine  "  of  the  sacraments  in  general."^"^''  Still,  of  course, 
the  matter  can  only  be  brought  to  a  decision  by  the  authentic 
language  of  Wiclif  himself.  But  now,  so  far  as  my  knowledge 
of  the  writings  of  Wiclif  reaches,  there  is  not  to  be  found  in 
them  a  single  expression  in  which  the  saving  efficacy  of  the 
sacraments  is  made  dependent,  in  language  free  of  all  ambi- 
guity, upon  the  moral  and  religious  worthiness  of  the  adminis- 
trant  priest.  True,  he  says,  in  one  place  of  the  Trialogus, 
when  treating  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Mass, — so  often  as  Christ 
works  along  with  a  man,  and  only  in  this  case,  does  He  bring 
the  sacrament  to  effect ;  but  Wiclif  immediately  adds,  "  and 
this  must  be  assumed  and  pre-supposed  of  our  priests."^®* 
Still  more  clearly  does  he  express  himself  in  reference  to 
baptism,  to  the  effect  that  children  who  have  rightly  received 
water  baptism  are  partakers  of  baptismal  grace,  and  are 
baptised  with  the  Holy  Ghost.^*^ 

It  is  true  indeed,  that  when  we  start  with  the  idea 
of  the  Church  as  the  whole  body  of  the  elect,  which 
Wiclif  lays  as  his  foundation,  and  then  draw  out  with 
logical  strictness  the  conclusions  which  ensue,  we  must 
then  arrive  at  the  view  that  a  minister  of  the  Church 
who    does  not   belong    to    the    elect,   can    as    little    be   a 


wiclif's  real  teaching  ascertained.  171 

rightly  conditioned  steward  of  God's  mysteries  and  means 
of  grace.  Bnt  we  must  be  on  our  guard  against  drawing 
abstract  consequences  from  that  principle.  Wiclif  himself 
proceeds  with  caution  and  moderation  in  this  respect.  He 
declares,  e.  g.,  in  his  work  on  the  Church,  that  it  is  a  point 
of  undoubted  certainty  to  him  that  no  repvohate  man  is  a 
member  or  office-bearer  of  the  holy  Mother  Church,  and 
yet  immediately  after  he  remarks,  that  such  a  person  may 
nevertheless  possess  certain  offices  of  administration  within 
the  Church  to  his  own  condemnation  and  to  the  utility  of 
the  Church.'^""  If  the  official  ministrations  of  a  priest  who 
has  no  standing  in  grace  can  yet  be  to  the  utility  of  the 
Church,  this  evidently  implies  the  saving  efficacy  of  the 
means  of  grace  dispensed  by  him.  The  efficacy  therefore 
is  indep'endent  of  the  worthiness  of  the  dispensing  Church 
minister. 

But  most  decisive  of  all  is  an  expression  occurring  far- 
ther on  in  the  same  chapter,  in  which  AViclif  declares  his 
conviction  that  a  reprobate,  even  when  he  is  standing  in 
actual  mortal  sin,  administers  the  sacrament  to  the  utility 
of  the  faithful  entrusted  to  him,  although  it  be  to  his  own 
damnation.^''^  From  this  and  other  similar  passages,  it 
appears  with  a  clearness  which  does  not  admit  of  doubt  that 
Wiclif  requires  indeed  of  every  office-bearer  of  the  Church 
who  has  the  sacraments  to  administer,  that  for  the  sake  of 
his  own  salvation  he  should  be  a  veritable  member  in  the 
body  of  Christ,  but  he  by  no  means  on  this  account  makes 
the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments  for  the  soul's  health  of  those 
to  whom  they  are  dispensed,  dependent  upon  the  grace- 
standing  of  the  miiiistrant  priest.  Wiclif,  however,  knows 
clearly  enough  that  it  would  be  to  ascribe  much  too  great  an 
importance  to  the  powers  of  a  minister  of  the  Church,  and 


172  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

to  attribute  to  him  what  belongH  singly  aud  alone  to  God 
as  His  sovereign  prerogative,  if  it  should  be  supposed  that 
by  the  ill  mental  condition  of  an  unconscientious  priest, 
the  congregation  would  incur  the  loss  of  the  blessing  which 
is  communicated  to  it  of  God  by  virtue  of  the  means  of 
grace.  Wiclif  knew  much  better  how  to  distinguish  between 
the  objective  and  subjective  in  Christianity,  between  the 
grace  of  God  in  Christ,  which  is  laid  in  w^ord  and  sacrament, 
aud  the  mental  condition  of  the  acting  and  dispensing  Church- 
minister,  than  has  for  a  long  time  back  been  supposed.  The 
objection  of  a  Douatistic  mode  of  thought  which  Melancthon 
brought  against  the  Wiclifites  is,  therefore,  so  far  as  it 
was  meant  to  affect  Wiclif  himself,  and  not  only  the 
Wiclifites,  to  be  set  aside  as  unfounded  and  unjust,  on 
the  ground  of  a  more  accurate  understanding  of  the  actual 
teaching  of  Wiclif. 

B. —  Of  the  LorcTs  Supper. 

Wiclif  always  gave  a  high  place  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  as 
the  holiest  and  most  honourable  of  all  the  sacraments.  He 
was  convinced  in  particular  that  no  other  sacrament  has  so 
strong  a  foundation  in  the  Word  of  God.  But  holding  it 
in  such  high  honour,  he  watched  over  its  Scriptural  purity 
with  the  greatest  care,  and  when  he  came  to  see  that  the 
Eucharistic  doctrine  which  was  prevalent  in  the  Church 
of  his  time,  was  perverted  and  corrupt,  he  set  himself  to 
oppose  it  with  unsparing  severity  and  indefatigable  zeal. 
It  was  the  doctrine  ot  T  ran  substantial  ion  against  which  he 
contended  with  all  his  power. 

Coming  nearer  to  the   subject,  there   are  three  questions 
here  which  require  to  be  answered. 


THE   lord's   supper.  173 

1.  How  was  Wiclif  led  to  the  examination   of  this  par- 
ticular question  1 

2.  With  Avhat  arguments  did  he  attack  the  doctrine  of 
Trans  ubstantiation  ? 

3.  What  is  his  own  view  of  the  presence  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ  in  the  Lord's  Supper? 


1.  How  was  Wiclif  led  to  a  critical  examination  of  this 
question  ? 

It  has  long  been  known  that  it  was  in  the  year  1381  that 
Wiclif  came  forward  with  an  incisive  polemic  against 
the  scholastic  doctrine  of  "  The  Change  of  Substance ;  "  ^^* 
that  this  polemic  became  from  that  date  the  centre 
of  his  Reformational  exertions,  in  eo  far  as  these  had 
reference  to  the  doctrinal  system  of  the  Church ;  and  that 
his  antagonism  to  this  doctrine  became  the  target  chiefly 
aimed  at  on  the  side  of  his  enemies,  both  by  scientific 
attacks  and  by  actual  persecutions. 

As  may  be  supposed  beforehand,  it  was  only  gradually, 
and  not  without  vacillations  and  inward  struggles,  that 
Wiclif  arrived  at  the  point  of  opening  an  earnest  attack 
upon  the  doctrine  of  the  Mass  which  had  been  long  sanc- 
tioned in  the  Church,  and  which  was  still  the  culminating 
point  of  the  whole  Roman  Catholic  worship.  But  it  has 
not  hitherto  been  possible  to  arrive  at  any  exact  under- 
standing of  the  course  of  thought  which  brought  him  at 
last  to  this  result.^^^  Let  us  see  whether  more  light 
upon  the  present  question  is  to  be  gained  from  the  docu- 
ments which  are  now  lying  before  us. 

First  of  all,  we  are  able  positively  to  prove  that  Wiclif  for 
a  long  time  did  not  stumble  at  all  at  the  doctrine,  but  rather 
received  it  in  simple  faith  in  common  with  other  doctrines 


174  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

of  the  mediaeval  Church.  He  confesses,  in  a  controversial 
piece  which  appears  to  belong  to  the  year  1381,  that  he  had 
for  a  long  time  suffered  himself  to  be  deceived  by  the 
doctrine  of  "  accident  without  substance."''^^  We  have 
found  more  than  one  passage  of  his  earlier  works,  in 
which  he  still  adheres  to  the  doctrine  without  any  mis- 
giving. Especially  do  such  passages  occur  in  his  work, 
De  Dominio  Civili.  The  usual  doctrine  of  the  change  of  sub- 
stance in  the  Supper,  of  the  "making"  of  the  body  of  Christ 
by  priestly  consecration,  is  plainly  assumed  in  naive  fashion 
when  Wiclif,  in  a  passage  where  he  is  describing  Chi'ist  as 
eternal  priest,  prophet,  and  king,  says,  among  other  things, 
— "  He  was  a  priest  when  in  the  Supper  He  made  His  own 
body  {corpus  suum  conficiens) .^"^^  But  a  remark  occurring  in 
the  first  book  of  the  same  work  is  still  clearer.  He  is  there 
censuring  the  practice  of  departing  from  biblical  language  in 
a  spirit  of  undue  exaltation  of  the  creature,  e.g.,  when  men 
say  "  The  priest  absolves  the  penitent,"  instead  of  saying, 
"  he  declares  him  before  the  congregation  to  be  absolved  by 
the  act  of  God's  forgiveness" — an  act  which  is  incompetent 
for  any  creature ;  and  the  case  is  similar  to  this  in  the 
Supper  of  the  Lord,  where  the  priest  is  said  "  to  make  the 
body  of  Christ " — which  is  to  be  understood  of  the  priest 
only  instrumentally,  i.e.,  that  the  priest  in  a  ministerial  way, 
and  by  the  virtue  of  the  lioly  words  of  institution,  brings  it 
to  pass  that  the  body  of  Christ  is  present  under  the  accidents 
of  bread  and  wine.^''^  These  words  express  with  the  most 
entire  precision  what  is  decisively  characteristic  in  the 
doctrine  of  Transubstantiation — namely,  that  by  virtue  of  the 
consecration,  bread  and  wine  are  alleged  to  be  changed  into 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  so  that  now  only  the  sensible 
properties   of  bread  and  wine  are  present— -the    accidents. 


THE   TRANSITION    STAGE   OF   ^YICLIF"S   VIEWS.  175 

without  the  siibstauce  or  their  underlying  basis.  Nothing 
can  be  clearer  or  more  unambiguous  than  this  language, 
from  which  it  is  certain  that  up  till  1378  (for  in  this  year  at 
the  latest  must  this  work  of  De  Domimo  have  been  composed), 
Wiclif  was  still  attached  without  any  misgiving  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  Mass.^'-"' 

We  have  noAv  two  certain  dates — the  year  1378  and  the 
year  1381.  At  the  former  date,  Wiclif  still  adheres  to  the 
scholastic  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation  with  unbroken  con- 
fidence ;  at  the  latter  date  he  already  enters  into  public 
conflict  with  the  same  doctrine  with  entire  decision.  In  the 
interval,  therefore,  from  two  to  three  years,  falls  the  change 
which  took  place  in  his  convictions ;  and  the  shortness  of 
the  interval  gives  additional  interest  to  the  inquiry,  how 
this  change  in  his  convictions  came  to  pass. 

In  order  to  reach  a  satisfactory  answer  to  this  question, 
there  is  unfortunately  no  adequate  amount  of  documentary 
material  at  our  command.  One  solitary  expression  of  Wiclif 
is  all  that  has  as  yet  been  found  which  throws  any  light 
upon  that  transition  stage.  It  occurs  in  a  sermon  on  John 
vi.  37.  Here,  among  other  matter,  the  preacher  explains  the 
words  of  the  Redeemer,  v.  38,  "  I  came  down  from  heaven 
not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  who  sent  me." 
Upon  this  he  remarks  that  it  is  not  the  meaning  of  Christ  in 
tbese  words  to  deny  that  he  has  a  personal  will  of  His  own, 
but  only  to  say  that  His  own  vdll  is  at  the  same  time  the 
will  of  His  Father.  For  that,  he  adds,  is  the  way  in  which 
Holy  Scripture  expresses  itself,  so  that  often  in  negative 
sentences  a  word,  such  as  "  only  "  or  "  chiefly,"  requires  to  be 
supplied,  e.g.,  Mark  ix.  37,  "  He  that  receiveth  me  receiveth 
not  me,  but  Him  that  sent  me ;  "  Eph.  vi.  12,  "  We  fight  not 
against  flesh  and  blood,  i.e.,  only  or  chiefly,  but  against  princi- 


176  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

palities  and  powers."  This  usage  of  speech  must  be  also 
kept  in  view  in  interpreting  the  expression  of  Ambrose,  that 
after  the  consecration  of  the  Host,  the  bread  remains  no 
longer,  but  what  had  been  bread  must  be  called  the  body  of 
Christ.  That  is,  according  to  Wiclif's  understanding  of  the 
words  of  Ambrose,  we  must  say  what  remains  after  conse- 
cration is  in  the  main  or  chiefly  only  the  body  of  Christ. 
Why,  then,  should  it  be  denied  that  the  bread  remains  after 
consecration,  in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  it  is  chiefly  the 
body  of  Christ  that  remains.^^^ 

In  this  passage  manifestly  the  new  view  of  Wiclif 
regarding  the  Lord's  Supper  is  laid  down  on  its  positive 
side.  At  first  the  negative  exists  only  in  germ,  which 
in  the  course  of  years  developed  itself  into  the  sharpest 
polemic  against  the  scholastic  doctrine  of  Transubstan- 
tiation, — especially  against  the  assumption  of  "  accidents " 
without  "  substance."  But  the  positive  side  of  his  new 
view  is  already  distinctly  expressed.  We  recognise  clearly 
this  twofold  proposition — 1.  After  consecration,  the  bread 
is  still  bread  as  before ;  2.  After  consecration,  the  Body 
of  Christ  is  present  in  the  Supper,  and  that,  too,  as  the 
principal  thing  therein. 

*  These  thoughts  occurring  in  the  transition  stage  of  Wiclif's 
convictions,  are  characteristic  in  more  than  one  respect. 
The  following  three  points  come  out  clearly  from 
them.  1.  The  motive  principle  of  his  subsequent  polemic 
against  the  scholastic  doctrine  by  no  means  lay  in  a 
preponderant  inclination  to  deny  or  pull  down,  but  on 
the  contrary,  in  an  earnest  striving  after  positive  truth  in 
divine  things.  2.  In  laying  down  the  proposition  that 
after  consecration  the  bread  remains  what  it  is,  his 
meaning  was  not  to  profane  a  holy  thing,  to  empty  the 


THE  POSITIVE  SIDE  OF  WICLIF'S  NEW  VIEWS.  177 

sacrament  of  its  deep  content,  but  to  put  in  the  place 
of  a  baseless  and  mireal  notion  a  solid  and  substantial 
idea.  Besides,  it  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  the  pro- 
position in  question  does  not  stand  in  the  position  of 
a  chief  proposition,  but  comes  in  only  as  a  corrective, 
subsidiary  proposition  in  connection  with  the  other  pro- 
position which  follows  it.  The  truth  that  after  conse- 
cration the  body  of  Chr'st  is  present  and  forms  the 
chief  element  in  the  sacrament,  gives  by  no  means 
a  warrant  to  the  inference  that  in  virtue  of  the  con- 
secration the  bread  ceases  to  be  bread.  3.  How  this 
presence  of  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  Supper  is  conceived  of 
cannot  be  fully  understood  from  some  short  words  occurring 
in  one  division  of  a  sermon.  In  any  case,  the  declaration 
before  us  furnishes  no  sufficient  ground  to  assume  that 
Wiclif,  notwithstanding  his  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of 
tran substantiation,  always  and  absolutely  held  fast  to  the 
presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  Sacra- 
ment. For  as  we  have  now  before  us  the  transition 
stage  of  his  opinions,  it  is,  at  least,  supposable  that  Wiclif, 
after  he  had  once  attacked  the  Church-doctrine,  was  only 
gradually  carried  farther  in  his  thoughts.  We  shall  do 
well  to  keep  this  in  view  in  our  further  investigations 
of  the  subject.  But  first  we  have  to  answer  the  question 
— What  reasons  Wiclif  brought  into  the  field  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  doctrine  of  the  change  of  substance  I 

He  opens  his  inquiry  into  the  doctrine  in  the  Trialogus 
with  these  words, — "  1  maintain  that  among  all  the  heresies 
which  have  ever  appeared  in  the  Church,  there  was  never 
one  which  was  more  cunningly  smuggled  in  by  hypocrites 
than  this,  or  which  in  more  ways  deceives  the  people ; 
for  it  phmders  the  people,  leads  them  astray  into  idolatry, 
VOL.  II.  M 


178  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

denies  the  teaching  of  Scripture,  and  by  this  unbehef 
provokes  the  Truth  Himself  oftentimes  to  anger.^^^  Here 
several  points  of  view  are  brought  together  from  which 
the  doctrine  is  tested,  and  in  every  case  rejected. 

Before  everything  else,  it  is  with  Wiclif  a  weighty  objec- 
tion to  the  dogma  that  it  is  contrary  to  Scripture.  How 
it  could  ever  have  come  to  be  received  as  true,  Wiclif 
can  only  explain  by  the  overvaluing  of  tradition  and  the 
undervaluing  of  the  Gospel  itself.^"^  For  he  sets  out  from 
the  fact  that,  according  to  all  the  fundamental  passages 
of  holy  Scripture  which  treat  of  the  institution  of  the 
Supper  (Matt,  xxvi.,  Mark  xiv.,  Luke  xxii.,  1  Cor.  xi.). 
"  Christ  declares  that  the  bread  which  He  took  into  his 
hand  is  in  reality  his  body  {realiter),  and  this  must  be 
truth  because  Christ  cannot  lie."  ^''^ 

In  particular,  Wiclif  brings  into  prominence  the  fact  that 
the  Apostle  Paul,  in  1  Cor.  x.  16,  and  in  chapter  xi.,  describes 
the  Supper  with  the  words,  "  The  bread  which  we  break." 
And  who  would  be  so  bold  as  blasphemously  to  maintain  that 
"  a  chosen  vessel "  of  God  so  great  as  he  applied  a  false  name 
to  the  chief  sacrament  %  If  Paul  knew  that  this  sacrament 
is  not  bread,  but  an  "accident"  without  "substance,"  he 
would  have  acted  with  too  much  heedlessness  towards  the 
Church,  the  Bride  of  Christ,  in  calling  the  sacrament  so 
often  by  the  name  of  bread,  and  never  by  its  true  name, 
while  yet  he  knew  prophetically  that  so  many  errors  on 
this  subject  would  arise  in  after  times.^"^  Further,  Wiclif 
appeals  to  the  way  and  manner  in  which  Scripture  is  often 
to  be  observed  expressing  itself.  When  Christ  says  of 
John  the  Baptist  that  he  is  Elias,  it  is  not  His  meaning 
that  he  has  ceased  to  be  John  in  virtue  of  the  word  of 
Christ,    but    that    continuing   to    be    John,   he    has    become 


THE  NEGATIVE  SIDE.  179 

Elias  in  virtue  of  the  ordination  of  God.  And  when  John 
himself,  being  asked  whether  he  was  Elias,  denied  that  he 
was,  this  is  no  contradiction  to  that  word  of  Christ ;  for 
John  understands  it  of  the  identity  of  his  person,  while 
Christ  understands  it  of  the  property  or  character  which 
he  bore.^°^  And  when  Christ  says,  "  I  am  the  true  Vine," 
Christ  is  neither  become  a  corporeal  vine— nor  has  a  cor- 
poreal vine  been  changed  into  the  body  of  Christ ;  and 
even  so  also  is  the  corporeal  bread  not  changed  from  its 
own  substance  into  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ.  "^"^  Ac- 
cording to  all  this,  Wiclif  is  persistent  in  maintaining  that 
the  scholastic  doctrine  is  contrary  to  Scripture,  for  accord- 
ing to  Scripture,  in  the  sacrament  after  consecration  Unie 
bread  is  truly  the  body  of  Christ, — and  therefore  not  the 
mere  appearance  of  bread,  or  the  accident  of  the  same.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  asserts  that  nowhere  in  the  whole  Bible, 
from  the  beginning  of  Genesis  to  the  end  of  the  Apocalypse, 
does  a  word  stand  written  which  speaks  of  the  making  of  the 
body  of  Christ — but  only  to  this  effect — that  He,  the  only- 
begotten  Son  of  the  Father,  took  unto  Himself  flesh  and 
blood  of  the  Virgin  Mary.^"^ 

But  not  only  does  Wiclif  declare  the  doctrine  to  be 
contrary  to  Scripture,  —  he  misses  also  the  testimony 
of  tradition  in  its  support,  and  lays  great  stress  upon 
the  fact  that  the  doctrine  handed  down  from  the  better 
age  of  the  Church  stands  opposed,  as  well  as  Holy 
Scripture,  to  the  Roman  dogma,  which  is  in  fact  of  com- 
paratively recent  date.  Even  the  Curia  itself,  in  the  period 
preceding  the  "  letting  loose  of  Satan,"  adhered  to  Scrip- 
tural doctrine ;  and  the  holy  doctors  of  the  ancient  Church 
knew  nothing  of  this  modern  dogma.  In  particular,  Wiclif 
mentions  that  Jerome,  that  excellent  Scripturist  and  divine, 


180  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

held  the  biblical  idea  of  the  Supper;  and  on  another  occasion 
he  observes  that  the  doctrine  of  "  accidents  without  subject  " 
was  as  yet  no  part  of  the  Church's  faith  in  the  days  of 
Augustin.  It  was  not  till  Satan  was  let  loose  (i.e.,  two  or 
three  hundred  years  back),  that  men  set  aside  Scripture 
teaching  and  brought  in  erroneous  doctrines.*"^  God,  how- 
ever, knows  even  at  the  present  day  how  to  uphold  the 
orthodox  doctrine  of  the  Supper,  e.g.,  in  Greece  and 
elsewhere,  where  it  pleases  Him.  '^'^^ 

In  addition  to  Scripture  and  the  tradition  of  Christian 
antiquity,  Wiclif  also  appeals  to  the  concurrent  testimony  of 
the  senses  and  of  sound  human  understanding,  in  proof  of  the 
fact  that  the  consecrated  bread  is  bread  after  consecration 
as  it  was  before  it.^*""  Yea !  even  irrational  animals,  such 
as  mice,  when  they  eat  a  lost  consecrated  wafer,  know 
better  than  these  unbelievers  do,'*""  that  the  Host  is  bread, 
after  as  well  as  before.  But  this  appeal  to  the  instinct  of 
the  brutes  appears  to  be  only  a  humourous  episode,  for 
no  serious  stress  is  anywhere  laid  upon  it. 

Much  more  value  is  attached  by  Wiclif  to  the  dialectical 
testing  of  the  ideas,  taken  intrinsically,  with  which  schol- 
asticism here  goes  to  work.  As  the  effect  of  consecra- 
tion, it  alleges,  Bread  and  Wine  are  changed  into  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
substance  of  bread  and  wine  is  no  longer  present;  that 
only  appearance,  colour,  taste,  smell,  etc. — in  a  word, 
only  the  accidents  of  bread  and  wine,  without  the  sub- 
stance of  them  are  present  (accidentia  sine  subjecto).  In 
opposition  to  this,  Wiclif  takes  notice  that  "  accidents," 
such  as  softness  or  hardness,  toughness  or  bitterness 
in  the  bread,  neither  exist  for  themselves  nor  can  possibly 
exist    in     other    accidents,    and     therefore     presuppose    a 


{ 


"ACCIDENTS  WITHOUT  A  SUBSTANCE."  181 

substance  in  which  they  inhere,  such  as  bread  or  some 
other.  It  is  a  contradiction —  an  unthinkable  idea —  a 
fiction  as  in  a  dream  when  men  maintain  "  accidents 
without  a  substance."'*'"'  He  goes  further  and  assumes 
the  offensive  agamst  the  upholders  of  the  dogma  of  the 
change  of  substance ;  he  demands  of  them,  what  then  is 
properly  the  element  which  remains  after  consecration  ? 
and  as  the  defenders  of  the  doctrine  in  that  age,  especially 
the  learned  men  of  the  Mendicant  Orders,  gave  different 
answers  to  this  question — one  saying  it  is  quantity,  a 
second  quality,  and  a  third  nothing,^^"  go  Wiclif  recognises 
in  this  disagreement  a  symptom  of  the  untruth  and  un- 
tenability  of  the  whole  doctrine,  and  applies  to  it  the  word 
of  Christ — "  Every  kingdom  divided  against  itself  goes  to 
ruin"  •^^^ — (Matt.  xii.  22).  And  even  granting  that  the  idea 
of  "  accident  without  a  subject"  were  possible  and  tenable, 
what  would  be  its  use  ?  ^^^  Why  then  must  the  bread  be 
annihilated,  in  order  that  Christ's  body  may  be  present? 
When  any  one  becomes  a  prelate  of  the  church  or  a  lord,  he 
does  not  cease  on  that  account  to  be  the  same  personality ; 
rather  he  remains  in  every  respect  the  same  being,  only 
in  a  higher  position.  Does  the  manhood  of  Christ  then 
cease  to  be  man  because  it  became  God?  So  also  is  the 
substance  of  the  bread  not  destroyed  on  account  of  its 
becoming  the  body  of  Christ,  but  elevated  to  something 
of  a  higher  order.'*^^  And  what  sort  of  blessing  would  that 
be  whose  working  is  alleged  to  be  of  a  destructive  and 
annihilating  character?  For  when  they  consecrate,  they 
reduce  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  wine,  according  to 
their  own  doctrine,  to  nothing ;  whereas  Christ,  when  He 
pronounces  a  curse,  does  not  annihilate  the  substance  of 
anything,  as  e.g.,  of  the  fig-tree.^^^ 


182  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

But  with  the  greatest  amount  of  emphasis  and  moral 
earnestness,  Wichf  opposes  the  doctrine  on  account  of 
the  consequences  which  it  leads  to,  and  especially  of 
the  idolatry  which  springs  from  it,  partly  through  the 
adoration  of  the  consecrated  Host,  and  partly  through  the 
blasphemous  self-exaltation  and  deification  of  man  implied 
in  the  priests  pretending  "to  make  the  body  of  Christ,"  the 
God-man.  We  only  touch,  in  passing,  the  allusions  of 
Wiclif  to  the  spoliation  practised  by  the  priests  upon  the 
people  by  means  of  the  masses ;  ^^^  but  much  more 
frequently  and  urgently  does  he  do  battle  with  the  idolatry 
which  is  practised  with  the  consecrated  Host,  when  men 
render  to  it  truly  divine  worship  and  devotion.  He  allows 
no  force  to  the  defence  brought  forward  by  some  theologians 
of  the  Mendicant  Orders,  that  the  Host  is  not  worshipped, 
but  only  venerated,  on  account  of  the  presence  of  the  body 
of  Christ.  They  must  in  reason  admit  that  the  people,  who 
as  a  matter  of  fact  worship  the  Host  as  the  body  of 
Christ,  are  destitute  of  the  light  of  faith,  and  idolatrous.  ^^^ 
In  the  presence  of  the  Christian  faith,  which  recognises  the 
tri-une  God  as  God  alone,  Wiclif  can  only  regard  the 
worship  of  the  Host  as  unscriptural  and  utterly  without 
warrant ; '*^'^  and  this  all  the  more,  because  the  object  to 
which  this  divine  honour  was  addressed,  was  alleged  to 
be  only  an  accident  without  underlying  essence.  In  fact, 
it  is  worse,  he  remarks,  than  the  fetish- worship  of  the 
heathen,  who  give  worship  throughout  the  day  to  what- 
ever object  they  chance  first  to  see  in  the  early  morning, 
when  many  so-called  Christians  habitually  take  to  be  their 
very  God  that  accident  which  they  see  in  the  hands  of  the 
priests  in  the  mass.**^^  The  indignation  of  Wiclif  against 
the  idolatry  committed  in  the  worshipping  of  the  Host,  is 


THE  ^VORSHIP  OF  THE  HOST  IS  IDOLATRY.  183 

all  the  stronger  that  he  cannot  avoid  the  conviction  that 
the  authors  of  this  deification  of  a  creature  are  perfectly 
well  aware  of  Avhat  their  God  really  is."*^^  Such  priests, 
accordingly,  he  does  not  scruple  to  call  plainly  Baal- 
priests.*^"  Not  seldom  he  adds  to  his  protest  against  the 
worship  of  the  Host  a  personal  reservation,  and  a  general 
observation.  The  reservation  is  to  the  effect  that  for  his 
own  person,  Wiclif  conforms  himself  to  the  custom  of  the 
Church  (in  kneeling  before  the  Host),  but  only  in  the  sense 
of  addressing  his  devotion  to  the  glorified  body  of  Christ, 
which  is  in  heaven."*^^  The  general  observation  is,  that 
with  the  same  right  as  the  consecrated  Host  would 
every  other  creature  lay  claim  to  divine  honours;  yea 
with  much  superior  right — first,  because  the  Host,  according 
to  the  modern  church  doctrine,  is  not  a  substance  but 
only  an  accident;  and  in  addition,  because  in  every  other 
creature  the  uncreated  Trinity  itself  is  present,  and  this 
is  infinitely  more  perfect  than  a  body,  because  it  is  the 
absolute  Spirit  itself."^^^ 

Last  of  all,  the  most  emphatic  protest  is  made  by  Wiclif 
against  the  delusion  that  the  priest  makes  the  body  of 
Christ  by  his  action  in  the  Mass.  This  thought  appears  to 
him  to  be  nothing  less  than  horrible,  first,  because  it  attri- 
butes to  the  priests  a  transcendental  power,  as  though  a 
creature  could  give  being  to  its  Creator — a  sinful  man  to  the 
holy  God ;  ^"^^  again,  because  God  Himself  is  thereby  dishon- 
oured, as  though  He,  the  Eternal,  were  created  anew  day 
after  day ;  ''-*  and  lastly,  because  by  this  thought  the  Sanc- 
tuary of  the  Sacrament  is  desecrated,  and  an  "  Abomination 
of  Desolation  is  set  up  in  the  holy  place."  *"^ 

If  we  cast  another  look  over  the  whole  of  Wiclif 's  polemic 
against  the  Romish  doctrine  of  the  Supper,  w^e  perceive  that 


184  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

it  is  exclusively  directed  against  the  doctrine  of  the  change 
of  substance,  with  all  its  presumptions  and  consequences. 
The  denial  of  the  cup  to  the  laity  is  never  once  expressly 
mentioned  by  him  in  any  of  his  works,  printed  or  still  in 
manuscript.  In  Wiclif's  time  the  practice  had  not  yet  re- 
ceived the  sanction  of  the  Church.  And  as  little  has  he 
applied  any  searching  critique  to  the  doctrine  of  the  sacrifice 
of  the  Mass.  I  find  even  an  express  recognition  and  ap- 
proval of  the  idea  of  the  Mass-sacrifice  in  a  work  which 
certainly  belongs  to  his  latest  years,  and  throughout  opposes 
the  doctrine  of  the  change  of  substance.  The  connection, 
however,  lets  it  be  seen  without  difficulty  that  the  sacrifice 
meant  is  only  the  thank-offering  of  a  grateful  feast  of  com- 
memoration, not  the  effectual  oblation  of  a  sacrifice  of 
atonement.  '^^^ 

The  holy  Supper  had  been  alienated  from  its  institutional 
purity  by  three  chief  corruptions — the  denial  of  the  cup,  the 
change  of  substance,  and  the  sacrifice  of  tlie  Mass.  These 
three  particulars  Luther,  in  his  principal  reformational  work, 
De  Captivitate  Babylonica,  1520,  designated  as  a  three-fold 
captivity  of  the  sacrament.  Its  first  captivity  relates  to  its 
perfection  or  completeness  of  parts — it  is  a  Romish  despot- 
ism to  deny  the  cup  to  the  laity ;  the  second  captivity  is  the 
scholastic  doctrine  of  the  change  of  substance ;  the  third  con- 
sists in  converting  the  Mass  into  a  sacrifice  and  a  meritori- 
ous work.  ■*-''  As  these  corruptions  had  crept  in  gradually 
in  the  course  of  centuries,  so  also  the  recognition  of  them 
as  such,  and  the  re-discovery  of  the  original  truth  of  the 
case  was  only  reached  step  by  step.  First,  the  doctrine  of 
the  change  was  attacked,  then  the  denial  of  the  cup,  and 
last  the  doctrine  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  with  all  the 
errors    and    abuses   therewith   connected.       And   in    every 


THE  LOLLARDS,  HUSSITES,  AND  LUTHER.  185 

instance  new  leaders  and  captains  must  needs  step  into  the 
field.  It  was  the  doctrine  of  the  change  of  substance  that 
Wiclif  attacked,  along  with  all  its  presumptions  and  con- 
sequences ;  and  he  did  this  from  the  moment  when  he  got 
new  light  upon  the  subject,  with  an  indefatigable  zeal  and 
a  holy  earnestness  of  conscience  inspired  by  his  concern  for 
the  honour  and  glory  of  God.^^^ 

In  this  he  was  followed  by  the  numerous  host  of  his  dis- 
ciples. From  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  to  the  third  decade  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  the  protest  against  transubstantiation 
continued  to  be  a  characteristic  peculiarity  of  the  English 
Lollards.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  Hussites  contended 
against  the  denial  of  the  cup,'*^^  and,  with  the  fiery  zeal  char- 
acteristic of  them,  knew  how  to  conquer  again  for  themselves 
tlie  calix,  which  became  their  ensign.  Last  of  all,  Luther, 
with  all  the  might  of  his  genius  and  his  conscience,  bound 
fast  by  the  Word  of  God,  assailed  the  conception  and  hand- 
ling of  the  Supper  as  a  Mass-sacrifice  and  a  good  work. 
The  denial  of  the  cup  he  also  regarded,  as  before  stated,  as 
a  captivity  of  the  sacrament;  but  he  expressed  himself  on 
that  point  with  moderation ;  ^^^  and  milder  still  was  his 
judgment  on  the  doctrine  of  the  change  of  substance, 
although  he  denied  that  it  had  any  ground  in  Scripture, 
and  regarded  it  likewise  as  a  captivity  of  the  sacrament."*'^'' 
But  the  most  godless  abuse  and  error  of  all,  and  one  draw- 
ing after  it,  as  its  consequences,  many  other  abuses,  he 
declared  to  be  the  conversion  of  the  Mass  into  a  meritori- 
ous work  and  a  sacrifice.^^^  Now,  it  was  on  precisely  the 
same  grounds  which  moved  Luther  to  protest  against  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  that  Wiclif  140  years  before  saw  him- 
self constrained  to  stand  forward  against  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation;    viz.,  because  it   had   no    foundation   in 


18(3  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Scripture,  because  it  leads  men  astray  into  idolatry,  and 
because  it  draws  after  it  a  whole  chain  of  errors  and  abuses. 
He  went  to  Avoi'k,  however,  as  little  as  Luther  did,  in  a 
merely  negative  and  destructive  way.  He  put  forward  a 
positive  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

3.  What  is  the  positive  view  which  Wiclif  adopted  of 
the  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  holy 
Supper  ? 

In  place  of  the  Romish  theory  of  the  change  of  substance, 
he  lays  down  the  two-fold  proposition  :  in  the  sacrament 
of  the  altar  there  is  (a),  true  bread  and  true  wine  ;  (b),  but 
at  the  same  time  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 

The  first  proposition,  from  the  time  when  he  began  inde- 
pendently to  examine  the  doctrine  of  the  Supper,  Wiclif 
always  lays  down  with  distinctness,  establishes  with  clear- 
ness, and  defends  without  any  vacillation.  The  grounds 
upon  which  he  rests  it,  we  have  already  seen  from  his 
criticism  of  the  opposite  doctriue.  He  takes  his  stand  first 
of  all  upon  holy  Scripture,  in  as  much  as  Christ's  words 
of  institution,  and  the  language  of  St.  Paul  in  agreement 
therewith,  speak  of  the  real  bread  (and  the  wine)  as  the 
body  of  Christ  (and  the  blood.)  The  proposition  is  next 
confirmed  by  the  testimonies  of  many  fathers  and  teachers 
of  the  first  thousand  years  of  the  history  of  the  Church  ;^^* 
and  farther,  Wiclif  throws  light  upon  it  by  the  analogy 
of  a  central  truth  of  the  Christian  faith.  He  places  his 
doctrine  of  the  Supper  in  the  light  of  the  foundation  truth 
of  the  person  of  the  God-man.  The  orthodox  doctrine 
of  the  person  of  Christ  is  that  He  is  both  God  and  Man, 
both  creator  and  created, — neither  solely  creature,  nor 
creator  solely.  In  like  manner,  the  sacrament  of  the  altar 
is  both  earthly  and  heavenly — at  once  real  or  very  bread, 


I 


wiclif's  doctrine  of  the  real  presence.  187 

and  the  real  or  very  body  of  Christ.*^^  This  latter  is. 
according  to  his  showing  in  several  places,  the  true  and 
orthodox  view  of  the  sacrament  (catkoUci  dicunt),  whereas 
the  view  which  maintains  that  in  the  Supper  there  is  ex- 
clusively present  the  body  of  Christ,  and  not  bread,  at 
least  only  the  accidents  and  therefore  only  the  appearance 
of  bread,  is  heretical,  and  infected  with  a  certain  Docetism 
which  is  even  worse  than  the  ancient  Docetism  in  reference 
to  the  humanity  of  Christ. 

The  second  proposition,  which  forms,  in  connection  with 
the  first,  the  Wiclif-doctrine  of  the  Supper,  could  not  miss 
being  touched  upon  already  in  what  precedes.  It  declares 
that  "  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  is  Christ's  body  and 
blood."  But  how  is  this  meant?  The  question  is  a  diffi- 
cult one  to  answer.  That  Christ's  body  and  blood  are  in 
the  Sacrament  Wiclif  has  always  maintained;  but  how  he 
conceived  of  the  relation  between  the  body  and  blood  and 
the  consecrated  bread  and  wine  has,  down  to  the  present 
time,  remained  much  in  the  dark.  Is  his  meaning  possibly 
this— that  the  body  of  Christ  is  only  represented  by  the 
consecrated  bread  ;  in  other  words,  that  what  is  visible  in 
the  Supper  is  merely  a  figure — a  sign  of  the  invisible  ?  or 
does  Wiclif  mean  to  maintain  a  real  existence,  the  actual  or 
very  presence  of  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  Supper?  Does 
Wiclif  s  view  stand  related  intellectually  to  Zwingli's  or  to 
Luther's  ?     This  is  the  question. 

Now  the  fact  indeed  is  indisputable  that  Wiclif  in  repeated 
instances  expresses  himself  as  though  his  view  was  that  the 
visible  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  was  simply  and  only  a 
sign  and  figure  of  the  invisible.  He  says,  e.g.,  "  The  sacra- 
mental bread  represents  or  exhibits,  in  a  sacramental  man- 
ner, the  body  of  Christ  Himself,"  or,  "The  bread  is  the  figure 


188  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

of  Christ's  body."^^*  He  Avho  looks  at  such  expressions 
superficially  can  easily  think  himself  justified  in  assummg 
that  Wiclif  held  a  ^aew  which  approximates  to  the  Zwinglian 
opinion.  That  would,  however,  be  a  hasty  judgment.  For, 
not  to  look  as  yet  at  "expressions  used  by  him  of  quite  a  dif- 
ferent content,  in  the  passages  given  above,  it  is  by  no  means 
said  that  the  visible  in  the  sacrament  is  nothing  more  than 
a  sign,  or  figure,  or  memorial  of  the  invisible,  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ.  Add  to  this  that  the  connection  in 
which  these  passages  stand,  especially  in  the  Trialogus,  has 
always  a  polemical  bearing,  and  is  by  no  means  intended  to 
set  forth  directly  and  categorically  the  view  entertained  by 
the  author  himself  But  what  is  of  decisive  weight  is  the 
circumstance  that,  in  by  far  the  largest  number  of  places, 
Wiclif  expresses  himself  positively  in  the  sense  of  a  real 
presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  It  does  not 
amount  to  much,  indeed,  when  in  one  place  he  declares  his 
readiness  to  believe  in  a  deeper  sense  of  the  sacrament  than 
the  figurative  one,  in  case  he  shall  have  been  taught  it  by 
the  Word  of  God  or  by  sound  reason  {si  ex  fide  vel  ratione 
doctus  fuero),*^^  for  this  readiness  is  one  very  stringently  con- 
ditioned. But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  not  wanting 
expressions  in  which  Wiclif  very  plainly  discards  the  view 
that  the  bread  is  oiily  a  figure  of  the  body  of  Christ,  and 
declares  on  the  contrary  that  the  bread  is  Christ's  body.  In 
one  passage  he  reminds  the  reader  that  the  question  relates 
to  a  subject  of  the  faith  which  has  been  revealed  to  us,  and 
that  men  therefore  must  give  heed  to  the  teaching  of  Scrip- 
ture upon  it ;  and,  just  as  it  is  admitted,  on  Scripture 
grounds,  that  this  sacrament  is  the  body  of  Christ,  and  not 
merely  a  sacramental  figure  of  His  body,  so  must  it  be  un- 
conditionally conceded,  upon  the  same  authority,  that  the 


THE  REAL  PRESENCE.  ^  189 

bread  which  is  this  sacrament  is  in  very  truth  the  borly  of 
Christ.*^**  In  another  work  {De  Apostasia)  WicHf  says  pre- 
cisely, that  if  it  is  denied  that  the  bread  in  the  sacrament  is 
the  body  of  Christ,  men  fall  into  the  error  of  Berengarius, 
who  placed  himself  in  opposition  to  the  Word  of  God  and 
the  four  great  doctors  of  the  Church.'*^''  Accordingly,  we 
venture  to  maintain  with  all  decision  that  Wiclif  does  not 
satisfy  himself  with  the  idea  of  a  presence  of  Christ's  body, 
which  is  only  represented  by  signs,  and  subjectively  appre- 
hended by  the  communicant,  but  believes  and  teaches  a  true 
and  real  objective  presence  of  the  same  in  the  Supper.^^*^ 

There  is  then  a  real  presence  of  Christ's  body  in  the 
Supper ;  yet  is  not  this  to  be  understood  as  if  the  body  of 
Christ  were  present  in  a  local  or  corporeal  manner.  This 
Wiclif  denies  with  the  utmost  decision.  In  a  substantial, 
corporeal,  and  local  manner  the  body  of  Christ  is  in  heaven, 
but  not  in  the  sacrament.  Only  the  bread  (the  Host)  is 
substantially,  corporeally,  locally,  and  quantitatively  in  the 
sacrament,  but  not  Christ's  body.^^^  Of  course  the  question 
then  arises,  If  not  in  a  corporeal  and  local  manner,  then  in 
what  manner  is  Christ's  body  (and  blood)  present  in  the  sac- 
rament, as  it  is  still  maintained  to  be  really  present?  To 
this  question  Wiclif  does  not  omit  to  supply  an  answer.  He 
distinguishes  a  threefold  manner  of  presence  of  Christ's  body 
in  the  consecrated  Host,  an  effectual,  a  spiritual,  and  a  sacra- 
mental presence  :  effe.ctual  (yirtualis),  as  He  is  in  His  king- 
dom, everywhere,  doing  good,  dispensing  the  blessings  of 
nature  and  of  grace ;  spiritual,  as  He  gracioiisly  indwells  in 
the  souls  of  the  faithful ;  sacramental,  as  He  is  present  in  a 
peculiar  manner  in  the  consecrated  Host.  And  while  the 
second  manner  of  presence  presupposes  the  first,  tiie  third 
manner  again  presupposes  the  second.'**"     The  glorified  body 


190  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

of  Christ  is  operative  and  spiritual.  Christ,  as  to  His  human 
nature,  is  present  at  every  point  of  the  world,  therefore 
also  in  the  Host ;  but  the  distinctive  manner  of  presence, 
which  belongs  exclusively  to  the  latter,  is  the  sacramental 
presence  of  the  body  of  Christ.*^^ 

But  what  does  this  last  mean  ?  So  must  we  needs  ask 
once  more ;  and  here  Wiclif's  answer  is  simple — This 
presence  is  a  miracle.  It  rests  upon  the  divine  ordinance — 
upon  the  words  of  institution.  By  virtue  of  the  sacramental 
words,  a  supernatural  change  takes  place,  by  means  of  which 
bread  and  wine  remain  indeed  what  they  are  in  their  own 
substance,  but  from  that  moment  are  in  truth  and  reality 
Christ's  body  and  blood/*^  Not  as  if  the  glorified  body  of 
Christ  descends  out  of  heaven  to  that  Host  which  is  con- 
secrated anywhere  in  a  church  ;  no  I  it  remains  above  in 
heaven  fixed  and  immovable,  and  only  in  a  spiritual,  invisible 
manner  is  it  present  in  every  point  of  the  consecrated  Host, 
as  the  soul  is  present  in  the  body.**^  And  on  this  account 
we  are  able  to  see  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  not 
with  the  bodily,  but  only  with  the  spiritual  eye — that  is, 
with  the  eye  of  faith  ;  and  when  we  break  the  consecrated 
Host  we  break  not  the  body  of  Christ — Ave  handle  Him  not 
with  the  bodily  touch — we  do  not  chew  and  eat  Him 
corporeally,  but  we  receive  Him  spiritually.^**  The  Host 
is  not  itself  Christ's  body,  but  undoubtedly  this  latter  is 
in  a  sacramental  manner  concealed  in  it.**^  In  scholastic 
language,  it  is  not  a  question  about  identification  or  about 
impanation.  Both  of  these  ideas  Wiclif  rejects,***^ — not  only 
tlie  former,  according  to  which  two  things  differing  in  kind 
and  number  were  alleged  to  become  one  and  the  same  in 
kind  and  number,  but  also  the  latter.  The  idea  of  impanation 
supported  itself  upon  that  of  the  incarnation.    In  like  manner 


1 


THE  REAL  PRESENCE  A  SPIRITUAL  PRESEXCE.  191 

as  the  Son  of  God  became  man  without  ceasing  to  be  God, 
or  without  the  human  nature  passing  into  the  divine,  but  in 
such  wise  that  the  Godhead  forms  with  the  manhood  one 
inseparable  God-manhood;  so  analogously,  it  was  thought, 
did  the  body  of  Christ  become  bread  in  the  Supper ;  not  in 
the  sense  of  the  bread  ceasing  to  be  bread,  but  in  the  sense 
of  the  glorified  body  of  Christ  entering  iuto  a  perfect  union 
with  the  real  bread.  This  theory  Wiclif  sets  aside  as  well 
as  the  other  of  the  identification  of  the  bread  with  the  body 
of  Christ.'**^  Neither  "  impanation  "  nor  "  identification  "  was 
Wiclifs  contention,  but  only  a  sacramental  presence  of  the 
body  of  Christ  in  and  with  the  consecrated  Host,  wrought  by 
the  virtue  of  the  words  of  institution — what  he  also  calls  a 
"  spiritual,"  i.e.,  an  invisible  presence.  He  expresses  his 
doctrine  of  the  Supper  compendicmsly  in  the  proposition, — 
"  As  Christ  is  at  once  God  and  man,  so  the  sacrament  of  the 
altar  is  at  once  Christ's  body  and  bread — bread  in  a  natural 
manner,  and  body  in  a  sacramental  manner."  ^**^  Still  more 
compactly  does  he  concentrate  his  thoughts  in  the  short 
expression,  "  The  sacrament  of  the  altar  is  the  body  of 
Christ  in  the  form  of  the  bread."  **^ 

Returning  to  the  characteristic  touched  upon  above, 
according  to  which  the  presence  of  the  glorified  body  of 
Christ  in  the  Supper  is  a  spiritual  presence — like  the 
indwelling  of  the  soul  in  the  body — it  follows  fi'om  this 
view,  as  already  mentioned,  that  we  see  Christ's  body  in  the 
sacrament  not  with  the  bodily,  but  only  with  the  spiritual 
eye — that  we  do  not  touch  Him  corporeally,  and  therefore, 
also,  cannot  receive  and  enjoy  Him  corjDoreally,  but  only 
spiritually.  To  this  circumstance  Wiclif  more  than  once 
refers,  emphasizing  it  intentionally,  and  drawing  from  it 
without   reserve   the   conclusion  which  is  its  necessary  out- 


192  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

come.*''"  He  remarks  that  the  behever's  desire  is  to  partake 
of  the  body  of  Christ  not  corporeally,  but  spiritually ;  and 
therefore  it  is  that  the  Omniscient  has  connected  that 
spiritual  manner  of  presence  with  the  Host  which  is  to  be 
eaten  by  the  believer,  and  has  set  aside  another  manner  of 
the  presence  because  it  would  be  superfluous.  Only  un- 
believers, or  persons  of  a  Jewish  spirit,  join  in  the  murmur 
of  those  who,  in  John  vi.  60-61,  went  back  and  said,  "  It  is  a 
hard  saying,"  because  they  understood  him  to  say  that  a 
body  behoved  to  be  corporeally  eaten.^'^^  In  more  than  one 
place  Wiclif  appeals  to  the  word  of  Christ  in  John  vi.  63 — 
"  It  is  the  Spirit  that  quicken  eth — the  flesh  profiteth 
nothing."  ^''^  I  might  go  the  length  of  maintaining  that 
this  expression  appears  to  him,  taken  along  with  the  words 
of  institution,  "  This  is  my  body,"  as  the  fundamental  passage 
on  the  subject  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  corporeal  eating 
of  the  bread  in  the  sacrament  and  the  spiritual  eating  stand 
as  wide  asunder  from  one  another,  in  his  view,  as  the  heaven 
from  the  earth.  A  swine  or  a  shrew-mouse  is  able  to 
consume  it  carnally,*''^  but  spiritually  they  are  incapable  of 
enjoying  it,  because  to  them  faith  and  soul  are  wanting. 

As  Wiclif  makes  the  actual  receiving  of  the  body  of 
Christ  in  the  sacrament  dependent  upon  faith,  he  must 
necessarily,  as  a  consequent  thinker,  have  held  that  only 
the  believing  communicants  are  partakers  in  fact  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  —  while  the  unbeheving  receive 
exclusively  only  the  visible  signs,  and  not  the  invisible 
body  of  Christ.  Up  to  the  present  time,  it  is  true,  no 
passage  had  been  found  in  which  this  latter  thought  was 
expressed  in  clear  and  unambiguous  terms.'*'^  But  in  the 
sermon  on  the  Sixth  Chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  which 
has  already  been  repeatedly  quoted,  T  find  also  this  thought 


ONLY  BELIEVING  COMMUNICANTS  ARE  TRULY  PARTAKERS.    193 

declared  without  disguise.  Here  Wiclif  distinguishes  sharply 
between  corporeal  and  spiritual  tasting  of  the  sacramental 
food.  And  in  accordance  with  this,  he  not  only  maintains 
that  any  one  who  has  not  received  the  sacramental  food, 
may,  notwithstanding,  truly  partake  of  the  flesh  and  blood 
of  Christ  by  means  of  faith — e.g.,  John  the  Baptist ;  but  he 
also  declares  his  belief  that  the  non-elect  do  not  in  fact  par- 
take of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  as  little  as  Christ  is  a 
partaker  of  the  non-elect — and  as  little  as  the  man  who  has 
partaken  of  indigestible  food  can  be  said  to  have  really 
consumed  it.*"'^ 

Taking  a  survey  once  more  of  Wiclif's  whole  investi- 
gation of  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  which  he  almost  constantly 
returned  during  the  last  four  years  of  his  life,  whatever  was 
the  point  of  Christian  doctrine  he  was  discussing  at  the  time, 
and  which  he  treated  of  in  sermons  and  popular  tracts,  as 
well  as  in  disputations  and  scientific  works,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  be  impressed  with  the  intellectual  labour,  the  con- 
scientiousness, and  the  force  of  will — all  equally  extra- 
ordinary, which  he  applied  to  the  solution  of  the  problem 
which  he  proposed  to  himself  in  this  particular.  With  a 
courage  drawn  from  the  sense  of  duty  and  from  the  might 
of  truth,  he  nobly  dared  to  undertake  the  dangerous  conflict 
with  doctrine  which  he  had  come  to  look  upon  as  a  heresy 
opposed  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture,  dishonouring  to  God, 
and  the  source  at  the  same  time  of  numerous  errors,  abuses, 
and  mischiefs.  His  attack  upon  the  dogma  of  transub- 
stantiation  was  one  so  concentrated,  and  delivered  from 
so  many  sides,  that  the  scholastic  conception  was  shaken 
to  its  very  foundations.'*^^ 

The  animated  polemic  which  was  directed  against  Wiclif, 
and  the  strong  measures  which  were  taken  by  the  hierarchy 
VOL.  II.  N 


194  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

against  him  and  his  pai'tj,  are  the  loudest  testimonies  to  the 
importance  of  the  attack  which  called  forth  this  resistance. 
Although  Huss  and  the  Hussites,  the  Cahxtines  at  least,  did 
not  continue  Wiclif's  opposition  to  transubstantiation,  his 
early  labours  in  this  field  bore  fruit  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  theory  which  he  had  so  violently  shaken  fell  to  the 
ground  as  the  result  of  the  German  and  Swiss  Reformations ; 
and  it  is  well  worth  remarking  that  Luther's  judgment  of 
transubstantiation,  although  he  considered  it  to  be  a  milder 
kind  of  bondage  of  the  sacrament,  yet  agrees  in  many  parts 
with  that  hostile  criticism  which  Wiclif  had  developed 
against  it  140  years  before.*^^ 

As  to  Wiclif's  positive  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  it 
will  hardly  be  denied  either  that  it  is  thought  out  with  an 
uncommon  amount  of  acuteness,  or  that  it  does  justice  to  the 
holiness  of  the  sacrament  and  its  dignity  as  a  real  means  of 
grace.  It  consists,  to  recur  to  this  once  more,  of  a  twofold 
proposition.  The  first  proposition,  "  The  sacrament  of  the 
altar  after  consecration,  as  well  as  before,  is  true  bread  and 
true  wine,"  requires  no  further  elucidation,  especially  as  it 
has  found  recognition  in  all  the  Protestant  confessions.  The 
second  proposition,  "  The  sacrament  of  the  altar  after  conse- 
cration is  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,"  affirms  the  real 
presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  but  not  on  that 
account  a  local  and  corporeal,  but  a  sacramental  and  spiritual 
presence  of  the  same,  similarly  as  the  soul  is  present  in  every 
part  of  the  human  body.  When  it  is  affirmed  here  with 
emphasis  that  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  Supper  can  only  be 
spiritually  seen,  received,  and  enjoyed,  but  not  corporeally, 
because  it  is  only  present  spiritually,  and  when,  in  conse- 
quence, it  is  only  to  believers  that  a  real  participation  of  the 
body  oi  Christ  in  the  Supper  is  attributed,  while  to  the  un- 


DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  WICLIF  AND  LUTHER.  195 

believing,  on  the  contrary,  such  participation  is  denied,  it 
is  at  this  point  that  the  difference  of  WicHf's  eucharistic 
doctrine  and  Luther's  falls  with  the  strongest  light  upon  the 
eje.  For  it  is  certain  that  Luther,  at  least  fi-om  the  time  of 
his  controversy  with  Carlostadt,  taught  a  corporeal  receiving 
of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  and  as  connected  with  this,  a  par- 
taking of  the  body  of  Christ  on  the  part  both  of  worthy  and 
unworthy  communicants.  In  close  connection  with  the  cor- 
poreal receiving  of  Luther,  and  as  a  necessary  preliminary 
to  it,  stands  Luther's  doctrine  of  the  ubiquity  of  the  body  of 
Christ;  whereas  Wiclif  firmly  and  distinctly  maintains  the 
contrary  view,  that  the  body  of  Christ  remains  in  heaven,  and 
does  not  descend  into  every  consecrated  Host.  But  notwith- 
standing these  points  of  difference,  Wiclif's  doctrine  of  the 
Eucharist,  with  its  real  but  spiritual  presence  of  Christ's  body 
stands  nearer  to  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  Supper  than  it 
does  to  the  Zwinglian,  or  even  to  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  ; 
in  so  far,  at  all  events,  as  Wiclif  understands  an  immediate 
presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  instead  of  assuming 
only  a  communion  with  Christ's  body  and  blood  effected  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  (spiritus  sancti  virtute).  Wiclif's  doctrine  of 
the  Supper  deserves  at  least  sincere  recognition  and  high 
estimation,  on  account  of  the  harmonious  union  which  it 
exhibits  of  the  power  of  original  laborious  thought  with  the 
energy  of  a  mature  and  solid  Christian  faith.*^^ 

NOTES  TO  SECTION  XII. 

372.  Vide  Zeitschrift  fiir  Historische  Theologie,  1847,  pp.  597-636. 

373.  Tricdogus,  IV.,  c.  1,  p.  244  :  Signmn ;  sacrae  rei  signum  ;  invisibilis  gratiae 
visibilis  forma,  ut  similitudinem  gerat  et  causa  existat. 

374.  lb. :  Qiiomodo  ergo  sunt  solum  septem  sacramenta  distincta  specifice  ?  .  . 
p.  245  :  Mille  autem  sunt  talia  sensibilia  signa  in  scriptura,  quae  habeut  tantam 
rationem  sacramenti,  sicut  h-^bent  communiter  ista  septem. 


196  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

375.  Trialogus,  p.  246. 

376.  lb.,  p.  245  f.  :  Nee  didici  pictatias,  ex  quibus  adjectis  hoc  nomen  sacra- 
mentiun  limitari  debet  univoce  ad  haec  septein. 

377.  Ih.,  IV.,  11,  p.  281:  Secundum  ordinem,  quo  sacramenta  in  scriptura  sacra 
expressius  sunt  fundata.  The  diflFerence  among  the  sacraments  in  this  respect  was 
never  entirely  forgotten  even  in  the  Middle  Ages,  at  least  not  in  scientific  theology. 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  were  always  recognised  as  sacraments  of  the  first 
rank,  so  to  speak,  inasmuch,  especially,  as  they  were  instituted  personally  and 
directly  by  the  Redeemer  Himself,  a  fact  which  was  prominently  put  forward  by 
Alexander  of  Hales. 

378.  Ih.,  IV.,  c.  2,  p.  247. 

379.  Ih.,  IV.,  0.  25,  p.  333  f. 

380.  De  Civili  Dominw,  I.,  43,  MS.  1341,  fol.  120,  col.  2  :  Sacramenta  baptis- 
matis  et  ponitentiae,  cum  quibus    Deus  pepigit   realiter   conferre    gratiam,  .  .  . 

quodcunque    officium   humanitus    limitatum,   cum  quo  Deus  non  deter- 

minavit  se  conferre  gratiam. 

381.  De  Ecdesia,  c.  19,  MS.  1294,  fol.  192,  col.  1  :  Non  nego,  quin  necesse  sit, 
nos  in  vita  intendere  signis  sensibilibus,  in  quibus  stat  modo  suo  Christiana  religio, 
cum  debemus  credere,  quod  omnia  sacramenta  sensibilia,  rite  administrata  habent 
eflBcaciam  salutarem. 

382.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  12,  MS.  1294,  fol.  33,  col.  3  :  He  speaks  of 
eapaces,  communicants  to  whom  the  sacrament  is  of  profit  ;  and  in  De  Ecdesia, 
C.  19,  MS.  1294,  fol.  193,  col.  3,  he  speaks  of  the  faith  of  the  communicants,  of 
fideles,  piifideles,  to  whom  the  Lord's  Suj^per  brings  blessing,  although  the  minis- 
trant  priest  be  wicked. 

383.  The  Augsburg  Confession,  indeed,  in  Art.  8,  expressly  mentions  only 
Donatists  and  the  like  as  those  qui  negabant  licere  uti  ministerio  malorum  in 
ecclesia,  et  sentiebant  ministerium  malorum  inutile  et  inefiicax  esse.  But  the 
Apology  expresses  itself,  in  Art.  4,  p.  150,  ed.  Eecheuberg,  more  clearly  and  fully. 
It  remarks  in  the  style  of  an  authentic  interpretation  :  Satis  clare  diximus  in 
Confessione,  nos  improbare  Donatistas  et  Viglevistas,  qui  senserunt  homines  pec- 
care  accipientes  sacramenta  ab  indignis  in  ecclesia.  Even  here,  indeed,  Wiclif 
himself  is  not  named,  but  in  all  probability  the  Wiclifites  are  meant  in  the  sense 
of  including  their  Master,  not  the  reverse. 

384.  Orthunius  Gratius,  Fasciculus  Rerum  Expetend.  ac  Fugiend,  1535,  fol. 
CXXXIII.     Mansi,  Conciliorum  Nova  Collectio,  Vol.  XXVII. ,  632  f. 

385.  Wilkins,  Concilia,  III.,  157  ;  Lewis,  p.  107. 

386.  Doctrinale  Antiquitatum  Fidei  Ecclesia  Cath.,  Venet.  1571,  III.,  11  f. 

387.  The  proposition  runs  thus  in  the  Acts  of  the  Council:  Dubitare  debent 
fideles  si  moderni  haeretici  conficiunt  vel  rite  ordinant  vel  ministrant  alia  sacra- 
menta. Quia  non  est  evidentia,  quod  Christus  assistit  tali  pontifici,  propter  hoc 
quod  tam  hianter  super  illam  hostiam  sic  mentitur,  et  in  sua  conversatione  dicit 
contrarium  vitae  Chris  ti. 

388.  Trialogus,  TV.    c.  10,  p.  280  f . :  .  .  •  .  quandocunque   Christus   operatur 


I 


NOTES   TO    SECTION   XH.  197 

cum  homine,  et  solum  tunc  conficit  sacramentum,  quod  reputari  debet  de  nostria 
sacerdotibus  et  supponi. 

389.  Trialogus,  c.  12,  p.  286  :  Reputamus  .  .  .  absque  dubitatione,  quod  infantes 
rite  baptisati  flumine  sint  baptisati  tertio  baptismate  (scil.  baptismo  flaminis), 
cum  habent  gratiam  baptismalem. 

390.  De  Eccksia,  c.  19,  MS.  1294,  fol.  189,  col.  4:  Hie  videtur  mihi  indubie, 
quod  nuUus  praescitus  est  pars  vel  gerens  oflBcium  tanquam  de  s.  matre  ecclesia ; 
habet  tamen  intra  illam  ecclesiam  ad  sui  damnationem  et  ecclesiae  utilitatem  certa 
officia,  etc. 

391.  lb.,  fol.  190,  col.  3  :  Videtur  autem  mihi,  quod  praescitus,  etiam  in  mortali 
ocato  actuali,  ministrat  fidelibus,  licet  sibi  damnabiliter,  tamen  subjectis  utiliter 
sacramenta.  Wiclif  expresses  himself  to  the  same  effect,  and  quite  unmistakeably 
in  De  Verltate  s.  Scripturae,  MS.  1294,  fol.  33,  col.  3 :  Nisi  christianus  fuerit 
Christo  unitus  per  gratiam,  non  habet  Christum  salvatorem,  nee  sine  falsitate  dicit 
verba  sacramentalia,  licet  prosint  capacibus.  And  in  an  English  Tract ;  How 
preiere  (prayer)  of  good  men  helpeth  moche  (much),  he  says,  c.  4,  In  prayer,  it  is 
true,  everything  depends  upon  the  spirit  and  character  of  the  praying  man  ;  but 
the  case  is  otherwise  with  the  sacraments  and  their  administration  :  Thes  (these) 
Antichristis  sophistris  (sophisters)  schulden  knowe  well,  that  a  cursed  man  doth 
fully  the  sacramentis,  though  it  be  to  his  dampnynge,  for  they  ben  not  autouris 
(authors)  of  thes  sacramentis,  but  God  keepith  that  dignyte  to  hymself.  Select 
English  Works,  III.,  227.  In  the  work  De  Dominio  Divino,  III.,  c.  6,  Wiclif  had 
already  set  forth  the  principle  roundly  and  fully,  that  the  efficacy  of  the  means  of 
grace  upon  the  congregation  was  not  injured  by  the  moral  character  of  the  minis- 
trant  who  administered  them,  MS.  1294,  fol.  251,  col.  3  :  Et  si  praedico  appetitu 
indebito  coactus  ex  commodo  temporali,  adhuc  cum  credita  sint  mihi  ex  officio  elo- 
quia  praedicandi,  adhuc  est  officium  utile  auditori,  cum  ministcrium  sacramenti 
non  inficitur  ex  ministro. 

392  Not  so  early  as  1379 — as  Bohringer  makes  it,  Kirche  Christi,  II.,  p.  340 — 
it  was  not  till  two  years  later  that  he  first  stood  forward  against  that  dogma. 

393.  Vaughan,  in  Life  and  Opinions,  etc.,  Vol.  II.,  58,  limited  himself  to  the  re- 
mark "  Of  the  steps  which  determined  his  hostile  movements  relating  to  it,  wc  are 
only  partially  informed.  He  knew  of  nothing  further  to  say  than  that  Wiclif  was 
led  to  this  result  by  his  studies  of  Scripture." 

394.  Besponsiones  ad  argumenta  ciijusdam  cemuli  veritatis,  MS.,  3929,  c.  16, 
fol.  114,  col.  3:  Confiteor  tamen,  quod  in  haeresi  de  accidente  sine  subjecto  per 
tempus  notabine  sum  seductus. 

395.  De  Dominio  Civili,  II.,  c.  8,  MS.  1341,  fol.  179,  col.  2  :  Sacerdos  fuit  in 
coena  corpus  suum  conficiens. 

396.  76.,  I.  c.  36,  MS.  1341,  fol.  85,  col.  2:  Proportionabiliter  de  eucaristiae 

confectione et  sibi  similibus  est  dicendum  ;  sacerdos  enim  "  c<mficit  corpus 

Christi,"  i.e.,   facit   ministratorie,   quod  corpus   Christi   sit    sub  accidentibus  per 
verba  sacra. 

897.  No  doubt  the  same  dogma  is  assumed  as  often  as  we  meet  with  expressions 


198  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

such  as  Christum  conficere,  and  the  like,  e.g.,  De  Civili  Dominio,  II.,  c.  18,  MS. 
1341,  fol.  249,  col,  2:  sacerdos,  qui  debet  quotidie  praeparare  templum  Christo, 
quern  conficit. 

398.  Euangelia  de  Sanctis,  i.e.,  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XL.,  MS.  3918,  fol. 
127,  coL  1  f.  These  sermons,  and  particularly  the  sennon  in  question,  the  last  of 
the  series,  belong,  as  is  known  by  several  marks,  to  the  year  1380.  To  aid  in  the 
understanding  of  the  passage,  it  is  further  to  be  presumed  that  it  relates  to  the 
interpretation  and  sense  of  an  expression  of  Ambrose,  De  Sacramentis,  IV.,  c.  4 
(which  was  admitted  into  the  Corpus  juris  canon.  De  Consecratione,  Distinctio,  II., 
c.  55).  The  words  of  the  Father  are  these,  "Et  sic  quod  erat  panis  ante  consecra- 
tionem,  jam  corpus  Christi  est  post  consecrationem."  It  is  a  passage  which  was 
often  discussed  in  the  Middle  Age,  and  one  which  Berengar  of  Tours,  De  Sacra 
Coena,  often  occupied  himself  with.  Comp.  Vischer's  Edition  of  Berengar,  Berlin, 
1834,  p.  132  f.,  178  f.  Wiclif  calls  his  own  interpretation  of  Ambrose's  words, 
glosa  Amhrosii,  and  defends  it  against  the  charge  of  being  heretical.  In  answer 
to  which  Wiclif  takes  his  stand  upon  the  language  of  Holy  Scripture :  Et  notitiam 
istius  modi  loquendi  veUem  haereticos  illos  attendere,  qui  abjiciunt  glosam  istam 
Ambrosii  tanquam  haereticam,  quod  post  consecrationem  hostiae  non  remanet 
panis,  sed  quod  fuit  panis,  dicendum  est  esse  solummodo  corpus  Christi.  Hoc  est, 
secundum  glosam  verborum  Ambrosii  dicendum  est,  esse  solum  principaliter  corpus 
Christi.  Est  enim  modus  loquendi  scripturae,  subintelligendo  adverbium  "  sim- 
pliciter  "  exprimere  hixjusmodi  negativas.  Then  follow  the  passages,  Mark  ix.  37; 
Eph.  vi.  12;  Joh.  vi.  Nunquam  ergo  glosa  sufficiens  pro  evangelio  sufficit  et 
Ambrosio,  qui  in  mode  loquendi  fuerat  assiduus  ejus  sequax.  [In  this  sentence 
there  is  certainly  an  error  ^of  the  copyist ;  it  should  perhaps  be  read:  Numquid  .  .  .  . 
sequax  ?  or  Nonne,  etc.]  Quomodo  ergo  negandum  foret,  quod  panis  remanet  post 
consecrationem,  ex  hoc,  quod  remanet  principaliter  corpus  Christi? 

399.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  2,  Oxford,  1869,  p.  248  :  Inter  omnes  haereses,  quae 
unquam  in  ecclesia  puUularunt,  nunquam  cousidero  aliquam  plus  caUide  per 
hypocritas  introductam  et  multiplicius  populum  defraudantem  ;  nam  spoUat  popu- 
lum,  facit  ipsum  committere  idolatriam,  negat  fidem  scripturae,  et  per  consequens 
ex  infidelitate  multicipliciter  ad  iracundiam  provocat  veritatem.  Comp.  c.  5.  p.  261 : 
Antichristus  in  ista  haeresi  destruit  grammaticam,logicam  et  scientiam  naturalem ; 
sed  quod  magis  dolendum  est,  toUit  sensum  evangelii. 

lb.,  IV.,  c.  6,  p.  262 :  Istam  ....  repute  causam  lapsus  hominum  in  istam 
haeresim,  quod  discredunt  evangelio,  et  leges  papales  ac  dicta  apocrypha  plus  accep- 
tant.  Comp.  c.  7,  p.  266 :  cujus  causa  est,  quod  praelati  ....  non  sint  propter 
legem  antichristi  in  lege  Domini  studiosi.  Comp.  c.  5,  p.  261 :  Antichristus  in 
ista  haeresi  ....  quod  magis  dolendum  est,  toUit  sensum  evangelii.  Respon- 
siones  ad  argumenta  cusjusdam  aemuU  veritatis,  c.  16,  MS.,  1338,  fol.  114,  col.  3  : 
Fides  scripturae,  cum  rationes  humanae  hie  deficiunt,  est  specialiter  attend  endum 
{sic). 

401.  IK,  IV.,  0.  2,  p.  250. 

402.  lb.,  IV.,  c.  4,  p.  257.  XKIV.  Miscd.  Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS.  3928,  fol. 
130,  col.  2. 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   XII.  199 

403.  Tnalogus,  IV.,  c.  4,  p.  256,  and  more  fully,  c.  9,  p.  247  f. 

404.  Wyckett,  p.  18,  in  the  new  reprint,  Oxford,  1828. 

405.  Tb.,  p.  11  :  In  all  holy  scripture  from  the  begynnyng  of  Genesis  to  the  end 
of  the  Apocalips  there  be  no  wordes  wrytten  of  the  makyng  of  Christes  bodye,  etc. 

406.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  2,  p.  249 :  Ipsa  curia  ante  solutionem  diaboli  cum  anti- 
qua  sententia  ....  planius  concordavit  ....  et  sic  est  de  omnibus  Sanctis  doc- 
toribus,  qui  usque  ad  solutionem  Sathanae  istam  materiam  pertractarunt.  Comp. 
p.  250,  and  c.  3,  p.  254.  XXIV.  Miscel.  Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  128, 
col.  3 :  Et  ista  est  sententia  Jeronimi  in  Epistola  ad  Elvidiam,  qui  indubie  plus 
scivit  de  sensu  evangelii,  quam  omnes  sectae  modernae  noviter  introductae. 
Dialogus,  c.  15,  MS.  1387,  fol.  153,  col.  1  :  The  reader  is  reminded  of  what  wa 
remarked  above,  ofj  Wiclif 's  view  of  the  course  of  the  history  of  the  Church 
at  large,  viz.,  that  the  first  1000  years  of  that  history  was  the  miUenium  of  Christ 
since  which  date  Satan  is  loosed. 

407.  lb.,  IV.,  5,  p.  261.  Be  Eucharistia,  c.  2,  MS.  1387,  fol.  6,  col.  2: 
Novella  ecclesia  ponit  transsubstantiationem  panis  et  vini  in  corpus  Christi  et  san- 
guinem  ;  fol.  7,  col.  1 :  Ecclesia  primitiva  illud  non  posuit,  sed  ecclesia  novella, 
ut  quidam  infideliter  et  infundabiliter  sompniantes  baptisarunt  terminum,  etc. 

408.  lb.,  IV.,  4,  p.  257 :  Ideo  vel  oportet  veritatem  scripturae  suspendere,  vel 
cum  sensu  ac  judicio  humano  concedere,  quod  est  panis.  Comp.  c.  5,  p.  259  : 
Inter  omnes  sensus  extrinsecos,  quos  Deus  dat  homini,  tactus  et  gustus  sunt  in 
suis  judiciis  magis  certi ',  sed  illos  sensus  haeresis  ista  confunderet  sine  causa,  etc. 

409.  lb.,  p.  257 ;  c.  5,  p.  260 :  Mures  autem  habent  servatam  notitiam,  de  panis 
substantia  sicut  primo,  sed  istis  infidelibus  istud  deest. 

410.  Saints'  Day  Sermons  (Sermones  de  Sanctis),  No.  LIX.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  124, 
col.  1 :  Facit  miraculosa  ipsa  accidentia  per  se  esse ;  cujus  somnii  causam  ego  non 
video,  nisi  quia  deficiunt  eis  miracula  sensibilia,  ....  fingunt  false  insensibilia 
miracula,  etc.  Wiclif  repeatedly  calls  the  proposition  in  question  a  fiction,  e.g., 
Trialogus,  IV.,  3,  p.  253. 

411.  lb.,  No.  XL VII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  96,  col.  2:  Nescit  ista  generatio,  quid  sit 
sacramentum  altaris  ....  dicit  unus,  quod  est  quantitas,  et  alius,  quod  est 
qualitas,  et  tertius,  quod  est  nihil. 

412.  Trialogus,  IV.,  6,  p.  263  f.  Comp.  XXIV.  Miscel.  Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS. 
3928,  fol.  130,  col.  2 :  Et  reperi  multos  in  fide  sua  diabolica  variari,  sic  quod  vix 
duos  reperi  in  eandem  sententiam  consentire. 

413.  lb.,  IV.,  6,  p.  258  :  Deus  nee  destruit  naturam  impeccabilem  nee  confundit 
notitiam  naturaliter  nobis  datam,  nisi  subsit  major  utilitas  et  probabilitas  rationis. 

414.  lb.,  IV.,  4,  255  f. 

415.  lb.,  IV.,  6,  p.  264:  Comp.  Sermones  de  Sanctis,  No.  XII.,  MS.,  3928,  fol.  22 
col.  2 :  Sed  dicunt,  se  esse  consecratores,  accidentium,  et  virtute  suae  benedictionis 
panem  oblatum  destrui,  non  sacrari. 

416.  lb.,  IV.,  5,  p.  261 :  O  quis  posset  fratres  et  alios  apostatas  excusare,  quod 
....  nolunt  ....  populum  docere,  de  quo  ....  accipiunt  tantum  lucrum  ;  c.  6, 
p.  264  :  Praelati  praesumuut  propter  pecuniam  benedicere  a  Domino  maledictis. 


200  ~  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

417.  Trialogus,  IV.,  7,  p.  279  :  Nee  prodest  fratribus  negantibus  istam  hostiam 

adorari,  Bed  propter  assistentiam  corporis  Domini  venerari Ideo  oportet  hoB 

fratres  dicere,  quod  populus  adorans  banc  hostian  ut  Corpus  Domini  sit  idolatra  de 
lumine  fidei  desolatus.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  zealous  defenders  of  tbe'Roman 
doctrine  of  the  Supper  were  still  shy  of  committing  themselves  to  the  proper  devo- 
tion of  the  monstrance.  Two  centuries  later  the  Council  of  Trent  had  no  longer 
any  hesitation  in  claiming  for  the  sanctissimum  the  full  worship  which  is  due  to 
the  true  God.  Sessio  XIII.,  Deer,  de  ss.  Eucharistiae  Sacrameyito,  cap.  5  :  NuUus 
dubitandi  locus  relinquitur,  quin  omnes  Christi  fideles  pro  more  in  catholica  ecclesia 
semper  recepto  latriae  cultum,  qui  vero  Deo  debetur,  huic  sanctissimo  sacramento 
in  veneratione  exhibeant.  Concilii  Trid.  .  .  .  canones  et  decreta,  cura  Guil. 
Smets,  ed.  4,  Bielefeld,  1854,  p.  58. 

418.  Wyckett,  Oxford  1828,  p.  vi. :  For  where  fynde  ye,  that  ever  Christ  or  any  of 
his  disciples  or  apostels  taught  any  man  to  worshipe  it  {sc.  the  secret  boost — sacred 
host). 

419.  De  Eucharistia,  c.  1,  MS.  1387,  fol.  4,  col.  2 :  Et  forte  multi  christiani 
nomine  infidelitate  paganis  pejores;  nam  minus  malum  foret,  quod  homo  id  quod 
prime  videt  mane,  per  totum  residuum  diei  honorat  ut  Deum,  quam  regulariter 
illud  accidens,  quod  videt  in  missa  inter  manus  sacerdotis  in  hostia  consecrata,  sit 
realiter  Deus  suus.  In  his  confession  on  the  Supper  Wiclif  calls  his  opponents 
cultores  accidentium,  Lewis,  History,  328. 

420.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  4,  p.  258:  Certu  sum,  quod  idolatrae,  qui  fabricant  sibi 
Deos,  satis  noscunt,  quid  sint  in  suis  naturis,  licet  fingant,  quod  habeant  aliquid 
numinis  a  Deo  Deorum  supernaturaliter  eis  datum. 

421.  De  Blasphemia,  c.  15,  MS.  3933,  fol.  165,  col.  4:  Sic  indubie  faciunt  {i.e., 
blasphemiam  Christo  imponunt)  hodie  sacerdotes  Baal,  qui  dicunt  se  esse  acciden- 
tium factores.  Comp.  167,  col.  3  :  illud  accidens,  quod  sacerdotes  Baal  consecrant. 
Confessio,  in  Lewis,  History,  332,  and  in  Fasciculi  Zizaniorum,  ed.  Shirley,  134  : 
sacerdotes  Baal,  in  opposition  to  sacerdos  Christi. 

422.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  10,  p.  281 :  Visa  hostia  adoro  ipsam  conditionaliter,  et 
omnimode  deadoro  corpus  Domini,  quod  erst  sursum  ;  as  above,  c.  7,  p.  269  :  Et 
tamen  nos  ex  fide  scripturae  evidentius  et  .  .  .  .  devotius  adoramus  banc  hostiam 
vel  crucem  Domini  vel  alias  imagines  humanitus  fabricatas. 

423.  Ih.,  IV.,  c.  7,  p.  269 :  Certum  est,  quod  in  qualibet  creatura  est  Trinitas 
increata,  et  ilia  est  longe  perfectior,  quam  est  corpus.  The  reading  corpus  Christi 
is  evidently  a  gloss.  Confessio  in  Shirley,  Fuse.  Zizan.,  125 :  Nam  in  quacunque 
substantia  creata  est  Deltas  realius  et  substantiaUus  quam  corpus  Christi  in  hostia 
consecrata.  XXIV.  Miscel.  Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  132,  col.  2:  Ipsi 
autem  dicunt,  quod  est  (scil.  hoc  sacramentum)  accidentium  congregatio,  quorum 
quodlibet  in  natura  sua  est  infinitum  imperfectius,  quam  materialis  substantia 
signanda. 

424.  WycJcett,  ed.  Oxford,  1828,  VI.  :  And  thou  then,  that  art  an  earthely  man, 
by  what  reason  mayst  thou  saye,  that  thou  makest  thy  maker?  p.  16  :  By  what 
reason  then  saye  ye  that  be  synners,  than  ye  make  God  ? 

425.  De  Eucharistia,  c.  1,  MS.  1387,  fol.  2,  col.  2 :  Nihil  enim  horribilius,  quam 


{ 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   XII.  201 

quod  quilibet  sacerdos  celebrans  facit  vel  consecrat  quotidie  corpus  Christi.  Nam 
Deus  noster  non  est  Deus  recens.  In  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  7,  p.  268,  it  is  remarke«i, 
but  still  with  some  reserve,  that  what  is  said  in  Matt.  xxiv.  15  of  "  the  abomi- 
nation of  desolation  in  the  holy  place,"  seems  to  have  its  terminating  application 
to  the  consecrated  Host.  Whereas  in  the  English  popular  tract  called  the 
Wyckctt,  the  thought  that  transubstantiation  is  the  abomination  in  the  holy 
place  foretold  by  Daniel  xi.  31,  xii.  11,  is  the  thread  which  runs  through 
the  whole.  The  tract  takes  its  title  Wyckett  from  the  Redeemer's  language 
concerning  the  strait  gate  and  the  narrow  way  which  leadeth  unto  life  ;  for  the 
tract  sets  out  from  that  language  and  comes  back  to  it  at  its  close.  Its  sub- 
stance is  in  brief  the  following  :^"  Christ  hath  revealed  to  us  that  there  are  twc 
ways,  one  leading  to  life,  the  other  leading  to  death  ;  the  former  narrow,  th« 
latter  broad.  Let  us  therefore  pray  to  God  to  strengthen  us  by  His  grace  in  the 
spiritual  life,  that  we  may  enter  in  through  the  strait  gate,  and  that  He  would 
defend  us  in  the  hour  of  temptation.  Such  temptation  to  depart  from  God  and  fall 
into  idolatry  is  already  present,  when  men  declare  it  to  be  heresy  to  speak  the 
Word  of  God  to  the  people  in  English,  and  when  they  would  press  upon  us,  instead 
of  this,  a  false  law  and  a  false  faith,  viz. ,  the  faith  in  the  consecrated  Host.  This 
is  of  all  faiths  the  falsest."  The  latter  thesis  is  proved  by  a  series  of  reasons  which 
constitute  the  largest  part  of  the  tract.  It  closes  with  the  exhortation  to  earnest 
prayer,  that  God  may  shorten  this  evil  time,  and  close  up  the  broad  way  and  open 
up  the  narrow  way  by  means  of  holy  Scripture,  so  that  we  may  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  God's  will,  serve  Him  in  godly  fear,  and  find  the  road  to  everlasting 
bliss.  Thus  the  warning  against  the  doctrine  of  change  of  substance  in  the  Eu- 
charist forms  the  substance  of  the  whole  tract,  and  this  doctrine  is  contested 
as  "  the  abomination  of  desolation  in  the  holy  place  " — i.e.,  the  profanation  of 
the  sanctuary  by  heathenish  idolatry.  "  Truly  this  must  needs  be  the 
worst  synne,  to  say  that  ye  make  God,  and  it  is  the  abhominacion  of  dyscomforte 
that  is  fayd  in  Daniel  the  prophete  standynge  in  the  holy  place"  (p.  2,  XVI.). 
Comp.  p.  17.  This  small  tract  is  conjectured  by  Shirley  to  have  been  originally  a 
sermon  {Catalogue,  p.  33),  and  appeared  in  print  first  in  Nuremberg,  1546,  and  this 
original  edition  is  closely  followed  by  the  new  edition  prepared  by  Mr.  Panton,  a 
successor  to  WicHf  in  the  parish  of  Lutterworth,  which  appeared  in  Oxford  in  1828. 
I  am  inclined  to  believe,  however,  that  the  use  of  the  name  of  "  Nuremberg  "  was 
only  a  feint,  and  that  the  tract  may  really  have  been  printed  in  England  ;  for  the 
original  edition,  so  far  as  my  researches  go,  is  not  to  be  found  either  in  Nuremberg 
nor  in  any  other  library  of  Germany,  a  fact  which  would  be  quite  unaccountable 
if  it  had  really  proceeded  from  a  German  press.  Add  to  this  the  circumstance 
that  1546,  the  last  year  of  Henry  VIII.'s  life,  was  a  year  marked  by  many  perse- 
cutions of  Protestants  by  Protestants,  so  that  the  concealment  of  publications  and 
the  intentional  misleading  of  inqui.sitorial  search  by  the  fiction  of  foreign  printing 
places  might  well  be  thought  advisable.  These  reasons  for  thinking  that  the  tract 
may  have  been  printed  in  England  itself  find  a  strong  confirmation  in  the  whole 
style  of  the  original  edition,  the  typography  of  which,  as  Mr.  Thomas  Arnold 
has  kindly  communicated  to  me  in  answer  to  my  inquiries,  and  as  he  has  been 
assured  by  learned  bibliographers,  points  either  to  the  English  presses  of  the  16th 
century  or  to  those  of  Antwerp. 


202  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

426.  De  Eucharistia,  c.  1,  MS.  1387,  fol.  2,  col.  3  :  Sicut  laudative,  non  effective 
benedicimus  tain  Deo  quam  Domino,  sic  et  benedicimus  corpori  Christi  et  sanguini 
non  faciendo  ilium  esse  beatum  vel  sanctum,  sed  laudando  et  promulgando  sancti- 
tatem,  quam  in  corpore  suo  instituit ;  et  sic  ymmolamus  Christum,  et  ipsum  offeri- 
mus  Deo  patri. 

427.  De  Captivitate  Babylonica  Ecclesiae  Praecludium,  in  Lutheri  Opera  lat.  ad 
Ref.  Historiam  Pertinentia,  curavit  Henr.  Schmidt,  Francof.  ad  Moen.  1868,  vol. 
v.,  28  :  Prima  ergo  captivitas  hujus  sacramenti  est  quoad  ejus  substantiam  seu 
integritatem.  etc. 

428.  In  all  his  writings  from  1381  onwards  in  Latin  and  English,  learned 
and  popular,  also  in  his  sermons,  Wiclif  continually  recurs  to  this  doctrine,  which 
had  now  become  the  hinge  or  the  pole  of  all  his  thoughts,  and  he  lives  in  the  con- 
viction that  "  for  this  righteous  contention,  when  this  brief,  poor  life  is  over,  the 
Lord  in  his  mercy  will  most  bountifully  reward  him." — Tj-ial.,  c.  6,  p.  262. 

429.  Documenta  Mag.  Joannis  Bus ed.  Franciscus  Palacky,  Prag.  1867, 

p,    124,  f.,  a  letter  to  his  friends  in  Constance,  No.  78,  den  16,  Juni  1415;  and 
to  Hawlik  in  Prag,  den  21,  Juni,  No.  80. 

430.  De  Captivitate  Babylonica  Ecclesiae.  0pp.  lat.,  V.  29  :  Itaque  non  hoc  ago, 
ut  vi  rapiatur  utraque  species,  quasi  necessitate  praecepti  ad  earn  cogamur.  .... 
Tantum  hoc  volo,  ne  quis  romanam  tyrannidem  justificet,  quasi  recte  fecerit,  unam 
speciem  laicis  prohibens,  etc. 

430.  lb.,  p.  29  :  Altera  captivitas  ejusdem  sacramenti  mitior  est,  quod  ad  con- 
scientiam  spectat. 

431.  lb.,  p.  35  :  Tertia  captivitas  ejusdem  sacramenti  est  longe  impiissimus 
ille  abusus,  quo  factum  est,  ut  fere  nihil  sit  hodie  in  ecclesia  ....  magis  per- 
suasum,  ....  quam  missam  esse  opus  bonum  et  sacrificivmi.  Qui  abusus  deinde 
inundavit  infinites  alios  abusus,  etc.  This  language  becomes  still  stronger  in 
the  piece  Of  the  Abuse  of  the  Mass,  written  in  1522.  Jena.  ed.  1588,  fol.  10,  that 
the  priesthood  and  mass-offering  is  no  doubt  the  work  of  the  devil,  wherewith  he 
has  misled  and  deceived  the  world. 

432.  In  the  Confessio  Magistri  Jo.  Wiclif,  in  Lewis'  Appendix  p.  329  (comp. 
Vaughan's  Life  and  Opinions,  etc.,  II.,  432.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  Shirley,  p.  126,  f.),  seven 
witnesses  are  produced  with  their  statements,  Ignatius,  Cyprian,  Ambrose,  Augus- 
tin,  Hieronymus,  the  Roman  Church  itself  in  a  Decretal  under  Nicolaus  II.,  and  the 
Canon  of  the  Mass  as  expressive  of  the  use  of  the  Church.     The  same  citations  word 

or  word  I  find  in  Wiclif's  book,  De  Apostasia,  c.  17,  MS.  1343,  fol.  114,  col.  2. 

433.  It  is  an  apt  and  happy  thought  of  Wiclif  to  put  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  that  of  the  person  of  Christ  in  parallelism  with  each  other.  For  both 
these  articles  of  doctrine  stand,  in  point  of  fact,  in  a  near  relation  and  alliance.  On 
one  occasion  Wiclif  goes  into  this  parallel  in  a  sermon,  viz.,  the  59th  of  the  Saints' 
Day  Sermons,  MS.  3928,  fol.  123,  col.  4  :  Sicut  Christus  est  duarum  naturarum,  et 
haeretici  circa  ejus  personam  dupliciter  errarunt,  sic  est  de  materia  de  Sacra- 
mento altaris.  Quidam  autem  haeretici  posuerunt,  Christum  esse  verum  Deum 
vel  angelum,  et  non  hominem  sive  corpus,  sed  assumpsisse  corpus  fantasticum 
ad  communicandum  cum  hominibus  (Docetism).   Alii  autera  sensibilius  crediderunt. 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   XII.  203 

quod  Cliristus  fiiisset  vere  et  pure  homo,  sic  quod  non  Deus.  .  .  .  Et  proportiona- 
liter,  sed  gravius,  delirant  haereticL  .  .  .  ipsum  sacramentum  credunt  non  esse  cor- 
pus fantasticum,  sed  unum  accidens  sine  subjecto,  quod  nesciunt,  sive  nihil.  This 
is  as  much  as  to  say  that  the  theory  of  Transubstantiation  is  still  worse  than  Do- 
cetism.  In  the  English  confession  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Select  Works,  III.,  502, 
Wiclif  says  positively:  Right  so  as  the  persoun  of  Christ  is  verrey  God  and  verrey 
mon — verrey  Godhead  and  verrey  monhed — right  so — the  same  sacrament  is  verrey 
God's  body  and  verrey  bred.  Also  in  De  Apostasia,  MS.  1343,  c.  10,  fol.  73,  col.  1  : 
Wiclif  sees  this  parallel :  Undo  sicut  errant  haeretici  de  Christo,  alii  quod  est  pure 
creatura,  et  alii  quod  est  creator  et  non  creatura,  sic  est  duplex  haeresis  de  Sacra- 
mento altaris  :  ut  illi  dicunt,  quod  est  panis  et  vinum  qui  praefuit  (:=antea  fuit), 
sed  in  natura  imperfectius  quam  panis  furfureus  vel  venenum,  alii  autem  remissius 
haeretici  dicunt,  quod  hoc  sacramentum  non  est  terrena  substantia  collecta  de  terrae 
fructibus,  sed  omnino  identice  corpus  Christi.  Catholici  autem  dicunt,  quod  sicut 
Christus  est  duplex  substantia,  scilicet  deltas  et  humanitas,  et  sic  creator  et 
creatura,  sic  sacramentum  altaris  in  natura  non  abjectum  accidens,  sed  terrena 
substantia, — et  in  signatione,  figura  vel  modo  quo  aptius  vocari  potest,  est  sacra- 
mentum corporis  Christi,  ad  quem  sensum  fidelis  omnino  debet  attendere. 

434.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  7,  p.  267  :  Sic  autem  dici  potest  quod  panis  ille  sacra- 
mentahs  est  ad  ilium  modum  specialiter  corpus  Christi.  Ad  ilium  niodum,  i.e., 
in  such  a  way  that  the  bread  sets  forth  in  figure  the  body  of  Christ.  Imme- 
diately thereafter  Wiclif  remarks  that  opponents  could  have  nothing  to  object  to 
this,  in  so  far  as  they  see  that  the  sacrament  is  the  body  of  Christ,  i.e.,  sacra- 
mentally  signifies  or  figures  the  body  itself.  In  this  sense  the  WycJcett  strongly 
exjjresses  itself — "So  the  breade  is  the  fygure  or  mynde,  i.e.,  minding  or  remem- 
brance of  Christes  bodye  in  earth,"  p.  14,  ed.  Oxford. 

435.  lb.,  IV.,  c.  7,  p.  267  :  Paratus  sum  tamen,  si  ex  fide  vel  ratione  doctus 
uero,  sensum  subtiliorem  credere, 

436.  lb.,  IV.,  c.  4,  p.  255  ;  Et  sicut  virtute  verborum  fidei  scripturae  conceditur, 
quod  hoc  sacramentum  est  corpus  Christi,  et  non  solum  quod  erit  vel  figurat 
sacramentaliter  corpus  Christi,  sic  concedatur  eadem  auctoritate  simpliciter,  quod 
iste  panis,  qui  est  hoc  sacramentum,  est  veraciter  corpus  Christi, 

437.  De  Apostasia,  c.  7,  MS.  1343,  fol.  64,  col.  1  :  Si  autem  negatur,  panem 
ilium,  qui  est  sacramentum,  esse  corpus   Christi,  inciditur  in   errorem  Berengarii 

.  .  .  quod  est  contra  fidem  scripturae  et  quatuor  magnos  doctores.  Confessio,  in 
Lewis,  p.  324  :  Simul  Veritas  et  figura. 

438.  Confessio  Mag.  Joannis  Wiclif,  in  Lewis,  p.  324  (in  Vaughan,  Life  and- 
Opinions,  II.,  428,  in  Fasc.  Zizan.,  ed  Shirley,  p.  116)  :  Modus  essendi,  quo  corpus 
Christi  est  in  hostia,  est  modus  verus  et  realis.  Hence  he  appeals  to  the  church- 
hymn  which  Thomas  Aquinas  is  known  to  have  composed,  Pange  lingua  j  for  the 

words — 

"  Verbum  caro  panem  verum 
Verbo  carnem  efflcit, 
Fitque  sanguis  Christi  merum, 
Etsi  sensus  deficit " 

he  interprets  entirely  in  favour  of  his  own  view.     Be  Apostasia,  c,  3,  MS.  1443,  fol 


204  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

53,   col.  2  ;   so  also   in    XXI V.    Miscdl.    Sermons,  No,    I.,  MS.   3928,  fol.   130, 
col.  1. 

439.  Confessio,  in  Lewis,  p.  324  :  Sunt  alii  tres  modi  realiores  et  veriores,  quos 
corpus  Christi  appropriate  habet  in  colo,  scil.  modus  essendi  substantialiter,  cor- 

poraliter  et  dimensionaliter Nullo   istorum   modorum    trium    est  corpus 

Christi  in  Sacramento,  sed  in  colo. 

440.  lb.,  p.  323,  text  after  Shirley,  p.  115  f.  :  Credimus  enim,  quod  triplex 
est  modus  essendi  corporis  Christi  in  hostia  consecrata,  scilicet  virtualis,  spiritualis 
et  sacramentalis.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  8,  p.  272.  Here  the  same  thought  is 
expressed,  but  less  clearly  than  in  the  passage  of  the  Confession  just  quoted. 

441.  Luther  also  makes  use  of  the  epithet  sacramental  to  express  the  peculiar 
and,  in  its  kind,  unique  union  of  the  body  of  Christ  and  the  eucharistic  elements. 

442.  De  Apostasia,  c.  8,  MS.  1343,  fol.  65,  col.  1  :  Sic  in  translatione  ista 
supernaturali  remanet  tam  panis  quam  vini  essentia,  et  cum  sit  miraculose  corpus 
Christi  et  sanguis,  sortitur  nomen  excellentius  secundum  religionem,  quam  ex 
fide  scripturae  credimus ;  tamen  vere  et  realiter  ex  virtute  verborum  sacra- 
mentalium  fit  corpus  Christi  et  sanguis.  Quomodo  autem  hoc  fiat,  debet  fidelis 
sedulo  perscrutari.  Ego  autem  intelligo  hoc  fieri  per  viam  sacramentalis  con- 
versionis,  aut  quocunque  alio  nomine  ista  mutatio  catholice  sit  detecta. 

443.  Trialoyus,  IV.,  c.  8,  p.  272  :  Non  est  intelligendum,  corpus  Christi 
descendere  ad  hostiam  in  quacunque  ecclesia  consecratam,  sed  manet  sursum 
in  colis  stabile  et  immotum  ;  ideo  habet  esse  spirituale  in  hostia  et  non  esse 
dimensionatum  et  cetera  accidentia  quae  in  colo.  De  Eucharistia,  c.  1,  MS.  1387, 
fol.  2,  col.  1  :  Ipsum  (corpus  Christi)  est  totum  sacramentaliter  et  spiritualiter  vel 
virtualiter  ad  omnem  [sic)  punctum  hostiae  consecratae,  sicut  anima  est  in  corpore. 

444.  De  Eucharistia,  as  above  :  Et  concedimus,  quod  non  videmus  in  sacramento 
illo  corpus  Christi  oculo  corporali,  sed  oculo  mentali,  scilicet  fide.  Shortly  before 
he  cites  the  objection  brought  against  the  Christian  faith  by  its  enemies,  that 
"  the  priests  break  the  body  of  Christ,  they  break,  therefore.  His  neck  and  His 
limbs,  and  that  we  should  do  this  to  our  God  is  shocking."  To  which  Wiclif 
replies— we  break  the  holy  sign  or  the  consecrated  Host,  but  not  the  body  of  Christ, 
for  that  is  a  different  thing  :  frangimus  sacramentum  vel  hostiam  consecratam,  non 
autem  corpus  Christi,  cum  distinguuntur  ;  sicut  non  frangimus  radium  soils,  licet 
frangamus  vitrum  vel  lapidem  cristallum.  Et  haec  videtur  sententia  cantus 
ecclesiae,  quo  canitur — 

Fracto  demum  sacramento 
Ne  vacilles,  sed  memento, 
Tantum  esse  sub  fragmento. 
Quantum  toto  tegitur 

from  the  10th  Strophe  of  the  Sequenz  of  Thomas  Aquinas  :  Lauda  Sion  Salvatorem, 
of.  Daniel,     Thesaurus  Hyvmologicus,  Vol.  II.,  97  f. 

445.  Ih.,  fol.  2,  col.  4  :  Visa  hostia  debemus  credere,  quod  ipsa  non  sit  corpus 
Christi,  sed  ipsum  corpus  Christi  est  sacramentaliter  in  ipsa  absconditum. 

446.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  8,  p.  269  f. 

447.  It  rests  entirely  on  a  misunderstanding  when  the  Carthusian  prior,  Stephen 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  Xn.  205 

of  Dolan,  in  his  Medulla  Tritici  sen  Anti-WiMcffus,  Pars.  IV.,  c.  3,  vide  Fez, 
Thesaurus  Anecdotorum  Novissimus,  Vol.  IV.,  fol.  316,  expresses  the  opinion  that 
Wiclif  himself  first  broached  both  the  idea  and  the  technical  expression  of 
impanatio :  Confingis  tibi  (so  he  apostrophizes  Wiclif)  adinventionis  terminos  novo 
preversitatis  loquendi  modo  ....  impanationem  videlicit  corporis  Christi  tibi 
fabricans,  referring  to  the  words  in  Trialoyus,  IV.,  8,  p.  271.  Woodford  before 
Stephen  knew  better  than  this,  when  he  quotes  the  word  impanari  from  a  con- 
troversial treatise  against  Berengar,  written  by  Guitmund,  Bishop  of  Aversa,  and 
states  that  this  was  one  of  the  phrases  made  use  of  by  Berengar.  Vide  Wood- 
fordus  adv.  Jo.  Wiclefum,  in  Fasciculus  Rerum,  etc.,  by  Ortuinus  Gratius,  1535, 
fol.  96,  col.  2,  edition  of  Edward  Brown,  1690,  London,  fol.  192. 

448.  Sermones  de  Sanctis,  No.  LIX.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  124,  col.  2  :  Veritas  quidem 
est  et  fides  ecclesiae,  quod,  sicut  Christus  est  simul  Deus  et  homo,  sic  sacramentum 
est  simul  corpus  Christi  et  panis,  panis  naturaliter  et  corpus  sacramentaliter. 
Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  4,  p.  258  :  Hoc  sacramentum  venerabile  est  in  natura  sua  verus 
panis  et  sacramentaliter  corpus  Christi.  Confessio,  in  Lewis,  328  :  Ponimus, 
venerabile  sacramentum  altaris  esse  naturaliter  panem  et  vinum,  sed  sacramentali- 
ter corpus  Christi  et  sanguinem. 

449.  De  Apostasia,  c.  18,  MS.  1343,  fol.  116,  col.  2  :  Supponendum  est,  sacra- 
mentum altaris  esse  corpus  Christi  in  forma  panis.  Of  Fei/ned  Contempilatif  Lif, 
MS.  in  Lewis,  History,  p.  91  f.  :  The  Eucharist  is  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  form  of 
bread.  In  English  Confession  of  Wiclif,  in  Knighton's  Chronicle :  De  Eventibus 
Angliae,  ed.  Twysden,  London  1652,  Vol.  III.,  p.  2650.  We  give  the  words  ac- 
cording to  the  original  MS.  accurately  printed  in  Select  English  Works :  I  know- 
leche,  that  the  sacrament  of  the  auter  (altar)  is  verrey  Goddus  body  in  fourme  of 
brede. 

450.  De  Eucharistia,  c.  1,  MS.  1387,  fol.  3,  col.  1  :  Nota  ulterius  ad  acceptionem 
corporis  Christi,  quod  non  consistit  in  corporali  acceptione— vel  tactione  hostiae 
consecratae,  sed  in  pastione  animae  ex  fructuosa  fide. 

451.  Confessio,  in  Lewis,  325  :  Cum  ergo  fidelis  non  optaret  comedere  corporali- 
ter  sed  spiritualiter  corpus  Christi,  patet  quod  Omnisciens  aptavit  iUum  modum 
Bpiritualem  essendi  corporis  sui  cum  hostia,  quae  debet  comedi  a  fideli,  etc. 

452.  XXIV.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  128  f.  De  Eucharistia, 
c.  1,  MS.  1387,  fol.  3,  col.  1.  Confession  of  the  Sacrament,  in  Lewis,  328  ;  in  Fasc. 
Zizan.,  ed.  Shirley,  124  ;  Joh.  vi.  63,  dicit  Christus  :  Caro  non  prodest  quicquam, 
cum  nee  sumptio  corporalis,  nee  manducatio  corporalis  corporis  Domini  quicquam 
prodest.—  Wyckett,  Oxford,  1828,  p.  VII. 

453.  XXVI.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  L,  MS.  3928,  fol.  129,  col.  4:  Et 
patet,  quod,  quantum  differt  colum  a  terra,  tantum  differt  manducare  panem  sacra- 
mentalem  spiritualiter  et  manducare  ipsum  corporaliter.  Stat  enim,  suem  vel 
soricem  manducare  ipsum  carnaliter,  sed  non  possunt  manducare  sjiiritualiter,  cum 
Don  habent  fidem  vel  auimum,  quo  manducent.  In  De  Eucharistia,  c.  1,  MS.  1387, 
fol.  2,  col.  1,  Wiclif  remarks  that  as  a  lion,  when  he  devours  the  body  of  a  man, 
does  not  devour  his  soul  along  with  it,  although  it  is  everywhere  present  in  the 
body  ;  so  an  animal  can,  it  is  true,  consume  a  consecrated  Host,  but  not  the  body 
of  Christ,  in  the  sacrament. 


206  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

454.  Lewald,  indeed,  mentions  it  as  a  thought  of  which  Wiclif  is  fairly  convinced, 
that  only  the  believer  enjoys  the  body  of  the  Lord.  Zeitschrift  filr  Ristorische 
Theologie,  1846,  p.  611  f.  But  the  sentence  from  an  Easter  sermon  of  Wiclif 
quoted  in  an  essay  of  the  well  known  Hussite  JacobeU  (Jakob  von  Mies) —  Vide 
Von  der  Hardt,  Constantiense  Concilium,Y ol.  III.,  fol.  926 — is  not  sufficient  to  prove 
that  thought,  especially  when  the  comiection  in  which  the  sentence  stands  is  ob- 
served. The  sermon  from  which  Jacobell  took  the  sentence  is  the  second  of  the 
XL.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  and  stands  in  the  Vienna  MS.  3928,  fol.  225,  226. 
The  sentence  itself  occurs  in  fol.  236,  col.  2. 

455.  XXIV.  Miscellaneous  Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS.  3928,  fol,  129,  col.  1  :  Nee 
dubium,  quin  saepe  contingit  hominem  non  cibatum  sacramentaliter,  verius  man- 

ducare  hoc  corpus,  ut  patuit  de  Baptista col.  3  :  Sed  sicut  homo  propria 

non  comedit  cibum  indigestibilem,  sic  praesciti  nee  Christum  comedimt,  nee  ipse 
illos,  sed  tanquam  superflua  et  indigestibilia  mittit  foras. 

456.  Even  Cardinal  Peter  d'Ailly,  +1425,  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  assump- 
tion of  true  bread  and  wine  in  the  sacrament,  and  not  of  mere  accidentia,  would 
have  much  more  in  its  favour,  and  would  infer  fewer  superfluous  miracles,  if  only 
the  Church  had  not  decided  against  it.  Vide  Luther,  De  Captivitate  Babylonica,  p. 
20,  opp.  Lat.  ed.  Schmidt,  1868. 

457.  Be  Captiv.  Babylon,  p.  29,  30. 

458.  Calvini  Institutio  Relig.  Christ.,  FV.,  c.  17,  s.  31,  33,  in  the  last  passage, 
e.g. :  Fit  incomprehensibili  spiritus  sancti  virtute,  ut  cum  carne  et  sanguine  Christi 
communicemus. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  EVENTS  OF  THE  LAST  YEARS  OP  WICLIF'S  LH^E, 

1378-1384. 
Section  I. —  The  Papal  Schism  and  its  Effect  upon  Wiclif. 

TN  the  Fourth  Chapter  we  followed  the  personal  incidents 
of  Wiclif's  life  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  year  1378. 
In  this  year  and  the  preceding  one  the  hierarchy  had  twice 
over  attacked  him — in  1377  the  English  episcopate,  and  in 
1378  the  Roman  Com-t  itself,  under  Gregory  XI.  On  both 
occasions  Wiclif  had  personally  appeared,  but  on  both  his 
enemies  were  able  to  effect  nothing  against  him.  In  the 
one  case  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  had  stepped  in  to  his 
protection,  not  without  violence — in  the  other  the  Princess 
Regent  had  shielded  him,  while  the  citizens  of  the  capital 
had  stood  by  him  with  their  sympathies.  For  three  full 
years  from  this  time  he  remained  exempt  from  all  serious 
annoyance. 

An  event,  besides,  took  place  soon  after  Wiclif's  last 
examination,  which  seemed  likely  to  induce  on  his  part  an 
abstention  from  all  farther  opposition  to  the  Church.  On 
27th  March  1378  Pope  Gregory  XI.  died  in  Rome — a  year 
and  two  months  after  his  festive  entry  into  the  city.  On 
the  twelfth  day  after  his  death,  the  Archbishop  of  Bari, 
Bartholomaus  of  Prignano,  was  elected  Pope,  who  took 
the  name  of  Urban  VI. ;  and  the  strong  moral  earnestness 
which   marked   his   very   earliest   proceedings  produced   so 


208  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

favourable  an  impression  in  England,  and  upon  Wiclif 
especially,  that  he  indulged  the  joyful  hope  that  the  new- 
Pope  would  put  his  hand  energetically  to  the  necessary 
reform  of  the  Church.^ 

But  Wiclif's  joy  over  the  reforming  spirit  of  the  new 
Pope,  his  uplifted  and  hopeful  feeling  was  of  short  duration. 
Only  too  soon  several  of  the  cardinals  were  so  much 
disgusted  by  Urban's  well-meant  but  inconsiderate  zeal, 
and  by  his  haughty  imperious  bearing,  that  in  the  middle  of 
May  they  withdrew  to  Anagni,  where  their  opposition  to  his 
measures  became  more  and  more  determined.  Towards  the 
end  of  July  1378  the  French  cardinals  assembled  at  Anagni, 
drew  up  a  public  letter  to  Urban  VI.,  in  which  they  de- 
clared his  election  to  have  been  illegal,  because  it  had  been 
compelled  by  the  terrorism  of  the  Roman  mob,  and  called 
upon  him  to  renounce  his  pretended  Papal  dignity,  which  he 
had  usurped  contrary  to  law.^  And  when  this  attempt 
proved  futile,  as  was  to  be  expected,  and  was  answered  by 
Urban  in  a  letter  of  the  most  fanatical  and  peremptory  kind, 
which  he  addressed  to  the  cardinals  who  remained  true  to 
him,^  the  opposition  took  the  final  step  of  electing  on  20th 
September  at  Fondi,  in  the  Neapolitan  territory,  a  rival 
Pope,  in  the  person  of  the  Cardinal  Bishop  Robert  of  Cam- 
bray,  Count  of  Geneva,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement  VII. 

Both  parties  had  sued  for  the  favour  of  England,  even 
before  the  election  of  the  rival  Pope.  When  Parliament 
met  in  October  1378  in  Gloucester,  legates  appeared  from 
Urban  VI.  complaining  of  the  injustice  which  he  had  received 
at  the  hand  of  many  of  the  cardinals ;  and  commissioners 
also,  from  the  opposition  party  of  the  College  of  Cardinals, 
bringing  several  writings,  in  which  it  was  attempted  to  win 
over  to  their  side  the  English  Church.'*     These  writings,  in- 


EFFECTS   OF   THE   SCHISM.  209 

deed,  took  no  effect,  for  the  Church  of  England  continued  to 
adhere  to  Urban  VI. ;  but  ah-eady  men  had  had  a  first  taste 
of  the  fruits  of  the  commencing  schism,  which  was  to  extend 
throughout  the  whole  of  western  Christendom,  and  to  con- 
tinue for  the  next  thirty  years. 

In  earlier  centuries  the  schisms  created  in  the  Church 
by  the  election  of  rival  Popes,  had  produced  in  the  minds 
of  men  the  most  profound  impressions.  The  world's  faith 
in  the  unity  and  immutability  of  the  Church,  its  con- 
fidence in  the  sanctity  of  the  Pontiff  in  Rome,  had  been 
shaken  to  pieces.  When  men  beheld  the  vicegerents  of 
Christ  contending  with  envy  and  hate  for  power  and 
honour  and  dominion,  they  began  to  have  suspicions  that 
in  all  the  life  and  efforts  of  the  rest  of  the  clergy,  there 
was  in  like  manner  nothing  else  to  be  found  but  a  striving 
after  higher  offices  and  earthly  advantages.^ 

It  may  be  readily  understood  that  the  effects  of  a  schism 
like  that  which  had  now  broken  out,  were  more  powerfully 
felt  than  those  of  all  previous  schisms  of  the  same  kind,  in 
proportion  to  its  passionate  character  and  its  all-embracing 
extent.  How  deeply  must  a  man  of  Wiclif's  zeal  for  the 
honour  of  God  and  the  well-being  of  His  Church,  and  who 
was  so  acute  an  observer  of  all  ecclesiastical  facts,  have  been 
affected  by  the  immense  event  of  this  Papal  schism  !  High 
and  joyful  as  the  hope  had  been  which  he  felt  justified  in 
entertaining  by  the  accounts  which  came  to  hand  of  the  first 
measures  of  Urban  VI.,  his  disappointment  was  equally 
severe  when  in  the  end  Urban,  not  less  than  his  rival 
Clement  VII.,  injured  and  destroyed  the  unity  of  the 
Church  by  unbridled  passion  and  by  acts  of  w^ar.  I  find 
that  Wiclif  by  this  schism  was  carried  forward  step  by  step 
in  his  views  of  the  Papacy  at  large.  The  event  became 
VOL.  II.  0 


210  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

a  most  momentous  turning-point  in  the  internal  develop- 
ment of  Wiclif,  and  in  his  position  as  a  Reformer.  His  judg- 
ments concerning  the  Popes,  the  Papacy,  and  the  right  of 
the  Papal  primacy,  from  the  commencement  of  the  schism 
became  always  more  keen,  more  charged  with  principle,  more 
radical.  In  the  time  immediately  succeeding  the  outbreak, 
Wiclif  continued  to  recognise  Urban  as  the  rightful  Pope, 
not  only  because  his  election  had  been  regular,  and  had  been 
carried  through  with  honest  intentions,  but  also  because 
Urban  himself  was  a  man  of  truly  upright  character."  This 
latter  ground,  it  is  true,  was  of  such  a  kind  that,  under  certain 
pre-suppositions,  it  might  lead  to  the  most  opposite  results. 
And  this  was  expressed  without  disguise  by  Wiclif  himself 
(possibly  towards  the  end  of  1378)  when  he  remarked : 
"  If  ever  Urban  departs  from  the  right  way,  then  is  his  elec- 
tion a  mistaken  one ;  and  in  this  case  it  would  be  not  a  little 
for  the  good  of  the  Church  to  want  both  Popes  alike." 

The  sentiment  which  Avas  here  put  only  contingently, 
was  one  which  Wiclif  by-and-bye  accepted  definitively  as 
just  and  true,  under  the  impression  made  upon  him  by  the 
realised  results  of  the  schism.  When  he  was  compelled 
to  see  with  his  own  eyes  that  both  Popes,  in  order  to  main- 
tain their  position  against  each  other,  had  no  scruple  in 
using  all  kinds  of  weapons  and  appliances  in  the  strife ; 
that  each  put  under  the  bann  of  excommunication  not  only 
his  rival  himself,  but  all  his  supporters ;  and  that  both  par- 
ties alike,  whenever  possible,  levied  war  upon  each  other,' 
he  arrived  at  last  at  the  conviction  that  it  was  not  only 
allowable,  but  a  plain  duty,  to  separate  himself  from  both 
Popes  alike.  This  was  something  very  difierent  from  the 
neutrality  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  schism  was  observed 
by  many  lands  and  incorporate  bodies  in  western  Christen- 


WICLIF  CUTS   HIMSELF   LOOSE   FROM   THE   PAPACY.        211 

dom.  When  tlie  kingdom  of  Castile  adhered  to  its  ueutraHty 
till  May  19,  1381 ;  when  the  University  of  Paris  still  re- 
mained neutral  in  the  early  months  of  1379,*^  the  intention 
of  the  parties  was  only  to  guard  against  over-haste,  with 
the  purpose  in  the  end  of  recognising  the  Pope  who  should 
prove  to  have  been  lawfully  elected.  It  was  still  felt  that 
a  Pope  was  indispensable.  People  were  on  their  way  to 
submit  themselves  to  one  of  the  two  rival  Popes;  only, 
under  the  circumstances,  they  restrained  themselves  so  far 
as  to  reserve  their  judgment  as  to  who  was  the  true  Pontifif. 
Wiclif,  on  the  other  hand,  was  on  his  way  to  the  issue  of 
cutting  himself  loose  from  the  Papacy  itself,  both  on  moral 
and  religious  grounds,  so  strongly  was  he  repelled  by  the 
proceedings  of  both  the  rivals  alike.  Each  of  them  declared 
his  opponent  publicly,  most  solemnly,  and  in  God's  name, 
"  a  false,  pretended  Pope,"  damned  him  as  a  schismatic,  and, 
as  much  as  in  him  lay,  cut  him  off  from  the  -Church.  And 
manifestly  Wiclif's  judgment  of  them  was  this, — They  are 
both  in  the  right  (in  their  judgment  of  one  another),  i.e., 
they  are  both  without  right  (in  their  claims)  ;  they  are  both 
in  point  of  fact  false  Popes :  they  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  Church;  they  are  both,  on  the  contrary,  as  is  manifest 
from  their  doings  and  their  lives,  apostates  and  limbs  of 
the  devil,  instead  of  members  of  the  body  of  Christ.^  Not 
only  in  scientific  works  like  the  Trialogus,  or  in  lectures  in- 
tended for  the  learned,  but  even  in  sermons,  he  spoke  out 
without  reserve  against  the  violence  of  both  parties  against 
each  other.  It  was  nothing  less  than  unchristian,  and  a 
thing  before  unheard  of,  that,  by  demanding  the  death  of  the 
rival  Pope  and  his  supporters,  it  was  declared  to  be  allowable 
that  every  Christian  in  the  west  of  Eui'ope  might  put  his 
fellow-Christian  to  death;  for  every  man  held  with  one  or 


212  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

other  of  the  two  Rivals.^"  When  Urban  VI.  issued  a  Bull  in 
1383,  on  the  strength  of  which  Bishop  Spencer,  of  Norwich, 
undertook  a  crusade  to  Flanders,  the  effect  of  the  schism  in 
stirring  up  wars  was  brought  home  to  Englishmen  in  com- 
mon with  other  nations ;  and  Wiclif  raised  a  loud  protest 
against  such  proceedings  in  a  Letter  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  in  his  "  Outcry  touching  the  Crusade,"  and  in 
other  pieces.^^  But  still  worse,  in  his  view,  was  the  fact  that 
even  civil  war  was  actually  kindled,  or  at  least  threatened,  by 
the  opposing  Popes  and  their  fanatical  adherents.  Hence  the 
reference  in  one  of  his  sermons  to  the  fact  that  the  begging 
monks  of  England  were  in  communication  with  Clement  VII. 
(the  French  Pope),  and  were  favourers  of  his  party.^^  One 
circumstance  alone  in  these  melancholy  circumstances  ap- 
peared to  him  to  be  a  judgment  of  God  and  an  instance  of 
his  Providential  working  and  that  was  that  the  two  anti- 
christian  chiefs  were  striving  to  no  other  effect  than  to 
injure  each  other.  He  thought  the  best  and  wisest  course 
was  to  stand  by,  and  look  quietly  on,  and  let  the  two  halves 
of  Antichrist  destroy  each  other.^^ 

We  see  how  neutrality  between  the  two  Popes  was  con- 
verted into  a  renunciation  in  principle  of  the  Popedom  itself, 
and  ended  in  the  conviction  that  the  Papacy  is  the  Anti- 
christ, and  its  whole  institution  from  the  wicked  one.^^  From 
the  year  1381  we  find  this  judgment  repeatedly  expressed 
by  Wiclif.  The  thought  and  the  expression  gradually 
became  quite  habitual  with  him.  From  the  day  when  this 
immense  change  took  place  in  his  convictions  Wiclif's  theo- 
logical position  and  his  ecclesiastical  action  became  ever 
more  and  more  decided  and  energetic.  The  work  of  Bible 
translation,  which  he  had  already  taken  in  hand,  with  the 
help  of  some  friends,  was  now  pushed  forward  with  increased 


NOTES   TO   SECTION  I.  213 

zeal  and  emphasis,  so  that  the  English  translation  of  the 
entire  Bible  was  completed  in  all  probabiHty  in  1382.^^  It 
was  probably,  too,  in  the  years  between  1378  and  1382,  that 
the  training  and  sending  forth  of  Wiclif 's  evangelical  itinerant 
preachers  began.^''  At  the  end  of  May  1382,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  mentions,  in  a  Mandate  to  the  Bishop 
of  London,  the  operations  of  "uncalled"  travelling  preachers, 
who  were  alleged  to  be  spreading  erroneous  doctrines.  And 
a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  by  members  of  the  University  of 
Oxford  who  were  opponents  of  Wiclif — also  of  the  year  1382 
— mentions  the  great  number  of  his  adherents  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Canterbury  in  a  way  to  suggest  that  it  must  have 
been  by  the  preaching  of  his  Itinerants  that  his  reforma- 
tional  views  were  so  largely  spread  abroad.^^  If  we  are  not 
mistaken  in  this  view,  a  remark  made  incidentally  in  the 
same  document  becomes  all  the  more  interesting,  that  the 
effects  of  which  the  writers  of  the  letter  complain  had  been 
accomplished  "within  a  few  years" — a  hint  which,  in  fact, 
may  be  taken  as  a  confirmation  of  our  suggestion,  that  the 
sending  out  of  Itinerants  had  been  commenced  by  Wiclif,  in 
the  main,  since  the  year  1378.  At  all  events,  the  Itinerancy 
was  in  full  and  effective  operation  in  1380  and  following 
years,  when,  in  the  spring  of  1382,  the  Supreme  Church 
Judicatories  of  England  found  it  necessary  to  take  official 
action  against  them. 


214  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

NOTES  TO  SECTION  I. 

1.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  2,  MS.  39-29,  fol.  7,  col.  2. 

2.  The  literal  rendering  of  the  letter  in  Walsingham's  Historia  Anglicana,  ed. 
Riley,  I.,  382  f. 

3.  Comp.  Walsingham,  I.,  385  f. 

4.  n.,  I.,  380  f. 

5.  Comp.  on  the  schism  which  took  place  about  the  year  1044,  Voigt's  Hilde- 
brand,  as  Pope  Gregory  VII.,  and  his  Age,  2  ed.,  1846. 

6.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  X.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  19,  col.  1.  This  is  the  stand- 
point which  we  find  also  in  the  Trialogus.  In  two  places  there.  Book  IV.,  c.  36, 
37,  pp.  373,  377,  he  speaks  of  Clement  VII.  [Robertus  Gilbonensis),  but  on  both 
occasions  in  such  a  way  as  to  characterise  both  him  and  his  i^arty  as  heretical  and 
unchristian.  Whereas  Urban  VI.,  although  his  name  does  not  expressly  occur, 
is  assumed  to  be  the  rightful,  and  a  really  good  Pojdc. 

7.  Of  the  two  Poj)es,  Urban  VI.  was  the  first  who  threatened  to  overrun  his 
enemy  with  a  ci-usade,  which  he  did  in  a  Bull  of  29th  November  1378. 

8.  Comp.  Schwab,  Joannes  Gerson,  Wiirzburg,  1858,  p.  113  f. 

9.  This  is  the  standpoint  taken  by  Wiclif  in  one  of  the  latest  of  his  known 
writings,  viz.,  in  the  Supplement  to  the  Trialogus  ;  while  in  the  Trialogus  itself  his 
position  is  this,  that  he  looks  upon  Clement  VII.  as  an  illegitimate  and  inherently 
unworthy  Pseudo-Pope,  while  quietly,  and  by  implication,  recognising  Urban  VI. 
In  the  supplement,  on  the  contrary,  he  condemns  both  Popes  as  Antichrists,  as 
monsters  (monstra,  c.  4),  as  incarnate  devUs  (p.  425  f.)  ;  he  praises  the  Lord 
Christ,  who  is  the  Head  of  the  Church,  that  He  has  split  the  usurped  head,  the 
Pojse,  into  two,  and  he  laments  only  the  stupidity  of  the  Church  that  she  does  not 
withdraw  herself  from  botli  tliese  pretended  and  antichristian  heads,  but  rather 
regards  it  as  her  duty  to  the  faith  to  adhere  to  one  of  the  two.  The  fourth  chapter  of 
the  Trialogus,  p.  423  f.,  treats  for  the  most  part  of  this  subject  alone.  Clement  VII., 
in  Wiclif's  opinion,  may,  comparatively  speaking,  be  the  worse  Pope  of  the  two  ; 
but  it  may  be  taken  as  a  probable  truth  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  a 
real  member  of  the  Chui'ch,  for  their  walk  and  work  are  opposed  to  Christ  and 
the  apostles  ;  it  would  be  better  for  the  Church  if  she  had  no  Pope  at  all,  and 
held  singly  and  alone  to  the  Bishop  of  our  souls  in  the  triumphant  Church  above. 
In  the  9th  chap.,  p.  448  f.,  he  pronounces  both  to  be  "  manifest  Antichrists," 
and  warns  the  believers  (in  allusion  to  the  Word  of  Christ  in  Matt.  xxiv.  23 
and  26)  in  these  terms  :  "  Believe  it  not  that  one  or  either  of  them  is  a  Pope, 
and  go  not  a  crusading  to  slay  the  sons  of  the  Church,"  etc.,  and  in  the  tract 
on  the  crusade,  entitled  Cruciata,  c.  8,  he  expresses  himself  in  quite  a  similar 
way  (see  the  passage  from  it  quoted  above,  culminating  in  the  assertion,  quod 
nihil  illis  (Urljan  VI.  and  Clement  VII.)  et  ecclesae  Dei — neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  has  anything  to  do  with  the  holy  Church  of  God. 

10.  XXIV.  Miseel.  Sermons,  No.  11,  MS.  3928,  fol.  156,  coh  4. 

11.  Litcra  Missa  Archiepiscopo  Cant.,  MS.  1387,  fol.  105,  col.  2  ;  Cruciata,  in  10 
chap.,  MS.  3929,  fol.  233-239. 


WICLIF   ATTACKS   TRANSUBSTANTIATION.  215 

12.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  XIV.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  162,  col.  4.  The  dependence  of 
Pope  Clement  VII.  upon  the  supj^ort  of  the  French  Crown  converted,  in  fact,  the 
Papal  schism  into  a  national  question  for  England. 

13.  De  Quataor  Sectis  Novellis,  MS.  3929,  fol.  225,  col.  3  :  Benedictus  Deus,  qui 

.  .   .  divisit  caput  serpentis,  movens  unam  partem  ad  aliam  conterendam 

Consilium  ergo  sanum  videtur  permittere  has  duas  partes  Antichrist!  semet  ipsas 
destruere. 

14.  Comp.  above,  cap.  8. 

15.  Comp.  above,  cap.  7. 

16.  Comp.  above,  cap.  6. 

17.  The  passage  runs  thus  :  Doctor  quidam  novellus  dictus  Joh.  WyclifF, 
non  electus  sed  infectus  agricola  vitis  Christi,  jam  intra  paucos  annos  pulcherrimum 
agrum  vestrae  Cantuariensis  provinciae  tot  variis  seminavit  zizaniis,  totque  pesti- 
feris  plantavit  erroribus,  tot  denique  suae  sectae  procreavit  haeredes,  quod,  sicut 
probabiliter  credimus,  absque  mordacibus  sarculis  et  censuris  asperrimis  explantari 
vix  i^oterunt  aut  evelli.  Wilkins,  Concilia  Magnae  Britanniae,  1737,  Vol.  III., 
fol.  171. 

Section  II. —  WicUfs  Attack  upon  the  Doctrine  of 
Transubstantiation. 
Such  action  of  the  hierarchy  seemed  to  be  all  the  more 
necessary  because  Wiclif  had  recently  begun  to  attack  even 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  This  was  the  effect,  on  the  one 
hand,  of  the  Scripture  principle  which  he  had  arrived  at  long- 
before,  by  the  power  of  which  his  criticism  gained  the  re- 
quisite internal  freedom ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  shall 
scarcely  err  if  we  recognise  in  it,  at  the  same  time,  the  effect 
of  the  great  Papal  schism,  inasmuch  as  this  allowed  him 
the  necessary  freedom  of  external  action.  Wiclif  for  a  long 
time  devoted  his  ardent  attention  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Lord's  Supper;  and  at  length,  in  the  year  1379  or  1380  at 
the  earliest,  he  arrived  at  the  result  that  the  doctrine  of 
Transubstantiation  is  unscriptural,  groundless,  and  erroneous. 
As  soon  as  he  had  formed  this  conviction  he  gave  expression 
to  it  without  reserve,  as  well  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  hearing  of 
the  people,  as  in  the  chair,  before  the  learned  world.  In  the 
summer  of  1381  he  published  twelve  short  theses  upon  the 


216  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Lord's  Supper  and   against    Transubstantiation,    which   he 
undertook  to  defend  against  the  world. 
These  theses  were  the  following : —  ^^ 

1.  The  consecrated  Host  which  we  see  on  the  altar  is 
neither  Christ  nor  any  part  of  Him,  but  the  efficacious  sign 
of  Him. 

2.  No  pilgrim  upon  earth  is  able  to  see  Christ  in  the 
consecrated  Host  with  the  bodily  eye,  but  by  faith. 

3.  Formerly  the  faith  of  the  Roman  Church  was  expressed  in 
the  Confession  of  Berengarius — viz.,  that  the  bread  and  wine 
which  continue  after  the  benediction  are  the  consecrated  Host. 

4.  The  Lord's  Supper,  in  virtue  of  the  sacramental  words, 
contains  both  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ,  truly  and 
really,  at  every  point. 

5.  Transubstantiation,  Identification,  and  Impanation — 
terms  made  use  of  by  those  who  have  given  names  to  the 
signs  employed  in  the  Lord's  Supper — cannot  be  shown  to 
have  any  foundation  in  the  Word  of  God. 

6.  It  is  contrary  to  the  opinions  of  the  saints  to  assert 
that  in  the  true  Host  there  is  an  accident  without  a  subject. 

7.  The  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  is  in  its  own  nature 
bread  and  wine,  having,  by  virtue  of  the  sacramental  words, 
the  true  body  and  blood  of  Christ  at  every  point  of  it. 

8.  The  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  is  in  a  figure  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  into  which  the  bread  and  wine  are  tran- 
substantiated, of  which  latter  the  nature  remains  the  same 
after  consecration,  although  in  the  contemplation  of  believers 
it  is  thrown  into  the  background, 

9.  That  an  "  accident "  can  exist  without  a  subject  is  what 
cannot  be  proved  to  be  well  grounded  ;  but  if  this  is  so,  God  is 
annihilated,  and  every  article  of  the  Christian  faith  perishes. 

10.  Every  person  or  sect  is  heretical  in  the  extreme  which 


SENSATION  PRODUCED   BY  WICLIF'S   THESES.  217 

obstinately  maintains  that  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  is 
bread  of  a  kind  per  se — of  an  infinitely  lower  and  more 
imperfect  kind  even  than  horses'  bread. 

11.  Whosoever  sliall  obstinately  maintain  that  the  said 
sacrament  is  "  an  accident,"  a  quality,  a  quantity,  or  an 
aggregate  of  these  things,  falls  into  the  before-said  heresy. 

12.  Wheaten  bread,  in  which  alone  it  is  lawful  to  con- 
secrate, is  in  its  nature  infinitely  more  perfect  than  bread  of 
bean  flour  or  of  bran,  and  both  of  these  are  in  their  nature 
more  perfect  than  "an  accident." 

These  theses,  containing  a  bold  attack  upon  a  doctrine  of 
such  immense  importance  in  the  Roman  system  as  tran- 
substantiation,  made  a  prodigious  sensation  in  Oxford.  In 
conservative  and  hierarchical  circles  in  the  university,  the 
language  made  use  of  was  that  the  orthodox  faith  of  the 
Church  was  assailed ;  that  devout  feeling  among  the  people 
was  impaired ;  and  that  the  honour  of  the  university  would 
suffer  if  such  new  doctrines  were  allowed  to  be  held  forth  in 
it.^"  The  Chancellor  of  the  University  at  the  time — William 
of  Berton — took  side  with  those  who  disapproved  of  Wiclif 's 
proceeding.  He  called  together  a  number  of  doctors  of 
theology  and  laws,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  from  them  a 
judgment  concerning  the  theses  which  Wiclif  had  published, 
and  also  touching  the  procedure  which  should  be  taken  by 
the  University  in  case  of  need.  Two  of  these  trusted 
counsellors  were  doctors  of  laws  ;  among  the  ten  doctors  of 
theology  there  were  only  two  who  did  not  belong  to  the 
monastic  orders ;  the  rest  were  for  the  most  part  mem- 
bers of  the  mendicant  orders,  viz.,  three  Dominicans,  of 
the  Franciscan,  Augustinian,  and  Carmelite  orders  one 
each,  and  of  the  endowed  orders  ou§  Benedictiii§  and  one 


218  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

Cistercian.  It  is  a  fact  full  of  significance  for  the  social 
relations  of  the  University  at  that  time,  that  the  majority 
of  these  doctors  were  monks,  and  that  exactly  the  half  of 
these  monks  were  mendicant  friars.  The  result  of  their 
deliberations  was  an  unanimous  advice  that  a  decree  should 
be  issued  pronouncing  the  substance  of  the  theses  to  be 
erroneous  and  heretical,  and  prohibiting  them  from  being 
publicly  taught.  The  Chancellor  accordingly  drew  up  a 
mandate,  in  which,  without  expressly  naming  Wiclif,  he 
declared  two  theses  set  down  in  the  mandate  (containing 
pretty  nearly  the  substance  of  the  twelve  theses  given 
above)^^  to  be  plainly  contradictory  to  the  orthodox  doctrine 
of  the  Church,  and  further  prohibited  the  said  two  theses  to 
be  publicly  set  forth  and  defended  in  the  university,  on  pain 
of  suspension  from  every  function  of  teaching,  of  the  greater 
excommunication,  and  of  imprisonment ;  prohibiting  also,  on 
pain  of  the  greater  excommunication,  all  members  of  the 
university  from  being  present  at  the  public  delivery  of 
those  theses  in  the  university .^^ 

i  This  order  was  immediately  published.  The  beautiful 
Augustinian  Monastery  in  Oxford  contained  several  apart- 
ments which  were  used  as  lecture-rooms,^^  When  the 
officers  of  the  university  entered  one  of  these  to  read  the 
mandate  of  the  Chancellor,  Wiclif  himself  was  seated  in  the 
chair  and  speaking  on  this  very  subject  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  official  condemnation  of  his  doctrine  came  upon  him 
as  a  sudden  surprise ;  and  yet  it  is  related  of  him  that 
he  immediately  uttered  the  declaration,  that  neither  the 
Chancellor  nor  any  of  his  colleagues  had  the  power  to  alter , 
his  convictions.^*  Later  on,  Wiclif,  according  to  the  same 
informant,  appealed  from  the  Chancellor  and  his  advisers, 
but  not,  as  might  be  supposed,  to  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in 


wiclif's  '^'confession"  and  "wicket."  219 

whose  name  the  Chancellor  exercised  a  certain  ecclesiastical 
authority  over  the  university ;  still  less  to  the  Pope ;  but 
to  the  King,  Richard  II.  He  was  under  the  necessity,  how- 
ever, of  abstaining  from  all  oral  disquisitions  upon  the  Lord's 
Supper  in  the  University,  from  that  time  forward.  But  as 
he  was  still  left  at  liberty  to  defend  his  convictions  in  a 
literary  form,  he  published  a  large  Confession  on  the  subject 
in  Latin,-^  and  also  a  popular  tract  in  English  entitled  The 
Wicket.  Not  only  in  these,  but  in  other  writings,  great  and 
small,  learned  and  popular,  he  continued  to  prosecute  the 
treatment  of  this  subject,  collaterally  at  least  with  other 
themes ;  for  after  the  year  1382  scarcely  a  single  work  of 
Wiclif  appeared  in  which  he  did  not  recur,  and  sometimes 
in  more  places  than  one,  to  this  weighty  point  of  doctrine. 

NOTES  TO  SECTION  II. 

19-  Vide  the  original  text  under  the  title  Conclusiones  J.  Wiclefi  de  Sacramento 
altaris,  printed  from  a  MS.  in  the  Bodleian,  in  Lewis,  History,  etc.,  ed.  1820,  p. 
318  f. ;  in  Vaughan  (from  Lewis),  Life  and  Opinions,  2  ed.,  XL  425;  John  de 
Wycliffe,  p.  560  f.  ;  Fasc.  Zizan.,  Shirley,  p.  105  f. 

Conclusiones  Wycclyff  de  Sacramento  Altaris. 

(1.)  Hostia  consecrata  quam  videmus  in  altari  nee  est  Christus  nee  aliqua  sui 
pars,  sed  efficax  ejus  signum. 

(2.)  NuUus  viator  sufficit  oculo  corporali  sed  fide,  Christum  videre  in  hostia 
consecrata. 

(3. )  Olim  fuit  fides  ecclesiae  Eomanae  in  prof essione  Berengarii,  quod  panis  et 
vinum  quae  remanent  post  benedictionem,  sunt  hostia  consecrata. 

(4.)  Eucharistia  habet,  virtute  verborum  sacramentalium,  tam  corpus  quam 
sanguinem  Christi,  vere  et  realiter,  ad  quemlibet  ejus  punctum. 

(5.)  Transubstantiatio,  identificatio,  et  impanatio  quibus  utuntur  baptistae 
signorum  in  materia  de  Eucharistia,  non  sunt  fundabiles  in  Scriptura. 

(6.)  Repugnat  sanctorum  sententiis  asserere  quod  sit  accidens  sine  subjecto  in 
hostia  veritatis. 

(7.)  Sacramentum  Eucharistiae  est  in  natura  sua  panis  et  vinum,  habens,  virtute 
verborum  sacramentalium,  verum  corpus  et  sanguinem  Christi,  ad  quemlibet  ejus 
punctum. 

(8.)  Sacramentum  Eucharistiae  est  in  figura  corj^us  Claristi  et  sanguis,  in  quae 
transubstantiatur  panis  et  vinum,  cujus  remanet  post  consecratiouem  aliquitas, 
licet  quoad  considerationem  fidelium  sit  sopita. 


220  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

(9.)  Quod  accidens  sit  sine  subjecto  non  est  fundabile  ;  sed  si  sic,  Deus  annihi- 
latur  et  perit  quilibet  articulus  fidei  Christianae. 

(10.)  Quaecunque  persona  vel  secta  est  nimis  haeretica  quae  pertinaciter  defen- 
derit  quod  sacramentum  altaris  est  panis  per  se  existens  in  natura  infinitum  abjec- 
tior  ac  imperfectior  pane  equino. 

(11.)  Quicunque  pertinaciter  defenderit  quod  dictum  sacramentum  sit  accidens, 
qualitas,  quantitas,  aut  earum  aggregatio,  incidit  in  haeresin  supradictam. 

(12.)  Panis  triticius,  in  quo  solum  licet  conficere  est  in  natura  infinitum  perfec- 
tior  pane  fabino  vel  ratonis,  qvxorum  uterque  in  natura  est  perfectior  accidente. 

That  only  a  single  MS.  of  the  Co7icliisiones  is  known  to  exist  is  the  more  to  be 
regretted,  that  in  more  than  one  place  there  is  strong  reason  to  suspect  that  the 
readings  are  eiToneoiis,  e.g.,  it  can  scarcely  be  believed  that  Thesis  8  is  correctly 
given,  for  as  in  Thesis  5  the  idea  of  transuhstantiatio  is  rejected  as  unbiblical,  it  is 
impossible  to  see  how  this  idea  can  again  be  made  use  of  in  Thesis  8 — Corpus 
Christi  et  sanguis,  in  quae  transubstantiatur  panis  aut  vinum.  In  Thesis  12  also, 
the  phrase  infinitum  perfectior,  may  have  arisen  from  the  infinitum  ahjectior  of 
Thesis  10,  for  in  the  connection  where  it  stands,  it  is  unsuitable  and  out  of  place. 

20.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  Shirley,  p.  109  f. 

21.  Prime,  in  Sacramento  altaris  substantiam  panis  materialis  et  vini,  quae 
prius  fuerunt  ante  consecrationem,  post  consecrationem  realiter  remanere.  Secundo, 
.  ...  in  illo  venerabili  sacramento  non  esse  corpus  Christi  et  sanguinem  essenti- 
aliter  nee  substantialiter  nee  etiam  corporaliter,  sed  figurative  seu  tropice  ;  sic 
quod  Christus  non  sit  ibi  veraciter  in  sua  propria  persona  corporali. 

22.  Wilkins,  Concilia  Magnae  Brit.,  Vol.  III.,  170  f.  Lewis,  Appendix,  No. 
20,  p.  319  f.  Vaughan,  Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  Appendix,  No.  III.,  p.  425  f. 
Fasciculi  Zizaniorum,  ed  Shirley,  1858,  p.  110  f. 

23.  Dugdale,  Monasticum  Anglicanum,  London  1830,  Vol.  VIII.,  fol.  1596. 

24.  This  statement  from  an  enemy's  pen  is  found  at  the  end  of  the  document 
which  contains  the  mandate  itself.  But  when  Vaughan  (Monograph,  p.  247)  re- 
presents the  matter  as  though  the  Chancellor  had  been  present  in  person,  and  Wiclif 
had  appealed  from  him  face  to  face,  this  representation  does  not  agree  with  the 
original  account. 

25.  Confessio  Magistri  Johannis  Wycclyff,  in  Lewis,  No.  21,  p.  323-332  ;  in 
Vaughan,  Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  p.  428-433.  Monograph,  p.  564-570.  Fasciculi 
Zizan.,  ed.  Shirley,  p.  115-132. 

Section  III. —  The  Peasants  Revolt  in  1381. 

The  measures  taken  by  the  Chancellor  of  Oxford  to  prevent 
the  sanction  of  the  University  from  being  given  to  Wiclif's 
doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  were  followed  in  the  next  year  \ 
by  official  action  on  the  part  of  the  heads  of  the  Church.     This ; 
procedure  was,  however,  partly  due  to  a  political  event  which 


THE  INSURRECTION  OF  THE  PEASANTRY.  221 

took  place  in  the  year  1381,  namely,  the  great  insurrection  of 
the  peasantry  in  England.  The  adversaries  of  Wiclif 
brought  this  peasants'  war  into  connection  with  his  person, 
doctrine,  and  party,  and  charged  him  with  being  the  intel- 
lectual author  and  proper  ringleader  of  the  revolt.  In  so 
doing  they  rested  chiefly  upon  a  confession  which  John  Ball, 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  peasants,  was  alleged  to  have  made 
before  his  execution,  and  from  which  it  appeared  to  come  out 
that  Wiclif  was  the  chief  author  of  the  insurrection.^^  It  is 
worth  the  pains  to  go  into  this  subject  with  some  care,  in 
order  to  inquire  whether  the  event  can  with  any  truth  and 
right  be  set  down  to  Wiclif 's  account. 

The  fact  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  insurrection  of  1381  was 
occasioned  by  the  growing  pressure  of  taxation,  by  the  new 
poll-tax  in  particular,  and  by  the  provoking  severity  which  was 
used  in  the  collection  of  these  taxes.  To  this  was  added  the 
strong  desire  and  determination  of  the  peasants,  who  were 
still  in  a  state  of  serfdom,  to  obtain  a  like  emancipation 
to  what  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  had  already  for  a  long 
time  enjoyed.  Acts  of  resistance  to  insolent  and  vexatious 
tax-collectors  fell  like  so  many  sparks  upon  the  heaped-up 
combustibles,  and  kindled  the  flames  of  a  social  revolution  of 
a  mixed  democratic  and  socialistic  character.  The  outbreak 
seems  to  have  taken  place  almost  simultaneously  both  south 
and  north  of  the  Thames,  in  the  counties  of  Kent  and  Essex. 
A  baker  at  Fobbing,  in  Essex,  was  bold  enough  to  resist  the 
collector,  and  in  Dartford  a  tile-burner  murdered  the  insolent 
tax-officer  with  one  of  his  tools.  The  first  weak  efforts  of 
the  authorities  to  put  a  stop  to  such  deeds  of  violence  were 
not  sufficient  to  strike  terror,  but  only  excited  the  rioters  to 
still  more  outrageous  measures.  On  30th  May,  when  one  of 
the  King's  judges  and  a  jury  were  assembled  to  try  some  of 


222  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

the  Essex  insurgents,  a  mob  ruslied  "upon  the  jurymen,  cut 
oiF  their  heads,  and  marched  with  these  through  the  county. 
At  the  same  moment  the  revolters  in  Kent  collected  in  a 
mob  under  Wat  Tyler  (Walter,  the  tyle -maker),  and  broke 
open  the  Archbishop's  prison  to  release  John  Ball,  the  priest, 
who  thereupon  became,  along  with  another  priest,  who  called 
himself  Jack  Straw,  the  leader,  agitator,  and  mob-orator  of 
the  movement. 

The  rebel  mobs  of  Essex  and  Kent  united  their  masses 
and  marched  upon  London  in  the  beginning  of  June  with 
a  strength,  it  is  alleged,  of  100,000  men.  The  neighbour- 
ing counties  were  infected  by  the  movement,  and  every- 
where mobs  of  rebels  wasted  the  houses  and  lands  of  the 
nobles,  burnt  all  deeds  and  documents,  and  put  to  death  all 
judges,  lawyers,  and  jurymen,  upon  whom  they  could  lay 
hands.  Every  man  was  compelled  to  join  himself  to  the 
peasants  to  assist  in  obtaining  freedom,  as  they  understood 
it.  The  existing  laws  should  be  upturned,  a  new  set  of  laws 
must  be  introduced;  they  would  hear  of  no  other  taxes  in  future 
save  ih.e  fifteenths,  which  had  been  paid  by  their  fathers  and 
forefathers.  The  Avorst  outbreaks  took  place  in  London  itself 
and  its  suburbs  on  Corpus  Christi,  13th  June,  and  the  follow- 
ing days.  The  mobs  of  peasantry,  strengthened  by  the  city 
populace,  reduced  to  ashes  the  magnificent  palace  of  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster  in  the  Savoy,  and  destroyed  all  the  valu- 
ables which  it  contained.  On  Friday,  14th  June,  they  seized 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Simon  Sudbury,  who  waS  also 
chancellor  of  the  kingdom,  along  with  several  other  high 
officers  of  state,  all  of  whom  they  condemned  as  alleged 
traitors  to  lose  their  heads  on  the  block ;  and  while  these 
and  other  scenes  of  blood  were  enacted  in  London,  the 
neighbouring  counties  were  overrun,  and  numerous  houses 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  REVOLT.  223 

of  the  nobles  and  many  rich  religious  foundations,  including 
St.  Alban's,  destroyed. 

The  young  King,  Richard  II.,  only  fifteen  years  old,  with 
his  ministers  and  the  whole  council,  could  command  neither 
courage  nor  strength  enough  to  make  a  stand  against  the 
storm  until  on  Saturday,  15th  June,  the  undaunted  Mayor 
of  London,  John  M^alworth  of  Smithfield,  boldly  laid  hold 
upon  Wat  Tyler  at  the  moment  when  he  was  approaching 
the  King  with  an  insolent  air,  and  sent  him  off  to  prison ; 
whereupon  some  knights  of  the  king's  train  set  upon  him 
and  put  him  to  death.  From  this  moment  both  soldiers  and 
citizens  regained  their  courage,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
nobles  and  armed  bm-ghers  were  able  to  crush  the  disorderly 
masses  of  the  insurgents,  to  put  down  the  revolt,  and  to 
re-establish  quiet  and  good  order  in  the  land.  The  liber- 
ties which  had  been  wrung  from  the  King  by  the  rebels 
were  recalled  on  30th  June  and  2nd  July,  and  not  only  the 
leaders  themselves,  but  hundreds  also  of  their  misguided 
followers  were  apprehended,  and  after  trial  and  sentence, 
punished  with  death.^'' 

We  can  readily  understand  how  Wiclif's  adversaries 
pointed  to  these  events  with  a  certain  malicious  satisfaction, 
and  gave  out  that  these  were  the  fruits  of  his  destructive 
opposition  to  the  doctrines  and  institutions  of  the  Church, 
and  especially  of  the  itinerant  preachers,  his  adherents,  who 
went  about  everywhere  stirring  up  the  people.  But  this  was 
an  accusation  which  was  utterly  groundless.  We  lay  no 
special  stress  upon  the  fact  that  Wiclif  himself,  in  one  of  his 
writings  still  remaining  in  manuscript,  expresses  the  most 
deep  felt  disapprobation  of  the  peasant  war,  with  its  rough 
deeds  of  violence  and  its  cruel  excesses.^^  For  it  might  be 
replied  that  this  proves  nothing.     Wiclif  s  opposition  to  the 


224  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

Church  might  have  had  its  influence  upon  the  peasantry, 
and  yet  it  might  be  reasonably  expected  that  he  would 
utterly  disapprove  of  the  cruelties  of  the  rebels. 

His  adversaries  appealed,  at  least  at  a  later  time,  to  certain 
confessions  which  John  Ball  was  said  to  have  laid  before  his 
judges.  How  does  the  case  stand  with  this  confession  ?  In 
the  absence  of  the  official  records  of  the  trial  themselves,  we 
are  pointed  chiefly  to  a  document  which  was  drawn  up  at 
least  forty  years  later  ;^^  and  this  document  bears  that  after 
the  suppression  of  the  revolt,  when  John  Ball  was  con- 
demned at  St.  Albans,  by  the  chief  judge,  Robert  Tresilian, 
to  be  hanged  and  quartered,  he  sent  for  William  Courtnay, 
Bishop  of  London,  Sir  Walter  Lee,  knight,  and  the  notary, 
John  Profet,  and  in  presence  of  these  gentlemen  made  the 
confession  that  he  was  for  two  years  a  hearer  of  Wiclif, 
and  had  learned  from  him  the  false  doctrines  which  he  had 
preached,  especially  on  the  subject  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  itinerant  preachers  of  Wiclif's  school,  he  said,  had  bound 
themselves  to  go  over  all  England  with  the  preaching  of 
his  doctrines  till  they  filled  the  land.  He  had  also  given 
the  name  of  Wiclif  as  the  chief  mover  in  all  this  affair,  and  in 
the  second  line  the  names  of  Nicolas  Hereford,  John  Aston, 
and  Lawrence  Bedeman. 

But  these  allegations  are  in  part  destitute  of  the 
importance  which  is  attributed  to  them,  and  in  part 
they  are  suspicious  on  other  grounds.  For  example, 
the  statement  of  Ball  that  he  was  for  two  years  a 
hearer  of  Wiclif  may  be  perfectly  true,  but  what  follows 
from  that?  What  a  multitude  of  hearers  and  disciples  may 
AViclif  have  had  in  the  crowded  University  of  Oxford  since 
the  time  he  began  as  a  doctor  of  theology  to  deliver  lec- 
tures ;  and  certainly  all  these  did  not  become  his  followers 


JOHN   BALL.  225 

in  the  sense  of  having  formed  his  school,  and  so  that  their 
opinions  and  actions  couki  with  reason  and  justice  be  put 
to  his  account  as  the  head  of  the  schooL  Add  to  this,  that 
in  view  of  the  notorious  hostihty  of  Bishop  Courtnay  against 
Wicnf,  tlie  supposition  lies  all  too  close  at  hand,  and  can 
hardly  be  called  a  groundless  suspicion,  that  the  prisoner, 
who  was  already  under  sentence  of  death,  was  here  induced 
to  say  something  which  he  knew  that  high  dignitary  of  the 
Church  would  be  glad  to  hear.  There  is  an  appearance,  iu 
particular,  as  if  the  mention  of  Wiclif 's  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  had  been  made  not  without  a  leading  question 
of  the  Bishop.  But  such  an  allusion  to  the  Lord's  Snpper 
was  utterly  out  of  place  here — for  it  was  not  till  the 
early  part  of  1381  that  Wiclif,  as  we  know,  began  to  attack 
the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation ;  and  at  that  date  John 
Ball  was  already  in  the  prison  of  the  Archbishop,  from 
which  the  rebel  peasants  released  him.  It  is  therefore  un- 
thinkable that  the  latter  should  have  learned  the  heresy 
touching  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  from  Wiclif,  and  had 
openly  preached  it. 

The  chronicler  Walsingham  mentions  that  John  Ball  had 
preached  for  twenty  years  and  more  in  different  places, 
in  a  style  which  showed  that  his  aim  was  to  gain  popular 
favour ;  for  he  was  wont  to  rail  against  the  lords  both 
spiritual  and  temporal.  Nobody,  he  preached,  need  pay 
tithes  to  the  parish  priest,  unless  the  payer  was  better  off 
than  the  priest ;  and  every  man  is  at  liberty  to  withhold 
tithes  and  gifts  from  the  Popish  priests  when  the  parishioner 
lives  a  better  moral  life  than  the  priest  himself,  etc.'^"  This 
statement  of  the  annaHst  of  St.  Albans  is  confirmed  by  an 
official  document.  As  early  as  the  year  13G6  Simon  Lang- 
ham,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  issued  a  mandate  against 
VOL.  II.  -      P 


226  LIFE  OF  WICLIP. 

the  "pretended  priest,"  John  Ball,  who  was  "  preaching  many- 
errors  and  scandals."     The  clergy  should  forbid  the  members 
of  their  flocks    from    attending    his    preachings,    and    Ball 
himself  would  have  to  answer  for  his  proceedings  before  the 
Archbishop.^^     Now,  before  the  year  1366,  Wiclif  had  not  yet 
in  any  way  become  the  object  of  public  attention.     It  is 
besides   to   be   noticed   that   when   in   this    same  year  the 
Archbishop  had  occasion,  from  the  rumours  which  reached 
his  ears,  to  take  proceedings  against  Ball,  the  latter  had 
been  carrying  on  his  practices  for  a  considerable  time  pre- 
viously ;  and  thus  we  are  carried  back  to  the  year  1360  or 
thereabouts,  and  therefore  to  the  same  period  to  which  Wal- 
singham   refers.     But    the    further    back  we    go    with   the 
date   at   which   that  exciting   mob-preacher  first  began  to 
attract  notice,  the  less  does  his  mode  of  thought  admit  of 
being  referred  to  the  influence  of  Wiclif  ^^      All  the  more 
worthy  of  attention  is  the  vieAv  taken  by  another  contem- 
porary and    historian,    that    John    Ball,   instead   of  being 
Wiclif's    scholar,    was    rather    his    precursor.^^       From   all 
which  it  follows  that  the  personality  of  this  man,  and  his 
statements  before  his  execution,  are  by  no  means  of  avail 
to  prove  that  Wiclif  was  the  proper  author  and  instigator 
of  the  English  peasant  war  of  1381. 

On  the  contrary,  several  facts  go  to  disprove  the  existence 
of  any  such  connection.  There  is  first  of  all  the  declared 
hostility  of  the  insurgent  peasants  and  their  leaders  to  Duke 
John  of  Lancaster — a  fact  which  is  quite  irreconcileable  with  I 
the  supposition  that  Wiclif,  whose  high  patron  this  prince 
was  acknowledged  to  be,  stood  in  any  connection  even  of  a 
mediate  and  remote  kind  with  that  movement.  The  insur- 
gents took  an  oath  from  every  one  who  joined  them  to 
recognise  no  one  as  king  who  bore  the   name   of  John — 


WICLIF   UNCONNECTED   WITH   THE   POPULAR   RISING.        227 

which  could  refer  to  nobody  else  but  Duke  John  of  Lan- 
caster.^* They  suspected  him  of  ambitious  designs,  and 
believed  him  capable  of  nothing  less  than  high  treason.  It 
was  for  that  reason  that  on  14th  June  1381  they  gave  to  the 
flames  the  Duke's  palace  in  the  Savoy,  destroyed  all  the 
valuables  they  found  there,  and  put  the  prince  to  death  in 
effigy,  by  placing  a  valuable  doublet  of  his  upon  a  lance, 
and  shooting  at  it  with  arrows.^^  But  not  content  with  this, 
they  had  designs  against  his  person  and  the  whole  of  his 
possessions.  Before  the  outbreak  of  the  insurrection  he 
happened  to  be  engaged  in  negotiations  on  the  Scottish 
Border,  and  he  remained  in  Scotland  after  the  treaty  of 
peace  was  concluded,  as  long  as  the  storm  lasted.^^  In  the 
meanwhile  two  strong  leaders  of  insurgent  peasants  marched 
to  the  north,  destroyed  the  castles  belonging  to  the  Duke  at 
Leicester  and  Tutbury,  with  everything  they  found  in  them, 
and  lay  in  wait  for  some  time,  though  to  no  purpose,  for  his 
return  to  the  kingdom.  All  these  incidents  prove  so  deep  an 
embitterment  against  the  man  who  for  years  had  been  the 
declared  protector  of  Wiclif,  that  the  leaders  of  the  move- 
ment could  not  possibly  have  belonged  to  Wiclif's  party. 

A  second  fact  must  not  be  overlooked,  that  the  movement 
of  the  serf-peasants  and  their  leaders  was  directed  against 
the  privileged  classes  of  the  kingdom  and  all  landed  pro- 
prietors, as  well  as  against  all  laws,  rights,  and  legal  docu- 
ments favourable  to  these  classes  of  the  population.  It  was  for 
this  reason  that  they  searched  everywhere  for  papers,  bonds, 
and  deeds,  in  order  to  destroy  them,  and  to  create  a  new  law 
of  property  upon  the  footing  and  basis  of  absolute  freedom 
and  equality,  The  storm  broke  forth  upon  the  clergy  and 
the  rich  church  foundations  and  cloisters,  not  because  they 
were    spiritual    and    ecclesiastical    bodies,    but   solely    and 


228  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

entirely  because  they  belonged  to  the  land-holding  and 
privileged  classes.  This  is  another  feature  of  the  English 
peasant  revolt  which  bears  direct  testimony  against  its 
having  anything  to  do  with  Wiclif  and  his  tendencies.  For 
his  contention  from  the  first  was  against  the  Papacy  and  the 
hierarchy;  and  upon  this  ground  that  these  latter  allowed 
themselves  in  encroachments  upon  the  rights  of  the  State 
and  the  country,  and  were  guilty  of  violations  of  their 
religious  and  ecclesiastical  duties ;  whereas  the  rights  of 
the  State,  and  also  the  position  and  dignity  of  the  temporal 
lords,  were  at  all  times  warmly  supported  by  him,  and 
defended  to  the  utmost  of  his  power.  He  would  have  been 
fully  entitled  to  say  to  the  sowers  of  sedition,  and  the  demo- 
cratic clamourer  for  equality,  "You  are  men  of  a  different 
spirit  from  us." 

A  third  fact  is  the  partiality  ol  the  insurgent  peasantry  for 
the  Begging  Friars.  Ill  as  things  went  with  the  great 
abbeys  and  richly-endowed  foundations,  the  excited  mobs 
dealt  quite  as  indulgently  M'ith  the  cloisters  of  the  Domini- 
cans, the  Franciscans,  and  the  rest  of  the  Mendicant  Orders. 
They  evidently  looked  upon  the  monks  of  these  Orders  as 
people  like  themselves,  with  whom  they  had  a  certain  com- 
munity of  interests,  because  they,  too,  were  of  poor  and] 
humble  condition.  This  sympathy  with  the  begging  Orders 
was  openly  expressed  in  the  confession  of  one  of  the  most  ■ 
prominent  leaders  of  the  movement,  Jack  Straw,  who,  next 
to  Wat  Tyler,  was  the  greatest  man  among  tliem.^^  When 
he  lay  in  prison  under  sentence  of  death,  on  being  required 
by  his  judge,  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  to  make  a  sincere 
confession  respecting  the  designs  which  his  party  had  con- 
templated, he  made  the  following  among  other  statements  : 
"  We  would  have  ended  by  taking  the  life  of  the  King,  and 


COULD  HAVE  NO  SYMPATHY  WITH  THE  MOVEMENT.        229 

by  exterminating  out  of  the  earth  all  land-holders,  bishops, 
landed  monks,  endowed  canons,  and  parish  priests.  Only 
the  Begging  Friars  would  have  remained  in  the  land,  and 
these  would  have  been  sufficient  to  keep  up  divine  service 
throughout  the  whole  country."  ^^  This  preference  of  the 
peasantry  for  the  Mendicant  Orders  is  another  thing 
which  speaks  decidedly  against  the  view  that  Wiclif  may 
have  been  the  intellectual  author  of  the  insurrection.  It  is 
now  ascertained,  indeed,  that  Wiclif  was  not,  from  the 
first,  an  adversary  of  the  Begging  monks,  as  has  hitherto 
been  supposed ;  but  that  it  was  only  after  the  controversy 
arose  on  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  that  an  antagon- 
ism rapidly  developed  itself  between  him  and  these  Orders. 
But  notwithstanding  this  fact,  the  high  appreciation  of 
the  pastoral  ofiice  which  Wiclif  always  preserved,  and  his 
long-continued  efforts  to  raise  the  tone  of  the  preacher's 
function,  make  it  impossible  to  suppose  that  a  revolutionary 
movement,  which  menaced  the  pastor's  office  and  would  have 
substituted  the  Begging  Orders  in  its  room,  was  in  any  way 
originated  or  occasioned  by  Wiclif.^^  The  preference  for  these 
Orders,  which  marked  the  movement,  had  by  no  means  a 
religious  ground,  but  rested  on  a  purely  social  and  secular 
basis — the  poverty  which  was  common  to  both  parties.  The 
remark  of  an  able  theologian  receives  confirmation,  upon  a 
closer,  examination  of  the  English  peasant-war,  viz. — that 
the  peasant-wars  before  the  Reformation  were  essentially 
difierent  in  character  from  those  which  came  after  it.  In  the 
former,  the  feeling  which  lay  at  the  bottom  was  the  purely 
human  feeling  of  hatred  against  unjust  oppression.  In  the 
latter,  there  was  present  at  the  same  time  a  powerful 
religious  sentiment — the  faith  that  men  were  fighting  in  the 
interest  of  pure  Christianity.  ^'^ 


230  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  III. 

26.  Thomae  Walsingharn  IFistoria  Anglicana,ed.'Ril(iy,  Vol.  III.,  p.  32.  Fasci- 
culi Zizaniorum,  ed.  Shirley,  p.  273  f. 

27.  Vaughan,  John  de  Wyclife,  a  Monograph,  p.  252  f.  Pauli,  Geschichte  von 
England,  V.,  p.  522  f.     Walsinghain,  Klstoria  Anglicana,  ed.  Riley,  Vol.  I.,  453  f. 

28.  De  Blasphemia,  without  doubt  written  ia  1382,  c.  13,  MS.  3933,  fol.  158, 
col.  4  :  Patet  nobis  Anglicis  de  isto  lamentabili  couflictu,  quo  archiepiscopus  prior 

(Simon  Sudbury)   et  multi  alii  crudeliter  sunt  occisi Temporales  possunt 

aufferre  temporalia  ab  ecclesia  delinquente,  quod  foret  tolerabilius,  quani  quod 
rurales  aufferant  vitam  carnalem  a  capitali  praeposito  ecclesiae  delinquente  .... 
et  haec  videtur  nimis  crudelis  punitio.  In  the  popular  tract  Of  Servantis  and 
Lordis  how  echo  shall  Jcepe  his  degree,  the  poor  priests  and  the  itinerants  are  de- 
fended against  a  charge  of  disseminating  a  spirit  of  anarchy  and  disobedience. 
Vide  Lewis,  History,  etc.,  p.  224  f. 

29.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  Shirley,  p.  273  f.  It  was  plainly  the  author's  design  to  in- 
corporate with  his  work,  word  for  word,  the  protocol  of  the  answers  of  Ball  as  it 
lay  before  him,  but  the  protocol  itself  is  unfortunately  no  longer  extant. 

30.  Walsingham,  Historia  Anglicana,  ed.  Riley,  II.,  j).  32. 

31.  Wilkins,  Concilia  Magnae  Britanniae,  III.,  64  f.  Unfortunately  this 
mandate  does  not  contain  the  slightest  indication  of  the  nature  of  the  doctrines 
which  Ball  set  forth. 

32.  This  was  rightly  apprehended  by  Lewis,  who  remarked  (History  of  John 
Wiclif,  p.  223,  note  a)  that  in  all  probability  Ball  was  an  older  man  than  Wiclif, 

at  least  not  young  enough  to  have  been  a  scholar  of  his. 

33.  Henricus  de  Knighton,  Chronica  de  Eventihus  Angliae,  in  Historiae  Ang. 
Scriptores,  ed.  Twysden,  fol.  2644  :  Hie  habuit  praecursorem  Jo.  Balle,  etc.,  fol, 
2656  :  Hie  magister  J.  Wiclyf  in  suo  adventu  habuit  Johannem  Balle  suae  pesti- 
ferae  inventionis  praemeditatorem,  etc. 

34.  Walsingham,  Hist.  Anglicana,  ed.  Riley,  Vol.  I.,  454  f. 

35.  /&.,  457. 

36.  Ih.,  Vol.  II.,  41  f. 

37.  Walsingham,  Hist.  Angl.,  ed.  Riley,  II.,  9  :  qui  fuit,  post  Walterum  Tylere, 
maximus  inter  illos. 

38.  lb.,  p.  10  :  Postremo  regem  occidissemus,  et  cunctos  possessionatos,  episco- 
pos,  monachos  (the  landed  monks  of  the  older  orders),  canonicos,  rectores  insuper 
ecclesiarum  de  terra  delevissemus.  SoU  Mendicantes  vixissent  super  terram,  qui 
suffecissent  pro  sacris  celebrandis  aut  conferendis  universae  terrae. 

39.  Comp.  Pauli,  Geschichte  von  England,  IV.,  p.  547.  Westminster  Review  1854, 
VI.,  p.  170  :  "If  there  was  any  underhand  agency  at  work,  it  seems  more  probable 
that  the  heads  of  the  Mendicants  were  the  movers."  Of  very  great  interest  in 
connection  with  this  subject  is  a  document  printed  in  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  292.  It  is 
a  letter  addressed  to  Duke  John  of  Lancaster  by  the  heads  of  all  the  Mendicant 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   III..  231 

monasteries  of  Oxford,  in  which  they  pray  the  Duke  to  vindicate  and  protect  them 
against  injurious  suspicions.  The  blame  of  the  Peasants'  Revolt  is  charged  upon 
them  and  their  Order,  first,  because  they  are  alleged  to  suck  out  the  substance  of 
the  land  by  their  mendicancy,  and  this  impoverishment  of  the  people  is  one  cause 
of  the  insurrection ;  secondly,  because  the  begging  of  the  monks  has  set  a  bad 
example,  and  the  serfs  and  peasants  have  been  moved  by  it  to  desert  their  work  and 
indulge  in  idleness,  issuing  at  last  in  rebellion  ;  and  thirdly,  because  the  well-known 
influence  of  the  Begging  Friars  upon  the  larger  part  of  the  nobles  as  well  as  the 
people,  has  led  to  the  present  state  of  excitement  and  irritation.  The  man  who,  more 
than  any  other,  has  spread  such  odious  charges  against  these  Orders  is  the  doctor  of 
theology,  Nicolaus  of  Hereford.  The  letter  is  dated  18th  February  1381,  but  this 
must  mean  1382,  for  the  revolt  itself  did  not  take  place  till  May  of  1381. 

40.  Hausser's   Geschichte  des  Zeitalters  der   Reformation,  Berlin  1868,  p.  107. 


Section  IV. — Preparations  for  Persecution  on  the  part  both  of 
the  Church  and  the  State. 

Although  it  could  not  without  injustice  be  maintained  that 
Wichf  had  had  anything  to  do,  even  in  an  indirect  way,  with 
the  outbreak  of  the  peasants'  revolt,  his  enemies,  notwith- 
standing, eagerly  seized  this  opportunity  of  blackening  his 
character  and  of  representing  his  opposition  to  certain  doc- 
trines and  institutions  of  the  Church  of  his  time  as  the  source 
of  the  social  revolution  which  had  filled  everybody  with 
terror.*^  It  was  an  evil  omen  for  Wiclif  that  just  at  that 
time  the  man  who,  perhaps  more  than  any  other,  had  a 
leaning  to  this  view,  rose  to  the  highest  dignity  in  the 
English  Church. 

On  that  dreadful  Corpus  Christi  day,  13th  June  1381, 
when  the  insurgent  hordes  of  the  peasantry  perpetrated 
in  London  the  worst  misdeeds,  they  beheaded  in  the 
Tower  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Simon  Sudbury.  He 
was  a  man  of  sense  and  mild  character.  In  the  following 
October  William  Courtnay,  Bishop  of  London,  was  elected 
his  successor.  He  was  the  fourth  son  of  the  Earl  of  Devon- 
shire, and  was  related  in  blood  to  several   of  the  highest 


232  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

families  in  the  realm.  On  the  mother's  side  he  was  de- 
scended of  the  blood-royal — a  great-grandson  of  Edward  I.*^ 
In  spirit  he  "was  a  genuine  hierarch  —  a  zealot  for  the 
Papacy,  and  an  energetic  domineering  churchman,  and 
had  already,  in  the  year  1377,  as  we  have  seen  —  when 
Bishop  of  London — set  on  foot  an  inquiry  against  Wiclif. 
This  "  pillar  of  the  Church,"  as  his  admirers  called  him,  was 
now  Primate  of  all  England.  As  Wiclif,  in  the  meantime, 
had  proceeded  further  and  further  in  his  ecclesiastical  oppo- 
sition, and  not  only  in  preaching,  writing,  and  academic 
action,  but  also  by  means  of  the  Itinerant  Preachers'  Insti- 
tute, had  prosecuted  his  Reformational  efforts  far  and  wide 
throughout  the  country,  the  new  Archbishop  deemed  it  to  be 
his  imperative  duty,  without  delay,  and  in  the  use  of  all 
available  means,  to  adopt  measures  with  the  view  of  break- 
ing down  the  increased  power  of  the  opposition  party,  and 
putting  an  effectual  stop  to  their  attempts. 

His  plan  of  operations  was  evidently  the  fruit  of  cool 
and  mature  deliberation,  so  as  to  make  his  victory  and 
success  all  the  more  infalhble.  The  order  of  procedure 
was  to  be  this :  that,  in  the  first  instance,  the  doctrines 
and  principles  of  Wichf  and  his  adherents  should  be  con- 
demned by  ecclesiastical  authority ;  and  then,  in  the  second 
instance,  the  persons  who  professed  these  doctrines  should 
be  attacked  and  compelled  to  recant,  or  else,  in  the  event 
of  obstinacy,  should  be  persecuted  and  struck  down  without 
mercy.  First  deal  with  the  subject  and  then  with  the  per- 
sons. That  was  the  idea ;  and  so  men  made  sure  to  gain 
their  end.  The  Archbishop  designate  was  able  to  think  over 
his  future  proceedings  all  the  more  deliberately  that,  after 
his  appointment,  he  abstained,  on  principle,  from  all  official 
action  as  Primate  till  he  received  the  pallium  from  Rome ; 


ARCHBISHOP  COURTNAY.  233 

and  this  was  not  the  case  till  6tli  May  1382 — a  full  half  year 
after  his  nomination  by  the  Crown. 

But  now  all  the  more  rapidly  he  proceeded  to  action. 
The  first  measure  was  aimed,  as  before  arranged,  against  the 
doctrines,  and  here  no  hindrance  could  stand  in  the  way,  for 
in  the  sphere  of  doctrine  the  ecclesiastical  power  could  act 
with  a  free  hand.  The  Archbishop  summoned  an  assembly 
of  ecclesiastical  notables  for  ]  7tli  May  1382  in  London.  This 
assembly  consisted  of  ten  bishops,  sixteen  doctors  of 
laws,  thirty  doctors  of  theology,  and  four  bachelors  of 
laws.*^  The  Archbishop  had  selected  at  his  own  pleasure 
the  men  whom  he  could  trust,  to  examine  and  decide  the 
questions  which  he  intended  to  lay  before  them — all  men, 
of  course,  of  acknowledged  Eoman  orthodoxy  and  papistical 
views/*  The  sessions  took  place  in  the  hall  of  the  Dominican 
Monastery  in  Blackfriars.'*'^  During  the  sittings  of  the  assem- 
bly, it  happened  that  a  terrific  earthquake  shook  the  city, 
and  filled  every  one  with  consternation.  The  event  made 
so  deep  an  impression  upon  some  members  of  the  assembly 
that  they  looked  upon  it  as  an  evil  omen,  and  advised  that 
the  design  of  the  meeting  should  be  given  up.  But  Arch- 
bishop Courtnay  was  not  the  man  to  be  so  easily  shaken 
in  his  purjDOse.  He  declared  that  the  earthquake  was  rather 
to  be  regarded  as  a  good  and  encouraging  omen,  and  he 
knew  how  to  calm  again  the  minds  of  the  assembly.*"  He 
represented  to  the  Churchmen  that  the  earthquake  was  an 
emblem  of  the  purification  of  the  kingdom  from  erroneous 
doctrines.  As  in  the  interior  of  the  earth,  there  are  en- 
closed foul  airs  and  winds  which  break  out  in  earthquakes, 
so  that  the  earth  is  purged  of  them,  though  not  without 
great  violence,  even  so  there  have  been  many  heresies 
hitherto  shut  up  in  the  hearts  of  the  unbelieving,  but  by 


234  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

the  condemnation  thereof,  the  kingdom  has  been  purged — 
though  not  without  trouble  and  great  agitation.*''  Wiclif 
himself  speaks  of  the  earthquake  as  a  judgment  of  God  upon 
the  proceedings  of  the  assembly,  which  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  calling  the  "  Earthquake  Council ;  "  or  at  other  times,  as  a 
gigantic  outcry  of  the  earth  against  the  ungodly  doings 
of  men — like  the  earthquake  at  the  passion  of  the  Son  of 
God.*« 

Of  the  transactions  of  the  assembly  we  have  no  re- 
cords. We  only  know  the  conclusions  which  it  arrived  at, 
and  these  only  from  the  Mandates  of  the  Archbishop,  in 
which  he  published  them  for  the  information  and  use  of  the 
Church.  These  Mandates  contain  in  an  appendix  twenty- 
four  Articles,  Avhich  had  been  in  part  publicly  set  forth  in  the 
University  of  Oxford,  and  in  part  spread  abroad  by  itinerant 
preachers  in  the  country.  The  judgment  passed  upon  these 
Articles,  after  deliberation  with  the  Council,  was  to  the 
effect  that  they  were  in  part  heretical,  and  in  part 
erroneous.  The  first  ten  which  were  pronounced  heretical, 
were  the  following  : — 

1.  That  the  substance  of  material  bread  and  wine  doth 
remain  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  after  consecration. 

2.  That  the  "accidents"  do  not  remain  without  the  "sub- 
ject" in  the  same  sacrament  after  consecration. 

3.  That  Christ  is  not  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  identi- 
cally, truly  and  really  in  His  proper  corporeal  person. 

4.  That  if  a  bishop  or  a  priest  be  in  mortal  sin,  he  doth 
not  ordain,  consecrate,  nor  baptize. 

5.  That  if  a  man  be  duly  contrite,  all  exterior  confession 
is  to  him  superfluous  and  invalid. 

6.  That  God  ought  to  obey  the  devil. 


ARTICLES  HERETICAL   AND   ERRONEOUS.  235 

7.  That  it  hath  no  foundation  in  the  Gospel  that  Christ 
did  ordain  the  Mass. 

8.  That  if  the  Pope  be  a  reprobate  and  an  evil  man,  and 
consequently  a  member  of  the  devil,  he  hath  no  power  over 
the  faitliful  of  Christ  given  to  him  by  any,  unless  peradven- 
ture  it  be  given  him  by  the  Emperor. 

9.  That  after  Urban  VI.  none  other  is  to  be  received  for 
Pope,  but  that  Christendom  ought  to  live  after  the  maaner 
of  the  Greeks,  under  its  own  laws. 

10.  That  it  is  against  the  sacred  Scripture  that  ecclesias- 
tical persons  should  have  any  temporal  possessions. 


The  following  fourteen  articles  were  condemned  as  errone- 


ous 


11.  That  no  prelate  ought  to  excommunicate  any  man 
except  he  first  know  him  to  be  excommunicated  of 
God. 

12.  That  he  who  doth  so  excommunicate  is  thereby  him- 
self either  a  heretic  or  excommunicated. 

13.  That  a  prelate  or  bishop  excommunicating  a  cleric 
who  hath  appealed  to  the  king  or  the  council  of  the  realm, 
in  so  doing  is  a  traitor  to  the  king  and  the  realm. 

14.  That  they  who  leave  off  to  preach  or  hear  the  Word 
of  God  or  the  Gospel  preached,  for  fear  of  such  excommuni- 
cation, are  already  excommunicate,  and  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment shall  be  counted  traitors  to  God. 

15.  That  it  is  lawful  for  any  deacon  or  presbyter  to  preach 
the  Word  of  God  without  the  authority  or  licence  of  the 
Apostolic  See,  or  of  a  Catholic  bishop,  or  of  any  other  recog- 
nised authority. 

16.  That  a  man  is  no  civil  lord,  nor  bishop,  nor  prelate,  as 
long  as  he  is  in  mortal  sin. 


236  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

17.  Also,  that  temporal  lords  may  at  will  take  away  their 
temporal  goods  from  chm-ches  habitually  delinquent. 

18.  That  tithes  are  pure  alms,  and  that  j)arishoners,  may, 
for  the  offences  of  their  curates,  detain  them  and  bestow 
them  on  others  at  pleasure ;  and  that  tenants  {populares) 
may  correct  delinquent  landlords  (dominos)  at  wUl. 

19.  Also,  that  special  prayers,  applied  to  any  one  person 
by  prelates  or  religious  men,  do  no  more  profit  the  same 
person  than  general  prayers  would,  caeteris  jyaribus,  profit 
him. 

20.  That  whosoever  doth  give  any  alms  unto  friars,  or  to 
any  friar  that  preacheth,  is  excommunicate ;  as  also  is  he 
that  taketh. 

21.  Moreover,  in  that  any  man  doth  enter  into  any  pri- 
vate religion  whatsoever,  he  is  thereby  made  more  unapt 
and  unable  to  observe  the  commandments  of  God. 

22.  That  holy  men  who  have  instituted  any  private  re- 
ligions whatsoever  (as  well  of  seculars  having  possessions 
as  of  begging  friars  who  have  none),  in  so  instituting,  did 
err. 

23.  That  religious  men  living  in  private  religions  are  not 
of  the  Christian  religion. 

24.  That  friars  are  bound  to  get  their  living  by  the  labour 
of  their  hands,  and  not  by  begging. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  first  ten  articles — condemned 
as  heretical — began  with  three  Theses  relating  to  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

It  is  manifest  that  Wiclif's  criticism  of  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation  had  excited  the  greatest  attention.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Sacraments  in  general,  however,  forms  the 
point  of  union  in  which  all  the   theses  of   the  first   class 


THE   CONDEMNED   ARTICLES.  237 

meet,  for  the  oth  thesis  relates  to  confession,  and  the 
4th,  with  8-10,  to  the  sacrament  of  Holy  Orders.  The  7th 
thesis — Deus  debet  obedtre  Diabolo — did  not  perhaps  proceed 
from  a  dishonest  use  of  logical  inference  on  the  part  of 
opponents,  or  from  a  fanatical  misapprehension  of  Wiclif's 
meaning ;  it  was  rather  a  thesis  of  his  own,  set  forth  indeed 
in  a  paradoxical  form,  but  bearing  the  sense  that  God  has 
permitted  evil  to  exist  in  the  world,  and  must  therefore  have 
regard  to  its  existence  in  his  government  of  the  world,  or 
must  shape  his  action  accordingly,  for  even  Christ  submitted 
Himself  to  temptation  by  the  devil.^° 

The  theses  of  the  second  class,  which  are  only  censured  as 
erroneous,  have  all  their  places  in  the  sphere  of  the  external 
order  of  the  Church.  For  to  that  heading  belong  the  ques- 
tions touching  excommunication  (11-14),  the  office  of  teach- 
ing, and  the  right  to  preach  (14,  15),  tithes  and  Church 
property  (17,  18),  monastic  orders  and  cloister-Hfe  (20-24), 
as  well  as  touching  prayers  offered  by  prelates  and  monks 
for  particular  persons  (19).  The  16th  thesis  is  related  to 
the  4th  and  8th  in  the  first  class.  The  17th  thesis,  in  mani- 
fest allusion  to  the  event  of  the  preceding  year,  viz.,  the 
revolt  of  the  serf-peasants,  contains  a  hint,  which  could 
scarcely  be  misunderstood,  that  the  frightful  violences  and 
cruelties  of  the  rebels  had  a  connection  with  the  inflam- 
matory doctrines  of  the  itinerant  preachers.''*^ 

In  the  mandates  issued  by  the  Archbishop  on  the  basis  of 
the  conclusions  of  the  Council,  neither  Wiclif  nor  any  other 
of  his  friends  and  adherents  were  mentioned  by  name — 
neither  in  the  mandate  to  Peter  Stokes,  the  Carmelite 
doctor  of  Theology  in  Oxford,  the  Primate's  commissary 
there,  nor  in  that  sent  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  to  be  by 
him  communicated  to  all  the  suffragan  bishops  of  the  Pro- 


238  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

vince  of  Canterbury.  The  mandates  bore  that  "  men  without 
authority,  children  of  perdition,  have  usurped  the  office  of 
preachers,  and  have  preached,  sometimes  in  churches  and 
sometimes  in  other  places,  doctrines  heretical  and  unchurchly 
— yea,  and  undermining  the  peace  of  the  kingdom.  To 
stem  the  evil  and  to  hinder  its  spread,  the  Archbishop  had 
called  into  his  counsels,  with  the  consent  and  advice  of 
several  bishops,  men  of  experience  and  ripe  ecclesiastical 
learning,  by  whom  the  theses  laid  before  them  were  maturely 
weighed  and  examined,  and  who  had  concluded  that  they 
were  in  part  heretical,  and  in  part,  at  least,  erroneous  and 
unecclesiastical.  So  far  the  two  mandates  are  identical. 
But  at  this  point  they  separate ;  and  first  the  Archbishop's 
commissary  in  Oxford  is  directed  to  publish  the  prohibition 
that,  from  that  day  forth,  no  man  shall  be  permitted  to  set 
forth  in  lectures,  or  to  preach  or  defend  in  the  University,  the 
errors  now  censured,  and  no  man  suffered  to  listen  to,  or  in  any 
way  to  favour  the  setting  forth  of  the  same ;  but  every  man, 
the  contrary,  must  flee  from  and  avoid  every  upholder  of 
these  doctrines,  under  pain  of  the  greater  excommunication. 
This  mandate  was  dated  May  28,  1382,  from  Oxford.  Two 
days  later  was  dated  the  mandate  of  the  Primate  to  the 
Bishop  of  London.^2  j^  enjoins  the  Bishop,  upon  his  obedi- 
ence, to  communicate  to  all  his  brother  bishops  in  the  Pro- 
vince the  Archbishop's  injunction  that  every  bishop  shall 
publish  three  times  over  in  his  own  cathedral  and  the  other 
churches  of  his  diocese,  an  intimation  and  prohibition  to  the 
effect  that,  on  pain  of  the  greater  excommunication,  which 
every  bishop  has  to  pronounce  in  case  of  need,  no  one  in 
future  shall  preach,  or  teach,  or  hold  the  condemned  theses, 
or  listen  or  show  favour  to  any  man  who  preaches  them.^^ 
In   order   to   give   greater    publicity   to   the   conclusions 


THE   NEXT   STEP.  239 

arrived  at,  and  to  engage  the  sympathy  of  the  people  upon 
their  side,  an  extraordinary  Act  was  appointed.  On  Friday 
of  Whitsunday  week — 20th  May,  a  solemn  procession  passed 
through  the  streets  of  London,  including  clergy  and  laity, 
all  arranged  according  to  their  several  orders  and  conditions, 
and  all  barefoot,  for  it  was  meant  to  be  an  Act  of  penitence. 
It  concluded  with  a  sermon  against  the  condemned  doctrines, 
preached  by  the  Carmelite,  John  Cunningham,  a  doctor  of 
theology ;  who  finished  by  reading  in  the  pulpit  the  mandate 
of  the  primate  whereby  the  twenty-four  theses  were  con- 
demned, and  all  men  were  threatened  with  the  bann  who 
should  in  future  adhere  to  these  tenets,  or  listen  to  them 
when  set  forth  or  preached  by  others.''* 

The  first  step  was  thus  taken,  and  now  it  remained  to 
carry  it  out  to  practical  effect.  But  the  second  step  was 
not  so  easy  to  take  as  the  first.  What  had  to  be  done  was, 
to  bow  under  the  yoke  of  the  judgment  which  had  been 
pronounced  on  the  new  doctrines  the  persons  who  were 
attached  to  these  doctrines — that  is  to  say,  to  bring  them  to 
a  recantation — to  crush  those  who  should  prove  refractory, 
and  to  annihilate  the  existence  of  the  party.  But  these 
Avere  aims  which  could  not  be  carried  through  with  the  use 
of  purely  Church  resources.  The  help  of  the  State  was 
required.  The  new  Archbishop  attempted  to  draw  the 
latter  into  the  business,  and  to  make  sure  of  its  support  for 
the  end  he  had  in  view. 

In  the  Parliament  which  met  in  May  1382,  the  Archbishop 
moved  to  obtain  its  consent  that  orders  should  issue  from 
the  Chancellor  of  the  kingdom  to  the  sheriffs  and  other 
royal  officers  to  put  in  prison  such  preachers,  as  also  their 
patrons  and  followers,  as  a  bishop  or  prelate  should  indicate 
to   them   by   name  in  this  behalf.      He  represented  to  the 


240  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

House  of  Lords  that  it  was  a  well-known  fact  that  different 
ill-disposed  persons  were  going  through  the  realm,  from 
county  to  county  and  from  town  to  town,  in  a  well-known 
dress ;  and  under  the  aspect  of  great  holiness,  were  preach- 
ing from  day  to  day,  without  authority  from  the  proper 
ordinary  or  credentials  from  any  other  quarter,  not  only  in 
churches  and  churchyards,  but  also  in  market-places  and 
other  public  thoroughfares,  where  much  people  are  wont 
to  resort.  Their  sermons  were  full  of  heresies  and  manifest 
errors,  to  the  great  injury  of  the  faith  and  the  Church,  and  to 
the  great  spiritual  peril  of  the  people  and  of  the  whole 
realm.  These  men  preach  also  things  of  a  calumnious 
kind  in  order  to  sow  strife  and  division  between  different 
classes,  both  spiritual  and  secular,  and  they  influence  the 
minds  of  the  people  to  the  great  danger  of  the  whole 
kingdom.  If  these  preachers  are  summoned  by  the  bishops 
for  examination,  they  pay  no  regard  to  their  commands,  do 
not  trouble  themselves  in  the  least  about  their  admonitions 
and  the  censures  of  the  holy  Church,  but  rather  testify  their 
undisguised  contempt  for  them.  They  know,  besides,  how 
to  draw  the  people  by  their  fine  words  to  listen  to  their 
sermons,  and  they  hold  them  fast  in  their  errors  with  a 
strong  hand,  and  by  means  of  imposing  crowds.  It  is,  there- 
fore, he  urged,  indispensably  necessary  that  the  State  should 
lend  the  assistance  of  its  arm  to  bring  to  punishment  these 
itinerant  preachers  as  a  common  danger  to  the  country.^^ 

The  Lords  in  Parliament  gave  their  consent  to  the  statute 
proposed.  But  the  consent  of  the  Commons  was  still  lacking. 
Whether  it  was  that  the  concurrence  of  the  latter  was  not 
asked  for,  or  that  the  Commons,  when  asked,  decidedly 
refused  it,  cannot  be  ascertained  from  the  extant  Parlia- 
mentary records.     If  the  proposed  statute  had  become  law, 


A   ROYAL   ORDINANCE   PUT   AMONG   THE   STATUTES.         241 

it  would  have  become  the  duty  of  every  king's  officer  in  the 
counties,  upon  the  application  of  a  bishop  to  that  effect,  to 
send  instantly  to  prison  any  man  who  was  accused  by  the 
hierarchy  as  suspected  of  heresy,  and  to  keep  him  there 
under  strict  durance  until  such  time  as  he  had  cleared 
himself  of  the  charge  in  the  face  of  the  Church.  The 
meaning  of  which  was  nothing  else  but  this,  that  the  power 
of  the  State,  so  far  as  it  was  at  the  command  of  the  county 
officials,  should  at  all  times  and  everywhere  be  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  bishops — to  make  the  State  the  obedient  servant 
of  the  Church,  and  the  officers  of  the  King  the  policemen  of 
the  bishops. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  young  King,  Richard  II.,  was  induced 
to  admit  among  the  Statutes  of  the  kingdom  an  ordinance  of 
2  (3th  May,  wherein,  with  the  pretended  consent  of  Parlia- 
ment, it  was  ordered  that  upon  certification  from  the  bishops 
the  King's  commands  should  issue  from  the  Chancellery  of 
the  kingdom  to  the  sheriffs  and  other  State  officers  of 
counties  for  the  imprisonment  of  itinerant  preachers,  as  well 
as  their  favourers  and  adherents.^''  The  ordinance  sounded 
like  a  law  which  had  been  made  by  the  joint  consent  of 
the  Crown  and  the  states  of  the  realm.''''  And  yet  it  was 
nothing  of  the  kind.  It  Avas  a  mere  royal  ordinance, 
given  out  for  a  statute  of  the  realm.  And  this  fact  did 
not  remain  without  notice,  for  in  the  next  sitting  of  Parlia- 
ment— October  1382 — the  Commons  presented  a  petition  to 
the  King,  in  which  they  roundly  and  clearly  declared  that 
that  "statute"  had  never  received  the  consent  or  approval 
of  the  Commons,  and  moved  for  the  annulling  of  the  same. 
They  were  by  no  means  disposed,  either  for  themselves  or 
their  posterity,  to  consent  to  a  greater  dependence  upon 
the  prelates  than  their  forefathers  had  known  in  past  times. 

VOL.  II.  Q 


242  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

The  consequence  was  that  the  offensive  "  statute,"  so  called, 
but  wrongfully,  was  withdrawn  by  the  King/^ 

But  apart  from  that  pretended  law  of  the  land,  the  King, 
by  desire  of  the  Archbishop,  issued  also  a  patent,  dated  26th 
June  1382,  wherein,  "  out  of  zeal  for  the  Catholic  faith, 
whose  defender  he  is  and  purposes  always  to  remain,"  he 
conveys  to  the  A  rchbishop  and  his  suffragans,  special  plenary 
power  to  imprison  the  preachers  and  defenders  of  those 
condemned  theses,  and  to  detain  them  either  in  their  own 
or  other  prisons,  at  their  pleasure,  aye  and  until  they  give 
proofs  of  repentance  and  make  recantation,  or  until  the 
King  and  his  Privy  Council  should  have  taken  some  other 
action  in  the  matter.  At  the  same  time  the  patent  obliges 
all  vassals,  servants,  and  subjects  of  the  King,  upon  their 
allegiance,  and  on  pain  of  forfeiting  all  their  estates,  not 
to  give  any  favour  or  support  to  those  preachers  or  their 
patrons ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  assist  the  Archbishop  and 
his  suffragans  and  their  officers  in  the  exercise  of  these 
plenary  powers."''^ 

This  patent  differs  in  form  from  the  statute,  in  so  far  as 
the  former  is  only  a  royal  ordinance,  which  was  issued  as 
an  act  of  administration,  whereas  the  statute  claimed  to  be 
a  legislative  Act.  It  differed  also  in  substance  from  the 
statute,  in  as  much  as  it  only  empowered  the  bishops  to 
put  and  keep  accused  persons  in  prison  by  the  hands  of 
then'  own  officers  and  servants,  so  that  the  officials  of  the 
State  had  nothing  directly  to  do  in  the  matter ;  whereas  the 
statute  made  it  incumbent  upon  the  organs  of  the  State  to 
carry  out  directly  the  judgments  of  the  ecclesiastical  boards. 
How  it  came  to  pass  that  the  patent  was  issued  after  that 
statute,  it  is  not  easy  to  see,  especially  as  the  former,  as  an 
addition  to  the  latter,  might  almost  be  dispensed  with,  or  at  all 


A  ROYAL  PATENT.  243 

events  must  seem  to  be  the  weaker  measure  of  the  two.  As 
the  Lower  House,  some  months  later,  pnbHcly  took  objection 
to  the  constitutional  validity  of  the  statute,  the  conjecture 
is  an  obvious  one,  that  immediately  after  the  publication  of 
the  statute,  public  opinion  had  declared  itself  against  it — 
that  even  some  of  the  county  authorities,  to  whom  the 
imprisonment  of  itinerant  preachers  had  been  proposed 
agreeably  to  the  provision  of  the  statute,  may  possibly  have 
declined  to  carry  out  the  proposal,  because  they  contested 
its  force  in  law.  If  this  was  the  case,  a  necessity  would 
then  arise  for  having  recourse  to  some  other  expedient ; 
and  hence,  perhaps,  a  renewed  application  of  the  Archbishop 
to  the  King,  and  as  the  fruit  of  this  the  patent  of  26th  June, 
At  all  events,  with  these  plenary  powers  in  hand,  a  perse- 
cution quite  adequate  to  what  was  desired  could  now  be 
set  in  operation  against  the  persons  whom  it  was  desired 
to  reach. 

NOTES  TO  SECTION  IV. 

41.  This  appears  plainly  enough  from  the  confession  of  John  Ball,  which  may 
be  conjectured  to  have  been  drawn  from  him  by  the  Bishop  of  London. 

42.  Lewis,  History,  etc.,  p.  58,  note  d. 

43.  These  numbers  are  taken  from  the  document  printed  in  Frtsr,  Zizan.,  p.  291. 

44.  The  Archbishop  says  of  them,  in  a  document  printed  in  Wilkins'  Concilia, 
III.,  157,  quos  famosiores  et  peritiores  credidimus,  et  sanctius  in  fide  catholica 
sentientes. 

45.  Apud  Praedicatores,  Fasc,  Zizan.,  p.  272  ;  apud  Dominicanos.  Foxe, 
Rerum  in  Ecdesia  Gestarum.  Commentarii  1559,  p.  19,  The  English  edition, 
1563,  p.  13,  rendered  this  erroneously  by  "grey  friars  "  (Franciscans)  which  has 
passed  into  many  later  accounts — e.g.,  Vaughan,  Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  79  ;  Johii 
de  Wycliffe,  p.  269  ;  Pauli,  Geschichte  von  England,  IV.,  p,  548. 

46.  This  earthquake  is  mentioned  not  only  in  chronicles,  but  also  in  poems  of 
the  time,  which  have  come  down  to  us,  and  in  several  places  by  Wiclif  himself. 
The  day  of  its  occurrence  is  given  variously.  Lewis  and  Vaughan  name  17th  May, 
the  day  of  the  first  meeting  of  that  ecclesiastical  assembly.  But  documents  like 
the  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  272,  and  historians   like  John  Foxe  [Acts  and  Monmucnts,  ed. 


244  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Townseud,  III.,  19)  mention  the  day  after  St.  Dunstan's  Day,  which  must  have 
been  19th  May.  Walsingham  {Hist.  Anglic,  ed.  Riley)  gives  a  day  still  later, 
duodecimus  ealendas  Junii,  or  21st  May.  But  no  doubt  the  date  is  the  most  reli- 
able which  makes  mention  of  the  Saint's  Day,  and  hence  we  may  assume  that  the 
earthquake  took  place  on  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  19th  May  1382. 

47.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  272  f.  The  construction  of  the  words  fuit  depuratum 
proves  that  the  earthquake  cannot  have  taken  place  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sittings,  but  not  till  towards  the  close.  Vaughan  {Monograph,  p.  265)  finds  him- 
self obliged,  by  the  view  he  takes  of  the  date  of  the  first  meeting  of  the  assembly, 
to  give  a  different  construction  to  the  Archbishop's  phrase. 

48.  Trialorjus,  IV.,  c.  27,  p.  339  ;  c.  36,  pp.  374  and  376  :  Multi  fideles  pie 
reputant,  quod  in  ista  damnatione,  ad  ostendendum  defectum  attestationis 
humanae,  fuit  insolite  motus  terrae.  Quando  enim  membra  Christi  deficiunt  ad 
reclamandum  contra  tales  haereticos,  terra  clamat.  Even  in  his  sermons  Wiclif  con- 
tended against  the  earthquake  council,  e.g.,  in  the  14th  of  the  XXIV.  Miscel.  Serm., 
MS.  3928,  fol.  157,  col.  1  :  Fratres — dampnarunt  ut  haeresin  in  suo  concilio  terrae 
motus,  quod  solum  praedestinati  sint  partes  s.  matris  ecclesiae.  Comp.  Fuse.  Zizan., 
p.  283.  Comp.  Wielif's  English  Confession,  on  the  Lord's  Siq^per,  which  is  pre- 
served by  Knighton  in  Twysden,  III.,  2747.  Both  Lewis,  p.  103,  and  Vaughan 
Monogra2:)h,  p.  571,  reproduce  the  whole  piece  simply  as  it  appears  in  the  j)rinted 
chronicle,  in  which  the  words  now  in  question  are  without  meaning.  But  Arnold 
has  recently  published  the  piece  in  Vol.  III.,  Select  English  Works,  in  a  critically 
amended  form,  upon  the  authority  of  a  MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  containing 
Wiclif  s  Confession,  and  after  collation  with  two  MSS.  of  Knighton's  Chronicle. 
According  to  this  corrected  form,  the  passage  in  question  reads  as  follows  : — "  And 
herefore  devoute  men  supposen,  that  this  council  of  frereis  at  London  was  with 
erthe  dyn.  For  thei  putt  an  heresye  upon  Christ  and  seyntis  in  heven  ;  wherfore 
the  erthe  trembled,  faylande  man's  voice  answerande  for  God,  as  hit  did  in  tyme 
of  his  passioun,  when  he  was  dampned  to  bodily  deth."  This  earthquake  is  men- 
tioned by  WicUf  in  yet  another  of  his  English  tracts.  The  SerenWerkys  of  Mercy 
Bodyly,  cap.  6.  Ther  cownsel  of  trembulynge  of  the  erthe.  Select  English  Works, 
III.,  p.  175. 

49.  Wilkins,  Concilia  Magnae  Britanniae,  Vol.  III.,  157  f.  Lewis,  History,  p. 
357  f.  Walsingham,  Hist.  Angl.,  II.,  58  f.  Foxe,  Acts  and  Monum.,  III.,  21  f. 
Lewis,  History,  p.  357  f.  :  Fasciculi  Zizanioruyn,  ed.  Shirley,  p.  277-282. 

49a.  Conclusiones  heretice  et  contra  determinationem  ecclesiae  de  quibus  supra 
fit  mentio  in  haec  verba  sequuntur.  Lewis,  Appendix,  357-359.  Fascic.  Zizan., 
Shirley,  277-282. 

(1.)  Quod  substantia  panis  materialis  et  vini  maneat  post  consecrationem  in 
.Sacramento  altaris. 

(2.)  Item  quod  accidentia  non  maneant  sine  subjecto  post  consecrationem  in 
eodem  sacramento. 

(3.)  Item  quod  Christus  non  sit  in  sacramento  altaris  identice,  vere,  et  realiter 
in  propria  praesentia  corporali.  I 

(4.)  Item  quod  si  episcopus  vel  sacerdos  existat  in  peccato  mortali,  non  ordinat, 
conficit  nee  baptiz 


i 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   IV.  245 

(5. )  Item  quod  si  homo  f uerit  debite  contritus,  omuis  coiifessio  exterior  est  sibi 
superfluus  vel  inutilis. 

(6.)  Item  pertinaciter  asserere  non  esse  fundatum  in  evangelic  quod  Christus  Mis- 
sam  ordiuavit. 

(7.)  Item  quod  Deus  debet  obedire  diabolo. 

(8.)  Item  quod  si  Papa  sit  praescitus  et^,  malus  homo,  ac  per  consequens  mem- 
brum  diaboli,  non  habet  potestatem  supra  fideles  Christi  ab  aliquo  sibi  datum  nisi 
forte  a  Caesare. 

(9.)  Item  quod  post  Urbanum  sextum  non  est  alius  recipiendus  in  Papam,  sed 
vivendum  est  more  Graecorum,  sub  legibus  propriis. 

(10.)  Item  asserere  quod  est  contra  sanctam  Scripturam  quod  viri  ecclesiastici 
habeant  possessiones  temporales. 

Conclusiones  erroneaeet  contra  determinationem ecclesiae,  de  qnibus  superlus  msinora- 
tur  in  haec  verba  sequuntur. 

(11.)  Quod  nuUus  i^raelatus  debet  aliquem  excommunicare,  nisi  prius  sciat  ipsum 
excommunicatum  a  Deo. 

(12.)  Item  quod  sic  excommunicans,  ex  hoc  sit  haereticus  vel  excommunicatus. 

(13.)  Item  quod  praelatus  excommunicans  clericum  qui  appellavit  ad  regem  et 
consilium  regni,  eo  ipso  traditor  est  Dei,  regis,  et  regni. 

(14.)  Item  quod  illi  qui  dimittunt  praedicare  sen  audire  verbum  Dei,  vel  evan- 
gelium  praedicatum,  propter  excommunicationem  hominum,  sunt  excommunicati, 
et  in  die  judicii  traditores  Dei  habebuntur. 

(15.)  Item  asserere  quod  liceat  alicui  etiam  diacono  vel  presbytero  praedicare 
verbum  Dei  absque  auctoritate  sedis  apostolicae,  vel  episcopi  catholici,  seu  alia  de 
qua  suflScienter  constet. 

(16.)  Item  asserere  quod  nullus  est  dominus  civilis,  nullus  est  episcopus,  nullus 
est  praelatus,  dum  est  in  jaeccato  mortali. 

(17.)  Item  quod  domini  temporales  possint  ad  arbitrium  eorum,  auferre  bonatem- 
poralia  ab  ecclesiasticis  habitualiter  delinquentibus,  vel  quod  populares  possint, 
ad  eorum  arbitrium,  dominos  delinquentes  corrigere. 

(18.)  Item  quod  decimae  sunt  purae  eleemosynae,  et  quod  parochiani  possunt, 
propter  peccata  suorum  curatorum  eas  detinere,  et  ad  libitum  aliis  conferre. 

(19.)  Item  quod  speciales  orationes  applicatae  uni  personae  per  praelatos,  vel  reli- 
giosos,  non  plus  pro.iunt  eidem  personae,  quam  generales  orationes,  ceteris  paribus 
eidem. 

(20.)  Item  quod  eo  ipso  quod  aliquis  ingreditur  religionem  privatam  quamcunque 
redditur  ineptior  et  iuhabilior  ad  observantiam  mandatorum  Dei. 

(21.)  Item  quod  sancti  instituentes  religiones  privatas  quascunque,  tarn  Dossession- 
atorum  quum  Mendicantium,  in  sic  instituendo  peccaverunt. 

(22.)  Item  quod  religiosi  viventes  in  religionibus  privatis  non  sint  de  religione 
Christiani. 

(23.)  Item  quod  fratres  teneantur  per  laborem  manuum,  et  non  per  mendica- 
tionem  victum  suum  acquirere. 

(24.)  Item  quod  conferens  eleemosynam  fratribus,  vel  fratri  praedicanti  est 
excommunicatus  ;  et  recipiens. 

50.   In  the  Introduction  to  Fast-.  Zhan.,  Ixiv.  f.,  Sliirley  has  given  from  a  MS.  in 


24(i  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  the  passage  of  a  Latin  sermon  in  which  Wiclif  mentions 
the  condemnation  of  the  Article,  and  vindicates  the  truth  contained  in  it.  And  in 
the  English  tract,  De  Apostasia  C'leri,  Select  Works,  III.,  437,  Wiclif  remarks  that 
Christ  himself  submitted  himself  to  Judas  Iscariot  :  Crist  obeshed  and  served  to 
Scarioth.     Comp.  Arnold's  note  on  these  words. 

51.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  Wiclif  in  the  Trialogiis  emphatically  defends  him- 
self against  the  judgment  of  the  Council,  and  explains  the  real  meaning  of  his 
Article  IV.,  c.  37,  p.  377,  while  he  justifies  the  19th  Art.  in  the  33th  cap.,  p.  389. 

52.  Wilkins,  Concilia,  III.,  157.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  275  ;  comp.  p.  282.  Lewis 
Append,  No.  31,  p.  356  f. 

53.  Wilkins,  Concilia,  III.,  158  f.  :  Knighton  De  Eventibus  Angliae,  Book  V.  of 
his  Chronicle  in  Twysden's  Histor.  Anglec.  Scriptures  X.,  fol.  2651  f.,  gives  the  text 
of  the  archiepiscopal  mandate  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  as  incorporated  in  the 
mandate  of  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  12th  July  1382,  to  the  archdeacons  of  his 
diocese.  Knighton  had  the  copy  before  him  which  had  been  sent  to  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Leicester,  and  it  was  to  this  archdeaconry  that  the  parish  of  Lutter- 
worth belonged.  Wiclif  himself,  as  parish  priest,  must  have  received  a  copy  of  this 
mandate  from  the  Archdeacon  of  Leicester  through  the  Dean  of  Goodlaxton.  The 
text  of  the  Archbishop's  mandate  is  given  by  Foxe  {Acts  and  Monuments,  III.,  23  f.) 
in  English. 

54.  John  Foxe,  Acts,  etc.  IIL,  37. 

55.  lb. 

56.  lb.     It  is  ordain?:!  an;l  assorted  in  this  present  Parliament,  etc. 

57.  The  French  Original  of  the  petition,  in  Cotton,  Abridgement  of  the  Par- 
liamentary  Rolls,  Vol,  III.,  p.  141  ;  translated  in  Foxe's  Acts  and  Mon.  III.,  38. 

58.  The  patent  is  printed  in  full  in  Foxe's  Acts,  etc.  III.,  39,  and  has  here,  as  in 
the  Collection  of  Patents,  Vol.  L,  35,  the  date  26th  June,  of  the  6th  year  of  Richard 
II.  In  Wilkin's  Concilia  the  same  patent  is  given  in  Latin,  but  bears  date  12th 
July.  As  the  latter  text  is  taken  from  the  EpiscoiDal  Archives  of  Ely,  the  differ- 
ence of  the  date  may  be  explained  by  supposing  that  in  the  latter  archive  the  day 
was  noted  when  the  patent  arrived  in  Ely. 

59.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  292  f. 


Section  V. —  The  Wiclif  Party  intimidated  by  the  measures 
of  the  Archbishop. 

The  preliminary  arrangements  with  the  State  had  now 
been  made  as  far  as  practicable.  Action  conld  now  be 
taken  either  to  bend  or  to  break  the  leaders  and  ad- 
herents of  the  ecclesiastical  opposition.  The  Archbishop 
thought  that  no  time  should  be  lost. 


PROCEEDINGS  AGAINST   THE   WICLIP   PARTY.  247 

He  had  already  made  use  of  the  Church  Council  of 
May  1382  and  its  condemnation  of  the  Articles  submitted 
to  its  judgment,  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  Wiclif 
and  his  party.  Occasion  had  been  given  him  to  do  so 
by  the  state  of  parties  in  the  University  of  Oxford. 

Since  the  beginning  of  1381  party  feeling  there  had 
been  more  than  ordinarily  violent.  Wiclif's  attacks  upon 
the  Papacy,  as  well  as  his  preaching  itinerancy,  w^hich  had 
now  for  some  years  been  in  operation,  and  of  which 
Oxford  was  head  -  quarters,  had  materially  increased 
the  hostility  of  the  opposing  parties  in  the  University. 
The  peasants'  rebellion,  too,  had  had  an  indirect  influence, 
at  least,  upon  the  position  of  the  two  factions.  The 
Petition  of  the  Mendicant  Monasteries  in  Oxford  to  the  Duke 
of  Lancaster,  mentioned  in  a  former  chapter,  is  an  incon- 
trovertible proof  of  this  influence.^"  In  particular,  that 
document  reveals  the  fact  that  Dr.  Nicolas  Hereford,  a 
well-known  friend  and  colleague  of  Wiclif,  was  the  most 
energetic  spokesman  of  the  party  in  the  University  which 
was  opposed  on  principle  to  the  Mendicant  Orders.  To 
these  ecclesiastico  -  political  antagonisms  were  added 
collisions  in  the  domain  of  doctrine  itself.  When  Wiclif 
stood  forward  with  his  criticism  of  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation,  it  Avas  theologians  of  the  Mendicant 
Orders  who  first  controverted  his  teaching.  In  the  Church 
Council  of  May  1382,  as  we  have  seen,  those  doctors  of  theo- 
logy who  did  not  belong  to  the  Orders  of  the  Augustinians 
or  Dominicans,  the  Carmelites  or  Franciscans,  were  an  almost 
invisible  minority.  Naturally  enough  with  Wiclif  and  his 
party  the  opinion  gradually  grew  into  an  axiom  that 
"  Begging  Monk"  and  "  thorough-going  defender  of  Papistical 
doctrine    and    modern    errors"    were    one    and    the    same 


24:8  LIFE  OF  WICLTF. 

thing.  As  men's  minds  were  now  pitted  against  each 
other,  and  the  two  parties  engaged  in  attacks,  not  only  in 
the  schools  and  lecture-halls,  especially  at  disputations  and 
other  academic  acts,  but  also  in  pulpits  and  in  the  inter- 
course of  daily  life,  the  excitement  became  every  day 
more  intense.  It  even  occurred  that  several  members  of 
the  University  were  found  with  arms  concealed  under  their 
clothes  in  halls,  and  even  in  the  church.  All  the  more 
urgent  appeared  the  necessity  of  interposing,  even  in  the 
interest  of  peace  and  order,  to  say  nothing  of  the  need 
of  doing  something  to  uphold  the  doctrine  and  life  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.'''^ 

On  Ascension-day,  15th  May,  Nicolas  Hereford  had  preached 
one  of  his  bold  sermons  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Frideswide, 
in  which  he  quite  openly  espoused  the  party  of  Wiclif,  and  if 
we  may  believe  the  report  of  an  opponent,  gave  utterance 
to  many  things  of  an  offensive  and  even  inflammatory 
character.  It  was  probably  here  that  he  expressed 
among  other  things  the  opinion  that  Archbishop  Sudbury 
had  been  put  to  death,  and  justly  so,  because  he  was 
understood  to  have  resolved  upon  taking  proceedings 
against  Wiclif.^^  He  had  also,  some  months  earlier, 
taken  every  opportunity  to  declaim  against  the  Begging 
Friars  in  connection  with  the  peasants'  revolt  of  the 
previous  year.  He  asserted  that  their  begging  was  to 
blame  for  the  impoverishment  of  the  country,  for  by  it 
the  population  was  drained  dry  more  than  by  taxes  and 
other  public  burdens  —  and  further,  that  the  bad  example 
which  the  Mendicants  gave  by  their  laziness  was  the 
occasion  of  the  serfs  and  peasants  leaving  their  accustomed 
labours  and  rising  in  revolt  against  their  masters,  etc. 
These  representations  seem  to  have  found  willing  ears  in 


NICOLAS   HEREFORD    SINGLED   OUT.  249 

Oxford,  and  a  dangerous  agitation  against  the  Mendicant 
Orders  began  to  spread.  Hence  the  necessity  under  which 
the  latter  had  found  themselves  to  address  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  and  to  cast  themselves  upon  the  protection  of 
that  powerful  prince."^ 

These  inflammatory  harangues  of  the  resolute  but  too 
excitable  Hereford  gave  particular  offence  to  the  Men- 
dicants, and  were  the  cause  of  his  being  singled  out 
for  attack  before  all  the  other  friends  of  Wiclif.  To 
make  suitable  preparations  for  this  it  was  requisite  for 
his  opponents  to  obtain  the  necessary  basis  of  facts. 
But  this  had  its  difficulties.  For  Nicolas  Hereford,  with 
all  his  boldness  '  of  attitude,  seems  to  have  acted  with 
jDrudence  and  foresight.  At  least,  he  had  not  allowed  a 
single  writing  of  his  own  to  leave  his  hand  —  neither 
book  nor  pamphlet.  His  enemies  were  aware  of  this, 
and  called  it  wretched  cowardice,  heresy-hiding,  etc.'''* 
To  reach  him,  no  other  course  remained  open  at  last 
but  to  take  down  from  his  mouth  any  doubtful  ex- 
pressions which  dropped  from  him,  and  to  have  them 
attested  notarially.  This  was  done  at  the  suggestion  of 
Dr.  Stokes,'^^  the  Archbishop's  commissary. 

It  seemed  to  the  enemy  to  be  high  time  to  take  measures 
for  silencing  the  Wiclif  party  when  it  became  known 
that  Robert  Rigg,  the  Chancellor,  had  appointed  Philip 
Repington  to  preach  before  the  University  on  Corpus  Christi 
Day,  5  June  1382.  Philip  Repington  Avas  a  member  of  the 
stately  Augustinian  Priory  of  St.  Maria  de  Pratis  in  Leicester, 
and  a  Bachelor  of  Theology  in  Oxford.  Hitherto  he 
had  modestly  kept  himself  out  of  public  view,  and 
was  even  regarded  with  favour  by  the  Popish  party. 
But    he    had    recently  preached   a    sermon    in    the  hospital 


250  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

of  Brackley,  in  Northamptonshire,  in  which  he  discovered 
himself  to  be  an  adherent  of  Wichf 's  doctrine  of  the  L  ord's 
Supper ;  and  after  his  promotion  to  be  Doctor  of  Theology 
in  the  beginning  of  summer,  he  commenced  his  first  lecture- 
ship in  the  University  in  that  capacity  by  extolling  the  merits 
of  Wiclif.  In  particular,  he  undertook  to  defend  Wiclif's 
ethical  doctrines  at  all  points.  After  such  antecedents  it 
was  intelligible  that  the  adherents  of  the  Scholastic 
Church-doctrine  should  look  forward  with  some  uneasi- 
ness to  Repington's  preaching  before  the  University  on 
such  an  occasion  as  Corpus  Christi.  There  was  reason 
to  fear  that  he  would  use  the  opportunity  to  strike  a  key- 
note in  favour  of  Wiclif,  and  openly  to  attack  the  doctrine 
of  the  change  of  substance  in  the  Sacrament,  for  the  very 
reason  that  it  was  tlie  Feast  of  Corpus  Christi.  They 
therefore  addressed  themselves  to  the  Archbishop,  with  an 
earnest  request  that  without  delay,  and  before  the  festival 
arrived,  he  would  order  the  condemnation  of  Wiclifs 
Articles  to  be  published  in  Oxford.*'^ 

This  request  was  complied  with  without  delay.  On  the 
28th  May,  as  already  mentioned  above,  a  mandate  of 
the  Archbishop,  issued  to  Dr.  Stokes  with  instructions 
to  publish  in  the  University  the  judgment  which  had 
been  pronounced  on  the  twenty-four  Articles,  and  to  prohibit 
the  defence  of  them.^^  Two  days  thereafter  the  Primate 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  Chancellor,  Robert  Rigge,  in 
which  he  censured  him  in  an  ungracious  tone,  and  with  the 
bearing  of  an  inquisitor,  for  having  shown  favour  to  Nicolas 
Hereford,  who  was  under  strong  suspicion  of^  heretical 
opinions,  and  for  having  appointed  him  to  preach  an  excep- 
tionally important  sermon.  He  gives  him,  at  the  same 
time,  emphatic  advice  to  abstain  in  future  from  giving  any 


ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHANX'ELLOR  OF  OXFORD.      251 

countenance  to  such  men,  otherwise  he  must  himself  be 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  party.  On  the  contrary,  let 
him  give  his  assistance  to  Dr.  Stokes  in  the  publication  of 
the  Archbishop's  mandate  against  the  Articles,  and  let  him 
cause  the  mandate  to  be  read  by  the  bedellof  the  Theologi- 
cal Faculty  in  the  theological  lecture  rooms  at  the  lectures 
next  ensuing.^^ 

But  the  Chancellor  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  intimidated. 
He  said  aloud  that  Dr.  Stokes,  by  making  himself  so  busy 
with  the  Archbishop,  was  trenching  upon  the  liberties  and 
privileges  of  the  University ;  that  no  bishop  nor  archbishop 
had  any  jurisdiction  over  the  University,  not  even  in  a  case 
where  heresy  was  in  question.  The  autonomy  of  the  learned 
corporation  asserts  itself,  we  see,  against  the  threatening 
attempt  of  the  hierarchy  to  encroach  upon  the  freedom  of 
teaching  in  the  University.  But  the  Chancellor  did  not 
venture  to  give  expression  to  these  principles  in  public.  On 
the  contrary,  after  consultation  with  the  proctors  and  some 
other  members  of  the  University,  he  publicly  announced  that 
he  would  give  his  assistance  to  Dr.  Stokes.  But  in  point  of 
fact  he  put  as  many  difficulties  in  the  commissary's  way  as 
he  could  (at  least  so  says  an  opponent),  and  found  means  to 
induce  the  mayor  of  the  city  to  hold  in  readiness  a  hundred 
armed  men,  plainly  with  the  view  of  putting  a  stop  to  any 
disturbances  which  might  ensue;  although  there  were  some 
who  imputed  to  him  the  design  of  making  away  with  Dr. 
Stokes,  or  at  least  of  compelling  him  to  desist,  in  case  he 
was  resolved  to  execute  his  commission.''^ 

Meanwhile  the  festival  of  Corpus  Christi  was  approaching. 
On  Wednesday,  4th  June,  the  day  before  the  Feast,  Dr. 
Stokes  handed  to  the  Chancellor  a  copy  of  the  mandate 
which  the  Archbishop  had  sent  to  him,  along  with  the  letter 


252  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

which  was  dh'ected  to  the  Chancellor  himself.  The  Chan- 
cellor took  them  both  into  his  hands,  but  gave  expression  to 
some  doubts  upon  the  matter ;  he  had  as  yet,  he  said,  no 
letter  and  seal  to  show  that  it  was  his  business  to  assist  Dr. 
Stokes  in  the  execution  of  the  Archbishop's  commission.  It 
was  only  when  the  Carmelite,  on  the  very  day  of  the  festi- 
val, showed  liim,  in  full  assembly,  the  Archbishop's  letter 
patent  with  his  private  seal  attached,  that  the  Chancellor 
declared  himself  ready  to  assist  in  the  publication  of  the 
mandate ;  yet  under  reservation  of  first  advising  with  the 
University  thereupon,  and  obtaining  its  consent  thereto.''*' 

On  Corpus  Christi  Day,  the  University,  with  the  Chan- 
cellor and  proctors  at  their  head,  and  accompanied  by  the 
Mayor  of  Oxford,  proceeded  to  the  Cemetery  of  St.  Frides- 
wide  for  solemn  divine  service,  which  Avas  celebrated  in  the 
open  air.  Dr.  Repington  preached  the  festival  sermon.  He 
seems  to  have  made  no  direct  attack  on  the  doctrine  of  the 
change  of  substance  ;  and  he  had  good  reasons  for  taking 
this  course  on  that  occasion.  But  he  spoke  out  without 
disguise  his  conviction  that  Wiclif  was  a  thoroughly  sound 
and  orthodox  teacher,  and  had  at  all  times  set  forth  the 
doctrine  of  the  universal  church  touching  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Altar.  Among  other  things,  he  said  that  in  sermons 
princes  and  lords  should  have  honourable  mention  before 
the  Pope  and  Bishops,  otherwise  preachers  acted  con- 
trary to  Scripture ;  he  also  referred  to  Wiclif 's  itinerant 
preachers,  and  called  them  "  holy  priests."  Of  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster  the  preacher  declared  that  he  was  resolved  to 
take  all  evangelically-minded  men  under  his  protection. 
There  were  people  who  characterised  this  sermon  as  sedi- 
tious. 

After  sermon  the  assembly  passed  into  the  Church  of  St. 


DR.   STOKES   IN   FEAR   OF   HIS   LIFE.  253 

FridesAvade,  and  opponents  asserted  that  nearly  twenty  men, 
with  concealed  weapons,  entered  with  the  rest.  Stokes,  the 
CarmeHte,  harboured  the  suspicion  that  it  was  his  own  Kfe 
which  was  aimed  at,  and  did  not  venture  to  leave  the  Church 
again.  The  Chancellor  waited  for  the  preacher  in  the  porch, 
congratulated  Repington  upon  his  sermon,  and  accompanied 
him  from  the  church.  The  whole  Wichf  party  was  over- 
joyed at  the  discourse.'^  But  Dr.  Stokes  was  in  such  fear  of 
his  life  that  he  had  not  the  courage  to  publish  the  Arch- 
bishop's mandate.''^  In  the  meanwhile  the  controversy 
publicly  went  on  in  lectures  and  disputations.^'^  From  those 
days  date,  in  my  judgment,  those  disputations  in  Oxford 
extending  over  several  days,  of  which  we  read,  between  the 
champions  of  the  hierarchy  on  the  one  side,  and  Hereford 
and  Eepington  on  the  other.  It  was  significant  of  the  time 
that  the  latter  were  obliged  to  take  up  a  defensive  position, 
however  ably  and  triumphantly  they  represented  their 
cause.  How  much  these  learned  discussions,  aided  as  they 
were  by  being  open  to  the  public,  enchained  the  attention  of 
the  general  community,  we  see  from  a  poem  which  was  com- 
posed, at  all  events,  in  1382 — not  earlier  than  July  and  not 
later  than  October — and  which  has  come  down  to  our  times  J* 
The  Chancellor  of  the  University  himself  was  now  sum- 
moned before,  the  Archbishop,  to  purge  himself  of  the  suspi- 
cion of  heresy.  On  12th  June,  the  octave  of  the  Feast  of 
Corpus  Christi,  along  with  two  others  summoned  at  the  same 
time — Dr.  Thomas  Brightwell  and  John  Balton,  Bachelor  of 
Theology — Dr.  Rigge  appeared  before  an  assembly  of  ecclesi- 
astics in  the  Dominican  Monastery  of  London,  presided  over  by 
the  Archbishop.  Here  the  Chancellor  was  examined  touching 
several  facts  which  seemed  to  bear  out  the  suspicion  that  he 
was  a  favourer  of  Wiclif's  party,  especially  of  the  Doctors 


254  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Hereford  and  Repington,  and  participated  in  their  opinions/* 
It  was  difficult  for  him  to  contest  these  facts.  It  was  found 
that  he  and  the  proctors  for  the  year — Walter  Dash  and 
John  Huntraan — had,  in  point  of  fact,  favoured  Wiclifs 
docrines.  Hereupon  the  twenty-four  Articles  were  laid 
before  them,  upon  which  the  censure  of  the  assembly  of  21st 
May  had  been  pronounced.  Dr.  Rigge  at  once  assented  to 
this  judgment,  while  Dr.  Brightwell  and  John  Balton  only 
expressed  their  concurrence  in  it  after  some  hesitation  and 
mental  conflict."  It  was  further  laid  to  the  Chancellor's 
charge  that  he  had  disregarded  the  respect  and  deference 
which  were  due  to  the  Archbishop,  in  having  taken  no  notice 
of  the  Primate's  letter  directed  to  him  in  person;  for  which  he 
begged  upon  his  knees  the  Archbishop's  pardon,  and  received 
the  same  upon  the  intercession  of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
William  of  Wykeham  •,'"^  and  now  it  was  required  of  him  to 
publish  in  person  that  ecclesiastical  censure  of  the  twenty-four 
articles  which  he  had  been  unwilling,  a  few  days  before,  so 
much  as  to  assist  Dr.  Stokes  in  publishing.  He  even  received 
a  written  injunction  touching  John  Wiclif  himself,  Nicolas 
Hereford,  Philip  Repington,  John  Aston,  and  Lawrence 
Bedeman,  no  longer  to  suffer  them  to  preach  before  the 
University,  and  to  suspend  them  from  every  academic  func- 
tion, until  they  should  have  purged  themselves  from  all 
suspicion  of  heresy." 

The  Churchmen  now  thought  themselves  quite  secure  of 
the  University.  One  unwelcome  incident,  however,  occurred 
to  cool  somewhat  their  satisfaction.  When  Dr.  Stokes  was 
called  to  account  on  the  same  day  for  not  having,  up  to  that 
time,  carried  out  the  Archbishop's  instructions  touching  the 
mandate,  he  frankly  acknowledged  that  he  durst  not  publish 
the  document  for  fear    of  his   life ;    upon   which  Courtnay 


THE  ^yICLIF  PARTY  FIRST  PUBLICLY  CALLED  "  LOLLARDS."    255 

replied,  "  Then  is  the  University  a  patron  of  heresies,  if  she 
will  not  allow  orthodox  truths  to  be  published."''^ 

On  Saturday,  14th  June,  Chancellor  Rigge  returned  to 
Oxford,  and  did  not  fail,  in  accordance  with  the  obligation 
he  had  come  under,  to  make  known  to  Hereford  and  Reping- 
ton  that  he  had  no  choice  but  to  suspend  them  from  all 
university  functions.  But  he  was  still  of  the  same  mind, 
notwithstanding,  as  an  incident  which  occurred  soon  after 
showed.  A  monkish  zealot,  Henry  Cromp,  of  the  Cistercian 
Monastery  of  Bawynglas,  in  the  county  of  Meath,'^  had  been 
promoted  doctor  of  theology  in  Oxford,  and  was  delivering 
lectures  in  the  University  at  that  time.  This  man  indulged 
in  violent  attacks  upon  the  Wiclif  party,  and  applied  to 
them  the  heretic  -  name  of  Lollards,  which  had  recently 
come  into  use,  but  until  that  time  had  never  been  publicly 
employed ;  upon  which  the  Chancellor  energetically  inter- 
fered. He  summoned  the  doctor  to  appear  before  him,  and 
when  the  latter  failed  to  present  himself,  he  declared  him 
guilty,  pronounced  judgment  upon  him  as  a  disturber  of 
the  peace,  and  suspended  him  from  all  university  functions — 
a  sentence  which  was  solemnly  published  in  the  University 
Church. 

But  the  Cistercian  did  not  take  all  this  quietly ;  he 
hastened  immediately  to  London,  and  put  in  a  complaint 
against  the  sentence  not  only  to  the  Archbishop,  but  also 
to  the  Chancellor  of  the  kingdom  and  the  Privy  Council.^" 
The  consequence  was  that  the  Chancellor  and  proctors  were 
summoned  to  appear  before  the  Privy  Council ;  and  some 
weeks  later  Cromp's  suspension  was  annulled  by  royal 
ordinance,  and  his  complete  rehabilitation  enjoined.  But 
the  Archbishop  did  not  omit  to  turn  this  opportunity  to 
good   account.      He    exerted   himself    to    obtain   from    the 


256  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Government  an  instruction  to  the  heads  of  the  University 
similar  to  that  which  he  had  addressed  to  them  himself — 
viz.,  that  they  should  not  fail  to  take  measures  against 
the  Wiclif  party.  Meanwhile,  the  Archbishop,  as  Grand 
Inquisitor  (inquisitor  hcereticae  pravitatis  per  totam  suam  pro- 
vinciam),  had  summoned  to  his  tribunal  the  Doctors  Hereford 
and  Repington,  and  also  the  Bachelor  of  Theology,  John 
Aston.  The  same  appeared  (18th  June),  in  a  chamber  of 
the  Dominican  Monastery  in  London,  before  the  Archbishop 
and  many  doctors  of  theology  and  laws,  in  order  to  be 
examined  on  the  often-mentioned  "  Articles."  The  two 
doctors  craved  time  for  reflection ;  Aston  asked  for  none, 
but  gave  his  declaration  at  once,  to  the  effect  that  he  would 
in  future  keep  silence  touching  the  articles  laid  before  him. 
Hereupon  he  was  prohibited  from  preaching  in  future  in  the 
province  of  Canterbury.  He  did  not  deny  that  he  was 
aware  that  the  Archbishop,  by  a  special  mandate,  had 
inhibited  every  man  from  preaching  who  had  not  been 
properly  called  to  that  function.  But  as  he  maintained  that 
he  had  not  incurred  the  bann  by  his  itinerant  preaching, 
which  had  been  continued  in  the  face  of  the  mandate,  he 
too  Avas  summoned  to  appear  a  second  time  on  20th  June ; 
Hereford  and  Repington  being  also  summoned  to  appear  on 
the  same  day.^^ 

On  Friday,  20th  June,  the  adjourned  examination  took 
place  in  the  same  monastery ."^^  Hereford  and  Repington 
handed  in  a  written  declaration  touching  the  condemned 
Articles,  in  which  they  expressed  their  views  on  every  one  of 
them  in  succession.  This  declaration  was  so  worded  as  to 
guard  their  Church  orthodoxy,  while  at  the  same  time,  by 
a  guarded  interpretation  of  the  Articles,  they  sought  4o 
establish  Wiclif's  soundness  in  the  faith.^^     No  wonder  that 


HEREFORD,  REPINQTON,  AND  ASTON.  257 

to  the  Archbishop  this  written  declaration  seemed  to  be 
wanting  in  straightforwardness.  There  ensued,  therefore,  a 
further  examination  upon  eight  of  the  Articles.  But  here, 
too,  no  understanding  was  arrived  at,  because  the  accused — • 
in  reference,  e.g.,  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper — 
refused  to  give  any  more  definite  or  distinct  answer  than 
they  had  given  already  in  their  written  answer.  Hereupon 
the  assessors  of  the  Inquisitorial  Court  agreed  to  an  unani- 
mous judgment,  that  the  ansAvers  of  the  two  theologians 
were  more  evasive  and  reserved  than  sincere  and  satis- 
factory. The  Archbishop  accordingly  required  them  once 
more,  in  a  solemn  tone,  to  make  a  declaration  Avithout 
reserve ;  and  when  this  proved  ineffectual,  dismissed  them 
from  the  bar  with  the  intimation  that  they  were  to  appear 
once  more  after  eight  days,  to  receive  judgment.^* 

John  Aston  was  then  called  forward.  He  had  shortly 
before  drawn  up  a  brief  confession  of  his  faith  in  English, 
and  spread  it  in  London  in  many  copies  as  a  fly-leaf.  The 
object  of  his  confession  was  to  gain  over  public  opinion,  and 
to  convince  his  readers  that  he  was  a  good,  beheving 
Christian.*'^  But  now  the  Archbishop  required  him  to  give 
a  frank  declaration  touching  the  condemned  Articles.  Aston, 
a  practised  itinerant  preacher,  then  began  to  make  answer 
in  the  English  tongue,  which  was  very  displeasing  to 
the  Archbishop  because  of  the  laity  who  Avere  present. 
Courtnay  required  him  to  speak  in  Latin.  Aston  went  on, 
notwithstanding,  to  use  the  mother  tongue,  and  delivered 
a  bold,  exciting,  and  (to  the  thinking  of  the  spiritual  judges) 
insulting  speech,  without  going  at  all,  however,  into  the 
scholastic  questions  laid  before  him  on  the  subject  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.     In  the   end,  therefore,  he  Avas  convicted  of 

VOL.  II.  R 


258  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

harbouring  the  condemned  opinions,  and  declared  to  be  a 
teacher  of  heresy.-^ 

On  27th  June  Hereford  and  Repington  appeared  before 
the  Archbishop  at  Otford.  They  were,  however,  dismissed 
again  without  anything  being  done,  and  cited  once  more  to 
appear  at  Canterbury  on  1st  July,  on  the  alleged  ground 
that  the  Archbishop  at  that  time  had  none  of  his  theological 
and  legal  assessors  about  him.  If  the  Archbishop  on  this 
occasion  had  put  them  to  useless  trouble,  they  allowed  him 
to  wait  to  no  purpose  for  them  on  1st  July.  The  Arch- 
bishop appeared  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  chapter-house  of  his 
cathedral  with  nine  doctors  and  bachelors  of  theology,  and 
ordered  the  accused  to  be  called.  When  they  failed  to 
appear,  he  adjourned  the  proceedings  to  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon ;  and  when  they  remained  absent  also  at  that 
hour,  he  passed  sentence  upon  them  of  contempt  of  court, 
and  laid  them  under  the  bann  of  excommunication.^^ 

Both  of  them  now  appealed  to  the  Pope,  but  the  Arch- 
bishop declared  this  appeal  to  be  insolent,  without  justifi- 
cation, and  invalid,  and  appointed  pubHc  proclamation  of  the 
bann  pronounced  upon  Hereford  and  Repington,  to  be  made 
with  all  solemnity  on  13th  July,  at  sermons  at  St.  Paul's 
Cross  in  London.  A  cross  was  erected,  candles  were  lighted^ 
extinguished,  and  thrown  on  the  ground,  etc.^*  The  Chan- 
cellor in  Oxford  received  commands  to  cause  the  bann  to 
be  published  with  like  ceremonies  in  St.  Mary's  Church,  and 
in  a  simpler  form  in  all  the  lecture-rooms  of  the  University, 
along  with  a  summons  to  both  to  appear  before  the  Arch- 
bishop's tribunal.'^^  And  even  all  this  was  not  enough — the 
like  publication  of  the  bann  and  the  summons  must  be 
afterwards  made  in  all  the  churches  of  towns  and  larger 
villages  throughout  the  church-province  of  Canterbury.^® 


THE  STATE  AIDS  THE  CHURCH.  259 

But  Archbishop  Courtuay  was  not  content  with  ecclesi- 
astical measures.  He  used  his  influence  with  the  King 
and  Government  to  engage  the  power  of  the  State  in  the 
affair,  and  to  put  down  the  heresy  also  with  the  temporal 
sword.  On  the  same  day  on  which  the  mandates  of  the 
Archbishop  issued  to  the  Chancellor  of  Oxford  and  the 
preachers  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  a  royal  patent  was  drawn 
up,  addressed  to  the  Chancellor  and  Proctors  of  Oxford,  by 
which  the  duty  was  imposed  upon  them  of  making  an 
inquisition  at  large  (inquisiio  generalis)  of  all  graduates  of 
theology  and  law  in  the  University,  in  order  to  discover 
such  as  might  be  attached  to  the  condemned  Articles ;  and 
further,  within  eight  days  they  were  to  drive  forth  and 
banish  from  the  University  and  the  city,  "  every  member  who 
receives,  bears  favour  to,  or  has  any  intercourse  with  Dr. 
John  Wiclif,  Nicolas  Hereford,  Philip  Repington,  John 
Aston,  or  any  one  else  of  the  same  party."  Nay,  more  : 
search  must  be  made  without  delay  in  all  the  halls  and 
colleges  of  the  University,  for  books  and  tracts  of  Wiclif  and 
Hereford — and  all  such  writings  must  be  interdicted  and  sent 
in  without  correction  to  the  Archbishop.  All  which  must  be 
faithfully  carried  out,  under  pain  of  the  loss  of  all  the 
University's  liberties  and  rights.  The  Viscount  of  Oxford- 
shire and  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  with  all  other  King's 
officers,  are  also  enjoined  to  lend  a  helping  hand  in  carrying 
out  this  royal  order."" 

A  day  later,  on  14th  July,  issued  a  second  royal  letter 
to  the  Chancellor  and  Proctors  of  the  University  of  Oxford, 
whereby,  as  already  stated,  the  academic  suspension  of 
the  Cistercian  Henry  Cromp  was  annulled,  and  his  restora- 
tion to  his  former  position  was  commanded.  This  brief  at 
tlie  same  time  prohibited  the  University  from  taking  any 


260  LIFE  OP  WICLIF. 

action  against  Cromp  or  the  Carmelites,  Peter  Stokes  and 
Steplien  Patrington  and  others,  on  account  of  their  polemic 
against  the  condemned  Articles,  and  the  teaching  of  Wiclif, 
Hereford  and  Repington.^' 

The  Crown  had  thus  done  its  utmost  in  the  use  of  its  ad- 
ministrative power  to  crush  the  party  of  free-thought,  the 
Wiclif  opposition. 

In  the  meantime  the  persecution  of  the  itinerant  preachers 
was  proceeding,  and  of  all  the  principal  friends  and  ad- 
mirers of  Wiclif.  The  Bishops  of  London  and  Lincoln  in 
particular — Robert  Bray  brook  and  John  Buckingham — dis- 
tinguished themselves  by  their  zeal  in  this  work.  In  the 
extensive  and  populous  diocese  of  Lincoln  were  Oxford, 
Lutterworth,  and  Leicester,  the  three  chief  centres  of 
Wiclifite  effort ;  and  in  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  and  the 
surrounding  country,  there  were  also  to  be  found  many 
"  evangelical  men."  But  the  chief  instruments  of  perse- 
cution in  both  dioceses  were  the  begging  monks.  Wiclif 
himself  mentions  this  fact,  with  bitter  complaints  against 
the  diabolical  malice  of  these  monks,  who  were  unceasingly 
at  work  in  London  and  Lincoln  to  extirpate  the  true  and 
poor  preachers,  principally  for  the  reason  that  the  latter  had 
discovered  and  exposed  their  cunning  practices  to  the  people. 
The  Bishop  of  Lmcoln  received  from  the  Archbishop  a 
letter  of  commendation  and  thanks  for  his  indefatigable  zeal 
against  "  the  Antichrist"  and  his  adherents.'-'^  One  of  the 
itinerants  who  were  summoned  in  the  diocese  of  Lincoln, 
examined,  and  at  last  condemned  to  recant,  was  the  priest, 
William  of  Swinderby.  This  man  appealed  at  first,  when 
he  was  summoned  by  the  bishop,  to  the  King,  and  had  the 
wish  in  particular  to  be  examined  by  the  Duke  of  Lancaster. 
But  this  helped  him  little.     The  case  even  came  before  Par- 


RECANTATIONS.  261 

liament,  but  the  Parliament  did  not  take  up  the  subject, 
but  left  it  to  the  Ordinaiy  himself  for  decision.  And  the 
Ordinary  obliged  Swinderby  to  promise  upon  oath,  that 
he  would  never  more  in  future  preach  and  teach  the  Articles 
which  were  laid  before  him.  He  was,  at  the  same  time, 
required  to  make  a  public  recantation,  in  a  form  which  was 
drawn  up  for  him,  and  this  in  the  Cathedral  of  London,  in 
the  Collegiate  Church  of  Leicester,  and  in  four  parish 
churches  of  the  diocese  of  Lincoln.^^ 

In  the  meantime,  by  command  of  the  Archbishop,  search 
was  made  in  Oxford  and  in  the  country  for  Hereford  and 
Repington,  Bedeman  and  Aston.®^  During  the  summer 
months  they  remained  in  concealment,  and  were  able 
to  baffle  the  pursuit  of  their  enemies ;  but  in  the  course 
of  October  the  three  last-named  were  apprehended,  one 
after  the  other,  and  ended  by  making  their  submission 
and  agreeing  to  recant.  The  first  to  set  this  example 
was  Laurence  Stephen,  or  Bedeman  f^  next,  Repington, 
on  23rd  October,  presented  himself  before  the  Archbishop 
and  several  bishops  and  doctors  in  the  Dominican  Monastery 
of  London.  He  endeavoured  to  clear  himself  of  the  charges 
laid  against  him,  and  declared  his  assent  to  the  synodal 
judgment  of  the  2.')th  May,  whereby  the  twenty-four  Wiclif 
Articles  were  condemned;  whereupon  he  was  absolved  by 
the  Primate  from  the  bann,  and  restored  to  his  former  posi- 
tion, especially  to  his  university  rights.^^  His  recantation 
was  sealed  at  a  provincial  synod,  held  in  Oxford  in  Novem- 
ber, by  a  confession  of  his  faith  which  he  signed  with  his  own 
hand  on  the  24th  of  that  month.^^  Last  of  all,  John  Aston, 
too,  made  up  his  mind  to  a  recantation,  which  he  solemnly 
made  before  the  same  synod  in  Oxford,  probably  on  24th 
November,  and  was  therefore  also  absolved  and  reponed."^ 


262  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

The  only  one  of  Wiclif  s  friends  who  now  remained  firm 
and  unbowed  was  Nicolas  Hereford.  If  we  are  to  follow, 
indeed,  the  account  of  Knighton  in  his  Chronicle,  Hereford 
must  have  recanted  about  the  same  time.  But  upon 
accurate  examination  tliis  assumption  is  found  to  be 
erroneous ;  it  is  in  fact  confuted  by  a  piece  of  infor- 
mation which  we  owe  to  the  same  narrator.^^"  He 
informs  us,  namely,  that  Hereford  went  to  Rome,  and 
submitted  the  twenty-four  Articles  to  Pope  Urban  VI. 
for  his  definitive  decision.  After  mature  examination 
by  several  cardinals  and  other  theologians,  the  Pope 
simply  confirmed  the  judgment  which  had  been  pro- 
nounced in  England.  But  Urban,  mindful  of  the  thanks 
he  owed  to  the  English  Church  for  its  adherence  to  his 
obedience,  instead  of  sentencing  Hereford  to  death  at  the 
stake,  was  pleased  to  commute  the  sentence  to  imprisonment 
for  life.  But  in  the  summer  of  1385  he  was  unexpectedly 
released  fi-om  prison  and  returned  to  England,  upon  occasion 
of  the  Pope's  being  besieged  in  Nocera  by  King  Charles  of 
Sicily,  when  the  Romans,  discontented  at  the  long  absence 
of  the  Pope,  raised  a  tumult  in  the  city,  and  among  other 
doings  broke  open  the  Papal  prison  and  set  free  the 
prisoners. 

In  this  whole  narrative  there  is  nothing  of  inherent 
improbability.  It  is  on  the  contrary  confirmed  by  the  fact 
that  from  27th  June  1382  Hereford  was  not  seen  in  England 
for  several  years,  as  well  as  by  the  curious  fact  formerly 
mentioned  that  his  Tra.nslation  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
abruptly  broken  ofi*,  and  so  remained  unfinished.  On  15th 
January  1383  the  Archbishop  applied  to  the  King  for  the 
assistance  of  Government  against  Hereford,  because  he  was 
still  setting  the  bann  pronounced  upon  him  at  defiance.^"^ 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  V.  263 

In  1387,  several  years  after  Wiclif's  death,  Hereford  is  again 
mentioned  as  the  leading  Itinerant  Preacher  of  the  Lol- 
lards.^*'^  It  is  scarcely  credible,  if  he  had  remained  all  these 
years  in  the  kingdom,  that  he  could  have  escaped  for  so  long 
a  time  the  search  of  his  persecutors. 

Thus  had  Archbishop  Courtnay,  at  the  date  of  October 
1382,  i.e.,  within  five  mouths  of  his  entry  upon  the  actual 
discharge  of  his  high  office,  succeeded  to  such  an  extent 
in  his  designs  that  the  opposition  party  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford  was  fairly  intimidated  and  reduced  to  silence. 
The  most  important  members  of  the  party  were  either 
driven  out  of  the  country,  or  had  bowed  themselves  in 
submission  and  made  formal  recantation.  A  very  consider- 
able success,  certainly,  to  be  obtained  in  so  comparatively 
short  a  time. 

NOTES  TO  SECTION  V. 

60.  In  quo  die  (10  Juni  1382)  visi  sunt  duodecim  homines  armati  sub  indumentis 
in  scholis,  Fasciculi  Zizati.,  ed.  Shirley,  302.  Post  sen/inn<;m  intravit  (Philippus 
Repyngdon)  ecclesiam  S.  Fredeswidae  cum  viginti  hominibus  subtus  pannos 
armatis,  p.  300. 

61.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  296. 

62.  lb.,  p.  292. 

63.  Sed  ille  Nicolaus  velut  miser  f  ugiens,  numquam  voluit  librum  vel  quaternum 
communicare  alteri  doctori,  sed  modo  haereticorum  et  multoties  meretricio  processit. 
Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  296. 

64.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  296  :  Haereses  et  errores  et  alia  nefanda  redacta  sunt  in 
certam  formam  per  notaries,  ad  instantiam  cujusdam  doctoris  in  theologia,  fratris, 
Petri  Stokys  Carmelitae. 

65.  Ih.,  p.  296  f. 

66.  lb.,  p.  275-282. 

67.  lb.,  p.  298  f. 

68.  lb.,  p.  299. 

69.  Litera  fratris  Petri  Stokys,  etc.,  in  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  300,  f. 

70.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  299  f. ;  comp.  307. 

71.  Letter  from  Dr.  Stokes  to  the  Archbishop,  6  Juni,  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  300  f. 

72.  lb.,  p.  302. 


264  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

73.  We  give  the  poem  coinidete  in  Appendix  No.  7.  The  dates  given  above  may 
be  gathered  from  the  facts  that  the  appeal  of  Hereford  and  Repington  to  the  Pope 
is  mentioned  at  the  end  of  the  poem  ;  and  this  appeal  was  made  at  the  beginning  of 
July,  from  which  it  follows  that  the  piece  could  not  have  been  written  earlier  than 
that  date.  But,  as  Repington  recanted  on  23d  October,  the  poem  cannot  have 
been  v^ritten  later  than  in  October.  The  poem  has  already  been  twice  printed 
from  a  MS.  in  the  British  Museum,  but  the  Vienna  MS.  which  we  have 
used  gives  the  text  in  a  form  which  is  in  part  better  than  the  former.  The  poem, 
•which  is  distinguished  by  a  remarkable  refrain,  is  in  its  contents  in  part  a  com- 
plaint, and  in  part  an  honourable  commemoration  of  the  Reformation  efforts  of 
Wiclif  and  his  friends.  The  complaint  describes  the  melancholy  condition  of 
England,  menaced  without,  rotten  within,  and  sinking  deeper  and  deeper  in  its 
moral  and  religious  life.  For  this  state  of  things  the  writer  blames  aU  ranks,  but 
especially  the  Begging  Friars  and  the  Benedictines  also  as  well.  To  lift  up  the 
Church  again,  God  has  raised  up  Wiclif  and  his  disciples,  who  tell  both  the  landed 
and  the  Mendicant  orders  the  truth.  But  the  latter  have  opposed  themselves  to  the 
witnesses  of  the  truth,  and  coming  forward  one  after  another,  have  attacked  them  in 
disputations.  But  Hereford  and  Repington  defended  themselves  so  victoriously 
that  nothing  remained  for  the  friars  at  last  but  to  take  refuge  in  the  Archbishop, 
who  thereupon  took  steps  against  Wiclif's  friends  until  they  appealed  to  the  Pope. 

74.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  304-308. 

75.  Wilkins,  Concilia  Mafftiae  Br itaniiiae,  Vol.  III.  p.  159.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  288, 
fol.  308. 

76.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  308. 

77.  76.,  p.  309-3ll. 

78.  lb.,  p.  311. 

79.  lb.,  p.  350,  in  a  Document  of  the  Bishop  of  Meath. 

80.  lb.,  p.  311,  f.  ;  comp.  315. 

81.  Wilkins,  Concilia,  III.  160  f.  ;  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  289.  The  date  of  the  latter 
document  has  to  be  corrected  by  substituting  xiv.  cal.  Julii  for  xiv.  cal.  Junii. 
Shirley's  conjecture,  note  2,  on  p.  289,  is  erroneous. 

82.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  319. 

83.  The  "Explanation"  in  full  form  in  Latin,  is  to  be  seen  in  Wilkins,  III., 
p.  161  f.  ;  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  319-325.  In  Old  English,  Knighton's  Chronicle,  fol. 
2655,  f.  John  Foxe,  Acts  and  Monuments,  III.,  32  f. 

84.  Wilkins,  III.,  163  ;  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  326-329. 

85.  Confessio  Magistri  Johannis  Astone,  in  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  329  f.  Knighton 
gives  this  Confession  in  Old  English,  though  in  part  incorrectly  in  his  Chronicle, 
Book  v.,  fol.  2656  f. 

86.  Wilkins,  Cone.  M.  Brit.,  III.,  163  f.     Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  290-331. 

87.  lb.,  IIL,  164  f.     Foxe,  Acts  and  Mon.,  111.,  40. 

88.  Tb.,  The  archiepiscopal  Document  of  12  Juli  vid.,  Wilkins,  III.,  165. 

89.  lb.,  Concilia  M.  Brit.  III.,  165  f.  The  Mandate  of  the  Archbishop  to  the 
Preacher  at  St.  Paul's  on  Sunday  of  that  date. 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   V.  265 

90.  Mandate  of  same  date  to  the  Chancellor,  in  Wilkin's  ;   Concilia,  III.,  166. 

91.  lb.,  Mandate  of  30th  July  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  III.,  167  f. 

92.  Breve  regium,  in  Rymer,  Federa,  VII.,  363  Wilkins,  Concilia,  III.,  166  f.  ; 
Fasc.  Zizan.,  312  f. 

93.  Breve  regimum,  in  Rymer,  Federa,  VII.,  363  ;  Fasc.  Zizan.,  314  f.  ;  Lewis, 
p.  365  ;  Foxe,  III.,  43. 

94.  Trialogus,  IV.,  c.  37,  p.  379  :  Tam  Londoniis  quam  Lincolniae  laborant 
assidue  ad  sacerdotes  fideles  et  pauperes  extinguendum,  et  specialiter  propter  hoc. 
quod  eorum  versutias  caritative  in  populo  detexerunt. 

95.  WUkins,  Concilia  M.  Brit,  III.,  168  f. 

96.  Processus  domini  Joh.  Lincolniensis  episcopi  contra  Willelmum  Swynderby 
Wycclevistam,  in  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  334-346.  This  is  a  full  transcript,  dated  11th 
July  1382,  and  sent  by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  to  those  clergy  of  his  Diocese  in 
whose  churches  Swinderby  was  condemned  to  make  the  recantation  required  of 
him. 

97.  Information  of  the  Chancellor  Robert  Rigge  sent  to  the  Archbishop,  dated 
25th  July  1382,  in  Wilkins,  III.,  168. 

98.  Under  date  18th  October  1382,  the  Archbishop  issued  a  Mandate  restoring 
him  to  his  rights  in  the  University,  which  pre -supposes  his  recantation  to  have 
been  previously  made. 

99.  See  the  relevant  document  of  23d  October  1382,  in  Wilkins,  III.,  169. 

100.  Wilkins,  IIL,  172. 

101.  Ih.,  III.,  172.  Comp.  in  same  vol.,  fol.  169,  the  Archbishop's  attestation 
of  absolution  and  rehabilitation,  dated  Oxford,  27th  November  1382. 

102.  Knighton,  fol.  2655  f.  A  recantation  of  Hereford  in  English,  which, 
however,  cannot  belong  to  the  year  1382,  but  must  date  from  a  later  period, 
because  it  names  the  year  of  grace  1382  as  the  date  of  a  former  declaration  of  its 
author.  Still,  we  have  no  ground  for  suspecting  it  to  be  spurious,  as  Vaughan  does, 
Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  89. 


Section  VI. — Tlie  Cautious  Proceedings  of  the  Hierarchy 
against  Wiclif  himself. 

Only  one  man  still  stood  firm  and  erect  upon  the  field. 
And  that  was  no  less  a  personality  than  Wichf  himself,  the 
bold,  manful,  and  indefatigable  leader  of  the  party.  How 
comes  it  that  precisely  the  recognised  head  of  the  party 
should  have  remained  unassailed  ?  Judgment,  it  was  true, 
had  been  pronounced  against  his  "  Articles,"  They  had  been 
branded  by  the  Church  authority  partly  as  errors,  partly  as 


266  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

heresies ;  and  it  might  be  said  the  name  was  nothing  com- 
pared with  the  thing — the  principles  were  the  chief  matter, 
and  these  had  been  condemned  without  reserve  and  without 
mercy.  True,  also,  measures  had  not  hitherto  been  want- 
ing which  had  been  taken  against  Wiclif  himself.  The  Arch- 
bishop had,  12th  July  1382,  sent  an  order  to  the  Chancellor 
of  Oxford  that  no  one  in  the  University  should  be  permitted 
to  attend  the  preaching  of  Wiclif  or  his  adherents,  or  in  any 
way  to  favour  them ;  ^^^  and  in  a  second  order  it  was  com- 
manded that  public  intimation  should  be  given  that  the  Arch- 
bishop had  suspended  John  Wiclif,  with  Hereford,  Reping- 
ton,  Aston,  and  Bedeman  from  all  scholastic  functions,  until 
they  should  be  purged  by  himself  from  all  suspicion  of  erro- 
neous doctrine.^"*  But  this  did  not  touch  directly  the  person 
of  Wiclif,  especially  as  at  that  time  he  no  longer  had  his 
principal  residence  in  Oxford,  but  in  his  parish  of  Lutter- 
worth ;  and  of  course  it  was  only  his  honour,  not  his  per- 
sonal condition,  that  was  affected  when,  in  addition,  a  royal 
order  to  the  Chancellor  and  Proctors  of  Oxford  (13th  July 
1382)  prohibited  all  manner  of  favour  being  shown  to  John 
Wiclif  and  the  other  leaders,  and  appointed  search  to  be 
made  for  the  writings  of  Wiclif  and  Hereford.^"^ 

The  question  therefore  again  presents  itself,  how  it  is  to 
be  explained  that,  at  a  time  when  persecution  was  so  sys- 
J  tematically  carried  out  against  the  friends  of  Wiclif,  he 
should  have  remained  personally  unmolested  himself?  The 
question  is  attended  with  all  the  greater  difficulty,  the  more 
clearly  his  enemies  were  aware  of  his  personal  importance 
and  influence  as  the  leader  of  his  party ;  and  plainly  they 
were  not  lacking  in  this  respect ;  they  spoke  of  him  as  the 
Antichrist  who  was  doing  his  utmost  to  undermine  the 
faith."" 


WICLIF  BEFORE  A  SYNOD.  2(57 

It  has  been  sometimes  thought  that  the  difficulty  may  be 
removed  by  the  observation  that  the  measures  adopted 
against  the  party  applied  principally  te  Oxford,  while  Wichf 
had  already  for  some  time  left  the  University  and  confined 
himself  to  Lutterworth.^*'^  But  this  goes  but  a  very  little 
way  to  clear  up  the  matter ;  for  on  the  one  hand,  Wichf 
appears  even  now  to  have  still  possessed  the  right  of 
delivering  lectures,  conducting  disputations,  and  preaching 
before  the  University;  otherwise  the  suspension  from  all 
academical  acts  which  the  Archbishop  pronounced  upon  him 
would  have  had  no  meaning  ;^'''^  and  on  the  other  hand,  the 
measures  referred  to  were  meant  to  apply  to  the  whole 
province  of  Canterbury,  howsoever  and  wheresoever  the 
alleged  errors  might  come  into  view.  It  may  well,  however, 
be  supposed  (and  this  is  perhaps  the  true  solution  of  the 
difficulty)  that  it  was  part  of  the  well-weighed  plan  of 
operations  adopted  by  the  Archbishop,  that  after  condemna- 
tion had  been  pronounced  upon  the  doctrines  and  principles 
of  the  party,  the  personal  persecution  should  only  be  di- 
rected at  first  against  Wiclif's  adherents  and  friends,  in 
order  that  after  these  had  been  intimidated  and  reduced 
to  submission,  Wiclif  himself  might  be  all  the  more  easily 
overpowered  when  deserted  by  all,  and  left  standing  alone. 

In  the  end,  however,  he  was  summoned  to  appear  in 
person  before  the  Provincial  Synod  which  assembled  in 
Oxford,  18th  November  1382,  and  was  again  adjourned  to 
the  24th  of  the  same  month.  The  fact  is  not  placed  beyond 
all  doubt,  but  has  still  a  balance  of  probability  in  its  favour, 
that  Wiclif  presented  himself  before  this  assembly  in  the 
church  of  St.  Frideswide,  and  in  the  trial  to  which  he  was 
submitted,  gave  expression  io  and  defended  his  convictions 
with  freedom,   and  faithfulness,  and  unshrinking  courage. 


268  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Another  fact,  however,  connected  with  the  trial  is  of  un- 
doubted historical  certainty,  viz.,  that  no  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced upon  him  as  its  issue,  either  condemning  him  to 
make  a  recantation  of  his  doctrine,  or  inflicting  upon  him 
any  other  ecclesiastical  censure.  The  silence  of  his  adver- 
saries as  to  any  such  issue  is  itself,  in  such  a  case  as  this,  a 
convincing  proof  of  the  fact ;  for  assuredly  they  would  not 
have  failed  to  trumpet  forth  the  event  in  high  triumph,  if 
they  had  obtained  so  unexpected  a  success,  and  had  bowed 
down  the  renowned  and  admired  head  of  the  opposition  to 
undergo  the  humiliation  of  a  public  recantation.  Add  to 
this  another  fact,  that  when  it  was  afterwards  pretended 
that  he  had  made  such  a  recantation,  they  found  themselves 
obliged  to  put  forward  as  a  proof  of  this  a  piece  of  writing 
— viz.,  his  English  Confession — which,  properly  understood, 
sets  forth  Wiclif's  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  in  language  so 
clear  and  unmistakeable,  and  in  a  tone  of  such  fearless 
decision,  that  it  is  marvellous  that  it  should  ever  have  been 
appealed  to  for  such  a  purpose  ;  which,  however,  would  never 
have  been  done  if  any  document  had  ever  come  from  Wiclif 's 
hand  of  such  a  kind  as  to  show  that  he  had  bowed  down 
his  shoulder  under  the  caudine  yoke  of  the  hierarchical  in- 
quisition. 

What  was  it  that  influenced  the  Hierarchy  to  abstain  from 
demanding  from  him  such  a  recantatation,  to  connive  at  his 
offence,  and  to  allow  the  bold,  free-spoken  man  to  go  back  to 
his  Lutterworth  flock  untouched,  and  in  full  possession  of  all 
his  ecclesiastical  promotions  1  Are  we  to  suppose  that  what 
weighed  with  them  was  a  dread  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
who  had  always  been  his  powerful  patron?  Archbishop 
Courtnay,  it  is  true,  could  scarcely  have  forgotten  the  scene 
in  his  own  Cathedral  of   St.  Paul's  which  had  touched  his 


wiclif's  memorial  to  parliament.  269 

honour  so  deeply ;  when  the  Duke  took  upon  him  the  de- 
fence of  the  Oxford  doctor  in  so  high-handed  a  style,  and 
with  insulting  threats  directed  against  his  own  episcopal 
person. ^^'^  But  in  the  interval  the  Duke  had  been  so  sensibly 
affected  by  the  events  of  the  preceding  year,  when  his  life 
was  threatened  at  the  hands  of  the  revolted  peasantry,  that 
his  haughty  bearing  and  power  had  been  much  broken  down. 
He  had,  besides,  for  some  time  back — no  doubt  under  the 
influence  of  the  same  circumstances — kept  himself  out  of 
sight  in  Church  affairs,  and  had  warned  Wiclif  to  be  on  his 
guard  ^^^ — a  fact  which  could  not  have  remained  unknown  to 
the  Archbishop.  It  can  hardly,  then,  be  supposed  that  it 
was  from  any  reference  to  the  Duke  that  Courtnay  should 
have  resolved  to  proceed  cautiously  with  Wiclif  It  must 
rather  have  been  the  thought  of  Parliament  and  of  the  state 
of  public  opinion  that  weighed  with  him,  in  adopting  this 
prudential  course. 

It  was  on  Tuesday,  18th  November,  that  the  Convocation 
had  met  in  Oxford,  and  on  the  followmg  day  the  Parliament 
assembled  in  Westminster.  To  this  Parliament  Wiclif  ad- 
dressed himself  in  a  Memorial  which,  it  may  be  presumed, 
would  not  fail  to  attract  some  measure  of  public  attention. 
At  least  Wiclif  himself  expressed  the  hope  that  it  would  lead 
to  a  discussion.  In  its  whole  substance  the  "  Complaint "  was 
drawn  up  in  such  a  way  as  to  keep  steadily  before  men's  minds 
the  legislative  point  of  view.  Four  points  were  examined 
in  it :  1,  Monastic  vows ;  2,  The  exemption  of  the  clergy 
and  Church  property;  3,  What  view  was  to  be  taken  of 
tithes  and  offerings;  4,  That  the  pure  doctrine  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles  touching  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be 
allowed  to  be  publicly  taught  in  the  Churches.^^^  The  last 
point  is  handled  in  the  briefest  manner;    and  it  was  good 


270  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

tact  iu  Wiclif  not  to  go  any  deeper  into  doctrine,  for  King 
and  Parliament  were  not  tlie  proper  authorities  from  which 
could  come  the  decision  of  dogmatic  questions.  But  all  the 
more  fully  does  the  author  examine  the  first  point,  devoting 
almost  one  half  of  the  Memorial  to  the  proof  of  the 
proposition  that  monastic  vows  are  nothing  but  inventions 
of  sinful  men,  and  are  destitute  of  all  obligatory  force.  A 
two-fold  ground-thought  runs  through  the  whole  document : 
first,  the  conception  of  the  pure  religion  of  Christ,  without  any 
additions  of  men;  and  next,  the  conception  of  Christian  liberty. 
When  the  author  claims  the  right  of  publicly  setting  forth 
the  Scripture  doctrine  of  the  Sacrament,  and  when,  in  oppo- 
Bition  to  the  fetters  of  monastic  vows,  he  desires  for  himself 
and  others  the  liberty  of  following  the  pure  and  simple  rule 
of  the  Redeemer ;  when  he  contests  the  right  of  compulsory 
tithing,  and  on  the  other  hand  approves  of  tithes  and  ofi'eringa 
only  as  voluntary  gifts,  it  is  always  a  love  of  Christian  liberty 
by  which  the  writer  is  inspired.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
this  Memorial,  as  a  summary  exhibition  and  defence  of 
Wiclif's  ideas,  was  well-fitted  to  find  acceptance  among  the 
representatives  of  the  country.^^^ 

To  this  must  be  added  the  well-warranted  mistrust,  and 
the  only  too  intelligible  irritation  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
occasioned  by  the  unconstitutional  and  arbitrary  measure 
of  the  preceding  session,  when  a  bill  for  the  imprisonment  of 
the  Wiclif  Itinerants  by  the  ofiicials  of  counties,  which 
had  been  passed  only  by  the  Lords,  and  had  never  even 
been  brought  before  the  Lower  House,  had  been  admitted 
into  the  collection  of  the  Statutes  of  the  realm.  What  must 
this  lead  to,  men  demanded,  if  the  Crown  and  the  Peers  of 
the  realm,  quite  over  the  heads  of  the  Commons,  lend  their 
hands  to  the  bishops  iu  encroaching  upon  the  liberty  of  the 


CAUTION  OF  THE  ARCHBISHOP.  271 

people,  and  bowing  them  down  in  a  style  never  before 
heard  of.  under  the  yoke  of  the  prelates?  If  we  allow  such 
an  irresponsible  proceeding  to  pass  unnoticed,  what  will 
become  at  last  of  the  legislative  power  of  the  Commons  ? 
The  Commons,  therefore,  addressed  a  strong  representa- 
tion to  the  Government  against  the  pretended  "statute" 
which  had  never  obtained  their  consent,  and  pressed  for  its 
annulment ; — a  demand  which  was  also,  in  point  of  fact, 
conceded.  It  may  readily  be  supposed  that  this  question 
must  have  been  warmly  discussed  among  Members  of 
Parliament  and  in  patriotic  circles  before  the  opening  of 
the  parliamentary  session;  and  as  it  was  the  prelates  who 
"were  chiefly  aimed  at  in  this  popular  agitation,  it  is  easy  to 
understand  how  the  Archbishop,  calling  to  mind  the  fate 
which  had  been  prepared  for  his  predecessor  Sudbury, 
may  have  found  it  advisable  to  proceed  cautiously  with 
a  man  so  highly  regarded  in  the  country,  and  of  such  im- 
mense influence,  as  Wiclif ;  and  especially  on  the  very  eve  of 
the  opening  of  Parliament,  rather  to  wink  at  his  offences,  than 
to  add  intensity  to  the  ill-feeling  which  already  existed  by 
adopting  a  course  in  which  all  considerations  of  policy  and 
prudence  were  set  aside. 

NOTES  TO  SECTION  VI. 

103.  The  order  is  given  by  Foxe,  Acts,  etc.,  III.,  47  f. 

104.  In  a  mandate  to  tlie  Bishop  of  Worcester  of  13th  August  1387,  Wilkius, 
III.,  202  f. 

105.  Wilkins,  III.,  160. 

106.  lb.,  fol.  160. 

107.  lb.,  fol.  166. 

108.  Ilium  Ajitichristum,  de  quo  scribitis  pro  posse  fidei  subversorem,  in  a  letter 
of  Archbishop  Courtnay  to  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  Wilkins,  HI.,  168.  It  can 
scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  above  expressions  which  the  Archbishop  borrows  from 
the  letter  of  his  suffragan  refer  to  Wiclif. 


272  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

109.  Vaughan,  A  Monor/raph,  p.  286  f. 

110.  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  389  f. 

111.  Lewis,  p.  117,  says,  "  I  cannot  find  that  Wiclif  appeared  before  this  council." 
Herein  he  manifestly  relies  upon  the  circumstance  that  the  protocol  of  the  sessions 
(Wilkins,  III.,  172)  does  not  say  a  single  word  about  Wiclif.  But  Vaughan  justly 
remarks  {Monogra^-jh,  Apinndix,  p.  572),  that  the  protocol  throughout  contains  very 
meagre  minutes  of  the  proceedings.  These  proceedings  relate  to  the  sworn  recan- 
tations of  Repington  and  Aston,  as  well  as  to  the  examination  of  the  Carmelite 
Stokes  and  the  Cistercian  Henry  Cronip.  But  if  Wiclif  made  his  answers  before 
the  council  with  intrepidity,  and  the  bishops,  notwithstanding,  could  not  see  their 
way  to  decide  upon  a  final  condemnation  of  his  person,  it  is  not  diflBcult  to  explain 
why  such  an  issue  as  this,  which  there  was  not  the  slightest  reason  to  be  proud  of, 
ehould  rather  have  been  passed  over  in  silence  in  a  half- official  minute.  While 
nothing  is  to  be  gathered  from  this  document,  either  for  or  against  the  fact  in 
question,  we  have  two  other  authorities  who  expressly  attest  that  Wiclif,  when 
summoned,  appeared  before  the  council  and  made  answer  for  himself.  These  are  the 
chronicler  Knighton,  and  Anthony  Wood.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  when  we  care- 
fully compare  the  two,  the  information  of  the  latter  appears  to  rest  exclusively  upon 
that  of  the  former,  which  is,  indeed,  of  much  older  date,  for  the  account  given  by 
the  churchmen  who  were  present  in  the  council  coincides  with  Knighton's  nar- 
rative, as  also  Wood's  narrative  does,  save  only  that  Wood,  as  a  historian  of  the 
University,  names  the  chancellor  and  doctors,  as  may  be  easily  understood,  imme- 
diately after  the  bishops,  while  the  Canon  of  Leicester  puts  them  in  the 
second  line.  And  there  is  another  circumstance  which  speaks  for  Wood's  de- 
pendence upon  the  chronicler,  that  the  former  as  well  as  the  latter,  and  with 
quite  as  little  justification  too,  looks  upon  the  confession  of  Wiclif  as  a  recantation. 
The  circumstance,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Wood  makes  mention  of  six  men  who 
wrote  polemically  against  that  confession^  of  whom  Knighton  says  nothing,  is  by 
no  means  a  proof,  as  Vaughan  thinks  (p.  766),  that  Wood  had  other  authorities 
besides  Knighton,  in  favour  of  the  chief  point  of  Wiclif  having  presented  himself 
before  the  council,  for  it  proves  no  more  than  this,  that  Wood  found  that  particular 
literary  notice  in  some  other  source  than  the  Leicester  Chronicle.  All  this  being 
so,  we  have,  in  fact,  only  one  original  authority  for  the  appearance  of  Wiclif  before 
the  council.  But  still  this  authority  declares  clearly,  and  with  precision,  that  Wiclif 
was  summoned  by  the  Archbishop  to  Oxford,  that  he  appeared  before  him  and  six 
bishops,  as  well  as  before  the  chancellor  and  numerous  doctors,  and  before  clergy 
and  people,  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  heresy  which  was  laid  against  him  {De 
Eventibus  Angliae,  fol.  2G49).  He  asserts,  it  is  true,  that  Wiclif  made  a  complete 
recantation  [eis  conclusionibus  sive  opinionihus  omnino  renuncians,  nee  eas 
tenuisse  nee  tenere  se  velle  protestans).  But  this  judgment  is  contradicted  by  the 
English  Confession  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  Knighton  has  inserted  in  his 
Chronicle,  word  for  word,  in  this  very  place.  The  document  does  not  contain  a 
single  trace  of  retractation,  or  of  even  the  correction  only  of  what  he  had  before  said 
on  the  subject,  but  only  a  clear  exhibition  and  emphatic  assertion  of  the  same 
doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper  which  he  declares  to  be  the  pure  doctrine  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  at  the  same  time  the  primitive  doctrine  of  the  Church,  whereas  the 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   VI.  273 

doctrine  of  the  Sacrament,  as  a  mere  accident  without  substance,  ia  a  modem  error. 
The  Chrmiicle  of  Leicester  has  found,  notwithstanding,  men  of  easy  faith  and  full 
of  prejudice  who  have  maintained,  on  this  mistaken  authority,  even  in  the  present 
century,  that  Wiclif  at  that  provincial  council  sought  and  obtained  rest  from 
further  persecution  by  a  cowardly  disgiiising  of  his  real  convictions,  i.e.,  Lingard, 
History  of  England,  IV.,  260.  Hefele,  on  the  other  hand,  in  his  Concillengeschichte, 
VI.  828,  has,  with  justice,  acknowledged  that  Wiclif,  in  the  confession  in  question, 
remained  true  to  his  convictions,  and  even  warmly  attacked  the  Roman  Catholic 
doctrine  of  the  Supper.  There  is  only  one  excuse  for  this  misinterpretation  of  the 
piece  ;  if  the  bishops  had  reasons  for  letting  Wiclif's  declaration  pass  as  though 
they  were  satisfied  with  it,  and  saw  in  it  a  sort  of  recantation,  it  is  all  the  more  easy 
to  understand  that  the  chronicler,  in  case  he  did  not  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter, 
might  unwarily  consider  the  document  in  question  as  a  recantation.  Nor  may  it 
remain  unmentioned  that  Knighton,  in  addition  to  this,  fell  into  another  error  of 
a  chronological  kind.  He  is  plainly  under  the  erroneous  impression  that  it  was 
this  council  at  Oxford  which  first  pronounced  that  judgment  upon  the  much  agitated 
Articles  of  Wiclif,  which,  in  fact,  had  already  been  pronounced  upon  them  in  May 
]  382.     Comp.  also  the  observations  of  Arnold  in  Select  English  Works,  III.,  501. 

112.  Comp.  chap.  5,  above.     Vaughan,  il/owo^'ropA,  p.  287,  is  disposed  to   think 
that  this  was  the  consideration  which  chiefly  weighed  with  the  Archbishop. 

113.  This  memorial  to  Richard  II.  and  Parliament,  beginning  with  the  words — 
"  Plese  it  to  our  noble  and  most  worthi  King  Richard,"  of  which  two  manuscripts  are 
still  extant,  the  one  perfect,  in  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge,  and  the  othe 
imperfect,  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin  (comp.  Shirley's  Catalogue,  p.  45)  was  jDublished 
by  Dr.  Thomas  James  in  1608,  along  with  a  tract  of  considerable  length  against 
the  Mendicant  orders.  It  is  published  in  Arnold's  Select  English  Writings,  III. 
507-23,  upon  the  basis  of  the  Cambridge  MS. 


Section  VII. —  The  last  tivo  Years  of  Wiclif,  and  Ids  Death. 

Wiclif  was  left  at  liberty  to  return  iu  peace  to  his  quiet 
cure  in  Lutterworth  ;  and  during  the  two  full  years  which 
intervened  between  that  date  and  his  death,  he  experienced 
no  further  personal  disturbance  at  the  hands  of  the  English 
hierarchy.  The  brief  term  of  life  still  allotted  to  him  he  filled 
up  with  tranquil  but  many-sided  and  indefatigable  labour. 
Before  everything  else  he  devoted  himself  with  conscientious 
faithfulness  to  his  pastoral  work.  A  large  part  of  the  English 
sermons  preached  by  him  which  have  come  down  to  us  belongs, 
without  doubt,  to  these  last  years  of  his  life."*  He  found  him- 
self, however,  necessitated  by  age  and  declining  health  and 
VOL.  II.  S 


274  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

strength  to  avail  himself  of  an  assistant  pastor — a  chaplain. 
The  person  who  was  associated  with  him  for  two  years  in 
this  capacity  was  John  Horn.  In  addition,  John  Purvey 
was  Wiclif's  constant  attendant  and  confidential  messmate — 
a  helper  of  kindred  spirit  to  his  own,  and  a  fellow-labourer 
in  all  his  widely-extended  work."^  To  him,  without  doubt, 
we  are  indebted  for  the  writing  out  and  collection  and  pre- 
servation of  so  many  of  Wiclif's  sermons.  In  the  great  work 
of  the  English  translation  of  the  Bible,  next  to  Nicolas  Here- 
ford, John  Purvey  was  the  most  active  and  meritorious  of 
Wiclif  s  co-workers.  When  this  work  was  completed  in  its 
first  form,  and  Wiclif  became  sensible  of  the  need  of  sub- 
mitting it  to  further  revision  and  improvement,  it  was  un- 
doubtedly Purvey  upon  whom  the  largest  share  of  this 
labour  fell,  and  he  carried  forward  the  work  after  Wiclif's 
death,  till  it  was  at  last  happily  completed  in  the  year  1388,^^^ 
It  may  also  be  assumed,  with  some  degree  of  probability, 
that  during  these  years  the  preaching  itinerancy,  although 
menaced  by  the  measures  of  the  bishops,  was  still  carried  on, 
though  in  diminished  proportions  and  with  some  degree  of 
caution ;  and  so  long  as  Wiclif  lived,  Lutterworth  continued 
to  be  the  centre  of  this  evangelical  mission.  But  the  nar- 
rower the  limits  became  within  which  this  itinerancy  could 
be  worked,  the  more  zealously  did  Wiclif  apply  himself  to 
the  task  of  instructing  the  people  by  means  of  short  and 
simple  tracts  in  the  English  tongue,  as  a  compensatory  mode 
of  reaching  them.  The  largest  number  of  the  English  tracts 
of  Wiclif  which  have  come  down  to  us  belong  to  these  latest 
years  of  his  Hfe,^^''  and  of  these  there  are  at  least  half  a  hundred. 
Setting  aside  translations  of  portions  of  the  text  of  Scripture, 
these  tracts  may  be  divided  into  two  chief  groups.  The  one 
consists  of  shorter  or  longer  explanations  of  single  heads  of 


LITERARY   ACTIVITY   OF   WICLIF.  275 

the  Catechism  ;  tlie  other  of  discussions  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church.  The  hitter,  for  the  most  part,  have  a  polemical  char- 
acter, while  the  former  are  in  a  more  positive  form,  didactic 
and  edifying.  To  indicate  more  closely  their  contents  in  a  few 
cases,  several  tracts  of  the  first  group  treat  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, of  works  of  mercy,  of  the  seven  mortal  sins ;  sev- 
eral discuss  the  duties  belonging  to  the  different  stations  and 
relations  of  life,  while  others  treat  of  prayer,  and  explain  the 
Pater  A'oster  and  the  Ave  Maria.  There  are  also  tracts  on 
the  Lord's  Supper  and  on  Confession  and  Absolution.  To 
the  second  group — all  treating  of  the  Church,  with  its  offices 
and  members,  institutions  and  functions — belong  all  those 
tracts  which  we  have  before  mentioned,  as  defences  of  the 
itinerant  preachers,  and  attacks  upon  their  opponents. 
Others  treat  of  the  pastoral  office  itself,  chiefly  of  the 
function  of  preaching,  but  also  of  the  execution  of  the 
pastoral  work  at  large,  and  of  the  life  and  conversation  of 
the  priests  ;^^^  and  of  one  tract  of  this  set  it  is  the  special 
design  to  show  that  it  is  the  duty  of  earthly  rulers  and  lords 
to  hold  the  clergy  to  their  duty  in  all  these  respects.^^^ 

Ever  interesting  himself  with  vivid  feeling  in  all  that 
stirred  his  countrymen  and  fatherland,  Wiclif  could  not 
remain  unmoved  when  a  crusade  set  forth  from  England 
which  had  no  other  object  in  view  but  to  fight  for  the 
cause  of  Urban  VI.  against  the  supporters  of  the  rival 
pope  in  Avignon,  Clement  VII.,  and,  if  possible,  to  over- 
throw the  latter.^-^  At  the  head  of  this  crusade  placed 
himself,  not  a  nobleman  skilled  in  war,  but  a  prelate  of 
the  Church.  During  the  peasant's  revolt  of  1381,  Henry 
le  Spencer,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  was  the  first  man  who 
had  the  courage  to  oppose  himself  to  the  movement,  not 
only  when  it  began,  but   as   long   as   the   flood   continued 


276  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

to  rise,  and  when  no  one  else  had  the  spirit  to  resist  it. 
He  happened  to  be  at  his  manor-house  of  Burlee  when 
he  heard  that  the  people  had  risen  in  Norfolk.  In  a 
moment  he  set  off  to  convince  himself  whether  the  fact 
was  really  so.  Putting  on  his  armour,  and  at  the  head 
of  a  small  following  of  eight  lances  and  a  few  bowmen, 
he  attacked  a  crowd  of  rebels,  among  whom  were  two 
of  the  ringleaders,  which  latter  he  ordered  to  be  be- 
headed upon  the  spot,  and  their  heads  to  be  set  up  in 
Newmarket.  As  he  marched  through  the  county  his  force 
increased  at  every  step,  for  liis  resolution  inspired  new 
courage  into  the  terrified  knights  and  nobles.  At  North 
Walsh  he  came  upon  a  fortified  and  barricaded  camp  of  the 
rebels.  This  he  immediately  carried  by  storm  under  a  blast 
of  trumpets,  himself  leading  the  attack  on  horseback;  and 
lance  in  hand,  he  dispersed  the  whole  body,  cut  off  their  re- 
treat, and  after  a  great  number  had  been  slain,  took 
their  leaders  prisoners.  Those  who  fled  to  the  churches 
for  safety,  trusting  to  the  right  of  asylum,  were  slain 
even  at  the  altar  with  swords  and  lances.  Among  the 
leaders  was  John  Lister,  a  dyer  of  Norwich,  who 
had  allowed  himself  to  be  styled  King  of  Norfolk. 
The  Bishop  in  person  sat  in  judgment  on  the  ringleaders 
at  Norwich  —  they  ended  on  the  gallows.  A  chronicler 
applauds  him  for  this — "  that  his  eye  spared  no  one,  and 
that  his  hand  was  stretched  out  for  vengeance  with  joy."^"^ 
From  that  day  the  Bishop  of  Norwich  was  highly  con- 
sidered as  a  man  of  heroic  fearlessness  and  energetic 
action ;  he  was  even  accredited  with  the  talent  of  military 
command.  No  wonder  that  he  was  trusted  to  take  the 
lead  of  a  martial  expedition  which  was  designed  to  be^ 
a  crusade. 


THE   PAPAL   CRUSADE.  277 

Perhaps  it  is  not  too  bold  a  conjecture  that  Henry  le 
Spencer  had  himself  taken  the  initiative  of  the  movement, 
and  at  his  own  instance  had  obtained  a  commission  from 
Urban  VI.  to  lead  a  crusade  against  the  "Clementines," 
the  adherents  of  the  rival  pope.  The  Pope  sent  forth 
more  than  one  bull  in  which  he  empowered  the  Bishop 
of  Nor^vich  to  collect  and  take  the  command  of  an  army 
which  should  wage  a  holy  war  against  Clement  VII.  and 
his  abettors  on  the  continent,  especially  in  France.  Ex- 
tensive powers  were  conferred  upon  the  Bishop  for  this 
end,  against  Clement  VII.  and  all  his  supporters,  both 
clergy  and  laity.  He  was  free  to  adopt  all  manner  of 
measures  against  them — to  banish,  suspend,  depose  and 
imprison,  and  also  to  seize  their  estates.  Whosoever  should 
personally  take  part  in  the  crusade  for  a  year,  and  whoso- 
ever should  provide  a  crusader  at  his  own  cost,  or  who- 
soever should  even  assist  the  undertaking  with  his  purse 
and  property,  should  receive  a  plenary  absolution  and  the 
same  rights  and  privileges  as  a  crusader  to  the  Holy 
Land.^^^ 

These  bulls  the  Bishop  commuicated  to  the  Members  of 
Parliament  in  the  session  which  met  in  November  1382,  and 
published  by  the  dispersion  of  copies  in  all  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, which  he  caused  to  be  posted  up  upon  the  church  doors 
and  the  monastery  gates,  that  they  might  be  patent  to  the 
knowledge  ofall.^^*  The  Bishop  also,  in  virtue  of  "aposto- 
lic power"  conferred  to  that  effect,  drew  up  and  issued 
Letters  of  Indulgence.^^^  And  now  commenced  an  agitation 
throughout  the  realm  with  the  view  of  gaining  the  largest 
possible  number  to  take  a  personal  share  in  the  crusade,  and 
of  inducing  others  to  aid  it,  at  least,  with  money  and  monev's 
worth.     For  some  time  the  fruit  of  these  efforts  does  not 


278  LIFE   OF   WIOLIF. 

appear  to  have  everywhere  come  up  to  the  Bishop's  wishes 
and  needs.  In  a  circular  to  the  parish  priests  and  chaplains  of 
the  diocese  of  York,  he  complains  of  the  all  too  slender  result, 
and  presses  upon  them  the  duty  of  calling  the  attention  of 
their  parishioners  to  an  opportunity  so  favourable  for  their 
soul's  salvation ;  and  of  moving  those  who  were  remiss, 
whether  rich  or  poor,  by  judicious  handling  in  the  con- 
fessional, to  do  what  was  in  their  power  for  the  enter- 
prise ;  all  opposers  of  the  undertaking  it  would  be  their  duty 
to  call  before  them,  and  to  give  intimation  thereof  to  the 
Bishop  or  his  commissaries,  as  well  as  to  send  in  accurate 
returns  of  all  the  contributions  obtained.i^^  Circulars  to  the 
same  effect  were  no  doubt  sent  at  the  same  time  to  the 
clergy  of  other  dioceses.  But  in  addition,  by  a  special  com- 
mission from  the  Bishop  of  Norwich,  the  Mendicants  of 
different  Orders  put  forth  the  most  strenuous  exertions  in 
the  pulpit  and  the  confessional  to  awaken  enthusiasm  for  the 
approaching  crusade,  and  to  call  forth  rich  off'erings  in  its 
behalf.  They  had  in  their  hands  one  mighty  key  to  the 
hearts  of  men — the  promised  absolution  from  all  guilt  and 
penalty ;  an  absolution,  however,  which  was  only  to  be  ob- 
tained at  the  price  of  contributions  to  the  holy  war. 

The  undertaking  was  meant  to  be  made  the  common  affair  of 
the  whole  English  Church  and  nation.  Archbishop  Courtnay 
worked  for  it  at  the  instance,  no  doubt,  of  the  Pope  himself, 
by  various  mandates  which  he  issued  simultaneously  on  10th 
April  1383  to  the  bishops  of  his  province,  and  to  the  whole 
parish  clergy  of  the  kingdom,  to  the  effect  that  in  all 
churches  prayers  should  be  put  up  at  mass  and  in  sermons  for 
the  crusaders  and  the  success  of  their  enterprise;  that  every 
Wednesday  and  Friday  solemn  processions  should  be  made 
for   the   behoof  of  the   crusade ;     and  all  the   parishioners 


AGITATION  IN   SUPPORT   OF   THE   CRUSADE.  279 

should  be  exhorted  to  join  in  the  prayers.^"  A  second 
mandate  enjoined  collections  for  the  same  object  ;^^''^  and 
the  third  contains  the  credentials  and  recommendation  of  three 
agents  and  receivers  of  the  Bishop  of  Norwich,  appointed  in 
behoof  of  the  collection.^^''  No  wonder  that,  when  such  ex- 
tensive measures  were  adopted  to  secure  success,  an  extremely 
large  sum  was  in  the  end  collected  for  the  Avar-chest  of  the 
crusade.  The  sums  obtained,  not  only  in  gold  and  silver, 
but  also  in  money's-worth,  in  jewels,  ornaments,  and  rings, 
in  silver  spoons  and  dishes,  contributed  alike  by  men  and 
women,  and  especially  by  ladies  of  rank  and  wealth,  were 
incredibly  great.  One  lady  of  rank  is  said  to  have  con- 
tributed one  hundred  pounds  of  silver,  and  many  persons 
gave  far  beyond  their  means,  insomuch  that  even  a  clerical 
chronicler  is  of  opinion  that  the  national  wealth,  in  so  far  as 
it  lay  in  private  hands,  was  endamaged. -^^^ 

But  the  grace-treasures  which  were  offered  in  return  for 
contributions  were  also  worth  something :  for  the  pardons 
which  were  offered  by  Papal  authority,  were  of  virtue  both 
for  the  living  and  the  dead.  It  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth 
that  one  of  the  Bishop's  commissaries  had  said  that  at  their 
command  angels  descended  from  heaven  to  release  souls  ui 
purgatory  from  their  pain,  and  to  translate  them  instantly 
to  lieaven.^'^^  In  another  key,  but  with  the  same  object  of 
making  the  crusade  popular,  the  Archbishop  applauds  it, 
when,  in  his  mandate  of  10th  April  1383,  he  seeks  to  stir  up 
national  feeling  and  English  patriotism  in  support  of  the 
undertaking,  by  reminding  the  country  that  it  is  directed 
against  France,  the  hereditary  enemy  of  England  ;  for 
France  was  the  chief  patron  of  the  rival  Pope ;  and  by 
reminding  it  further,  that  the  well-being  of  the  State  is 
inseparably   connected   with   the   interest   of  the   Church  ; 


280  LIFE   OF   WIGLIF. 

while,  in  order  to  do  away  witli  the  oflfence  which  could 
not  fail  to  be  taken  by  every  unprejudiced  mind  against 
the  conduct  of  the  war  being  put  into  the  hands  of  a  pre- 
late, the  Archbishop  gives  the  assurance  that  the  only  object 
of  the  war  is  to  secure  peace. ^^* 

Upon  such  proceedings  as  these,  Wiclif  could  neither  look 
with  favour,  nor  preserve  silence  respecting  them.  More 
than  once  he  not  only  threw  gleams  of  side  light  upon  the 
crusade,  but  also  discussed  it  in  proper  form.  In  the 
summer  of  1383  he  published  a  small  tract  in  Latin,  bear- 
ing the  title,  "  Cruciata ;  or,  Against  the  War  of  the 
Clergy."^^^  In  this  pamphlet  he  illustrates  the  subject 
on  different  sides,  and  condemns  the  crusade  and  every- 
thing connected  with  it  in  the  severest  manner ;  first,  be- 
cause it  is  a  war  at  all,  then  because  a  war  to  which  the 
Pope  is  the  sumraoner  is,  under  all  circumstances,  contrary  to 
the  mind  of  Christ  ;  and  further,  because  the  whole  quarrel 
between  the  contending  popes  has  to  do  at  bottom  only 
with  worldly  power  and  mastery,  which  is  a  thing  entirely 
unbefitting  the  Pope  and  wholly  contrary  to  the  example  of 
Christ.  But  when  it  is  even  given  out  that  every  one  who 
does  anything  to  aid  this  crusade  shall  obtain  remission 
from  all  guilt  and  punishment,  this  is  a  lie  and  "  an  abomina- 
tion of  desolation  in  the  holy  place."  The  Mendicant 
monks  who  promote  this  affair  in  their  sermons,  and  take 
upon  themselves  the  labour  of  collecting  for  it,  are  nothing 
else  but  enemies  to  the  Church  ;  they  and  all  the  cardinals 
and  Englishmen  in  the  Papal  Court  who  plunder  the  country 
in  this  manner  must,  before  everything  else,  make  restitu- 
tion of  this  unrighteous  lucre,  if  they  would  ever  obtain 
forgiveness  of  their  sins. 

I   know  no  writing  of  Wiclif  in  which,  with  a  greater 


wiclif's  cruciata.  281 

absence  of  all  reserve,  and  in  more  incisive  language,  he 
laid  bare,  and  did  bal.tle  against  the  anti-christianism  which 
lay  in  the  great  Papal  schism  in  general,  and  particularly 
in  the  stirring  up  of  an  actual  war  for  the  purpose  of 
annihilating  one  of  the  rival  popes  by  force  of  arms  and 
the  shedding  of  blood. ^^*  He  characterises  the  erection  of 
the  cross  by  Urban  VI.  as  a  persecution  of  true  Christians, 
and  as  an  inversion  of  the  foith.  It  is  a  proof  of  the  ascen- 
dancy of  the  devil's  party,  that  kings  and  other  powers 
tolerate  the  Pope's  command  to  banish  and  imprison  every 
man  who  opposes  this  party  or  does  not  actively  support  it. 
There  are  now  few  men  or  none  at  all  who  have  the  courage 
to  expose  themselves  to  mai-tyrdom  in  this  cause ;  and  yet 
never  since  the  time  of  Christ  has  there  been  a  better  cause 
for  which  men  could  have  suffered  a  martyr's  death ;  and 
never  was  there  a  more  glorious  victory  to  be  won  by  the 
man  who  has  the  courage  to  stand  up  on  the  Lord's  side. 
It  is  not  enough  that  so  many  thousands  of  men  should  lose 
their  lives,  and  that  England  should  be  sucked  dry  by  the 
fraudulent  spoliations  of  hypocrites  ;  the  worst  of  all  is  that 
many  of  those  who  fall  in  the  crusade  die  in  unbelief  w^hile 
taking  part  in  this  anti- christian  persecution,  while  the  Anti- 
christ pretends  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  sin  and  pen- 
alty and  have  entrance  into  heaven.^^^ 

How  is  this  miserable  mischief  to  be  remedied  which 
threatens  in  the  end  to  bi'ing  the  whole  Church  into  cor- 
fusion"?  To  this  question  Wiclif  replies, — "The  whole 
schism  is  a  consequence  of  the  moral  apostacy  from  Christ 
and  His  walk  of  poverty  and  purity."  If  it  is  to  be  mended, 
the  Church  must  be  led  back  to  the  poor  and  humble  life  of 
Christ  and  to  His  pure  Word.  In  conformity  with  this  view, 
his  thought  in  the  first  instance  is  of  princes  and  rulers.     He 


282  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

thinks  that  emperors  and  kings  have  done  foolishly  in  pro- 
viding the  Church  with  lands  and  lordships ;  this  they  must 
set  right  again  to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  and  so  restore 
peace.  Wiclif  compares,  in  his  rough  manner,  the  schism  of 
the  two  popes  to  the  quarrels  of  two  dogs  about  a  bone, 
and  thinks  that  princes  should  take  away  the  bone  itself — 
that  is,  the  worldly  power  of  the  Papacy — for  surely  they  do 
not  bear  the  sword  in  vain.^'"^  But  all  Christ's  knights 
should  in  this  cause  stand  true  at  the  side  of  Christ's 
faithful  poor ;  all  good  soldiers  of  Christ  should  stand 
shoulder  to  shoulder  ;  this  would  enable  them  to  win  a  great 
victory  and  renown.  Yes  !  the  whole  of  Christendom  should 
take  upon  itself  toil  and  trouble  in  order  to  put  down 
wickedness,  and  restore  the  Church  to  the  condition  of 
apostolic  purity,  and  to  put  an  end  to  the  means  by  which 
Antichrist  misleads  the  Church."^^'' 

This  memorial,  written  in  the  summer  of  1383,  enables  us 
to  perceive,  in  the  clearest  manner,  that  Wiclif  was  not  in  the 
least  intimidated  by  the  inquisitorial  proceedings  which 
Archbishop  Courtnay  had  taken  against  him  and  his  friends 
in  the  preceding  year.  He  still  speaks  out  in  the  most  fear- 
less and  emphatic  way  against  both  the  Popes,  and  against 
the  crusade  commanded  by  Urban  VI.,  favoured  by  the 
Archbishop,  and  undertaken  by  an  English  bishop.  In  a 
writing  directly  addressed  to  the  primate  himself,  Avhich 
must  have  been  penned  at  the  same  date,  Wiclif  plainly 
told  him  that  he  could  not  learn  from  Scripture  that  that 
crusade  in  defence  of  the  Pope's  cause  was  a  lawful  measure, 
or  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  approbation  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  it ;  and  this,  he  coiitinued,  is  an  evident 
conclusion  from  the  truth  that  only  those  works  of  man 
have  the  Lord's  approval  which  are  done  from  love.      But 


FAILURE   OF   THE   CRUSADE.  283 

neither  the  slaying  of  men  nor  the  impoverishment  of  whole 
countries  is  the  outcome  of  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
especially  as  it  is  not  our  belief  that  the  Pope  is  either  head 
or  member  of  our  holy  mother,  the  Church  militant.  And 
thus  it  is  plain  that  there  exists  no  valid  and  defensible  ground 
for  the  endurance  of  martyrdom  for  the  impoverishment  of 
the  people,  and  for  an  undertalnng  so  full  of  anxiety  and 
mis  chief.  ^^'^ 

Of  the  crusade  itself  let  it  only  be  briefly  remarked  here, 
that  the  Bishop  of  Norwich  embarked  in  May  1383,^^''  and, 
advancing  from  Calais,  took  several  towns  in  Flanders.  But 
after  this  rapid  and  successful  beginning  he  lost  time  by 
laying  siege  to  the  city  of  Ypres,  and  thereafter  he  met 
with  nothing  but  misfortune.  His  conquests  were  no  sooner 
won  than  they  were  lost  again,  until  at  last  he  was  fain  to 
surrender  Gravelines,  which  he  had  taken,  in  order  to  secure 
his  unopposed  return  to  England  at  the  beginning  of 
October.  The  crusade  came  to  an  ignominious  end.  Nor 
was  that  all.  At  the  bar  of  Parliament,  which  met  at  the 
end  of  October,  the  bishop  and  the  chief  officers  of  his  staff 
had  to  answer  to  various  charges  which  were  laid  against 
them,  and  the  King  withheld  from  him  his  temporalities, 
which  were  not  restored  again  till  1385.^**" 

It  was  a  melancholy  satisfaction  to  Wichf  that  the  crusade 
against  which  he  had  warned  the  nation  came  to  such  a 
wretched  conclusion.  He  saw  a  judgment  of  God  in  its  utter 
failure ;  only  one  thing  was  not  yet  clear  to  him,  whether 
the  whole  of  God's  judgment  was  yet  exhausted,  or  whether 
further  punishment  was  yet  to  follow.^*^ 

It  must  have  been  in  this  year  1383,  or  the  year 
following,  that  Wiclif's  citation  to  Rome  befell — if  such 
a   citation    were   a    historical    fact.      His    biographers    all 


284  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

agree  in  narrating  that  Pope  Urban  VI.  summoned  him  to 
appear  before  his  tribunal,  but  that  Wichf  excused  himself 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Pope  himself,  on  the  ground  of 
his  declining  health,  while  giving,  at  the  same  time,  a  frank 
confession  of  his  convictions.^^^  But  it  is  passing  strange 
that  not  one  of  them  points  to  any  contemporary  account 
attesting  the  fact  of  such  a  citation.  Of  those  "chroniclers"  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  for  authentic  data  concerning  Wiclif's 
person  and  life,  there  is  not  one  who  has  so  much  as  a 
single  word  respecting  the  Pope's  summons.  The  assump- 
tion of  such  a  fact  appears  rather  to  rest  entirely  upon 
inferences  drawn  from  a  production  of  Wiclif's  own  pen, 
which,  however,  cannot  in  any  case  be  regarded  as  an 
indubitable  testimony  to  the  fact  in  question.  This  is  the 
so-called  letter  of  Wichf  to  Pope  Urban  VI.^^^  g^^t  ^i^jg 
piece,  when  examined  without  prejudice,  is  neither  a  letter 
in  form,  nor  in  substance  an  excuse  for  non-compliance  with 
a  citation  received.  Not  a  single  trace  can  be  discovered 
in  it  of  the  form  of  a  real  letter — neither  an  address  at  the 
beginning,  nor  any  other  epistolary  feature  from  beginning 
to  end.  Nor  among  the  alleged  letters  of  Wiclif  is  this  by 
any  means  the  only  one  which  has  been  erroneously  included 
in  this  category ;  ^^*  while  of  all  the  letters  which  are  in- 
disputably such,  there  is  not  one  which  is  without  the 
characteristic  address  at  least.^*^  Indeed,  the  way  in  which 
the  piece  mentions  the  Pope  is  positive  proof  against  the 
supposition  that  it  was  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Pope 
himself.  Not  less  than  nine  times  is  the  Pope  mentioned 
in  this  short  composition,  but,  without  exception,  he  is 
always  spoken  of  in  the  third  person;  he  is  never  addressed 
himself.  More  than  once  Wiclif  refers  to  him  as  "  our 
Pope,"  ^*^  which   is   an  indication   that   the  writer  had  his 


ALLEGED  LETTER  TO  POPE  URBAN  VI.        285 

countrymen  in  his  eye ;  and  when  we  add  to  this  the 
circumstance  that  the  discourse,  which  from  the  beginning 
to  beyond  the  middle  proceeds  in  the  first  person  singular, 
and  sounds  like  an  entirely  personal  confession,  passes  over, 
towards  the  close,  into  the  first  person  plural,  and  in  two 
instances  assumes  a  hortatory  plural  form,^*^  the  conjec- 
ture may  not  seem  too  bold,  that  we  have  before  us  either 
the  fragment  of  a  sermon,  or  of  a  declaration  addressed  to 
English  readers. 

If  we  look  about  for  any  particular  occasion  which  may  have 
given  rise  to  the  document,  it  may  be  conjectured,  with  most 
probability,  that  Wiclif  put  forth  this  declaration  at  the  time 
when  his  friend  Nicolas  Hereford  set  out  for  Rome  to  make  his 
answer  before  the  Pope.  Perhaps,  also,  what  the  writing  really 
contains  of  the  nature  of  excuse  stands  connected  with  the 
occasion  which  we  have  surmised,  and  is  explained  by  it. 
Possibly  Hereford  himself  may  have  wished  and  proposed 
that  Wiclif  should  undertake  the  journey  to  Rome  along 
with  him ;  or  possibly  Wiclif 's  undertaking  it  might  be  a 
step  approved  of  by  many  of  his  friends  as  a  proof  of  faith 
and  courage,  insomuch  that  it  was  hoped  that  if  Wiclif 
himself  should  appear  in  Rome,  there  would  be  all  the 
more  reason  to  anticipate  a  favourable  issue  for  the  common 
cause.  On  either  supposition  Wiclif  might  see  occasion  to 
express  his  mind  upon  the  subject ;  and  certainly  his  words 
referring  to  the  point  sound  more  like  a  justification  of  him- 
self to  like-minded  friends,  than  an  excuse  addressed  to 
ecclesiastical  superiors  who  had  cited  him  to  their  bar ;  but 
least  of  all  do  they  sound  like  a  reply  to  a  summons  which 
had  issued  to  him  direct  from  the  Pope  and  the  Curia. 

These  thoughts  respecting  the  possible  occasion  of  this 
remarkable  writing  claim  to  be  nothing  more  than  conjee- 


280  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

tures.  But  that  the  piece  is  not  a  letter  to  Pope  Urban  VI.  is 
a  point  of  which  I  have  no  manner  of  doubt.^*^  On  the 
presumption  of  this  negative  fact  all  the  judgments  which 
have  been  hitherto  pronounced  upon  the  piece  itself  come  to 
nothing,  whether  of  admiration  for  its  bold,  incisive,  and 
ironical  tone,  according  to  some,^^^  or  of  censure  for  its 
dissembling  and  disrespectful  spirit,  according  to  others.^^" 
If  the  writing,  as  we  are  convinced  upon  the  evidence  of  its 
own  contents,  was  really  an  address  to  men  of  the  same 
convictions  as  himself,  then  neither  did  its  author  need  any- 
special  degree  of  courage  to  make  use  of  such  sharp 
language,  nor  can  he  with  fairness  be  charged  with  a  dis- 
respectful tone  or  a  want  of  tact  in  his  proceeding. 

Although  this  alleged  citation  to  Rome  must  be  relegated 
to  the  category  of  groundless  traditions,  still  Wiclif's  life, 
in  his  latest  years,  was  always  in  danger.  He  was  also  well 
aware  of  this,  and  stood  prepared  to  endure  still  further 
persecution  for  the  cause  of  Christ — and  even  to  end  his 
life  as  a  martyr.  In  the  Trialogus  he  speaks  more  than 
once  on  the  subject — e.g.,  where  he  says :  "  We  have  no 
need  to  go  among  the  heathen  in  order  to  die  a  martyr's 
death;  we  have  only  to  preach  persistently  the  law  of 
Christ  in  the  hearing  of  Caesar's  prelates,  and  instantly  we 
shall  have  a  flourishing  martyrdom,  if  we  hold  out  in  faith 
and  patience."^^^ 

It  was  for  some  time  received  in  certain  circles  as  a  fact, 
that  Wiclif  had  either  been  banished  from  the  country  by 
the  sentence  of  a  tribunal,  or  betook  himself  into  voluntary 
exile,  from  which,  however,  after  some  time,  he  must  have 
returned.  Foxe  thinks  that  it  may  be  gathered  from  Netter 
of  Walden,  that  Wiclif  was  banished,  or  at  least  that  he 
kept    himself  somewhere    in    hiding.^^^      In   an   expanded 


THE   LEGEND   OF   WICLIF's   EXILE.  287 

form  the  legend  bears  that  Wiclif  went  into  spontaneous 
exile,  and  made  a  journey  into  Bohemia.  The  Bohemians 
were  already  infected  with  heresy,  but  Wiclif  in  person,  it  was 
alleged,  was  the  first  man  who  established  them  in  the  opinion 
that  little  reverence  was  due  to  the  priesthood,  and  no  con- 
sideration at  all  to  the  Pope.  But  I  do  not  find  in  the 
chroniclers  and  other  writers  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries,  a  single  trace  of  this  legend;  it  seems  to  have 
come  into  existence  first  in  the  sixteenth  century.  If 
I  am  not  mistaken,  it  was  the  Italian  Polydore  Vergil 
who  was  the  first  to  bring  forward  this  fable.  He  had 
come  to  England  in  1509,  as  a  Papal  emissary,  where, 
by  the  favour  of  Henry  VIII.,  he  obtained  high  preferment 
in  the  Church ;  but  afterwards  returned  in  advanced  age 
to  his  native  country,  where  he  died  in  1555,  in  Urbino, 
the  place  of  his  birth.  In  his  English  history,  he  told  the 
above  story  with  an  air  of  confidence,^^^  although  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  nothing  better  than  a  conjecture  of 
his  own  brain,  devised  to  furnish  an  explanation  of  the 
connection  between  Wiclif  and  Hussitism,  by  means  of  a 
story  which  resembles  very  much  the  fantastic  inventions 
of  the  middle  age. 

This  utterly  baseless  statement  of  the  Italian  was  re- 
jected, as  it  deserved,  by  Leland,  his  contemporary,  and 
characterised  by  him  as  "  a  vanity  of  vanities"  and  a  dream. 
But  the  most  important  of  Leland's  writings,  including 
his  work  on  the  British  writers,  were  not  printed  till  a 
hundred  and  eighty  years  later ;  and  so  his  rejection  of 
Vergilius's  bold  invention  remained  unknown  to  most 
writers,  which  accounts  for  the  story  having  still  found 
credit  here  and  there — as  with  Bishop  Bale,  from  whom  it 
passed  over  to  Flacius  and  others.^^^ 


288  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

But  it  is  a  fact  to  which  there  attaches  not  the  shghtest 
doubt,  that  Wiclif  spent  the  last  years  of  his  hfe,  without  a 
break,  in  his  own  country,  and  in  the  town  of  Lutterworth 
where  he  was  parish  priest.  There  is  no  probabihtj 
even  in  the  allegation  that  he  was  fain  to  keep  very  quiet, 
in  order  not  to  draw  upon  himself  the  attention  of  his 
adversaries.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  proved  by  the  writings 
which  he  published  during  the  last  three  years  of  his  life, 
including  the  Trialogus  and  numerous  Latin  and  English 
tracts,  in  which,  for  the  most  part,  he  wields  a  sharp  pen 
and  adopts  a  resolute  tone,  that  his  energy  was  by  no 
means  diminished,  nor  his  courage  abashed. 

The  gracious  protection  of  God  was  over  him.  His 
enemies  must  needs  leave  him  undisturbed.  This  course, 
indeed,  may  also  have  been  recommended  to  them  by  the 
circumstance  (which  cannot  have  remained  unknown  to 
them)  that  Wiclif  had  suffered  a  paralytic  stroke  towards 
the  close  of  1382,^^^  and  was  totally  disabled  thereby  from 
appearing  again  upon  the  public  stage,  although  his  men- 
tal power  and  force  of  character  remained  unimpaired. 
But  even  the  personal  credit  of  Wiclif  as  a  believing 
Christian  remained  unassailed  up  to  his  death.  It  is  true 
indeed  that  a  number  of  Articles  which  were  imputed  to  him 
were  condemned  as  errors,  and  in  part,  as  heresies ;  and  in 
several  Mandates  of  the  heads  of  the  Church  he  was  desig- 
nated by  name  as  under  suspicion  of  erroneous  teaching.  But 
no  judgment  had  ever  been  pronounced  upon  \\\&  person  on  the 
side  of  his  ecclesiastical  superiors  ;  Wiclif  was  never  in  his  life- 
time judicially  declared  to  be  a  teacher  of  error  or  a  heretic  ;  he 
was  never  even  formally  threatened  with  the  bann  of  excom- 
munication. He  continued  not  only  in  possession  of  his  office 
and  dignity  as  rector  of  Lutterworth,  but  also  in  high  estima- 


THE  YEAR  OF  WICLIF'S  DEATH.  289 

tion  as  a  Christian  and  priest  with  his  parishioners  and  his 
countrymen,  till  his  second  paralytic  seizure,  in  two  days 
after  which  he  was  permitted  to  breathe  his  last  in  peace. 

The  year  and  the  day  of  the  Reformer's  death  admit  of  being 
determined  with  precision — the  opposite  case  of  the  year  and 
day  of  his  birth.  Differences,  indeed,  are  not  wanting  in  the 
accounts  which  have  come  down  to  us.  Walsiugham  gives 
1385  as  his  deatli-year,^'''^  and  Oudin,  the  literary  historian, 
determines  for  1387.^"  But  two  testimonies  are  extant — 
the  one  of  an  official  and  the  other  of  a  private  character, 
which  are  quite  decisive  upon  the  point.  The  first  is  an 
entry  in  the  Episcopal  register  of  Lincoln,  made  in  the  time 
of  Bishop  Bockingham — in  the  days  of  Wiclif's  immediate 
successor  in  the  rectory,  and  indeed  as  early  as  the  year 
1385.  It  is  probable  that  a  question  had  arisen  respect- 
ing the  right  of  collation  to  the  benefice,  occasioned  by 
the  fact  that  Wiclif  had  been  nominated  to  the  living 
by  King  Edward  III.  An  inquiry,  therefore,  had  been  made 
by  commissaries  upon  the  subject ;  an  entry  was  engrossed 
in  the  register  recording  the  result  of  their  investigation  ; 
and  this  record  establishes  the  fact  that  the  nomination  of 
Wiclif  to  the  parish  had  been  made  by  the  King  on  account 
of  the  then  minority  of  the  patron.  It  is  on  this  occasion 
that  the  death  of  Wiclif  on  31st  December  1384  is  officially 
confirmed,^"''^  and  we  can  hardly  imagine  any  proof  more 
documentary,  older,  or  more  trustworthy. 

But  the  other  testimony  referred  to,  though  only  that  of  a 
private  individual,  has  all  the  force  of  a  declaration  upon  oath 
from  the  mouth  of  a  contemporary,  of  even  an  eye-witness. 
Thomas  Gascoigne,  Doctor  of  Theology,  and  Chancellor  of 
the  University  of  Oxford  from  1443  to  1445,  who  died  in 
1457,  received  and  wrote  down  a  communication  respecting 
VOL.  H.  T 


290  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

the  death  of  Wiclif  in  the  year  1441  from  the  mouth  of  the 
priest,  John  Horn,  then  eighty  years  of  age,  under  solemn 
asseveration  of  the  truth  of  what  he  communicated.  The 
declaration  was  to  this  effect,  that  Wiclif,  after  having 
suffered  for  two  years  from  the  effects  of  a  paralytic  stroke, 
on  Innocents'  Day  of  the  year  1384,  while  hearing  mass  in 
his  parish  church  at  Lutterworth,  sustained  a  violent  stroke, 
at  the  moment  of  the  elevation  of  the  host,  and  sank  down 
on  the  spot.  His  tongue  in  particular  was  affected  by  the 
seizure,  so  that  from  that  moment  he  never  spoke  a  single 
word  more,  and  remained  speechless  till  his  death,  which 
took  place  on  Saturday  evening — Sylvester's  Day,  and  the 
eve  of  the  Feast  of  Christ's  Circumcision.^^'-'  This  declara- 
tion the  aged  priest,  John  Horn,  who  must  have  been  a 
young  man  of  three  and  twenty  in  the  year  of  Wiclif's 
death,  confirmed  with  an  oath  to  Dr.  Gascoigne  i^^"  and  it 
is  also  entirely  credible  in  every  respect.  In  reference  to 
the  death-day  itself  the  two  testimonies  corroborate  each 
other  perfectly ;  only  Horn  as  an  eye-witness  supplies  infor- 
mation, in  addition,  as  to  the  day  on  which,  and  in  what  cir- 
cumstances, Wiclif  suffered  the  second  stroke  which  ended 
in  the  fatal  issue.  It  was  ia  die  sanctorum  innocentium — i.e., 
on  28th  December — during  the  mass  in  Lutterworth  church. 
A  correction  is  thus  supplied  for  the  malicious  remarks  of 
several  hostile  chroniclers,  to  the  effect  that  Wiclif  had  the 
stroke  on  St.  Thomas  a  Becket's  Day,  when  he  had  the  in- 
tention to  preach  and  to  allow  himself  in  a  blasphemous 
attack  upon  the  saint.^^'^  The  Feast  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket 
was  kept  in  the  English  Mediasval  Church  on  the  29th 
December;  whereas  Wiclif,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
John  Horn  was  struck  with  paralysis  on  the  28th.  The 
design  is  manifest  of  this  displacement  of  the  day  of  Wiclif's 


THE  CIRCUMSTANCES  OF  HIS  DEATH.  291 

last  seizure,  and  when,  in  another  place,  Walsingham  says 
still  more  plainly  that  Wiclif  was  righteously  smitten  down 
on  St.  Thomas's  Day,  whom  he  had  often  blasphemed,  and 
that  his  death  as  righteously  befell  on  the  day  of  St. 
Sylvester,  whom  he  had  often  exasperated  by  his  attacks/*'^ 
But  this  whole  pragmatic  interpretation,  so  far  as  it  refers  to 
Becket,  is  exploded  by  the  fact  that  Wiclif  was  paralysed  on 
the  28th  day  of  December  instead  of  the  29th,  while  the 
representation  given  of  Wiclif's  violent  attacks  upon  Becket 
and  Sylvester  rests  upon  what  can  be  shown  to  be  an  entire 
misunderstanding.^"^ 

Nor  is  the  representation  historically  exact  which  is  given 
by  Vaughan,  both  in  his  earlier  and  later  works  on  Wiclif, 
when  he  says  that  the  Reformer  was  struck  with  palsy  while 
"  employed  in  administering  the  bread  of  the  eucharist,"  or 
•'  while  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  church  at  Lutter- 
worth." ^'^^  This  is  not  merely  such  an  addition  to  the 
picture  from  his  own  fancy  as  may  be  allowed  to  an 
historian,  but  a  contradiction  to  the  only  trustworthy 
account  which  we  possess  of  Wiclif's  last  illness,  according 
to  which  he  was  not  reading  but  hearing  mass  at  the 
moment  of  his  last  seizure.^*'^  It  is  an  additional  inaccuracy 
to  represent  that  Wiclif  was  deprived  of  consciousness  by 
the  stroke.^'''"  Horn  says  nothing  of  unco7isciousness,  but 
only  of  a  violent  shock  under  which  he  fell  to  the  ground ; 
he  mentions  in  particular  only  the  paralysis  of  his  tongue. 
But  speechlessness  and  unconsciousness  are  two  different 
tilings ;  and  it  is  at  least  conceivable  that  the  sufferer  may 
have  come  to  himself  again  sufficiently  to  be  sensible  of  the 
sympathetic  love  and  care  which  were  devoted  to  him  in  his 
last  days  by  his  friends,  John  Horn  and  John  Purvey  and 
others,  and  to  express  his  gratitude,  without  words,  by  his 


292  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

looks  and  gestures.  Indeed,  Gascoigne's  description  of  his 
condition  rather  conveys  the  impression  that  it  was  not  one 
of  unconsciousness,  for  he  makes  repeated  and  careful 
mention  of  his  speechlessness  as  if  it  had  been  a  circum- 
stance calling  for  remark,  which  it  would  not  have  been  if 
he  had  been  reduced  to  a  condition  of  entu-e  unconscious- 
ness.^*'^ On  St.  Sylvester's  Day — 31st  December — 1384,  John 
of  Wiclif  was  delivered  out  of  this  condition  of  paralysis 
by  death. 

Adversaries  of  his  work  pursued  him  with  fanatical  out- 
pourings of  contumely  even  beyond  his  grave.  Here  are 
the  words  of  a  chronicler  who  has  been  frequently  named 
before — "  On  the  feast  of  the  passion  of  St.  Thomas  of 
Canterbury,  John  Wiclif — that  organ  of  the  devil,  that 
enemy  of  the  Church,  that  author  of  confusion  to  the 
common  people,  that  idol  of  heretics,  that  image  of  hypo- 
crites, that  restorer  of  schism,  that  storehouse  of  lies,  that 
sink  of  flattery — being  struck  by  the  horrible  judgment  of 
God,  was  struck  with  palsy,  and  continued  to  live  in  that 
condition  until  St.  Sylvester's  Day,  on  which  he  breathed 
out  his  malicious  spirit  into  the  abodes  of  darkness."^^^ 
There  is  no  need  at  the  present  day  to  make  any  reply 
to  words  so  full  of  venom  as  these ;  but  at  the  point  where 
such  and  so  great  a  man  withdraws  from  the  stage  of 
history,  we  feel  it  to  be  a  duty  to  gather  up  again  the 
various  features  of  intellect  and  heart  which  have  come 
before  our  eyes  in  the  course  of  his  life,  and  once  more  to 
present  them  in  the  form  of  a  complete  portrait. 


293 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  VII. 

114.  Comp.  chap.  V.  above. 

115.  Ih. 

116.  That  Purvey  (Purney)  was  Wiclif's  assistant  is  pretty  evident  from 
Knighton's  Chronicle,  col.  2660  :  Magistri  .sui  dum  adhuc  viveret  commensalis 
extiterat  ....  atque  usque  ad  raortis  metas  comes  individuus  ipsum  cum  doctrinis 
at  opinionibus  suis  concomitabatur  indefesse  laborans, 

117.  Comp.  chap.  VII. 

118.  Comp.  Shirley's  Catalogue,  p.  40-49,  and  vide  Appendix  II. 

119.  E.g.,  De  Apostasia  Cleri,  Shirley's  Catalogue,  No.  46,  p.  46,  published  by  Todd, 
1851.     Select  English  Works,  III.,  430. 

120.  No.  35  Shirley's  Catalogue,  p.  44.     Select  English  Works,  III.,  213  f. 

121.  Theodore  Lindner,  in  Theologistic  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1873,  151  f.,  has 
given  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  anonymous  author  of  a  series  of  writings  designed 
to  put  an  end  to  this  Papal  Schism,  which  were  re-published  by  Ulrich  von  Hutten, 
in  1520,  must  have  been  one  of  Wiclif's  followers,  and  conjectures  that  the  whole 
series  was  written  in  1381.  But  no  trace  is  to  be  discovered  in  these  writings  of  the 
specifically  Wiclifitic  spirit,  and  its  party-peculiarities.  We  have  even  reason  to 
doubt  whether  England  at  all  was  the  birth-place  of  this  series  of  pieces  so 
full  of  puzzles.  To  say  the  least,  most  of  the  particulars  which  occur  in  them  and 
which  are  mentioned  in  a  tone  of  personal  feeling,  are  of  such  a  character  that  they 
must  be  referred  to  French  personalities  and  events. 

122.  Knighton,  col.  2638.     Walsingham,  Historia  Anglicana,  II.,  6  f. 

123.  Walsingham  II.,  71,  particularly  p.  76. 

124.  lb.,  72. 

125.  lb.,  79.     Gives  one  such  indulgence,  word  for  word. 

126.  lb.,  78.  The  circular  is  dated  9th  Peb.  1382,  but  this  should  have  been 
1383,  for  at  the  beginning  of  1382  the  business  could  not  have  been  so  far  advanced  ; 
besides  the  13th  year  of  his  episcopal  consecration  agrees  only  with  1383. 

127.  Wilkins,  Concilia,  III.,  176  f. 

128.  lb.,  177. 

129.  lb.,  177  f. 

130.  Knighton,  Lib.  V.,  col.  2671 :  Et  sic  secretus  thesaurus  regni,  qui,  in  manibus 
erat  mulierum,  periclitatus  est.     Comp.  Walsingham,  II.,  85. 

131.  Knighton,  as  above,  2671.  The  blasphemous  extravagance  of  the  language 
reminds  one  of  Tetzel. 

132.  Wilkins,  Concilia,  III.,  177  :  Praecipue  contra  Francigenas,  ipsorum 
schismaticorum  principales  fautores,  et  domini  nostri  regis  et  regni  Angliae  capitales 
inimicos  pro  pace  ecclesiae  acquirenda  et  defensione  regni  ....  quod  neque  pax 
ecclesiae  sine  regno  neque  regno  salus  poterit  nisi  per  ecclesiam  provenire,  etc. 

133.  Cruciata  seu  Contra  Bellum  Clericoi'um :  Such  is  the  title  of  a  tract  in  10 
chapters,  hitherto  unprinted,  of  which  MSS.  are  only  now  extant  in  Vienna,  where 


291  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

no  fewer  than  six  copies  are  to  be  found.  Shirley's  Catalogue,  No.  75.  In  MS. 
3929,  which  I  have  used,  the  name  of  the  author  is  given  at  the  end.  Explicit 
cruciata  venerabilis  et  evangelici  Doctoris  JNIagistri  Joannis  Wyklef. 

134.  Cruciata,  c.  2,  MS.  3929,  fol.  234,  col  1  :  "As  Satan,"  says  Wiclif,  "poisoned 
the  human  race  by  one  sin,  the  sin  of  pride,  so  he  has  a  second  time  poisoned  the 
clergy  by  endowing  them  with  landed  property,  contrary  to  the  law  of  Christ,  and 
by  the  publication  of  a  lie  concerning  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  indulgences,  he 
has  thrown  the  whole  Western  Church  into  a  state  of  disorder,  as  now,  with  two 
rival  Popes,  our  whole  Western  Christendom  must  take  side  with  either  the  one  or 
the  other,  and  yet  both  of  them  are  manifestly  Antichrists  (et  uterque  ipsorum  sit 
patule  Antichristus).  But  the  strongest  thing  in  the  piece  is  the  view  which  per- 
vades it  throughout,  that  at  bottom  there  are  only  two  parties  existing  at  present 
in  the  Church — the  party  of  the  Lord  Christ,  and  the  devil's  party  (pars  Domini 
pars  ista  diaboli),"  c.  3,  fol.  234,  col  4,  fol.  235,  col  1. 

135.  Cruciata,  c.  3,  fol.  234,  col.  4 ;  fol.  235,  col.  1  :  Pauci  vel  nulH  sunt,  qui 
audent  se  exponere  martyrio  in  hac  causa  ;  et  tamen  scimus,  quod  a  tempore 
Christi  non  fuit  melior  causa  martyrii,  nee  gloriosior  triumphus  illi,  qui  in  causa 
domini  audet  stare.  Non  enim  quietatur  persecucio  in  multis  millibus  corporum 
occisorum,  nee  solum  in  fraudulentis  spoliationibus  hypocritarum,  ut  specialiter 
patet  in  Anglia,  sed,  quod  est  gravius,  in  subversione  fidei  et  perfida  exaltatione 
partis  diaboli,  sic  quod  multi  occisorum,  quos  Antichristus  dicit  sine  pbna  ad 
ciilum  ascendere,  moriuntur  infideliter  in  hac  persecutione  perfida  jam  regnante. 

136.  lb.,  2.  fol.  233,  col.  3  :  Videtur  quod  eorum  interest  prudenter  aufFere  hoc 
dissensionis  seminarium,  sicut  canibus  pro  osse  rixantibus  ....  os  ipsum 
celeriter  semovere. 

137.  lb.,  c.  2.  fol.  234. 

138.  Litera  missa  Archiepiscopo  Cantuariensi,  Vienna  MS.,  No.  1387,  fol.  105, 
col.  1  f.  :  Dixit  tertio  idem  sacerdos  et  tenuit,  quod  nesoit  ex  scriptura,  quod  ista 
crucis  erectio  pro  defensione  causae  papae  sit  licita,  vel  quod  approbative  pro- 
cessit  a  domino  Jesu  Christo.  Istud  autem  ex  hoc  evidet,  quod  solum  opera 
hominis  ex  caritate  facta  a  domino  approbantur.  Sed  probabile  est,  quod  nee  ista 
plebis  occisio  nee  terrarum  depauperatio  processit  ex  caritate  domini  Jesu  Christi, 
si^eciahter  cum  non  sit  fides  nostra,  quod  iste  papa  est  caput  vel  membrum 
saactae  matris  ecclesiae  militantis.  Et  sic  videtur,  quod  ista  non  sit  stabilis  causa 
martyrii,  dejjauperationis  (MS.  :  depauperatio)  populi  et  laboris  tarn  anxii  et 
damnosi. 

139.  Walsingham,  Hist.  Anglicana,  ed.  Riley  II.,  88. 

140.  lb.,  II.,  104,  109,  141.  Comp.  Pauli,  Gesehkhte  von  England,  IV., 
544  f. 

141.  In  the  piece.  Be  Quatuor  Sectis  Novellis,  Vienna*  MS.,  3929,  fol.  225  f., 
Wiclif,  c.  10.  fol.  231,  col.  4,  comes  to  speak  of  this  Crusade,  and  says  :  Nee  scimus, 
si  iste  ultimus  transitus  nostratum  in  Flandriam,  quem  fratres  multi  istarum 
sectarum  quatuor  regularunt,  sit  a  Deo  punitus  ad  regulam,  vel  adhuc  ejus  punitio 
sit  futura.  Under  these  four  sects,  Wiclif  understands  the  endowed  priests, 
monks,  canons,  and  Mendicant  orders. 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  VII.  295 

142.  Foxe,  Acts  and  Monuments,  ed.  1844,  III.,  49  ;  Lewis,  History,  122  f.  ; 
Vaughan,  Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  121  f.  ;  John  de  WycUffe,  a  Monocjrapk,  320  f. 

143.  The  piece  in  Latin  is  extant  in  five  Vienna  MSS.,  and  in  English  in  two 
Oxford  MSS.,  and  in  a  transcript  besides  of  the  17th  century.  Comp.  Shirley's 
Catalogue,  p.  21,  f.  47,  No.  55.  The  English  text,  as  Arnold  rightly  judges,  is  a 
version  from  the  Latin,  which,  in  any  case,  is  the  original.  The  English  form  of 
the  text  is  printed  in  Lewis,  p.  333  ;  in  Vaughan,  Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  435  ; 
Monograph,  576  ;  Select  English  Works,  III.,  504  i.  The  Latin  text  in  Fasc.  Zizan. 
341  f.  ;  vide  Appendix,  No.  9. 

144.  Shirley,  in  Catalogue,  p.  21  f.  enumerates  eight  letters,  but  in  my  view  only 
the  half  of  these  deserve  that  name  ;  vide  Appendix  II.  For  a  long  time  I  have 
had  no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  the  alleged  Epistola  ad  Simplices  Sacerdotcs  is  no 
letter  ;  vide  above,  Chap.  VI. 

145.  The  Letter  to  the  Archbishop  has  the  address,  Venerabilis  in  Christo 
pater  et  domine  ;  and  the  letter  itself  begins  thus  :  Vester  sacerdos  pauper  et 
hurnilis  sub  spe  paterni  auxilii,  pandit  vestrae  reverentiae  ostia  cordis  suae,  etc. 
Vienna  MS.,  1387,  fol.  105,  col.  L 

146.  Thrice  it  speaks  of  Romanus  j)ontifex,  thrice  of  papa aut  cardinales,  tv/ice 
of  papa  noster,  once  of  papa  noster  Urhanus  sextus. 

147.  Rogare  debemus ;  .  .  .  igitur  rogemus  Dominum  cujuslibet  creaturae  ;  et 
rogemus  spiritualiter 

148.  To  this  assertion,  it  is  true,  is  opposed  the  external  testimony  of  the  MSS., 
which,  since  the  second  decade  of  the  15th  century,  can  be  shown  to  have  intituled 
the  piece  either  Epistola  Missa  Papae  Urbano  Sexto  (so  the  Vienna  MS.,  1387),  or 
in  some  other  similar  way.  But  still  there  was  an  interval  of  thirty  years  between 
the  time  when  Wiclif  wrote  it  and  the  execution  of  these  transcripts  ;  and  in  this 
interval  many  of  the  shorter  writings  of  Wiclif  had  a  similar  history — e.g.,  the 
alleged  Epistola  Missa  ad  Simplices  Sacerdotes. 

149.  Vaughan,  Monograph,  320  ;  Jager,  John  WycUffe,  p.  59. 

150.  Kerker,  Article  WiclifFe  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  Lexicon,  XL,  p.  935. 
"  Wicliffe  excused  himself  in  a  hypocritical  epistle,  in  which  he  read  the  Pope  a 
lecture  in  courtly  phrase  upon  his  manner  of  life,"  etc. 

151.  Trialogus,  III.,  15,  p.  181,  f.  :  Sed  praedicemus  constanter,  legem  Christi, 
etiam  praelatis  Caesariis,  et  statim  aderit  florens  martirium,  si  in  fide  et  patientia 
perduremus. 

152.  Acts  and  Monuments,  III.,  49,  53. 

153.  Polydori  Vergilii  \] rhh\a.tis  Anglicae  /Tis^wiae  libri  XXF/.,BasUeae,  1533 
At  the  end  of  Book  XIX.,  p.  394  f.,  the  author  speaks  of  Wiclif,  of  whom  he 
says,  at  the  end  of  the  passage  :  Ad  extremum  homo  nimium  confidens,  cum 
rationibus  veris  cogeretur  &d  bonam  redire  frugem,  tantum  abfuit  ut  pareret,  ut 
etiam  raaluerit  voluntarium  petere  exilium  quam  mutare  sententiam  :  qiii  ad 
Boemos  nonnulla  haeresi  ante  inquinatos  profectus,  a  rudi  gente  magno  in  honore 
habetur,  quam  pro  accepto  beneficio  confirmavit,  summeque  hortatus  est  in  ea 
remanere  senteutia,  ut  ordini  sacerdotali  parum  honoris,  et  ad  Eomanum  Ponti- 
ficem  nullum  respectum  haberet. 


296  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

154.  The  Father  of  English  Antiquaries,  John  Leland,  t  15f>2,  says  in  his 
Commentarii  de  Scriptoribus  Britannicis,  ed.  Ant.  Hall,  Oxford,  1709,  II.  379  f.  : 
Quid  hie  respondebo  vanissimis  Polydori  Vergilii  vanitatibus,  qui  ....  disertis 
et  accnratis  verbis  asserit  Vicoclivum,  ut  alia  somnia  praeteream,  voluntarium 
exilium  petiisse,  ac  magno  postea  apud  Boemos  in  pretio  fuisse  ?  etc.  The  modern 
Vergilius  was  generally  considered  a  liar  in  England,  as  is  shown  by  the  biting 
expression  of  the  celebrated  ej)igranimatist,  Owen  (+  1622)  :  Virgilii  duo  sunt, 
alter  Marc,  tu  Polydore  alter.     Tu  mendax,  ille  jjoeta  fuit. 

155.  This  fact  is  attested  by  Dr  Thomas  Gascoigne  :  Et  iste  Wycleff  fuit  para- 
lyticus per  duos  annos  ante  mortem  suam,  s.  Lewis,  History  of  Wyclif,  ed.  1820, 
336. 

156.  Historia  Anglicana,  ed.  Eiley,  II.,  119;  Hypodigma  Neustriae  in  Anglica, 
Normanica,  etc.,  ed.  Camden,  Frankfort,  1602,  fol.  537.  He  is  followed  by 
Capgrave  (f  1464),  Chronicle  of  England,  London,  1858,  240. 

157.  Commentarius  de  Scriptoribus  Ecclesiae  Antiquis,  Lips.,  1722,  Vol.  III., 
1048. 

158.  The  words  bearing  upon  this  point  run  thus  :  Inquisitores  dicunt,  quod  dicta 
Ecclesia  (de  Lutterworth)  incepit  vacare  ultimo  die  Decem.  (Decembri)  ultimo 
praeteriti  (1384)  per  mortem  Joannis  Wycliff  ultimi  rectoris  ejusdem.  The  whole 
passage  (see  above,  chap.  5)  was  first  published  by  Lewis  from  the  Registrum 
Bokyngham,  and  afterwards  by  Vaughan,  Monograph,  180. 

159.  For  this  valuable  communication  we  are  also  indebted  to  Lewis,  who  printed 
in  full  Gascoigne's  Deposition,  written  with  his  own  hand,  from  a  MS.  in  the 
British  Museum,  History,  Appendix,  No.  25,  p.  336.  Vaughan  has  also  printed  it 
again,  Monograpih,  p.  577. 

160.  Et  mihi  juravit  sic  dicendo.  Sicut  respondebo  coram  Deo,  novi  ista  fuisse 
vera,  et  quia  vidi,  testimonium  perhibui.  We  may  therefore  receive  all  that  is 
contained  in  the  testimony  as  fully  certified,  and  we  have  no  reason  to  hesixate 
between  this  account  and  another  given  by  some  annalists,  as  if  the  day  of  the  last 
paralytic  seizure  were  not  quite  certain.  Compare  Vaughan,  Monograph,  p.  468, 
"  On  the  28th,  or,  as  some  say,  on  the  29th  of  December,"  etc. 

161.  'W&\Aag\i».Ya,  Historia  Anglicana,eA.  Riley,  II.,  119  f.:  Die  Sancti  Thomae, 
Cantuariensis  Archiepiscopi  et  Martyris  .  .  .  Johannes  de  Wiclif,  dum  in  Sanctum 
Thomam,  ut  dicitur,  eodem  die  in  sua  praedicatione  quam  dicere  praeparaverat, 
orationes  et  blasphemias  vellet  evomere,  repente  judicio  Dei  percussus,  sensit  para- 
lysim  omnia  membra  sua  generaliter  invasisse,  etc.  He  is  followed  here,  word  for 
word,  by  Capgrave,  Chronicle  of  England,  London,  1858,  240  f. 

162.  Walsingham,  Hypodigma  Neustriae,  in  Camden,  Anglica,  Normannica,  etc. 
Frankfort,  1602  f.  :  Et  quidem  satis  juste  die  S.  Thomae  percussus  est,  quemmulto- 
tiens  lingua  blasphemaverat  venenata,  et  die  Silvestri  temporali  morte  damnatus 
est,  quern  crebris  invectionibus  exasperaverat  in  dictis  suis. 

163.  I  find  Thomas  Becket  not  unfrequently  mentioned  in  the  MS.  books  and 
sermon's  of  Wiclif,  e.g.,  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  34,  39  ;  II.,  2,  Vienna  MS.  1341, 
fol.  79,  col.  2  ;  fol.  94,  col.  2  ;  fol.  157,  col.  1  ;  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  V.,  MS. 
3928,  fol.   8,  col.  1;  fol.  9,  col.  2.     De  Ecclesia,  c.  14,  MS.  1294,  fol.  172,  col.  3 


NOTES   TO   SECTION    VII.  21)7 

Compare  Wiclif's  English  sermons  on  the  Gospels,  Select  Enrjlish  Worlcs,  I.,  330  f. 
And  Wiolif  always  speaks  of  Becket,  if  not  indeed  with  unlimited  veneration,  yet 
with  sincere  respect.  He  rejects  the  view  which  prevailed  among  some  of  his  con- 
temporaries that  Becket  had  died  in  a  contest  about  church  property,  and  he  main- 
tains by  documentary  proofs  that  the  contest  which  Becket  carried  on  was  for  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  chui-ch,  its  autonomy  in  opposition  to  the  State.  The  case  was 
very  different  with  Pope  Silvester  in  Wiclif's  eyes,  for  it  was  Silvester,  according 
to  the  historical  view  which  Wiclif  shared  with  large  numbers  of  minds  in  the 
Middle  Age,  who,  by  accepting  the  alleged  Donation  of  Constantine  the  Great, 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  territorial  patrimony  of  the  Pope,  the  wealth  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  secularisation  of  the  churuh.  Wiclif,  notwithstanding,  was  at  all 
times  far  from  condemning  Silvester,  as  if  in  that  act  he  had  been  guilty  of  an 
unpardonable  sin.  He  judged  the  act  itself,  indeed,  of  accepting  the  patrimony  to 
be  a  sin,  but  he  was  also  willing  to  presume  that  Silvester  had  acted  in  the  matter 
with  a  good  intention,  and  that  this  sin  was  forgiven  him  by  God,  at  least  in  his 
last  hour.  Comp.  Tnalogifs,  III.,  c.  20 ;  IV.,  c.  17.  Supplementum  Trialogl,  c.  1, 
2,  pp.  196,  303,  407.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  VI.  (on  Silvester's  Day),  MS. 
3928,  fol.  10,  col.  2  ;  fol.  12,  col.  1.  Nowhere  do  I  find  him  casting  unmeasured 
blame  upon  Silvester.  The  malicious  observation  of  the  Popish  chronicler  men- 
tioned in  the  text  is,  therefore,  entirely  destitute  of  truth. 

164.  Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  224  :  He  is  said  to  have  been  employed  in  adminis- 
tering the  bread  of  the  eucharist,  when  assailed  by  his  last  sickness.  And  in  John 
de  Wycliffe,  a  Monograph,  468,  it  is  said  :  While  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
church  at  Lutterworth,  he  was  seized  with  palsy. 

165.  Audiens  missam  in  ecclesia  sua  de  Lyttyrworth  circa  elevationem  sacra- 
menti  altaris  decidit  percussus  magna  paralysi,  says  Gascoigne,  from  the  mouth  of 
John  Horn,  in  Lewis  336. 

166.  Vaughan,  Life  and  Opinions,  II.,  224  :  The  paralysis  deprived  him  at  once 
of  consciousness.  He  expressed  himself  more  cautiously  at  a  later  date,  John  de 
Wycliffe,  468  :  He  does  not  speaj^t  nor  even  seems  to  be  conscious. 

167.  Gascoignes'  wofds  are  :  Percussus  ma,gna  paralysi,  et  specialiter  in  lingua, 
ita  quod  nee  tunc  nee  postea  loqui  potuit  usque  ad  mortem  suam  ;  in  introitu  autem 
sui  in  ecclesiam  suam  loquebatur,  sed  sic  ut  percussus  paralysi  in  _eadem  die  loqui 
non  potuit,  nee  unquam  postea  loquebatur. 

168.  Walsingham,  Hist.  Anglicana,  ed.  Eiley,  II.,  119  f.  Comp.  Capgrave, 
Chronicle,  18o8,  p.  240. 

169.  W£|(lsiiigh^ni,  Hyp>odigma  Neustriae,  etc.,  ed,  Caimden,  Frankfort,  1602, 
fol.  537. 


298  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

Section  VIII. — Character  of  Wiclifand  his  imjwrtant  place  in 

History. 

The  importance  of  Wiclif,  as  seen  from  an  age  five  Imndred 
years  later  than  bis  own  time,  is  in  no  respect  less  impos- 
ing than  it  seemed  to  his  contemporaries,  in  so  far  as  they 
were  not  pre-occupied  by  party  prejudice  against  him.  Bnt 
the  judgment  of  the  present  time  mnst  needs  differ  from  that 
of  his  own  period,  as  to  where  the  chief  importance  of  bis 
personality  and  work  lay.  To  the  men  of  bis  own  age  his 
greatness  and  bis  chief  distinction  lay  in  bis  intellectual 
pre-eminence.  Not  only  bis  adherents,  but  even  his  oppon- 
ents, looked  upon  him  as  having  no  living  equal  in  learning 
and  scientific  ability  —  to  all  eyes  be  shone  as  a  star 
of  the  first  magnitude.^^*^  But  the  reference  in  these 
judgments  was  entirely  to  scholastic  learning  in  philo- 
sophy and  theology ;  and  along  with  scholasticism  itself, 
Wiclif's  mastery  as  a  scholastic  lost  immensely  in  value  in 
the  eyes  of  later  generations.  But  we  frankly  confess,  not- 
Avithstandiug,  that  to  our  thinking  this  depreciation  has 
been  carried  too  far,  and  that  Wiclif's  scientific  importance 
is  wont,  for  the  most  part,  to  be  undervalued  unduly."^  This 
fact  admits  of  explanation  fi-om  various  circumstances. 
First  of  all,  the  very  unsatisfactory  condition  in  which  tbe 
text  of  the  Trialogus  existed  till  recently  was  answer- 
able for  much  of  the  disfavour  into  which  Wiclif  fell  as  a 
writer.  Much  also  in  bis  writings  which  appears  faulty  in 
our  eyes  is  to  be  put  to  tbe  account,  not  of  the  man  himself, 
but  of  his  age,  and  of  tbe  usages,  not  always  the  best,  of  the 
scholastic  style.  The  utterly  unclassical  Latinity,  tbe  lum- 
bering heaviness  of  the  style,  the  syllogistic  forms  and 
methods  in  which  inquiries  are  conducted — these  and  other 


INTELLECTUAL   ENDOWMENTS.  299 

features  are  all  characteristics  wliich  are  common  to  scholastic 
literature  in  general.  Even  the  practice  observable  in 
Wiclif  of  often  repeating  himself  to  an  extraordinary  degree, 
not  only  in  different  works  upon  the  same  subject,  but  even 
in  the  course  of  one  and  the  same  work,  was  a  common 
fault  of  the  period  which  he  shared  with  many  other  scholas- 
tic writers.  A  reader  who  keeps  all  this  in  view  will  be  on  his 
guard  against  censuring  too  severely  faults  and  imperfections 
which  Wiclif  had  in  common  with  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  very  mastery  of  Wiclif  as  a  schol- 
astic deserves  a  more  just  recognition  in  the  present  age  than 
it  usually  receives.  The  high  intellectual  position  which 
was  accorded  to  him  was  all  needed  to  protect  him  from 
the  malignant  attacks  which  threatened  him  as  a  "  Biblicist," 
and  a  severe  critic  of  Roman  doctrine.  This,  to  be  sure,  was 
only  a  collateral  benefit  of  his  scientific  eminence ;  but  un- 
doubtedly the  extraordinary  acuteness  of  his  dialectic,  the 
intellectual  force  of  his  criticism,  and  the  concentrated  unity 
of  the  principles  which  form  the  immutable  basis  of  his 
thinking,  are  worthy  of  a  more  unreserved  recognition  than 
is  now  usually  accorded  to  him. 

The  many-sidedness  of  his  mind  also  deserves  to  be  con- 
sidered. He  has  an  eye  for  the  most  different  things — a 
lively  interest  for  the  most  manifold  questions.  Upon  occa- 
sion of  an  inquiry  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  he  comes  to 
speak  of  the  laws  of  optics  ;^"  at  another  time  the  thought  of 
mental  intuition  and  the  idea  of  the  operations  of  grace  lead 
him  to  refer  to  the  laws  of  corporeal  vision. ^''^  On  one 
occasion  he  illustrates  the  moral  effect  of  sin  by  which  the 
soul  is  separated  from  the  fellowship  of  the  blessed,  by 
pointing  to  chemical  analysis,  by  which  the  most  different 
elements   of  a   compound   body    are    detached    from    one 


300  *         LIFE   OF   WIOLIF. 

another  and  separated  in  space.^"*  How  love  waxes  cold 
(Matt.  xxiv.  12)  he  illustrates  in  a  sermon  by  a  reference  to 
physical  laws,  and  to  the  colder  atmosphere  of  the  mountain 
summits.^ "'^  To  describe  moral  watchfulness,  he  calls  in  the 
explanations  of  naturalists  respecting  the  physiological 
genesis  of  sleep.-^''^  Geometrical  and  arithmetical  relations 
he  frequently  introduces  in  connection  with  the  investiga- 
tion of  certain  ideas ;  and  he  has  a  special  partiality  for  the 
treatment  of  subjects  relating  to  national  economics.  The 
fact  that  in  his  references  to  the  natural  sciences  his 
notions  are  now  and  then  fantastical  and  far  from  clear, 
cannot  with  justice  lay  him  open  to  any  suspicion  of  ignor- 
ance on  such  subjects  ;  for  who  would  demand  of  him — a 
man  who  had  no  pretensions  to  be  a  professed  physicist — 
that  he  should  have  been  four  or  five  centuries  in  advance 
of  his  own  time  ?  But  it  is  certainly  well  worth  remarking 
how  mathematical,  physical,  naturalistic,  and  social  ideas  all 
pour  in  a  full  stream  into  his  many-sided  and  richly  fur- 
nished mind. 

Another  characteristic  feature  of  Wiclif  is  the  critical 
spirit  which  inspires  him.  It  cannot  be  denied,  indeed, 
that  he,  too,  innocently  repeats  several  sagas  and  legends 
which  passed  for  sterling  coin  in  the  Middle  Age,  e.g.,  that 
the  Apostle  John  changed  forest  leaves  into  gold,  and 
pebbles  on  the  sea  shore  into  precious  stones.^"  In  this 
respect,  as  in  others,  Wiclif  pays  tribute  to  his  own  time.  For 
the  Middle  Age  has  a  certain  fantastical  legendary  spirit 
of  its  own,  in  virtue  of  which  things  shape  themselves 
to  it  in  grotesque  forms,  like  the  mirage  which  conjures  up 
distant  objects  as  if  they  were  near  at  hand,  but  in  reversed 
position.  Historical  events  and  relations  contracted  thereby 
a  romantic  colouring.    The  age  lacked  the  true  historical  sense 


CRITICAL  GENIUS.  301 

— it  was  wanting  most  of  all  in  the  critical  endowment.  To 
this  legend-world  of  the  Middle  Age  belongs  in  particular 
the  Saga  of  the  Donation  of  Constantine.^"^  The  endowment 
of  the  Papal  see  with  territory  and  people,  the  landed  pos- 
sessions of  the  Church,  and  her  entire  secularisation — all 
these  evils  which  Wiclif  fights  against  had  their  source, 
according  to  the  view  which  he  shares  with  the  centuries 
before  him,  in  the  supposed  donation  of  the  Emperor. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  notwithstanding,  that  Wiclif  was 
endowed  with  a  remarkable  gift  of  criticism.  It  does  not 
amount  to  much  indeed,  in  this  direction,  that  when  the 
authority  of  one  of  the  Fathers  is  brought  into  the  field 
against  him — as,  e.g.,  of  Augustine  himself — he  does  not 
at  once  acknowledge  himself  to  be  defeated,  but  first  of  all 
brings  out,  by  a  thorough  examination,  whether  the  mean- 
ing of  Augustine,  in  the  quoted  place  or  elsewhere,  is  really 
that  which  is  founded  upon  as  decisive  against  himself.^"'-' 
Of  higher  importance  is  the  circumstance  that  Wiclif 
mentions  Church  legends  occasionally  with  undisguised 
doubts  of  their  truth — e.g.,  the  legend  that  the  child  whom 
the  Redeemer  on  one  occasion  called  to  Him  and  placed  in 
the  midst  of  His  disciples  (Matt,  xviii.)  was  St.  Martial, 
whom  Peter  at  a  later  period  sent  into  Gaul."*'  But  the 
most  decisive  fact  here  is  this,  that  Wiclif,  instead  of  accept- 
ing at  once  and  without  more  ado  the  whole  condition  of  the 
Church  as  to  doctrine,  ordinances,  and  usages,  just  as  it 
stood  and  was  recognised  in  his  time,  turned  upon  it  all 
a  scrutinising  glance,  and  subjected  the  whole  to  a  rigid 
examination.  However  undeniably  Wiclif  shares  in  the 
weak  points  of  the  scholastic  habit,  he  is  still  free  enough 
from  prepossession,  and  has  still  enough  of  the  critical  vein 
to  see  how  much  useless  straw  the  common  scholasticism  was 


(/^ 


302  LIFE   OF  ^VICLIF. 

still  addicted  to  threshing.  It  is  nothing  unusual  with  him 
to  express  his  contempt  of  the  many  subtleties  {argutice 
Jictitice)  in  which  men  still  deal  so  much,  and  the  multitude 
of  baseless  possibilities  with  which  they  still  occupy  their 
heads.  He  earnestly  calls  upon  men  to  renounce  all  such 
utterly  superfluous  labour  of  the  brain,  and  to  occupy  them- 
selves instead  with  solid  and  useful  truths  (yeritates  solidce  et 
utilesy^^ — all  of  them  thoughts  tending  towards  an  emancipa- 
tion from  scholasticism — to  a  reformation  of  science. 

Still  further,  it  is  frequent  with  him  to  distinguish  between 
what  has  come  down  from  antiquity  and  that  which  is  of  later 
date,  which  the  men  of  the  last  centuries,  the  moderns,  had 
introduced.  But  "old  Christian,"  with  him,  means  what 
belonged  to  the  original,  the  Primitive  Church  —  ecclesia 
2'>rimitiva ;  and  precisely  for  this  reason  the  ultimate  Stan- 
dard for  him  is  the  Bible — "  the  law  of  Christ,"  as  he  calls 
it.  From  this  purely  Protestant  spirit  of  criticism,  sprang  his 
free  and  manly  contention  against  various  usurpations  of  the 
Papacy  and  abuses  of  the  hierarchy,  against  many  parti- 
culars of  the  Roman  Catholic  worship,  and  even  against 
several  articles  of  Roman  doctrine,  e.g.,  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation.  For  such  a  criticism  nothing  less  was 
indispensable  than  a  holy  zeal  for  the  truth  and  honour  of 
God,  moral  resolution,  and  manly  courage.  In  a  word,  the 
critical  genius  of  Wiclif  was  not  merely  an  efflux  of  scientific 
power  and  independence,  but  also  a  fruit  of  moral  sentiment 
and  of  Christian  character. 

It  is  not,  however,  in  his  intellect  that  the  centre  of 
gravity  of  Wiclif's  personality  lies,  but  in  his  will  and 
character.  With  him,  so  far  as  I  see,  all  thinking,  every 
intellectual  achievement,  was  always  a  way  to  an  end — a 
means  of  moral  action  and  work, — it  never  terminated  in 


NOT  AN  ARTIST.  303 

itself.     And  this  serves  to  explain,  apart  from  the  fact  that 
Wiclif  shared  in  many  of  the  fanlts  of  his  time,  many  of  the 
weak  sides  of  his  performances  as  an  author.     There  are,     \ 
speaking  generally,  two  kinds  of  natures,  one  putting  itself 
forth  in  the  presentations  of  art,  the  other  in  practical  action. 
Natures  of  the  former  class  seek  their  satisfaction  in  the 
works  which  they  complete — the  painter  in  his  pictures,  the 
sculptor  in  the  plastic  forms  which  he  produces,  the  musician 
in  his  harmonic  creations,  the  poet  in  his  poetry,  and  the  prose 
writer  in  his  prose.      That  every  part  of  the  work  should 
make  the   wished-for  impression ;    that    the    whole    should 
make  an  unity  complete  in  itself;  that  the  form,  in  harmony 
with  the  substance,  should  so  shape  itself  as  to  give  full 
satisfaction  to  the  mind,  at  once  loveable  and  fair,  elevating 
and  attractive :  to  these  ends  is  directed  all  the  effort  of  the 
artist.    And  that  is  the  reason  why  one  sketch  after  another  is 
made  and  thrown  away — that  attempt  follows  upon  attempt ; 
the   thinking  mind   never  rests,  nor   the    critical  eye,    the 
improving  hand,  the  smoothing  file,  till  a  perfect  art-work 
stands  before  the  artist.^^^       To  these  artistic  natures,  cer- 
tainly, Wiclif  does  not  belong,  but  as  certainly  to  the  men  of 
practical  action  and  work.      It  is  not  beauty  of  form,  not  its 
harmony,  not  its  full  expression,  in  a  word,  not  the  work  itselt 
as  a  completed  performance  and  presentation  which  floats 
before   the    eye    of  such  personalities  ;    it  is  in  action  and 
work  themselves  that  they  seek  their  satisfaction — in  the- 
servdce  of  the  truth,  in  the  furthering  of  the  good,  in  work  for 
man's  weal  and  God's  glory.     To  this  class  of  natures  be- 
longed Wiclif     At  no  time  was  it  his  aim  to   give  to  his 
addresses,  sermons,  scientific  works,  popular  writings,  etc., 
an  artistic  shape,  to  polish  them,  to  bring  them  to  a  certain 
perfection  of  form;  but  to  join  his  hand  with  others  in  the 


304  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

fellowship  of  labour,  to  commuuicate  to  others  Avhat  he 
knew,  to  serve  his  native  country,  to  promote  the  glory  of 
God,  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 
That  was  what  he  wanted  to  do,  and  therein  to  serve  God 
was  his  joy  and  satisfaction.  If  only  what  he  said  was 
understood ;  if  his  spoken  word  was  only  kindling  to  men's 
souls,  whether  in  the  chair  or  in  the  pulpit ;  if  his  written 
word  was  only  effective,  and  his  action  was  only  followed  by 
any  good  fruit,  then  it  troubled  him  little  that  his  style  of 
presentation  was  thought  to  be  without  finish  or  without 
beauty,  or  perhaps  even  wearisome ;  in  the  end  he  came  to 
have  no  distinct  consciousness  himself  how  it  stood  with 
his  productions  in  these  latter  respects. 

It  is  true  that  the  repetitions  in  which  Wiclif  allowed 
himself  as  a  writer  go  far  beyond  the  permissible  limit. 
And  even  this  is  not  all.  His  treatment  of  a  subject 
generally  moves  in  a  very  free  and  easy  manner  ;  a  strict  logi- 
cal disposition  of  his  matter  is  missing  often  enough.  He 
often  allows  himself  in  digressions  from  his  proper  subject, 
and  is  obliged  to  remind  himself  at  last  that  he  has  lost 
sight  for  a  time  of  his  main  topic.^^s  The  structure  of  his 
sentences  is  extremely  loose — a  circumstance  which  adds 
much  to  the  difficulty  of  arriving  at  the  true  and  certain 
sense  ;  and  the  diction  has  rarely  anything  sitting  close 
to  the  thought,  well-weighed,  or  carefully  chosen.  In  one 
word,  the  style  and  presentation  are  lacking  in  precisely 
those  qualities  which  we  account  classical,  in  well  propor- 
tioned and  harmonious  form,  artistic  inspiration,  aesthetic 
perfection. 

But  in  compensation  for  these  defects,  Wiclit  always 
communicates  himself  as  he  is,  his  whole  personality,  un- 
dissembled,  true,   and  full.       As    a    preacher,    as  well  as  a 


HIS   FORCE   OF  CHARACTER.  305 

"writer,  he  is  always  the  whole  man.  Scarcely  any  one  has 
stamped  his  own  personality  upon  his  writings  in  a  higher 
degree,  or  has  carried  more  of  morality  into  his  action  than 
Wiclif.  Wherein,  then,  consists  the  peculiarity  of  his  per- 
sonality ? 

Wiclif  was  not  a  man  of  feeling,  but  a  man  of  intellect. 
Luther  was  a  genial  soul.  On  one  occasion  he  begs  his 
readers  to  take  his  words,  however  mocking  and  biting 
they  may  be,  "as  spoken  from  a  heart  which  could  not 
do  otherwise  than  break  with  its  great  sorrow."^^*  Wiclif 
never  said  that  of  himself.  He  is  a  man  in  whom  the 
understanding  predominates  —  an  understanding  pure, 
clear,  sharp,  penetrating.  It  is  in  Wiclif,  as  if  one  felt  the 
sharp,  fresh,  cool  breath  of  the  morning  air  before  sunrise ; 
while  ia  Luther  we  feel  something  of  the  kindly  warmth 
of  the  morning  sun  himself.  It  was  only  possible  to  a 
predominantly  intellectual  nature  to  lay  so  great  stress  .'is 
Wiclif  did  upon  the  demonstration  of  the  Christian  verities. 
Even  in  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  he  puts  a  specially  high 
value  upon  the  philosophical  proofs  which  they  allege  in 
support  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith.  Manifestly  it 
is  not  merely  a  result  of  education  and  of  the  scholastic  tone 
of  his  age,  but  in  no  small  degree  the  outcome  of  his  own 
individuality,  that  the  path  in  which  he  moves  with  so  strong 
a  preference  is  that  of  speculation,  and  even  of  dialectical 
demonstration. 

But  in  Wiclif,  along  with  the  intellectual  element  thus  de- 
cidedly expressed,  there  is  harmoniously  combined  a  powerful 
will,  equally  potent  in  action  and  energetic  in  opposition 
— a  firm  and  tenacious,  a  manly,  yea,  a  heroic  will.  It  is 
impossible  to  read  Wiclif's  writings  with  an  unprejudiced 
and  susceptible  mind,  without  being  laid  hold  of  by  the 
VOL.  II.  U 


306  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

strong  manhood  of  mind  wbich  everywhere  reveals  itself. 
There  is  a  force  and  fulness  of  character  in  bis  feeling 
and  language  which  makes  an  over-mastering  impression, 
and  keeps  the  mind  enchained.  Wiclif  sets  forth  his  con- 
victions, it  is  true,  in  a  learned  manner,  with  dialectical 
illumination  and  scholastic  argumentativeness.  And  yet  one 
finds  out  that  it  is  by  no  means  a  one-sided  intellec- 
tual interest  which  moves  him.  His  conviction  has  un- 
mistakeably  a  moral  source.  He  confesses  openly  himself 
that  the  conviction  of  the  truth  is  reached  much  more  in  a 
moral  way  than  in  the  way  of  pure  intellect  and  science.^^^ 

It  is  certain  that  in  his  own  person  he  arrived  at  his  con- 
victions more  in  a  moral  than  a  merely  intellectual  way ;  and 
hence  his  utterances  have    equally  the  stamp    of  decisive 
thinking,  and  of  energetic  moral  earnestness.     We  recognise 
everywhere  the  moral  pathos,  the  holy  earnestness  which 
wells  up  from    the  conscience  and  the  depths  of  the  soul. 
And  hence  the  concentrated  moral  force  which  he   always 
throws  into  the  scale.     Whether  he  is  compelled  to  defend 
himself  against  the  imputation  of  petty  by-ends  and  low- 
minded  feeling,^*^  or   whether  he  is  speaking  to  the  con- 
sciences of  those  wlio   give  their  whole   study   to   human 
traditions  instead  of  God's  Word,^^''  or  whether  he  is  upon 
occasion   addressing   moral   warnings  to  young  men,^®^  he 
invariably  comes  forward  with  a  fulness  of  moral  earnest-  ■. 
ness,  with  arresting  force,  with  marrowy  pith  and  power. 
From  the  intensity  with  which  he  throws  his  whole  soul  into 
his  subject  springs  also  the  warmth  of  feeling  with  which 
Wiclif  at  one  time  repudiates  that  which  he  is  opposing,  and 
at  other  times  rejoices  in  some  conquest  which  he  has  won. 
Not  rarely  he   manifests    a   moral   indignation  and   horror 
in  the  very  midst  of  a  learned  investigation,  where  one  is  not 


HIS   MORAL   AND   RELIGIOUS  PATHOS.  307 

at  all  prepared  for  such  an  outburst  of  flaming  feeling.^^^  At 
other  times,  in  the  very  middle  of  a  disputation  with  op- 
ponents, he  breaks  out  into  joyful  thanksgiving  and  praise 
to  God  that  he  has  been  set  free  from  the  sophistries  by 
which  they  are  still  held  fast.^'-*"  The  contrast  between 
trains  of  scholastic  reasoning  and  such  sudden  out- 
pourings of  feeling  has  something  in  it  surprising  and 
arresting  in  a  high  degree  ;  and  this  inner  fire  of  inspira- 
tion and  heart-fervour,  long  hidden  beneath  the  surface, 
and  only  now  and  then  darting  forth  its  tongues  of 
flame,  is  one  well  fitted  to  explain  psychologically  and  to 
excuse  many  literary  faults.  For  from  whence  come  these 
frequent  outbursts  1  and  whither  do  they  tend  f  In  very 
many  cases  Wiclif  enters  into  regions  of  thought  into 
which  he  is  drawn  by  his  heart  and  the  innermost  feeling 
of  his  soul.  Often  in  such  episodical  passages  have  I  come 
upon  the  most  elevating  gushes  of  his  moral  pathos — the 
most  precious  utterances  of  a  healthy  piety.  If  we  follow 
him  in  such  places,  we  find  no  reason  to  regret  it.  The 
reader  advances  in  the  author's  hand  with  growing  venera- 
tion and  love ;  and  at  the  close  he  will  not  only  be  fain  to 
forgive  him  for  a  digression,  but  in  spirit  he  warmly  presses 
his  hand  with  elevated  feeling  and  a  thankful  heart.  What 
seemed  a  literary  ftiult  proves,  upon  an  unprejudiced  and 
deeper  view,  to  be  a  moral  gain. 

The  intense  feeling  andAvarmth  of  the  man  manifests  itself 
ever  and  anon  in  the  personal  apostrophes  which  he 
addresses  to  an  opponent,^^^  as  well  as  in  the  circumstance 
that  he  very  often  speaks  of  himself  in  quite  a  personal 
way.  On  all  occasions,  indeed,  he  comes  forward  with 
entire  straightforwardness  and  unreserved  sincerity ;  never 
in  any  way  concealing  the  changes  of  view  through  which 


308  LIFE   OF   WICLIP. 

he  has,  it  may  be,  passed  ;  openly  confessing  the  fact,  when 
he  has  previously  done  homage  to  an  error ;  declaring 
frankly  what  are  his  aims,  and  praying  that  by  the  help 
and  in  the  fear  of  God  he  may  be  steadfast  to  the  end.^^^ 
As  a  preacher,  in  particular,  Wiclif  at  all  times  proves 
himself  a  man  of  perfect  integrity,  and  at  every  stage  of  his 
inner  development,  reflects  it  faithfully  as  in  a  mirror 
without  reserve.  At  all  times,  whatever  was  highest 
and  best  in  the  convictions  which  he  had  arrived  at,  he  took 
into  the  pulpit  and  truthfully  published;  and  from  this 
perfect  integrity  and  honour  it  comes  to  pass  that  his 
sermons  furnish  a  standard  for  the  state  of  his  knowledge 
and  manner  of  thinking  at  every  stage  of  his  career. 

The  personality  of  Wiclif  includes  also  a  rich  vein  of  wit 
and  humour.  To  these  he  often  allows  a  diverting  play  of 
cheerful  banter,  as  when,  in  speaking  of  the  practice  of 
taking  money  in  the  confessional,  as  though  penitence  could 
prove  itself  to  be  genuine  in  that  way,  he  indulges  in  the 
word-play — revera  non  jurisdictio  sed  falsa  jurisfictio  ;^^^  or 
when,  in  his  investigations  on  church  property,  he  mentions, 
on  the  faith  of  an  old  legend,  that  when  the  Apostle  Paul 
was  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem  with  the  money  which  he  had 
collected  for  the  church  there,  his  road  was  beset  with 
robbers,  whereas  at  all  other  times,  he  added,  the  apostle 
travelled  in  perfect  safety,  because 

Cantabit  vacuus  coram  latrone  viator}^^ 

Even  in  the  midst  of  serious  discussions  and  in  polemi- 
cal pieces,  he  loves  now  and  then  to  strike  a  more 
cheerful  note.  On  one  occasion  he  says :  —  "  Fortune 
has  no  such  kind  intentions  for  me  as  that  I  should 
be   in   a   position   to   bring   forward  any  proof  on  matters 


i 


HIS   WIT   AND   HUMOUR.  309 

of  Church  property  which  could  have  any  weight  in  the 
eyes  of  the  doctor  (a  learned  opponent  with  whom  Wiclif 
was  at  the  time  engaged).  To  every  proof  which  I  havQ 
produced,  his  reply  has  commonly  been,  that  it  is  defective 
both  in  substance  and  form.  But  verily  that  is  not  the 
way  to  untie  knots,  for  so  might  a  magpie  contradict  all 
and  every  proof.  I  proposed  the  question  whether  the 
King  of  England  is  entitled  to  deprive  the  clergy  who 
are  his  subjects  of  the  temporalities,  when  they  trans- 
gress. In  reply,  he  sillily  leaves  the  question  in  this  form 
unanswered,  and  introduces  quite  a  different  subject — like 
the  woman,  who,  when  asked  '  How  far  is  it  to  Lincoln  *? '  gave 
for  answer — '  A  bag  full  of  plums.'  Much  like  is  his  answer. 
'  The  King  cannot  take  away  from  his  clergy  any  of  their 
temporalities,  brevi  manu;  i.e.,  he  cannot  strip  them  of  their 
property  by  an  exercise  of  arbitrary  power."^''^ 

When  certain  theologians  of  his  day  by  their  scholastic 
sophistry  almost  made  sport  of  the  Bible,  by  first  main- 
taining that,  in  many  particulars,  its  language  is  impossible 
and  offensive,  i.e.,  when  taken  according  to  the  letter,  or  in 
the  carnal  verbal  sense ;  and  then  professing  the  deepest 
reverence  for  the  Scriptures,  and  pretending  to  redeem 
their  honour  by  a  different  translation, — Wiclif's  opinion  of 
them  was,  that  they  come  in  sheep's  clothing,  but  bite 
with  fox's  teeth,  and  thrust  out,  to  boot,  an  otter's  tail.  It 
is  just  what  the  fox  does  when  he  makes  peace  with  the 
poultry  and  gets  into  the  hen-roost.  He  is  no  sooner  in  than 
he  falls  to  work  and  makes  good  use  of  his  teeth.  When 
they  pretend  that  the  Scriptures  cannot  have  that  sense, 
but  only  the  orthodox  sense  which  they  put  forward,  is  it 
not,  in  fact,  says  Wiclif,  an  unworthy  proceeding  to  bring  a 
false  accusation  against  a  man,  though  it  is  acknowledged 


310  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

immediately  after  that  he  has  been  lied  against,  or  to  break 
a  man's  head,  though  he  has  afterwards  handed  to  him  a 
healing  plaster.^^^ 

In  such  cases,  indeed,  his  wit  and  humour  easily  pass  over 
into  mockery  and  sarcasm ;  and  hence  an  objection  some- 
times made  by  his  opponents  that  he  had  recourse  to  satire 
as  a  polemical  weapon.  In  one  place  I  find  him  defending 
himself  in  the  face  of  an  opponent,  on  the  point  of  having 
allowed  himself  in  the  use  of  irony  against  him.  "If,"  says 
he — "  He  who  sitteth  in  the  heavens  laughs  at  them  (Psalm 
ii.  4),  so  also  may  all  men  who  stand  on  God's  side  bring 
that  school  of  theologians  to  shame  with  raillery,  with  re- 
proaches, or  with  proofs,  as  God  has  given  them  severally 
the  ability.  Elias,  too,  poured  out  bitter  mockery  and  scorn 
upon  the  priests  of  Baal  (1  Kings  xviii.  27),  and  Christ  him- 
self severely  reproached  the  Pharisees  in  rough  and  disdain- 
ful words  (Matt.  xxii.).  When  any  one,  from  a  motive  of 
love  to  his  neighbour,  breaks  out  into  words  of  reproach 
and  scorn,  in  order  to  defend  God's  honour  and  to  preserve 
the  Church  from  errors,  such  a  man,  if  uninfluenced  by 
revenge  and  ambition,  does  a  work  worthy  of  praise."^^'^ 

The  monks  esj^ecially  are  a  butt  for  his  ridicule.  In  one 
place  he  has  occasion  to  speak  of  the  prayers  of  the  monks, 
and  he  remarks  that  a  principal  motive  which  induces  men 
to  institute  monastic  foundations,  is  the  delusive  notion 
that  the  prayer  of  a  monk  is  of  more  value  than  all  temporal 
goods ;  and  yet  it  does  not  at  all  look  as  if  the  prayer  of 
those  cloistered  folks  were  so  very  powerful,  unless,  indeed, 
it  be  supposed  that  God  Hstens  to  them  more  than  to  other 
men,  on  account  of  their  red  backs  and  tlieir  fat  lips.^'-'^ 
Wiclif  has  occasionally  caricatures  of  the  monks  similar 
to   this,  and  drawn  in  still  greater  detail.     Of  the  begging 


HIS   SARCASMS   ON   THE   MONKS.  311 

friars,  he  goes  so  far  as  to  say  tliat  "  they  are  like  the  tor- 
toises, which  quickly  find  their  way,  one  close  after  the  other, 
through  the  Avhole  country.  They  are  even  on  a  footing  of 
familiarity  with  noble  lords  and  ladies,  for  they  penetrate 
every  house,  into  the  most  secret  chambers,  like  the  lap-dogs 
of  women  of  rank."^^^  A  saying  of  his  has  been  preserved 
by  the  learned  Carmelite,  Thomas  Netter  of  Walden,  which 
reveals  to  us  the  tart  humour  of  the  man.  Netter  tells  us 
that  Wiclif  said  of  the  Mendicant  Orders,  that  when  search 
is  made  among  the  sayings  of  Christ  for  any  word  to 
justify  the  founding  of  these  Orders,  no  other  is  to  be  found 
save  that  one  —  "I  know  you  not"  (Matt.  xxv.  12). 
Many  examples  of  Wiclif's  homely  vernacular  are  already 
known  from  the  Trialogus,  as,  e.g.,  when  he  said  of  the 
Mendicants  and  their  letters  of  brotherhood,  that  "  they 
sell  the  cat  in  a  bag."  ^^"  Even  in  sermons  he  does  not 
shun  the  use  of  such  strong  expressions ;  as  when,  in 
speaking  of  certain  argmnents  which  were  used  by 
the  Mendicants  to  prove  the  pretended  antiquity  of  their 
Orders  (which  was  alleged,  in  the  case  of  the  Carmelites, 
to  go  back  to  the  days  of  Elijah  of  Carmel,  their  founder), 
he  characterises  their  argumentation  "  as  worse  than  the 
sophistry  of  apes." 

Although  the  personality  of  Wiclif  comes  out  in  his  writings 
thus  strongly  marked,  this  by  no  means  implies  that  he  had 
any  wish  or  design  to  put  forward  any  claim  for  his  own 
person.  On  the  contrary,  he  desires  to  place  in  the  fore- 
ground One  far  liigher  than  himself,  the  Lord  Christ.  His 
wish  is  to  prepare  the  way  for  Him — as  once  did  John  the 
Baptist — his  design,  to  promote  God's  glory  and  Christ's 
cause.  In  face  of  a  reproach  which  one  of  his 
opponents   had   cast   at   him,  that    he    set    forth    unusual 


312  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

views  froin  a  motive  of  ambition  or  of  hostile  feeling, 
he  gives  this  solemn  assurance  in  a  passage  already  men- 
tioned— •'  Let  Grod  be  my  witness,  that  before  everything  I 
have  God's  glory  in  my  eye,  and  the  good  of  the  Church, 
which  springs  out  of  reverence  of  holy  Scripture,  and  follow- 
ing the  law  of  Christ."^"^  He  has  the  consciousness,  in  all 
humility  and  in  joyful  confidence,  that  it  is  the  cause  of  God, 
and  of  the  Cross  and  Gospel  of  Christ,  for  which  he  fights  and 
labours.^"^  And  just  because  it  is  not  with  his  own  petty 
honour  but  with  the  honour  of  God  that  he  has  to  do,  he 
does  not  even  make  a  difficulty  of  making  some  confessions 
from  which  otherwise  a  concern  for  his  own  personal  credit 
would  have  held  him  back,  e.g.,  "  I  confess  that  in  my  own  case  I 
have  often,  from  a  motive  ot  vain  ambition,  departed  from  the 
doctrine  of  Scripture  both  in  my  reasonings  and  my  replies, 
while  my  aim  was  to  attain  the  show  of  fiime  among  the 
people,  and  at  the  same  time  to  strip  off"  the  pretensions  of 
ambitious  sophists."^^^  This  consciousness  that  he  was,  in 
fact,  contending  not  for  himself  but  for  God's  honour  and 
Christ's  cause,  was  also  the  source  of  the  joyful  courage,  and 
the  confident  hope  of  final  victory  Avhicli  filled  his  breast 
even  in  the  menacing  prospect  of  persecution  ;  and,  perhaps, 
even  of  an  approaching  death-blow  to  himself  and  his  fellow- 
combatants.  He  grew  himself  with  the  holy  aims  which  he 
pursued  ;  his  personal  character  was  exalted  by  the  cause 
which  he  served  ;  and  the  cause  which  he  served  was 
never  the  truth  as  mere  knowledge,  but  the  truth  as  a 
power  unto  godliness.  He  has  always  and  everywhere  in  view 
the  moral  kernel,  "  the  fruits ;  "  not  the  leafage  but  the 
fruit  is  everything  in  his  regard.^"^  It  was  from  glowing 
zeal  for  the  cause  of  God,  sincere  love  to  the  souls  of  men, 
upright  conscientiousness  before  God,  and  heartfelt  longing 


DEVELOPMENT  AS  A  REFORMER,  313 

for  the  reformation  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  that  he  put  forth 
all  his  energetic  and  indefotigable  labours,  for  the  carrying 
back  of  tlie  Chnrcli  to  her  original  purity  and  freedom,  as 
she  had  flourished  in  the  primitive  Christian  age. 

And  what  was  the  character  of  these  Reformation  efforts 
of  Wiclif  ?  It  does  not  admit  of  being  defined  in  simple  and 
few  words,  and  for  this  reason,  that  his  Reformation  ideas 
passed  through  different  transmutations  and  developments, 
precisely  the  same  as  those  of  his  whole  personality.  Wiclif, 
indeed,  from  the  time  when,  in  mature  age,  he  entered  upon 
public  life  and  drew  attention  upon  himself,  down  to  the  end  of 
his  career,  was  always  inspired  by  the  Reformational  spirit. 
That  the  Church  as  she  then  stood  was  suffering  under 
evil  conditions ;  that  she  stood  in  indispensable  need  of  re- 
novation and  reform — this  was  and  ever  remained  his  firm 
conviction,  and  for  this  object  he  at  all  times  continued  to 
do  what  he  could.  But  what  the  worst  of  these  conditions 
were,  and  how  they  were  to  be  remedied — on  these  points  he 
thought  differently  at  a  later  period  from  what  he  did  in  his 
earlier  life.  In  middle  life  his  Reformational  views  bore  an 
entirely  ecclesiastico-political  complexion ;  in  the  last  six 
years  of  his  course,  from  1378,  the,  political  points  of  view 
retreated  more  into  the  background,  and  the  religious 
motives  came  to  the  front.  In  the  first  twelve  years 
of  his  public  activity,  the  worst  mischief  of  the  Church 
appeared  to  him  to  be  the  usurpations  of  the  Papacy 
upon  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  Enghsh  Crown,  the 
financial  spoliation  of  the  country  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Curia  in  Avignon,  the  general  secularisation  of  the  clergy, 
including  the  monasteries  and  foundations,  simony  and 
the  corruption  of  morals — all  these  evils  were  ecclesiastico- 
political  matters  ;  and  accordingly  the  means  and  ways  of 


314  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

remedying-  them  which  he  recommended,  and  in  part  him- 
self appHed,  were  chiefly  of  an  ecclesiastico  -  political 
character.  State  legislation  and  administrative  measures 
were  called  for — it  was  the  duty  of  Crown  and  Parliament, 
king  and  lords  to  stem  these  evils,  while  he  himself  laboured 
collaterally  to  remove  these  evil  conditions  by  the  hghts 
of  knowledge,  in  the  way  of  instruction,  conviction,  and 
admonition. 

There  was  truth  in  all  this,  and  yet  the  end  aimed  at  was 
not  to  be  reached  in  this  way,  for  the  weed  was  not  plucked 
up  by  the  root;  with  the  best  intentions,  a  wrong  road 
was  taken.  Of  this  stage  of  Wiclif's  work,  but  only  of  this, 
is  what  Luther  said  true,  that  he  attacked  only  the  life  of 
the  Church,  and  not  her  doctrine.  But  in  the  last  stage  of 
his  work  Wiclif,  undoubtedly,  went  farther  and  dug  deeper. 
The  Church's  doctrine  as  well  as  her  life  now  engaged  his 
examination ;  and  in  more  than  one  article  was  emphatically 
assailed.  His  first  step  was  to  set  forth  with  the  utmost  clear- 
ness, and  to  assert  with  the  greatest  decision,  the  fundamental 
principle,  that  holy  Scripture  alone  is  infallibly  true  and  an 
absolute  standard  of  truth.  No  one,  for  centuries,  had  so 
clearly  recognised  this  decisive  ground-truth,  and  established 
and  defended  it  with  such  emphasis  as  Wiclif.  And  not  only 
did  he  learnedly  and  in  a  literary  form  maintain  this  Protestant 
principle,  as  we  may  well  call  it,  but  he  also  carried  it  into 
actual  life,  and  practically  applied  it,  by  the  institute  of 
biblical  itinerant  preaching,  by  the  English  translation  of  the 
Bible,  as  well  as  by  Scripture  Commentaries  and  popular 
tracts.  Wiclif,  however,  did  not  stop  with  laying  the  foun- 
dation. With  the  Bible,  as  a  touchstone,  in  his  hand,  he  also 
examined  several  chief  articles  of  the  dominant  theology  of 
his  time,  found  them  to  be  untenable,  and  from  that  moment 


wiclif's  place  in  history.  315 

fought  against  them  with  all  the  fiery  zeal  of  which  he  was 
capable  :  especially  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments,  and  in 
particular  from  the  year  1381,  the  Romish-scholastic  doctrine 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  chiefly  the  article  of  trans- 
substantiation.  That  was  an  important  piece  of  Reforma- 
tional  ci'iticism.  But  it  was  neither  the  only  nor  the  most 
important  piece,  though  it  was  the  criticism  wliich  most 
forcibly  arrested  the  attention  of  the  world.  Still  weightier 
was  the  doctrine  of  Wiclif  touching  Christ  and  the  Church. 
That  Christ  alone  is  our  Mediator,  Saviour,  and  Leader, 
that  He  alone  is  the  real  and  governing  Head  of  His  Church 
— this  is  what  we  may  well  call  the  material  principle  of  the 
theology  of  Wiclif,  just  as  the  sole  authority  of  holy 
Scripture  may  be  called  its  formal  principle.  This  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  sole  mediation  of  Christ  has  an 
intimate  connection  with  the  evangelical  ground-doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  alone ;  and  while  it  is  true  that  the 
setting  forth  of  the  latter  doctrine  by  Luther  was  an  immense 
advance  beyond  Wiclif,  a  memorable  deepening  of  insight, 
and  a  felicitous  seizure  of  truth  in  the  power  of  Divine 
light  and  guidance,  it  still  remains,  nevertheless,  a  pro- 
phetic thought  of  Wiclif,  a  thought  of  large  Reformational 
reach  and  bearing,  that  he  proclaimed  the  principle  that 
Christ  alone  is  our  Mediator  and  Saviour.  With  this  har- 
monises his  idea  of  the  Church  as  the  whole  body  of  the 
elect.  Indeed,  this  latter  idea  stands  in  the  most  pro- 
found connection  with  Wiclif's  fundamental  view  of  Christ 
Himself  For  that  Augustinian  conception  of  the  Church 
forms  with  Wiclif  tlie  conscious  opposite  to  the  clerical, 
hierarchical,  and  Popish  idea  of  it ;  but  it  rests  precisely 
upon  the  principle  that  the  true  Church  is  the  Body  of 
Christ.     Proof  enough  all   this,   that  Wiclif  examined  and 


316  LIFE   OF  WICLIF. 

attacked  not  the  life  alone,  but  also  the  doctrine,  of  the 
Church  of  his  time. 

If  we  look  back  from  Wiclif  in  order  to  compare  him  with 
his  continental  precursors,  and  to  obtain  a  scale  by  which  to 
measure  his  personal  importance,  the  fact  which  first  of  all 
presents  itself  is,  that  Wiclif  exhibits  in  a  concentrated  form, 
in  his  own  person,  that  reform  movement  of  the  preceding 
centuries  which  traced  the  corruption  of  the  Church  to 
its  secularisation  by  means  of  worldly  property,  honour, 
and  power ;  and  which  airoed  to  renew  and  improve  the 
Church  by  leading  it  back  to  a  condition  of  apostolic 
poverty. 

What  after  Gregory  VII.'s  time,  Arnold  of  Brescia,  and 
the  communion  of  the  Waldenses,  Francis  of  Assisi  and  the 
Mendicant  Orders  had  all  in  various  ways  aimed  to  effect ; 
what  St.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  had  so  devoutly  longed  for 
— the  return  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  an  apostolic  life  and 
walk, — the  same  object  filled  the  soul  of  Wiclif,  in  the  first 
period  of  his  public  activity.  In  addition,  the  modern  idea 
of  the  State  as  opposed  to  the  hierarchial  ideal,  which 
began  to  dawn  upon  men's  minds  after  the  struggle 
between  Boniface  VIII.  and  Philip  the  Fair ;  which  found 
in  Marsiglio  of  Padua,  John  of  Jandun,  and  William  of 
Occam,  its  eloquent  advocates  and  representatives ;  and 
which  called  forth  so  vivid  a  sympathy  of  accord  among 
the  English  people  in  the  middle  of  the  14th  century, — this 
idea  was  not  only  taken  up  by  Wiclif,  but  also  utilised  by 
him  for  the  practical  object  of  Church-reform.  In  establish- 
ing and  defending  as  a  first  principle  the  authority  of  holy 
Scripture  as  the  sole  standard  of  Christian  truth,  and  in 
practically  labouring  for  Bible-reading  and  the  spread  of 
Biblical  knowledge  among  the  people,  he  was  to  some  extent 


THE   FIRST   EVANGELICAL  REFORMER.  317 

following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Waldenses.  But  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  aware  of  this  fact.  There  is  nothing 
to  show  that  he  was  indebted  to  them  for  any  of  his  reform- 
ing ideas  and  methods  ; — while  it  is  certain  that  neither  the 
Waldenses,  nor  any  others  before  him,  had  asserted  the 
authority  of  the  Bible  with  a  clearness,  stringency,  and 
emphasis  equal  to  his. 

In  the  collective  history  of  the  Church  o±  Christ,  Wiclif 
marks  an  epoch  chiefly  on  the  ground  that  he  was  the 
earliest  personal  emhodiment  of  the  evangelical  reformer. 
Before  him,  it  is  true,  many  ideas  of  reform  and  many  efforts 
in  the  dii'ection  of  it  crop  up  here  and  there,  which  even 
led  to  conflicts  of  opinion,  and  collisions  of  parties,  and 
gathered  themselves  up  in  the  formation  of  whole  reformed 
societies.  But  Wiclif  is  the  first  important  personality  in  his- 
tory who  devotes  himself  to  the  work  of  Church-Reform  with 
the  entire  thought-power  of  a  master  mind,  and  with  the  full 
force  of  will  and  joyful  self-sacrifice  of  a  man  in  Christ.  To 
that  work  he  devoted  the  labours  of  a  life,  in  obedience  to 
the  earnest  pressure  of  conscience,  and  in  confident  trust 
that  "his  labour  was  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord."  He  did  not 
conceal  from  himself  that  the  labours  of  "evangelical  men" 
would  in  the  first  instance  be  opposed  and  persecuted  and 
driven  back.  Nevertheless,  he  consoled  himself  with 
the  assurance  that  the  ultimate  issue  would  be  a  Renova- 
tion of  the  Church  upon  the  Apostolic  modeL  It  was  only 
after  Wiclif  that  other  living  embodiments  of  the  spirit  of 
Church-Reform,  a  Huss,  a  Savonarola,  and  others,  appeared 
upon  the  field — a  succession  which  issued  at  length  in  the 
Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century. 


318  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 


NOTES  TO  SECTION  VIII. 

170.  When  opponents  give  expression  to  such  a  judgment,  it  has,  of  course,  the 
greatest  weight.  Now  Knighton,  the  Leicester  Chronicler,  is  a  man  who  manifests 
his  dislike  to  Wiclif  and  his  party  upon  every  occasion ;  and  yet  he  cannot  avoid 
bearing  this  testimony  to  him  :  Doctor  in  Theologia  eminentissimus  in  diebus  illis. 
In  Philosophia  nulli  reputabatur  secundus,  in  scholasticis  disciplinis  iucomparabilis. 
Hie  maxime  nitebatur  aliorum  ingenia  subtilitate  scientiae  et  profunditate  ingenii 
sui  transscendere.  Historiae  Anglicanae  ASc/'tp^ores,  Vol.  III.,  col.  2644.  And  the 
Carmelite  John  Cunningham,  an  opponent,  who  more  than  once  stood  forward 
against  him  in  his  lifetime,  is  reported  by  his  disciple,  Thomas  Netter,  of  Walden, 
to  have  been  an  admirer  of  Wiclif's  distinguished  learning  (admiratur  in  Wiclefo 
Doctrinae  Excellentiam,  Lewis,  Appendix,  XXIII. ).  On  the  side  of  his  followers,  it 
may  suffice  to  point  to  the  testimonial  (so  much  discussed)  of  the  University  of 
Oxford,  which  celebrates  his  sententiarum  profunditas,  and  pronounces  of  him,  that 
in  logicalibus,  philosophicis  ac  theologicis  ac  moralibus  et  speculativis  inter  omnes 
nostrae  universitatis  (ut  credimus)  scripserat  sine  pari.  Wilkins,  Cone.  Magnae 
Britanniae,  III.,  302. 

17L  We  are  not  able  to  agree  with  Vaughan  when,  with  all  his  esteem  for 
Wiclif,  he  says  (Life  and  Opinions,  I.,  319)  that  his  scholastic  treatises  possess,  at 
the  present  day,  only  a  very  limited  value,  even  for  the  students  of  history. 

172.  De  Civili  Dominio,  L,  c.  33,  Vienna  MS.  1341,  fol.  78,  col.  1. 

173.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  LIL,  MS.  3928,  fol.  106,  col.  3. 

174.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  5,  MS.  1294,  fol.  142,  col.  3  and  4. 

175.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XXX.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  58,  col.  4,  to  fol.  59,  col.l. 

176.  lb.,  No.  XLIX.,  fol.  99,  col.  1.  Comp.  Miscell.  Sermons,  No.  I.,  MS.  3928. 
fol.  194,  col.  1. 

177.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  9,  MS.  1294,  fol.  155,  col.  1. 

178.  Comp.  the  interesting  investigation  of  Dollinger  in  his  Papst-Fabeln  des 
Mittelalters,  ed.  2,  Miinchen,  1863,  61  f. 

179.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  8,  MS.  1294,  fol.  151. 

180.  Saints'  Day  Sermons,  No.  XXVI.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  50,  col.  3  :  Iste  autem 
parvulus  somniatur  fuisse  Martialis  ....  Sed  dimisso  isto  ipsis,  qui  credere  illud 
volunt,  tenendum  est,  etc.  Comp.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  X.,  fol.  155,  col.  1  ;  De 
Ecclesia,  c.  22,  MS.  1294,  fol.  201,  col.  1-3. 

181.  Comp.,  e.g.,  Trlalogus,  III.,  c.  27,  p.  225  f. 

182.  Comp.  Schleiermacher's  thoughtful  remarks  in  the  second  of  the  Monologues, 
4  ed.,  Berlin,  1829,  p.  29. 

183.  Even  as  a  preacher  he  makes  little  account  of  flowery,  fine  speech,  but  both 
in  his  theory  of  preaching  and  his  own  pulpit  practice  he  gives  the  decided  prefer- 
ence to  a  plain  and  simple,  but  suitable  and  apt  mode  of  expression ;  vide  above 
chap.  6. 


NOTES   TO   SECTION   Vni.  319 

184.  Of  tlic  Papacy  in  Rome  (1520),  in  Preface  to  the  Jena  Edition  of  Luther's 
Works,  1690,  I.,  264. 

185.  De  Domi7iio  Divinio,  I.,  c.  11,  MS.  1294,  fol.  225,  ool.  2:  Credo,  quod 
sancta  conversatio,  miraculorum  operatio,  et  constans  ac  hiimilis  injuriarum  per- 
pessio  foret  argumentum  efficacius  infideli,  quam  disputationes  scolasticae,  quibus 
insistimus,  etc. 

186.  The  strongest  passage  of  this  kind  which  I  know  is  one  in  De  Veritate  s. 
Scripturae,  c.  12,  Vienna  MS.  1294,  fol.  34,  col.  4,  where  he  refers  to  the  fact  that 
he  was  accused  of  seeking  by-ends  of  his  own,  and  that  imputations  were  cast  upon 
him  of  falsehood  and  equivocation,  and  repels  these  calumnies  in  a  high  tone  of 
earnestness  and  piety. 

187.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  20,  fol.  65,  col.  2.  Here  he  presses  the  con- 
sciences of  those  who  study  the  doctrines  of  men  more  than  the  Bible  with  one 
interrogation  after  another,  in  a  style  which  makes  one  feel  that  he  speaks  with  the 
authority  of  a  theological  censor,  and  with  the  spirit  and  power  of  a  prophet. 

188.  Trialogus,  III.,  c.  22,  p.  206  f.,  where  he  deals  with  the  sin  of  Onanism 
with  impressive  earnestness, 

189.  £.;/.,  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  12,  MS.  1294,  fol.  34,  col.  3  and  4  :  lUam 
novitatem  detestor,  etc.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  8,  in  the  same  MS.,  fol.  151,  col.  1  and 
2  :  Deum  contestor  et  numina,  quod  inter  omnes  doctrinas  et  consilia,  quae  audivi 

non  occurrit  milii  aliquod  difficilius  aut  detestabilius Ego  quidem  horrerem 

introducere  scolam  istam  tanquam  doctor  mendacii,  etc. 

190.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  32 :  Benedictus  sit  Deus,  qui  nos  Uberavit  ab 
istis  argutiis  ! 

191.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  3,  MS.  1294,  fol.  135,  col.  2. 

192.  Characteristic  is  the  confession  in  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  82,  MS. 
1294,  fol.  117,  col  1,  that  he  is  equally  on  his  guard  against  a  presumptuous  arro- 
gance in  the  treatment  of  doubtful  questions,  as  against  timidity  and  a  hypocritical 
faint- he artedness  in  defence  of  Scripture  truth  ;  this  last,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  is  resolved  boldly  to  maintain. 

193.  Liber  Mandatorum  or  Decalogus,  c.  26,  MS.  1339,  fol.  206,  col.  1  :  Revera 
non  jurisdictio  sed  falsa  jurisfictio  istud  cogit,  etc. 

194.  De  Civili  Dominio,  I.,  c.  20,  MS.  1341,  fol.  45,  col.  2. 

195.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  21,  MS,  1294,  fol.  196,  col.  2, 

196.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  12,  MS.  1294,  fol.  31,  col.  3. 

197.  lb.,  c.  22,  MS.  1294,  fol.  199,  col.  4 ;  fol.  200,  col.  1. 

198.  Dialogus  or  Speculum  Ecclesiae  Militantis,  c.  23,  MS.  1387,  fol.  155,  col.  2. 

199.  XXIV.  Sermons,  No.  IV.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  138,  col,  3. 

200.  Trialogus,  III.,  c.  30,  p.  352  :  Videtur  utique,  quod  fratres  seminant  de- 
ceptionem  frivolam  utrobique,  et  faciunt  in  facto  magis  fraudulentam  commuta- 
tionem,  quam  si  venderent  catum  in  sacco. 

201.  Saints'"  Day  Se7-mons,  No.  VIII.,  MS.  3928,  fol.  5,  col,  2  :  Pejori  quam 
simiali  argutia  arguunt  quidam  fratres,  etc. 


320  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

202.  Ih.,  De  Veritate  s.  Scrix>turae,  c.  12,  MS.  1294,  fol.  34,  col.  4  :  Testis  sit 
mihi  Deus,  ego  principaliter  intendo  honorem  Dei  et  utilitateni  ecclesae,  etc. 

203.  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c,  2,  MS.  1294,  fol.  3,  col.  1 ;  comp.  c.  5,  fol.  11, 
col.  4  ;  vide  above,  c.  8. 

204.  Comp.  De  Ecclesia,  c.  21,  MS.  1294,  fol.  199,  col.  2  :  Ista  irregularitas,  qua 
magis  attendimus  ad  folia  c(uam  ad  fructus,  creditur  facere  in  oculis  Dei  sacra- 
menta  nostra  vilescere. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTE  TO  CHAPTEE  IX., 
BY  THE  TRANSLATOR. 

There  are  several  points  in  the  history  of  Wiclif  and  the  first  Wiclifites  on 
vphich  it  was  natural  to  expect  that  some  additional  light  might  be  obtained  from 
the  Papal  archives  in  Rome.  One  of  these  was  Wiclif 's  alleged  citation  to 
appear  in  person  before  the  tribunal  of  Urban  IV.,  to  which  it  has  long  been 
supposed  that  he  sent  a  declinature  on  the  score  of  age  and  infirmity,  a  supposition 
for  which,  as  the  reader  has  seen,  Professor  Lechler  sees  no  adequate  ground.  A 
second  point  was  the  part  which  Wiclif  took,  in  1374,  in  the  negotiations  at 
Bruges  with  the  Papal  Legates,  with  respect  to  which  our  author  had  expressed 
his  expectation  that  some  original  papers  hitherto  unknown  might  possibly  be  pre- 
served in  the  archives  of  the  Vatican.  To  wliich  historical  points  may  with  equal 
reason  be  added  the  curious  incidents  in  Nicolas  Hereford's  life  recorded  by 
Knighton,  and  resting  exclusively  on  his  authority,  viz.,  his  appeal  to  Pope  Urban 
VI.  against  the  sentence  of  Archbishop  Courtnay,  his  condemnation  and  imprison- 
ment in  Rome,  and  his  unexpected  release  from  prison  and  return  to  England. 

Having  become  aware  in  1876  that  our  Public  Records  Office  had  an  agent  in 
Kome  employed  in  searches  among  the  archives  of  the  Vatican  on  matters  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  Great  Britain,  I  brought  under  the  notice  of  Sir  Thomas 
Duffus  Hardy  the  first  of  the  historical  questions  above  referred  to,  and  more 
recently  I  have  called  his  attention  to  the  other  two.  In  both  instances  Sir 
Thomas  accepted  my  suggestion  that  search  should  be  made  by  his  agents  in  Rome 
with  the  greatest  readiness,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  communicating  first  with  Mr. 
Stevenson  and  afterwards  with  Mr.  Bliss  ;  and  from  both  these  gentlemen  the 
instructions  sent  by  him  received  immediate  and  painstaking  attention ;  but  I 
regret  to  add,  without  any  satisfactory  result.  The  Bulls  of  Gregory  XL,  in  the 
matters  negotiated  at  Bruges,  are  of  course  to  be  seen  in  their  places  in  the 
Bullarium,  of  that  Pope  ;  but  not  a  single  notice  has  yet  been  discovered  in  the 
records  of  the  Vatican  to  add  anything  to  our  previous  knowledge  either  of  Wiclif 
or  Hereford. 

Of  course  my  only  reason  for  recording  here  this  purely  negative  result  is  to 
make  others  aware,  that  an  opportunity  which  looked  so  promising  of  obtaining 
further  light  on  a  subject  of  so  much  historical  interest  has  not  been  overlooked,  in 
the  preparation  of  the  present  English  edition  of  Professor  Lechler's  work,  and  to 
save  time  and  trouble  to  future  inquirers  in  the  same  field  of  research. 


APPENDIX. 


"THE  LAST  AGE  OF  THE  CHURCH." 

The  first  article  in  the  Appendix  of  Dr.  Lechler's  work  is  on  the 
authorship  of  the  treatise  which  was  long  unanimovisly  ascribed 
to  Wiclif,  intituled  The  Last  Age  of  the  Church.  The  author 
agrees  with  Dr.  Vaughan  and  Professor  Shirley  in  rejecting  the 
Wiclif  authorship,  and  in  ascribing  the  work  to  some  unknown 
English  member  of  the  Franciscan  Order,  who  was  a  cotemporary 
of  the  Reformer ;  and  he  enters  at  full  length  into  all  the  considera- 
tions, external  and  internal,  which  have  weighed  with  him  in  coming 
to  this  conclusion.  But  as  the  same  field  has  already  been  traversed 
by  two  of  our  own  writers,  and  as  it  is  scarcely  supposable  that  any 
doubt  upon  the  point  can  remain  in  the  mind  of  any  one  who  has 
looked  into  what  they  had  written  upon  it  a  good  many  years  before 
the  appearance  of  Dr.  Lechler's  work,  it  does  not  appear  to  be  neces- 
sary to  reproduce  here  more  than  a  few  sentences  of  his  copious 
article,  in  which  he  indicates  clearly  enough  the  circle  of  Church  society 
to  which  the  anonymous  and  unknown  author  of  the  work  probably 
belonged.  Vaughan,  who  was  the  first  to  reject  the  long-prevalent 
notion  that  the  work  was  Wiclifs,  and  his  veiy  earliest  publication 
dating,  as  it  certainly  does,  from  135G,  offered  no  oj^inion  on  the  sub- 
ject of  its  real  authorship  ;  but  Shirley  had  come  to  see  that  "the 
freqvient  quotations"  which  it  contains  "  from  the  prophecies,  real  or 
spurious,  of  the  Abbot  Joachim,  and  the  fact  that  the  abuses  referred 
to  in  the  tract  are  exclusively  those  of  the  endowed  clergy,  seem  to 
point  to  a  Franciscan  monk  as  the  probable  author."  Dr.  Lechler 
following  up  this  suggestion,  has  satisfied  himself  fully,  not  only  that 
the  author  of  the  tract  was  a  Franciscan,  but  that  he  could  not  have 
been  other  than  one  of  a  special  circle  of  the  Franciscan  brother- 
hood, who  were  marked  by  certain  chai-acteristics  which  he  brings 
fully  out  in  the  following  interesting  paragraph,  the  closing 
one  of  his  article  : — "  If  we  seek  to  define  the  circle  to  which  the 
anonymous  author  may  have  belonged,  the  intellectual  atmosphere 
VOL.   II.  X 


322  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

in  which  he  lives  and  breatlies  in  the  work  before  us  points  to  no 
other  quarter  than  to  those  Franciscans  who,  with  a  zealous  adhesion 
to  the  strictest  peculiarity  of  their  order,  had  been  brought  into  a 
position  of  antagonism  to  the  existing  Church,  and  were  attached  to 
certain  enthusiastic  apocalyptical  viewg.  To  mention  a  few  names, 
such  men  were  Petrus  Johannes  Olivi,  f  1297  ;  his  scholar,  Ubertinus 
de  Casali ;  and  Jacoponus  of  Todi,  the  famous  poet  of  the  sequence, 
Stabat  Mater  Dolorosa,  were  all  men  of  this  peculiar  spirit.  And  it  is 
well  known  from  other  sources  that  it  was  precisely  this  party  among 
the  Franciscans  who  had  a  high  value  for  the  writings  of  the  Abbot 
Joachim,  and  made  use  of  them,  too,  with  a  respect  approaching  to 
reverence.  Several  circumstances  conciir  to  make  it  probable  that 
the  author  of  The  Last  Age  of  the  Chu7xh  was  one  of  the  Franciscans 
belonging  to  this  class.  1.  The  author  censures  exclusively  the  faults 
of  the  endowed  clergy,  which  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  he  may 
have  belonged  to  one  or  other  of  the  Mendicant  orders.  2.  The 
author  is  fond  of  apocalyptic  views,  and  is  attached  in  the  first  line 
to  the  authority  of  Joachim  of  Floris.  This  points  to  the  Franciscan 
order,  and  therein  to  the  fraction  of  it  indicated  above.  We  ai-e  not, 
indeed,  to  impute  to  this  whole  party  the  feeble  and  narrow-minded 
characteristics  of  this  tract :  these  are  to  be  put  to  the  account  of  the 
author  himself,  whose  name  and  position  it  may  neither  be  possible 
nor  of  any  importance  now  to  ascertain. 


II. 

WICLIF'S  WRITINGS. 

Three  catalogues  of  these  writings  are  extant,  which  date  from  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  in  all  probability  were  drawn  up  not  much  later 
than  about  thirty  years  after  Wiclif's  death.  They  are  preserved 
in  two  MSS.  of  the  Imperial  Library  of  Vienna,  but  were  only  lately 
published.  They  thus  remained  virtually  unknown  to  the  learned 
world,  which  for  centuries  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  catalogues 
of  a  much  later  date.^ 

The  first  man  who  attempted  to  draw  up  a  comprehensive  list  of 
the  writings  of  Wiclif  was  John  Bale,  Bishop  of  Ossory  (t  1563),  in 
his  Illustrium  Majoris  Britan^iiae  Scrijjtorum  Sumviarium  in 
Quasdam  Ceyiturias  Divisicm,  which  first  appeared  in  1548.  At 
that  time  it  included  only  five  centuries  of  writers.  During  his 
exile  in  Germany,  he  enlarged  the  work  by  four  additional  centuries, 

^  Shirley  printed  in  the  appendix  to  his  Catalogue  the  first  two  of  these  old  lists; 
the  third  was  unknown  to  him.  Vide  Catalogue  of  the  MSS.  of  the  Imperial  Library 
of  Vienna,  v.  5. 


wiclif's  writings.  323 

and  carried  it  down  to  a.d.  1557,  in  which  year  the  enlarged  edition 
appeared  at  Basel.  It  reckons  in  this  form  no  fewer  than  900 
writers.  In  this  collection,  p.  451  f..  Bale  gives  242  of  Wiclif's 
writings,  with  their  titles,  and  in  149  cases  he  adds  their  com- 
mencing words  ;  but  he  does  not  aim  at  any  systematic  arrangement, 
and  it  is  no  part  of  his  plan  to  indicate  where  the  MSS.  enumerated 
are  to  be  found.  But  Bale's  j^rincipal  fault  was  the  hasty  way  in 
which  he  picked  up  titles  of  writings  of  Wiclif  wherever  he  came 
upon  them,  and  gathered  them  together  without  a  trace  of  criticism, 
Hence  his  catalogue  is  entitled  to  very  little  confidence. 

More  than  150  years  passed  away  laefore  Bale  had  a  sviccessor  in 
the  same  field.  Wiclif's  first  biographer,  John  Lewis,  in  his  Life  of 
Dr.  John  Wiclif,  1720  (new  edit.,  Oxford,  1820)  gave  a  catalogue 
extending  to  284  numbers,  which,  while  resting  upon  Bale's,  is  in 
some  respects  an  improvement  upon  it.  Lewis's  catalogue  is  not  only 
richer  than  Bale's,  but  it  notes  also,  whenever  possible,  the  libraries 
where  the  MSS.  are  to  be  found,  adding  also  the  commencing  words 
of  the  books  and  tracts,  and  sometimes  also  mentioning,  after  the 
title,  the  contents,  or  the  occasion  of  each  piece.  But  we  miss  in 
this  catalogue,  as  much  as  in  Bale's,  any  suitable  classification,  and 
even  any  critical  sifting.  Larger  works  and  short  tracts,  Latin  and 
English  pieces,  are  all  mixed  miscellaneously  together  ;  many  pieces 
enumerated  by  Lewis  are  not  Wiclif's  at  all,  and  others  ai-e  entered 
in  his  list  twice  over. 

The  catalogue  which  was  prefixed  by  H.  H.  Baber  to  his  Reprint 
of  Wiclif's,  or  rather  Purvey's  Translation  of  the  New  Testament,  in 
1810,  was  drawn  up  on  the  basis  of  Bale's  and  Lewis's,  but  is  not 
so  complete  as  the  latter.  The  only  advance  made  by  Baber  was 
the  thankworthy  one  that  he  was  the  first  to  give  a  moi-e  exact 
account  of  the  Wiclif  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  as  well  as  of  the 
MSS.  preserved  in  Vienna,  in  regard  to  the  latter  of  which  he  made 
use  of  the  catalogue  of  Denis. 

Eighteen  years  later,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  Life  and  Opinions 
of  John  de  Wycliffe,  Di\  Vaughan  gave  a  catalogue,  which  was  the 
fruit  of  personal  investigation,  carried  out  especially  in  Cambridge 
and  Dublin,  and  which,  besides  a  classification  of  the  writings,  con- 
tained a  fuller  account  of  the  libraries  where  they  are  preserved,  and 
some  criticism  on  the  genuineness  of  the  several  jiieces.  And  in  his 
last  work  on  Wiclif — John  de  Wycliffe,  a  Monograph,  1853 — he  has 
drawn  up  a  new  list  which  is  in  many  respects  more  accurate  and 
minute  than  his  earlier  one,  although  we  cannot  help  thinking  it 
inferior  in  point  of  comprehensiveness.  In  point  of  accuracy,  too,  it 
still  leaves  much  to  be  desiderated,  e.g.,  more  than  one  writing  is  twice 
introduced  under  difierent  titles,  e.g.,  B.  544,  No.  103,  De  Dotations 
Ecclesiae,  and  125,  Supplementum  Trialogi,  which  is  one  and  the 
same  work.  Another  instance  is  in  the  observations  which  he  repeatedly 
makes,  pp.  537  and  542,  on  the  subject  of  Wiclif's  >S'»/««u/  Theologicu, 


324  LIFE  OF  WIOLIF. 

whicii  are  very  inexact,  and  even  confusing  ;  for,  according  to  these, 
we  should  have  to  suppose  that  the  Summa  is  a  single  work,  con- 
sisting of  twelve  chapters,  whereas  it  is  rather  a  comprehensive 
Collection  or  Corpus,  embracing  no  fewer  than  twelve  treatises,  many 
of  which  would  fill  a  goodly  printed  volume. 

The  most  important  advance  in  this  field  was  made  by  the  late  Dr. 
Walter  Waddington  Shirley,  Professor  of  Church  History  in  Oxford. 
As  a  preparatory  work  to  a  pi'ojected  edition  of  Select  Works  of 
Wiclif,  which  he  did  not  live  to  take  part  in,  he  published,  in  1865, 
A  Catalogue  of  the  Oriyinal  Works  of  John  Wyclif  Oxford,  at  the 
Clarendon  Press.  This  work,  though  very  modest  in  bulk,  was 
the  fruit  of  considerable  labour,  and  of  correspondence  and  laborious 
collections  reaching  through  ten  or  twelve  years.  The  peculiar 
recommendations  of  this  catalogue  are  numerons.  Shirley  divides  the 
Latin  and  the  English  writings  entirely  from  each  other ;  he 
distributes  the  Latin  works  into  certain  classes  according  to  their 
contents  ;  he  adds  testimonies  and  notices  to  aid,  as  far  as  possible,  in 
determining  the  genuineness  of  the  several  writings ;  he  endeavours 
to  fix  their  several  dates,  at  least  approximately;  and  lastly,  he 
indicates  accurately  the  MSS.  which  contain  the  several  works.  To 
the  catalogue  of  the  genuine  and  still  extant  works  of  Wiclif,  the 
author  adds  a  list  both  of  his  lost  writings,  and  of  writings  which 
have  been  incorrectly  attributed  to  him.  He  prints  in  an  appendix 
two  of  the  old  catalogues  of  Wiclif's  woi-ks,  mentioned  above  as  dating 
from  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  century,  which  are  found 
in  the  Vienna  MSS.  The  little  work  ends  with  an  alphabetical 
register  of  all  the  extant  works,  arranged  according  to  their  com- 
mencing words,  and  separated  off  from  each  other  as  Latin  or  English. 

Last  of  all,  Thomas  Arnold,  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Select  English 
Works  of  John  Wiclif,  Oxford,  1871,  has  given  a  catalogue  of  the 
English  writings  exclusively  which  are  ascribed  to  Wiclif,  in  which 
he  places  first  the  wi-itings  which  are  probably  genuine,  forty-one  in 
number,  and  next  those  which  are  doubtful,  twenty-eight  in  number, 
adding  at  the  close  a  short  list  of  others,  which,  in  his  jtidgment,  are 
certainly  spurious.  Arnold  has  added  to  Shirley's  list  one  English  piece 
which  he  was  the  first  to  discover  {Select  Works,  Vol.  IIL,  pp.  130-233). 
It  V)ears  the  title  of  Lincolniensis  (Grosstete),  but  is  nothing  else  than  an 
appeal  for  sympathy  in  behalf  of  the  persons  and  work  of  the  itinerant 
preachers,  after  several  of  them  had  been  tried  and  thrown  into  prison. 
For  the  rest,  Arnold  has  directed  his  chief  attention  to  the  critical 
question  of  the  genuineness  of  the  several  pieces,  though  aiming  also  as 
much  as  possible  at  the  determination  of  their  respective  dates.  The 
result  reached  was  that  he  contested  the  genuineness  of  a  considerable 
number  of  pieces.  .  Of  the  sixty-five  English  works  brought  forward  by 
Shirley,  he  pronounces  decidedly  against  the  Wiclif  anthorship_ of  eight 
or  thereabouts,  while,  with  i-espect  to  from  fifteen  to  twenty  others,  he 
is  unable  to  go  further  than  a  nooi-liquet.      He  has  not,  however,  pro- 


wiclif's  writings.  325 

ceeded  upon  his  own  individual  judgment  as  decisive,  but  has  printed 
ill  his  third  volume,  among  the  "  Miscellaneous  Works,"  several  of 
the  pieces  whose  genuineness  he  does  not  allow. 

To  come  more  closely  to  the  Works  themselves,  we  have  first  of  all 
to  offer  some  remarks  upon  their  difference  in  respect  of  language. 
Dr.  Yaughan  says  of  the  English  writings  of  Wiclif  that  they  are  by 
far  the  most  numerous.  This  is  an  error.  Even  looking  to  nvimbers 
only,  Shirley's  catalogue  contains  not  fewer  than  ninety-six  Latin  works, 
while  the  English  works  number  only  sixty-five.  But  when  we  com- 
pare the  two  classes  of  pieces  in  respect  to  bulk,  the  Latin  pieces  have 
still  more  the  advantage;  and  hence,  in  Arnold's  judgment,  the  Latin 
works  of  Wiclif  "  are  by  far  the  most  numerous  and  most  copious."  In 
fact,  the  English  pieces  ai-e  for  the  most  part  nothing  more  than  mere 
ti"acts  of  a  couple  of  pages,  and  the  largest  of  them  fill  at  most  three 
or  four  sheets  ;  while  the  series  of  Latin  woi-ks  includes  from  ten  to 
twelve  equal  to  the  Trialogus  in  bulk,  every  one  of  which  would  fill  a 
respectable  octavo  volume.  But  the  importance  of  their  contents,  too, 
in  the  case  of  many  of  the  Latin  works,  is  far  superior  to  that  of  the 
English.  Scientifically  considered,  it  is  only  the  Latin  writings 
which  are  of  value.  Wiclif's  philosophical  and  theological  position 
can  only  be  learned  from  them  with  certainty  and  thoroughness  ; 
while  his  English  writings  are  chiefly  valuable  in  part  for  the  history 
of  the  English  language  and  literature,  and  in  part  for  our  knowledge 
of  the  influence  of  Wiclif  upon  the  English  people. 

And  here  we  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  the  genuineness  of  the 
most  impoi'tant  of  the  Latin  works  is  sufficiently  attested  and  indeed 
placed  beyond  all  doubt,  partly  because  Wiclif  himself  is  accustomed  to 
quote  his  own  earlier  works  in  the  later,  and  partly  because  his  several 
opponents  cite  different  works  of  Wiclif  in  their  controversial  writ- 
ings. In  this  way  a  pretty  copious  list  of  his  works  can  be  gathered 
from  the  writings  of  William  Woodford,  from  a  mandate  of  Arch- 
bishop Sbynjek  of  Prag  against  Hus,  from  the  anti-Hussite  works  of 
Friar  Stephan,  of  Dolan,  but  most  of  all  from  the  great  woi-k  of 
Thomas  Netter,  of  Walden.  But  friends  and  admirers  too,  like  Hus, 
mention  several  of  his  writings,  and  give  exact  quotations  from  them. 
In  the  Vienna  MSS.  his  name  occurs  by  no  means  unfrequently 
attached  to  his  sevei'al  pieces.  But  the  case  is  entirely  otherwise 
with  the  English  writings  :  not  one  of  them  is  mentioned  in  any  other 
writing,  either  of  Wiclif  or  of  his  literary  opponents.  His  popular 
tract  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  The  Wicket,  stands  alone  in  being  expressly 
mentioned  as  his  in  several  of  the  Acts  of  Process  brought  against 
particular  Lollards,  but  not  earlier  than  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century  ;  and  in  the  MSS.  containing  these  English  tracts  it  is  mar- 
vellous that  his  name  should  so  rarely  occur.  In  other  words,  there 
are  almost  no  external  testimonies  in  existence  for  the  genuineness  of 
the  English  writings  of  Wiclif;  we  are  thus  thrown  entirely  upon 
internal   grounds  either  for  or  against  their  Wiclif  authorship,  and, 


326  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

tis  may  be  easily  undei'stood,  the  work  of  deciding  becomes,  in  these 
circumstances,  precarious  and  difficult. 

Further,  it  is  a  very  remarkable  fact  that  of  the  Latin  writings  of 
Wiclif  comparatively  few  old  MSS.  are  extant  in  England  itself 
and  in  Ireland,  while  the  whole  of  his  English  writings  are  to  be 
found  in  English  and  Irish  libraries.  Of  the  ninety-six  Latin  works 
enumerated  by  Shirley,  there  ai-e  only  twenty-seven  of  which  MSS. 
dating  from  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  are  in  the  possession 
of  English  or  Irish  Libraries — i.e.,  not  fully  a  third.  And  among  those 
which  are  wanting  in  England  itself  are  nofa  few  works  of  the  greatest 
importance — e.</.,  the  Trialogus,  De  Juratnento  Arnoldi,  one  of  the 
earliest  memorials  of  Wiclif  which  is  of  high  interest,  etc.,  etc.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  libraries  of  the  Continent,  and  chiefly  the 
Imperial  Libraiy  of  Vienna,  the  Univei'sity  and  Archiepiscopal 
Libraries  of  Prague,  and  even  the  National  Library  of  Paris,  and  the 
Royal  Library  of  Stockholm,  ai'e  in  possession  of  MSS.  of  Wiclif 's  Latin 
works.  And,  indeed,  the  state  of  matters  is  this,  that  of  the  ninety- 
six  Latin  works,  including  tracts,  there  are  only  six  of  which  MSS. 
are  extant  exclusively  in  England  or  Ireland,  while  of  the  English 
writings  not  a  single  MS.  is  to  be  found  in  the  Continental  libraries. 
The  latter  fact  finds  an  easy  explanation  in  the  ignorance  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  which  prevailed  on  the  Continent,  even  in  Bohemia, 
during  the  Hussite  movement.  But  less  easy  of  explanation  is  the 
fact  that  so  f«w  in  proportion  of  Wiclif 's  Latin  writings  should  have 
been  preserved  in  England.  To  impute  this  to  the  destructive  inquisi- 
tion of  the  English  bishops,  is  forbidden  by  the  circumstance  that 
only  two  of  the  purely  philosophical  tractates  enumerated  by  Shirley 
are  extant  in  MS.  in  England ;  and  in  the  case  of  essays  on  logic  and 
metaphysics  such  as  these,  it  is  impossible  to  see  why  the  inquisition 
should  have  troubled  itself  about  their  detection  and  destruction. 

In  now  proceeding  to  an  orderly  enumeration  of  the  several  writ- 
ings of  Wiclif,  the  object  which  we  aim  at  is  to  present  a 
picture  of  his  activity  as  an  author.  With  this  end  in  view,  it  did 
not  appear  to  me  so  advisable  as  it  did  to  Shirley,  whose  object  was 
different,  to  make  the  difference  of  the  two  languages  employed  in  the 
writings  the  chief  principle  of  distribution  in  arranging  the  latter. 
It  seemed  better  here  to  subordinate  the  linguistic  point  of  view, 
and  to  aim,  in  the  first  instance,  at  a  material  classification 
according  to  subject  and  content.  Shirley  himself  has  always 
made  a  material  division  within  the  two  chief  classes  of  works 
set  out  by  him — 1,  Latin  works,  and  2,  English  works.  But  in 
carrying  through  this  material  classification,  we  shall  follow  a  way  of 
our  own,  while  rejoicing  in  the  coincidence  of  his  judgment  with  our 
own,  as  often  as  it  occurs.  In  our  indication  of  MSS.  and  the 
libraries  containing  them,  we  allow  oui-selves  to  refer  simply  to 
Shirley's  meritorious  work. 

We  divide  the  works  into  four  chief  classes — 1.  Works  of  scientific 


wiclif's  writings.  327 

content.  2.  Sermons.  3.  Practical  catechetical  pieces.  4.  Judg- 
ments, personal  explanations,  pamphlets,  etc.  Several  letters  form 
a  species  of  appendix. 

A.  Works  of  Scientific  Content. 

1.  Philosophical  Works. 

1 .  Loyica. 

2.  Logicae  Gontinuatio. 

3.  Quaestiones  Loyicae  et  Ph'dosoj^hicae. 

4.  De  Ente  sive  Summa  Intellectualium  (includes  two  books,  each 
with  six  tractates).      Vide  Shirley,  No.  8. 

5.  De  Universalihus,  Shirley,  10. 

6.  Replicatio  de  Universalibus,  Shirley,  9. 

7.  De  Ente  Particulari,  Shirley,  4. 

8.  De  Materia  et  Forma,  Shirley,  6.^ 

9.  De  Materia,  Shirley,  7. 

10.  De  Compositione  Hominis,  Shirley,  5. 

11.  De  Anima. 

2.  Theological  Works. 

A.  Si/stematic. 

Here  deserves  to  be  put  in  the  foremost  place,  both  on  account  of 
its  great  extent  and  its  inherent  value,  the  great  work  of  Wiclif  to 
which  his  admh-ers  give  the  title  of  Stwima  Theoloyiae  or  Stcmma  in 
Theologia,  a  name  not  unvisual  in  the  scholastic  theology,  though  this 
name  for  it  does  not  occur  anywhere  in  his  own  writings,  so  far  as  I 
have  observed.  For  from  the  thirteenth  century  it  had  been  custom- 
ary to  give  this  title  to  works  of  a  more  than  ordinary  comprehensive 
character,  in  which  the  doctrinal  system  of  a  doctor  of  the  schools 
was  set  forth  in  an  independent  way  of  his  own,  and  not  in  the  way 
of  commentary  on  the  sentences  of  Peter  the  Lombard,  and  at  the 
same  time  in  a  close  degi*ee  of  connection  and  interdependence  ;  and 
this  even  when  the  author  had  given  to  his  work  a  different  title. 
So,  e.g.,  I  find  that  to  the  great  work  of  Bradwardin,  which  he  had 
entitled  De  Caiosa  Dei,  the  title  is  given  in  some  MSS.  of  S'unwia  de 
Causa  Dei.  The  voluminous  work,  too,  of  Richard  Fitzralph,  Arch- 
bishop of  Armagh,  Adversits  Errores  Armenorimi,  is  constantly  called 
Summa. 

'  As  a  supplement  to  what  Shirley  {Catalogue,  p.  2  f.)  has  communicated,  it  is 
proper  to  remember  here  that  the  Royal  Library  of  Stockholm,  according  to 
Dudik's  "  Forschungen  in  Schweden  fUr  Mahren's  Geschichte  1852,  p.  198  f., 
possesses  a  paper  MS.  in  4to,  probably  written  by  Huss  himself  in  1398,  which 
contains  the  following  philosophical  tracts  of  Wiclif : — 1.  De  individuatione 
temporis  et  instantis,  in  12  chapters,  pp.  1-33.  2.  De  Ydeis,  pp.  84-52.  3.  De 
Materia  et  Forma,  pp.  53-76.  4.  Replicatio  de  Universalibus,  pp.  73-86.  5.  De 
reris  unirersalibus,  pp.  87-134.  This  MS.  was  part  of  the  booty  carried  off  by 
General  Kouigsmark,  at  the  taking  of  the  Hradschin  in  Prague,  on  26th  July 
1648,  from  the  "  Schatzkammer  "  and  Library  of  the  royal  castle. 


328  :-  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

The  Summa  of  Wiclif  (so  entitled  in  three  catalogues  of  the  Hussite 
period)  comprises  no  fewer  than  fifteen  books,  some  of  which — e.g.^  the 
6th  book,  Of  the  Truth  of  Holy  Scripture — woidd  fill  in  print  a 
volume  of  at  least  30  sheets.  To  the  main  work,  which  is  purely 
theological,  is  prefixed  a  more  general  work  of  mixed  philosophico- 
theological  content,  which  treats  De  Dominio.  The  Sumvia  consists 
of  the  following  series  of  treatises  : — 

1.  De  Dominio.     This  appears,  from  the  preface  in  several  MSS., 

to  have  been  the  general  title,  with  which  agrees  the  old 
catalogue  contained  in  Vienna  MS.  4514. 

(a)  De  Dominio,  Lib.  I.  (fragment  in  19  chapters), 

(b)  De  Dominio  Divino,  Lib.  II.  (fragment  in  6  chapters). 

(c)  De  Dominio  Divino,  Lib.  III.  (fragment  in  6  chapters). 

2.  Summa  Theologiae,  in  12  Books. 


(7)  De  Ucclesia. 

(8)  De  Officio  Regis, 

(9)  De  Fotestate  Papae. 

(10)  Ds  Simonia. 

(11)  De  A2)ostasia. 

(12)  De  Masphernia. 


(1)  De  Mandatis  Divinis. 

(2)  De  Statu  Innocentiae. 

(3)  De  Dominio  Civili,  Lib.  I. 

(4)  De  Dominio  Civili,  Lib.  II. 

(5)  De  Dominio  Civili,  Lib.  Ill . 

(6)  De     Veritate  Sacrae   Scrij)- 

turae. 

3.  Trialogus. 

4.  Su])plementum  Trialogi  sive  de  Dotatione  Ecclesiae  ;  both  edited 
by  Lechler,  Oxford,  1809. 

5.  De  Incarnatione  Verbi  (Shirley,  No.  12.) 

6.  De  Ecclesia  et  Memhris.  This  appears  to  be  the  correct  title, 
and  not  as  Shirley,  following  the  catalogues  in  two  Vienna  MSS., 
gave  it  under  No.  13,  De  Fide  Catholica.  This  book,  moreover,  is 
not  the  same  with  the  book  De  Ecclesia,  which  forms  the  seventh 
part  of  the  Stcmma. 

7.  De  Officio  Fastorali,  edited  by  Lechler,  Leipzig,  1863,  Shirlev, 
p.  48,  No."  61. 

8.  De  Eucharistia  Tractatus  Major. 

9.  De  EuchaHstia  et  Fcenitentia,  sive  de  Confessione,  Shirley,  No.  23. 

B.  Polemical  Works. 

1.  Contra  Kilingham  Carmelitam  deteivninationes,  vide  Shirley, 
20,  No.  53. 

2.  Contra  Magistrum  Outredum  de  Ornesima  (?)  Monachum  Deter- 
minatio,  Shirley,  No.  54. 

3.  Contra  Wilhelmum  Vi/nham  Monachum  de  S.  Alhano  Dstermhuc- 
tione,  Shirley,  No.  55. 

4.  De  Dominio  Determinatio  Contra  itnum  Monachum,  Shirley, 
No.  56. 

5.  Responsiones  ad  Radulfum  Strode,  Shirley,  No.  57. 

6.  Responsiones  ad  Argumenta  Cujusdam  aemidi  veritatia,  Shirley, 
No.  58. 


1 


wiclif's  writings.  o29 

7.  Responsiones  ad  XLIV.  Qtiaesticniesslve  ad  aryutiasmonachales, 
Shirley,  No.  59. 

8.  Respo7isum  ad  Decern  Qiiaestiones,  Shirley,  No.  60. 

B.  Sermons  and  Practical  Expositions  of  Scripture. 

1.  Collections  of  Sermons. 

A.  In  Ijatin. 

1.  Sermon  on  the  Gospels,  for  Sundays — Super  Evaivjelia  Domini- 
calia,  Shirley,  No.  33. 

2.  Sermons  on  the  Gospels  for  Saints'  Days — Super  Evangelia  de 
Sanctis. 

3.  Sermons  on  the  Epistles,  for  Sundays — Super  Epistolas. 

4.  Miscellaneous  Sermons — 64  in  number.  The  kernel  of  this  col- 
lection consists  of  40  sermons  which  occur  in  Vienna  MS.  3928,  as 
H  special  collection,  and  which  are  of  outstanding  importance  as  con- 
taining the  earliest  sermons  of  Wiclif ,  and  reflecting  his  earlier  views. 
As  these  collections  of  sermons  could  scarcely  have  been  made  by 
Wiclif  himself,  their  variations  in  number  and  contents  can  the  more 
easily  be  accounted  for.  Thus  Shirley  places  under  No.  37,  a  col- 
lection of  twenty-four  miscellaneous  sermons,  the  most  of  which 
again  occur  under  No.  4,  as  a  distinct  collection. 

As  an  Appendix  to  the  Collections  of  Sermons,  are  to  be  men- 
tioned single  sermons  which  were  transcribed  from  the  collections, 
e.g.,  Sermo  Pulcher  on  Ruth  ii.  4,  which  is  identical  with  the  24th 
sermon  in  the  Miscellaneous  XXIV.  Sermo7is ;  vide  Shirley,  No. 
39.  Another  such  is  Midierem  fortem  quis  inveniet  ?  on  Proverbs  xxxi. 
10,  identical  with  the  5th  of  the  twenty-four  sermons  in  Shirley,  No. 
41.  The  Exhortatio  novi  Doctoris,  Shirley,  No.  38,  is  also  a 
sermon,  delivered  at  a  doctoral  promotion.  Last  of  all,  the  tractate, 
De  Sex  Jugis  (vide  Appendix,  No.  7),  is  a  combination  of  several 
sermons  ;  comp.  Shirley,  No.  40. 

B.  In  English. 

1.  Sermons  on  the  Gospels  for  Sundays — from  first  Sunday  in 
Trinity  to  the  close  of  the  Church  year — Evangelia  donunicalia. 

2.  Sermons  on  the  Gospels  for  Sundays — from  first  Sunday  in 
Advent  to  Trinity  Sunday. 

3.  Sermons  for  Saints'  Days,  on  Texts  from  the  Gospels — on  the 
Commune  Sanctorum. 

4.  Sermons  for  Saints'  Days — on  the  Projyrium  Sanctorxun  \  vide 
Shirley,  No.  2  (1-4).  These  four  parts  are  published  in  vol.  I. 
of  the  Select  English  Works  of  John  Wiclif,  by  Arnold. 

5.  Week-day  Sermons  on  Texts  from  the  Gosi)els,  besides  several 
occasional  sei'mons — Evangelia  Ferialia.  The  whole  number  of  these 
sermons  on  the  Gospels  1-5,  amounts  to  239. 


330  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

6.  Sermons  on  the  Epistles — Eplstolae  Doumdcales — fifty-five  in 
number.  The  collections  nnder  5  and  6,  are  printed  vol  11.  of 
Arnold's  Select  Works  of  Widif. 

The  Tract  on  the  Holy  Supper,  intituled  Wyckett,  appears  as  a 
single  sermon. 

2.  Practical  Expositions  of  Scripture. 

A.  In  Latin. 

1.  Exposition  of  Sermon  on  the  Mount — Ojius  Evangelic^im  sive 
de  Sermone  Domini  in  Monte,  in  four  parts ;  the  two  last  parts  also 
bear  the  title  De  Antichristo  ;  vide  Shirley,  No.  42. 

2.  Exposition  of  the  2.3d  Chapter  of  Matthew's  Gospel — Expositio 
S.  Matth.  c.  xxiii.  sive  de  Vae  Octuplici. 

3.  Exposition  of  the  24th  Chapter  of  Matthew — Expositio  S.  Matt, 
cap.  xxiv.  sive  de  Antichristo. 

4.  Exposition  of  the  New  Testament  Books,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Apocalypse. 

JB.  In  English. 

1.  Vae  Octaplex — Exposition  of  23d  chapter  of  Matthew,  printed 
in  Select  Works,  Yl.,  379-389. 

2.  Of  Mynystris  in  the  Chirche — Exposition  of  24th  chapter  of 
Matthew,  printed  as  above,  393-423.  These  two  tracts  stand  in  all 
complete  collections  of  the  English  Sermons  of  Wiclif. 

The  English  explanations  of  the  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Luke,  and 
John,  as  well  as  the  explanation  of  the  Revelation  of  John,  which 
Shirley  describes,  p.  35,  nnder  Nos.  6-9,  were  not,  in  all  probability, 
written  by  Wiclif ;  comp.  Arnold  in  the  Introduction  to  Vol.  I.  of 
the  Select  Works,  p.  iv. 

Probably,  on  the  other  hand,  Wiclif  was  the  author  of 

3.  The  twelve  pieces  which  occur  in  a  collected  form  in  several  MSS., 
under  the  title  Super  Cantica  Sacra,  and  are  published  by  Ai'nold  in 
Select  Works,  v.  III.,  5-81.  The  order  in  which  they  occur  in  the 
MSS.  and  in  print  is  not  regulated  either  by  their  dates  or  subjects. 
We  enumerate  them  in  a  different  order. 

I. — Old  Testament  Cantica. 

1.  Song  of  Moses,  Exod.  xv. 

2.  Hymn  of  Moses,  Dent,  xxxii. 

3.  Hanna's  Song,  1  Sam.  ii. 

4.  Israel's  Song  of  Thanksgiving,  Isaiah  xiL 

5.  Hezekiah's  Hymn  of  Praise,  Isaiah  xxxviii.  10-20. 

6.  Habakkuk's  Pi-ayer,  iii.  2-19. 

II. — Apocrypha  of  the  Old  Testament. 

7.  Song  of  the  Three  Men  in  the  Furnace,  Daniel  iii.  51,  after 
the  LXX. 


wiclif's  writings.  331 

III. — New  Testament  Cantica. 

8.  The  Magnificat,  Luke  i.  46-55. 

9.  Benedictus — Prayer  of  Zacharias,  Luke  i.  G8-79. 

10.  Simeon's  Hymn,  Luke  ii.  29-32. 

IV. — Cantica  of  the  Aucient  Churcli. 

11.  The  Te  Deum. 

12.  The  Cx'eed  Quicunque,  considered   as  a  Psahii,   Shirley,  p.  36. 
These  Pieces  are  all  laid  out  in  one  way,  viz.,  that  the  verses  one 

after  another  are  first  given  in  Latin  after  the  Ynlgate,  and  then  in 
an  English  translation,  to  which  a  short  explanation  is  added. 

C. — Practical  Explanations  of  Catechetical  Pieces. 

We  here  use  the  liberty  of  carrying  back  the  modern  name  Catechism 
to  the  Middle  Ages,  although,  as  is  well  known,  it  was  not  then  vised 
in  the  sense  of  the  present  day.  We  also  include  among  pieces 
designed  for  popular  use  a  great  many  more  sorts  than  have  been 
ranged  under  the  name  of  Catechism  since  Luther's  day.  These  works 
being  designed  for  the  l>enefit  of  the  people  at  large,  are  for  the  most 
part  written  in  English.  Only  a  few  ti'acts  belonging  to  this  category 
are  written  in  Latin. 

/.  In  Latin. 

1.  De  sejitem  donis  Spiritus  sancti,  Shirley,  Catal.  1^0.27. 

2.  De  Oratione  Dominica,  Shirley,  !No.  47. 

3.  De  Salutations  angelica,  Shirley,  No.  48. 

4.  De  Triplici  vinculo  amoris,  Shirley,  No.  49. 

6.  Differentia  inter  peccatwm  mortale  et  veniale,  Shirley,  No.  28. 

II.   In  English. 

1.  Of  the  Ten  Commandments,  Shii-ley,  No.  40.  Printed  in 
Select  Works,  Vol.  III.,  82-92. 

2.  Of  the  seven  works  of  mercy  hodyyly  ;  and 

3.  The  seven  to^rkys  of  mercy  ghostly,  or  Opera  caritatis,  Shirley, 
Nos.  42,  43.  The  two  pieces  evidentlv  form  one  whole,  printed  in 
Select   Works,  Vol.  III.,  168. 

4.  On  the  seven  deadly  sins,  Shirley,  No.  44,  in  Select  Works, 
Vol  IIL,  pp.  119-167. 

5.  The  Miiror  of  Christian  Life,  Shirley,  No.  11.  It  is  to  be 
remarked,  however,  that  according  to  the  investigations  of  Arnold 
and  Professor  Stubbs  of  Oxford,  the  pieces  marked  1  and  7  in  this 
collection  (No.  11)  certainly  did  not  belong  to  Wiclif,  but  to  a 
Manual  of  Religious  Instruction  drawn  iip  l)y  Archbishop  Thoresby 
of  York,  in  1357,  and  circulated  among  clergy  and  laity  in  his 
diocese  ;  vide  Arnold,  Select  Wm-ks,  Vol.  III.,  Introd.  vi.  The  remain- 
ing five  pieces  of  this  collection  arc  printed  by  Arnold  in  Vol.  IIL, 
namely : — 


332  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

(2.)  On  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

(3.)   On  the  Ave  Maria. 

(4.)  Exjdanations  of  the  Apostles'  Creed. 

(5.)  On  the  Five  Bodily  Sins. 

(6.)  On  the  Five  Sjnritual  Sins. 

Besides  the  tract  on  the  Lord's  Prayer,  just  named,  two  other 
explanations  of  the  Prayer  by  Wiclif  are  found,  which  are  to  be  care- 
fully distinguished  from  this  one,  namely — 

6.  Shirley,  No.  27. 

7.  Shirley,  No.  64.  The  latter  piece,  which  is  the  larger  of 
the  two,  is  printed  in  Select  Wwks,  Vol.  III.,  p.  98-110. 

8.  On  the  Ave  Maria,  Shirley,  No.  28,  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  tract  on  the  Angels'  Salutation,  which  has  been  already 
mentioned  under  5,  (3). 

9.  Of  Faith,  Hope,  awl  Charity,  Shirley,  No.  41.  Arnold's 
judgment  on  this  tract  is  somewhat  unfavourable.  Select  Works,  Vol. 
III.,  Introd.  vi. 

Last  of  all,  we  think  we  should  add  here  some  tracts  which,  to 
speak  with  Luther,  form  a  sort  of  House-Table,  namely  : — 

10.  Of  Wedded.  Men  and  Wifis,  and  of  their  Children  also, 
Shirley,  No.  36  ;    Select  Works,  Vol.  IIL,  188-20. 

11.  Of  Servants  and  Masters;  how  each  should  keep  his  degree, 
Shirley,  31. 

12.  ^  Short  Rule  of  Life.  Shirley,  No.  24;  Select  Works,  IIL, 
204-208. 

D.  Judgments,  Personal  Explanations,  and  the  Like. 
A,  Judgments. 

A  U  in  hatin. 

1.  Ad  Quaesita  Regis  et  Concilii;  Fasciculi Ziza7iiorum,'p.  258-271. 
Shirley's  Catal,  No.  65. 

De  Captivo  Hispanensi.     Shirley,  No.  ^^. 

3.  De  Juramento  Arnoldi.  Shirley,  No.  71.  Pi'inted  for  the  first 
time  below,  in  Appendix,  No.  IV. 

B.  Petitions,  Personal  Explanations  and  Defences 
addressed  to  Public  Bodies. 

/.  In  Latin. 

1.  Ad  Parliamentum  Regis.  Shkley,  No.  50.  Published  first  by 
Lewis,  p.  382,  and  then  by  Shirley,  Fasciculi  Zizaniorum. 

2.  Decldrationes  Johannis  Wickliff,  Shirley,  No.  51.  Printed  in 
Walsingham's  Historia  Anglicana,  ed.  Riley,  Vol.  L,  357-363. 

3.  De  Condemnatione  XIX.  Conclusionium,  Shirley,  No.  52. 
Printed  in  Appendix  to  Fasc.  Zizan.,  No.  IIL,  p.  481-492. 


wiclif's  writings.  333 

4.  De  Eucharistia  Confessio,  Shirley,  No.  19.  Printed  in  Lewis, 
p.  323-332;  in  Vaugban,  Life  and  Ojnnions,  Vol.  II.,  428  f.,  and  Mono- 
graph, 564  f.,  following  Lewis  word  for  word  ;  lastly,  in  an  inde- 
pendent and  critical  manner  in  Shirley,  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  115-132. 

5.  De  Eucharistia  Confessio,  shorter  than  the  preceding,  Shii-ley, 
No.  20. 

//.  In  English. 

1.  Wiclifs  Petition  to  King  and  Parliament,  intituled,  Four 
Articles,  Shirley,  No.  39,  Published  by  Dr.  James,  Oxford,  1608, 
in  Two  Short  Treatises,  etc.  j  and  in  a  more  coiTect  form  by  Arnold, 
Select  Works,  III.,  507-523,  under  the  title :  A  Petition  to  the  King 
and  Parliament. 

2.  Two  Confessions  on  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar — 1.  I  knowleche 
that  the  Sacrament,  etc.,  Shirley,  No.  65,  printed  in  Select  Works, 
III.,  499  f.  2.  I  beleve  as  Crist,  etc.,  Shirley,  No.  54.  Select 
Works,  III.,  501. 

E.  Polemical  Writings  and  Pamphlets. 
/.  In  Latin. 

These  writings  all  relate  to  the  Church — its  worship,  especially  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper ;  its  members  and  ranks ;  its  duties 
and  rights ;  its  needs  and  mischiefs ;  its  impi'ovement  and  reform. 
These  numerous  tracts  are,  in  fact,  no  more  than  fly-leaves ;  and  in 
attempting  to  reduce  them  to  several  chief  classes,  the  following 
order  may  perhaps  be  adopted,  admitting,  however,  in  advance,  that 
it  is  all  the  more  easy  to  fall  into  errors  here,  that  only  a  very  small 
proportion  of  these  fugitive  pieces  have  been  printed. 

A.  Worship. 

1.  De  Eucharistia  Conclusiones  XV. 

2.  Quaestio  ad  Fratres  de  Sacramento  Altaris  ;  both  these  are  named 
in  Shirley,  No.  21,  22. 

3.  De  Imagvnihus,  Shirley,  No.  26. 

B.  Organization  of  the  Church. 

1.  De  Ordine  Christiano,  Shirley,  No.  77. 

2.  De  Gradihtis  Cleri  Ecclesiae  sive  de  Ordinihus  Ecclesiae,  Shirley, 
No.  95. 

3.  De  Graduationihus  scholasticism  Shirley,  No.  94. 

4.  De  Praelatis  contentiomtm,  Shirley,  No.  92. 

5.  De  Clavibus  Ecclesiae,  Shirley,  No.  70. 

6.  Errare  in  tnateria  fidei  quod  j>otidt  Ecclesia  militans,  Shirley, 
No.  32. 

7.  De  Officio  Regis  Conclusio,  Shirley,  No.  69. 

8.  Speculum  secidarium  dominortmi,  Shirley,  No.  67. 

9.  De  Servitnte  civili  et  Dominio  secidari,  Shirley,  No.  (i^. 


334  LIFE    OF   WICLIF. 

C.  Monacliism,  especially  the  Mendicant  Orders. 

1.  De  Religione  Privata,  I. 

2.  De  Religione  Privata,  TI.,  Shirley.  No  81  and  82. 

3.  De  Religionihus  vanis  Monachorum.  Shirley,  No.  80. 

4.  De  Perfectione  statuum,  Shirley,  No.  78. 

5.  De  nova  2}raevaricantia  mandatorum,  Shirley,  No.  79.  A  short 
Fragment  of  this  piece  is  De  Purgatorio,  Shirley,  No.  31. 

6.  De  concordantia  fratrum  cum  secta  simplici  Christi,  sive  De 
Sectis  Monachorum,  Shirley,  No.  84. 

7.  De  jxivjjertate  Christi,  sive  XXXIII.  Conclusiones,  Shirley, 
No.  64. 

8.  De  novis  ordinihus,  Shii-ley,  No.  87. 

9.  Descriptio  Fratris,  Shirley,  No.  89. 

10.  De  meiidaciis  Fratrum,,  Shirley,  No.  88. 

11.  De  Fratrihus  ad  Scholares,  Shii'ley,  No.  90. 

12.  De  Minoribus  Fi-atribus  se  exfollentibus,  against  the  boasting 
of  the  Franciscans,  in  the  Vienna  MS.,  3930.  (D^nis  CDIV.),  pp. 
178-187.  The  tractate,  which  Shirley  seems  to  have  ovei'looked, 
begins  with  the  words  Cu7n  viantes  etfratres. 

D.  Decay  of  the  Church,  and  Church  Reform. 

1.  De  contrarietate  duorum  dominorum,  suaru7n  2}artiu7n  ac  etiam 
regularum,  Shirley,  No.  83. 

2.  De  Christo  et  suo  adversaria  Antichristo,  Shirley,  No.  76. 

3.  De  Diaholo  et  niembris  ejus,  Shirley,  No.  29. 

4.  De  Daemonio  meridiano,  Shirley,  No.  73. 

5.  De  solutione  Satanae,  Shirley,  No.  30. 

6.  De  detectione  perjidiarum  Antichristi,  Shirley,  No.  86. 

7.  De  citationibus  frivolis  et  aliis  versutiis  Antichristi,  Shirley, 
No.  72. 

8.  De  dissensione  Paparum  sive  de  Schismate,  Shirley,  No.  74. 

9.  Contra  Cruciatam  Papae,  Shu-ley,  No.  75. 

10.  De  quatuor  Sectis  novellis.  This  tract  does  not  refer,  as 
Shirley  gives  us  to  understand  by  the  2)lace  which  he  assigns  to  it. 
No.  85,  under  the  heading  of  Monastic  Orders,  exclusively  to  the 
Monastic  system,  and  to  the  four  Mendicant  orders  in  particular, 
which  Wiclif,  it  is  true,  often  puts  together ;  but  according  to  the 
author's  own  explanation  at  the  outset,  in  Vienna  MS.  3929,  fol.  225, 
col.  2,  and  the  whole  course  of  the  piece  itself,  he  means  by  the  four 
modern  sects,  (I),  the  pi'iests  endowed  with  lands  and  lordships — 
sacerdotes  caesarei;  (2),  the  landed  Monastic  orders;  (3),  the  canons  ; 
(4),  the  begging  monks. 

11.  De  fundatione  Sectarum^  Shirley,  No.  91. 

1 2.  De  quatuor  Imprecationibiis  (some  MSS.  read  interpretationibus), 
Slnrley,  No.  93.  This  tract  seems  to  be  only  a  fragment  of  Matt.  xxiv. ; 
vide  ]).  330  above,  under  2,  Practical  Fxpositions  of  Scripture  in  Latin. 


wiclif's  writings.  335 

13.  De  duohus  generibus  Haereticorimn,  i.e.,  Simoniaci  et  Apostatici, 
Shirley,  No.  96. 

14.  be  Prophetia,  Shirley,  No.  24, 

15.  De  Oratione  et  Ecclesiae  purgationCj  Shirley,  No.  25. 

16.  Dialogus  sive  specuhovi  ecclesiae  inilitantis,  Shirley,  No.  62. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  remark  that  of  this  book  more  MSS.  have 
come  down  to  vis  than  of  any  other  work  of  Wiclif,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  some  very  short  fly-leaves — namely,  ten  such.  The  reason  of 
this,  no  doubt,  was  the  nature  of  its  contents,  which  all  relate  to  the 
Reformation  of  the  Church,  and  discuss  this  subject  on  more  than  one 
side.  The  date  of  the  Dialogue  may  be  determined  with  tolerable 
exactitude.  It  must  be  placed  later  than  1378,  because  the  Papal 
schism  is  mentioned  in  cap.  12.  Further,  as  Wiclif  is  already  at- 
tacking the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  cap.  18,  and  opposing  with 
warmth  the  Mendicant  orders,  cap.  32,  the  book  cannot  have  been 
wi-itten  before  the  year  1381.^  On  the  other  hand,  the  Dialogus  was, 
without  doubt,  wi-itten  earlier  than  the  Trlalogus  ;  for,  first  of  all,  the 
Dialogue  is  a  simpler  form  of  colloquy  than  the  Trialogue,  and, 
secondly,  the  speakers  introduced  in  the  Dialogus  are  more  than  in  the 
Trialogus  abstract  ideas,  namely  Truth  {meaning  Christ,  as  in  John 
xiv.  6,  to  which  there  is  an  express  reference  in  the  Introduction),  and 
Falsehood;  whereas  the  speakers  in  the  Trialogus,  viz.,  Alithia,  the 
philosopher ;  Pseustis,  the  sophistical  unbeliever ;  and  Phronesis,  the 
ripe  and  deep  divine,  while  also  somewhat  too  abstract,  still  bear  a 
much  nearer  likeness  to  living  personality  than  Veritas  or  Men- 
dacium.  Last  of  all,  the  conversational  form  itself  is  kept  up  much 
more  persistently  in  the  Trialogus  than  in  the  Dialogus,  whose 
first  seven  and  last  five  chapters  (1-7,  8-30)  are  rather  monologues 
than  dialogues ;  for  in  these  Truth  alone  speaks,  and  it  is  only  in  the 
intervening  chapters  that  the  form  of  dialogue  is  introduced.  These 
three  difierences  of  literary  form  taken  together  may  sufiice  to 
support  our  conviction  that  the  Dialogus  is  to  be  looked  i;pon  as 
Wiclif's  first  attempt  in  this  literary  style,  and  is  to  be  placed  earlier 
than  the  Trialogiis.  But  as  the  latter  was  written  either  in  1383 
or  1384,  the  date  of  the  Dialogus  may  be  set  down  as  1382. 

We  have  still  to  x-emark  in  this  place  that  the  tract  De  Triplici 
Ecclesia,  which  Shirley  brings  forward  under  No.  63,  as  an  inde- 
pendent writing  is,  in  fact,  nothing  more  than  a  fragment  of  the 
Dialogus,  which,  dropping  the  preface,  begins  with  the  fii'st  chapter 
and  goes  on  to  the  seventh. 

17.  Speculum  Secularium  Donninoruin,  Shirley,  No.  67. 

//.  In  English. 
A.  Doctrine  of  the  Church. 
1.   Octo  in  qaibtts  seducmitur  simplices  Christiani,  Shirley,  No.  23. 
Printed  in  Select  Works,  III.,  447-453. 

'  Herewith  I  recall  and  correct  what  I  have  put  forth  ou  the  date  of  the  Dialo- 
ytis  in  the  Prolegomena  to  my  e(liti<in  of  the  Triuhxjiis. 


336  LIFE   OF   WICLTF. 

2.  On  the  Snfficienci/  of  Holy  Scripture  (a  fly-leaf),  Shirley,  No.  60. 
Select  Works,  III,  186.  ' 

B.  Worship. 

1.  De  Confessione  et  Poenitentia — against  auricular  confession,  Shir- 
ley, No.  51.  Here  would  fall  to  be  added  the  tract  marked  No. 
p.  46,  in  Shirley's  Catalogue,  Of  Antechristis  Song  in  Chirche,  and 
also  the  tract  Of  Prayer,  marked  No.  50,  which,  however,  are 
both  only  extracts  from  No.  63  of  that  catalogue,  in  case  they  be- 
longed to  Wiclif.  But  Ai'nold,  while  indeed  including  in  Vol.  Til. 
the  last-named  piece,  entitled  On  the  XXV.  Articles,  has,  at  the  same 
time,  made  it  appear  probable  (p.  454)  that  this  writing  was  a 
reply  to  acciisations  which  were  brought  against  the  Lollards 
by  the  clergy  in  1388,  and  was  therefore  written,  at  the  earliest, 
four  years  after  Wiclif's  death. 

C.  Constitution  of  the  Church. 

1.  How  the  office  of  Ctoratis  is  m'deyned  oj  God,  or  De  XXXIII. 
errorihus  Curatorum.     Shirley  No.  19. 

2.  For  the  ordre  of  presthod.     Shirley,  No.  20. 

3.  Of  Clerkis  Possessioners.     Shirley,  No.  18. 

4.  De  Precationihus  sacris,  an  exhoitation  to  priests  to  pious 
prayer,  a  good  life,  and  pure  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  Shirley, 
No.  22;  Select  Works,  III.,  218-229. 

5.  De  Stipendiis  Ministrorum,  or  How  men  schullen  fi/nde  prestis. 
Shirley,  No.  21  ;  Select   Works,  III.,  202  f. 

6.  Of  Prelates.     Shirley,  No.  16. 

7.  De  Ohedientia  Praelatornm,  or  Hon  men  owen  ohesche  (obey) 
to  Prelates,  drede  curs,  and  kepe  laioe.     Shirley,  No.  12. 

8.  The  yrete  sentence  of  curs  expounded.  Shii'ley,  No  38.  First 
published  fully  in  Select  Works,  III.,  267-337. 

9.  De  Papa.  Shirley,  No.  62.  No.  6-9  treat  of  the  Hier- 
archy up  to  the  Pope,  of  the  authority  of  the  higher  clergy,  and  the 
power  of  the  Keys.  The  tracts  which  follow  occupy  themselves 
with  the  monastic  system,  especially  with  the  Mendicant  orders. 

10.  How  me7i  of  j^riva^  religion  shulden  love  more  the  Gosjtel, 
Goddis  heste  (commandment),  and  his  Ordynance  then  ony  new 
lawis,  neue  ndis,  and  ordynances  of  synful  men.     Shirley,  No.  30. 

11.  Rule  of  St.  Francis,  and       )  shirlev   No    13    14 

12.  Testament  of  St.  Francis,     /  ^^^^^^^y,  i>a  lo,  i*. 

13.  Tractatus  de  Pseudofreris.     Shirley,  47. 

14.  Fifty  Heresies  and  Errors  of  Friars.  Shirley,  No.  15.  Only 
that  Shirley,  as  Lewis  before  him,  gives  to  the  book  the  less 
distinctive  title  of  Objectiom  of  Freres,  which  has  only  the  marginal 
note  of  a  MS.  to  support  it.  Arnold  gives  the  writing  in  Select 
Works,  III.,  366-401;  It  contains  fifty  chapters,  and  forms  a  com- 
prehensive attack  upon  the  Mendicant  orders. 


wicltf's  writings.  oo7 

15.  De  Blasphemia  contra  Fratres  (Shirley,  47,  No.  52),  to  be 
carefully  distinguished  from  the  book  De  Blasphemia,  in  Latin,  which 
forms  tlie  last  part  of  Wiclif  s  Snmma.  The  English  controversial 
piece  is  published  in  Select  Works,  III.,  402-429. 

D,  Decline  and  Reform  of"  the  Clmrcli. 

Among  all  these  eighteen  English  writings  last  enumerated  [A,  B, 
C),  there  is  not  one  which  had  not  in  view  the  disorder  and  corrup- 
tion of  the  Church,  and  did  not  woi'k  for  its  purification  and  reform. 
But  in  the  writings  now  to  be  named  the  reformation  spirit  and 
standpoint  are  incomparably  more  prominent  and  prevailing.  I  place 
in  the  front  a  work  which  equally  inquii-es  into  both  subjects,  the 
Church's  decline  and  reform. 

1.  The  Church  and  her  Members.  Shirley,  No.  45.  First  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Todd  in  Dublin,  1851,  in  Three  Treatises  bj/  John 
Wijcllffe,  p.  iii. — Ixxx.),  but  now  printed  in  Select  Works,  by  Arnold,  in 
a  more  satisfactory  foi-m,  after  a  much  better  MS.  in  the  Bodleian 
Library,  III.,  338-3G5.  The  next  following  tracts  occupy  them- 
selves chiefly  with  proving  the  fallen  condition  of  the  Church  and 
opposing  its  corruptions. 

2.  De  Apostasia  Cleri.  Shii^ey,  No.  46.  Printed  in  Todd's 
Three  Treatises,  and  in  Arnold's  Select  Wo)-ks,  III.,  430-40.  Let  us 
not  omit  to  mention  here  that  the  piece  entitled  Of  Antecrist  and  his 
Meynee  (Shirley,  No.  48),  which  Todd  also  published  in  the  Three 
Treatises,  was  pronounced  ungenuine  by  Yaughan  in  his  Monograph, 
p.  539,  and  has  also  been  referred  by  Arnold  in  Select  Works,  I.,  In- 
troduction  vii.,  to  a  later  date. 

3.  Antecrist  and  his  Clerkis  traveilen  to  destroie  Holy  Writt. 
Shirley,  No.  33. 

4.  Ho%o  Sathanas  and  his  Prestis  casten  to  destroie  alle  good 
lyvynge.      Shii-ley,  No.  34. 

5.  Speculum  de  Antichristo,  or  How  Antecrist  and  his  clerkis  feren 
true  Prestis  fro  pjrecliyng  of  Cristis  Gospel  bi  four  disceifs.  Shirlev, 
No.  17. 

6.  Of  feyned  contemplative  lif  of  songe,  and  worldly  bisynesse  of 
Prestis,  etc.     Shirley,  No.  26. 

7.  Hoio  Sathanas  and  his  Children  turnen  werkes  of  mercy  ypsodoiooi 
anl  decevyn  men  thereinne,  etc.,  Shirley,  No.  29. 

8.  De  duobus  generib^is  hei-eticorum  (Simony  and  Apostasv), 
Shirley  No.  56.     Select  Works,  IIL,  211  f. 

9.  De  Dominio  Divino :  more  correctly.  Of  Church  lands  and 
lordships  of  the  Clergy.  Shii'ley,  No.  58.  Select  Works,  III., 
Introd.  vii. 

10.  Thre  thiiigis  distroien  this  ivorld,  false  confessoures,  false  njen 
of  law,  and  false  merchauntis.     Shirley,  No.  25. 

11.  De  Pontificimt  Bomnnorinn  Schismate,  Shirlev,  No.  59.  Select 
Works,  HI.,  242-266. 

yOL.  II,  Y 


338  LIFE    OF   WICLIF. 

The  following  pamphlets  occupy  themselves  chiefly  with  Church 
Reform  itself,  with  the  ways  and  means  to  be  adopted  to  bring  it 
abovit,  with  the  defence  of  the  persons  labouring  to  that  end,  especially 
the  itinerant  preachers,  and  with  exhortations  to  others  to  come  to 
the  help  of  this  work. 

12.  Of  good  precliyng  prestis.     Shirley,  No.  37. 

13.  Why  j)ore  prestis  have  non  benefices.      Shirley,  No.  32. 

14.  lAncolniensis,  a  pamphlet  hitherto  unknown,  which  Arnold 
was  the  first  to  discover  in  a  MS.  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  which  is 
of  great  importance  for  the  English  tracts  of  Wiclif,  and  has  been 
largely  used  by  him.  Published  in  Select  Works,  VIII.,  230-232. 
The  short  but  interesting  tract  begins  with  Grossetete's  description 
of  a  monk  outside  his  cloister  (hence  the  title  Lincolniensis),  but  it 
treats  chiefly  of  the  attacks  of  the  Begging  Orders  upon  "  poor 
priests,"  and  calls  upon  knights  and  lords  to  take  the  persecuted  men 
under  their  protection,  and  to  join  the  battle  for  Christ's  cause  and 
the  reformation  of  His  Church. 

15.  For  the  skilles  (reasons)  Lordis  schulden  constreyne  Clerkis  to 
lijve  in  mekenesse,  wilfid  povert,  etc.  Shirley,  No.  35.  Select  Works, 
ill.,  213-218. 

16.  De  Vita  Sacerdotum.  Shirley,  No.  53.  Select  Works,  III,, 
233-241.  The  subject  is  the  necessity  of  secularising  the  property  of 
the  Church,  and  reducing  the  priests  to  apostolic  poverty. 

F.  Letters. 
1.  In  Latin  (Original),  vide  Shirley,  p.  21,  No.  61. 

1.  Litera  missa  Archiepiscopo  Cautuariensi.  The  letter  fii'st  esta- 
blishes Wiclif's  principle  that  the  clergy  should  possess  no  secular 
lordships,  in  connection  with  which  it  opposes  the  crusade  in  the  cause 
of  Pope  Urban  VI.  The  second  chief  subject  of  the  letter  is  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  which  the  writer  desii-es  to  see  brought 
to  a  decision  by  the  Primate,  agreeably  to  the  standard  of  Holy 
Scripture.  The  earliest  date  to  which  the  letter  can  be  assigned  is 
the  year  1382,  but  possibly  it  might  fall  in  the  year  following. 

2,  Litera  missa  Episcopo  Lincolniensi — i.e.,  manifestly  to-  Bishop 
John  Bokyngham — is  shorter  than  the  preceding,  and  treats  exclusively 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  the  doctrine  of  change  of  substance ;  written 
either  at  the  end  of  1381,  or  at  the  beginning  of  1382. 

3.  Litera  parva  ad  quendam  socium  (so  in  the  Vienna  MS.  1387, 
fol.  107),  a  short  letter  of  commendation  to  some  one  who  shai-ed  his 
views  and  his  struggles, 

4,  De  Octo  Quaestionibus  propositis  discipiilo.  The  letter  noticed 
by  Shirley  in  his  Catalogue,  p.  22,  No.  6,  under  the  title  De  Peccato  in 
Spiritum  Sanctum,  appears  to  have  been  nothing  more  than  an  integ- 
ral part  of  this  letter,  De  Octo  Quaestionibus,  viz.,  the  answer  to  the 
first  question. 


wicuf's  writixgs.  339 

The  lettei'  De  A  more,  numbered  5  in  Shirley,  is  a  Latin  translation 
of  an  English  original  (see  below,  under  2.).  On  the  other  hand,  the 
pieces  numbered  1  and  4  in  Shirley,  viz.,  Ad  Urhanum  Papam  and 
Ad  Simplices  Sacerdotes,  are  both  only  letters  by  supposition,  but  not 
in  reality.  As  to  the  latter  of  the  two,  we  refei*  the  reader  to  what 
is  said  upon  this  point  cap.  IX.  above,  as  well  in  the  text  as  in  a 
note.  The  alleged  letter  to  Pope  Urban  VI.,  published  by  Shirley  in 
the  Latin  original,  in  Fasc.  Zizan.,  p.  341  f.,  was  early  translated  into 
English  in  the  form  of  a  free  paraphrase.  This  English  version  of  it 
was  first  printed  by  Lewis  in  the  appendix  to  his  Life  and  Opinions, 
II.,  122.  In  the  Select  Works,  III.,  504-6,  Arnold  has  published 
the  fragment  with  critical  exactness  upon  the  basis  of  the  two  origi- 
nal MSS.  of  it  which  are  extant  in  England.  As  to  its  contents  and 
form  I  refer  to  the  remarks  which  have  been  already  made,  cap,  IX. 

2.  English  (in  the  Original). 

1.  Ad  Quiiique  Quaestiones.  Shirley,  No,  57,  Here  Wiclif 
answers  five  questions  of  a  friend  and  sympathiser  on  the  subject  of 
the  love  of  God.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  English  text  is  the 
original,  and  the  Latin  a  translation  {^vide  Shirley,  No.  61-5),  for  more 
than  once  the  writer  speaks  in  siich  a  way  of  the  Latin  and  the  Eng- 
lish that  we  must  suppose  that  the  letter  was  originally  written  in 
English.  And  as  Wiclif  remarks  that  it  is  difficult  to  give  a  right 
answer  to  these  questions  in  the  English  tongue,  I  think  I  may  infer 
from  this  that  the  letter  may  have  been  written  at  a  comparatively 
early  date  ;  for  in  his  latest  years  Wiclif  wrote  so  much  English  that 
in  these  years  an  expression  of  that  kind  conld  no  longer  be  expected 
to  come  from  him.  This  letter  was  iirst  published  by  Ari^old  in  the 
original,  Select  Works,  III.,  183-185. 


Note  on  the  Vienna  MSS.  of  Works  of  Wiclif. 

It  may  not  be  without  interest  to  many  readers  to  obtain  more  exact  information 
concerning  the  contents  of  the  Wiclif  MSS.  preserved  in  the  Imperial  Library  of 
Vienna,  which  are  so  frequently  referred  to  in  the  above  catalogue  of  the  Refor- 
mer's works.  And  the  interest  felt  would  be  still  greater  if  we  were  alile  to  give 
in  all  cases  a  history  of  the  transcripts  themselves,  and  of  all  the  changes  of  hands 
through  which  they  have  passed.  But  it  is  only  in  rare  instances  that  we  find  any 
notices  of  this  kind  in  the  MSS.  themselves.  The  following  notes  have  been  drawn 
up,  with  the  help  of  the  Catalogue  of  the  Latin  MSS.  of  the  Imperial  Library, 
which  was  published  in  1864  by  the  Imperial  Academy  of  Sciences.  It  seemed 
requisite,  however,  to  add,  in  all  cases,  where  possible,  the  numbers  attached  to  the 
several  volumes  in  the  excellent  catalogue  of  the  learned  Denis. 

The  following  list  of  volumes  is  confined  to  those  which  ai'e  of  chief  importance, 
to  the  exclusion  of  others  which  contain  only  duplicate  or  triplicate  transcripts  of 
the  same  works,  and  also  of  several  volumes  which  contain  only  a  small  proportion 
of  Wiclif  material,  mixed  up  with  the  productions  of  other  writers. 

The  numbers,  which  stand  fij'st  in  Avabic  niunerals,  are  those  of  the  Catalogue, 


340  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

presently  in  use  in  the  Imperial  Library.     The  numbers  in  Roman  numerals  are 
those  of  the  D^nis  Catalogue. 

1.  No.  1294  (Denis  I.  CDV.),  4to,  251,  written  in  very  small  hand,  in  two 
columns,  is  of  particular  value,  because  the  vol.  contains  a  complete  copy  of 
Book  vi.  of  Wiclif's  Suinma — viz.,  the  Treatise  De  Veritate  Sacrae  Scrijiturw,  pp. 
1-127.  At  the  end  occurs  this  notice,  Correctus  gnaviter,  anno  Domini  1407,  in 
Vigilia  inirificationis  S.  Marke,  Oxonii  per  Nicolaum  Faulfish  et  Georgium  de 
Kni/cJinitz.  This  volume  also  contains  the  seventh  book  of  the  Summa  De  Ecclesia, 
and  the  work  which  forms  the  Introduction  to  the  Summa,  De  Dominio  Divino. 

2.  No.  1337  (Dennis  I.  CCCLXVIIL)  4to,  258,  pp.,  contains  for  the  most  part 
only  small  tracts,  all  by  Wiclif,  many  of  them  extending  only  to  a  single  chapter. 
The  longest  of  them  is  the  Treatise  De  Trinitate,  pp.  182-243.  At  the  end  of  the 
tract  stand  the  initials  M.  F.  W. 

3.  No.  1339  (Denis,  CCCLXXX.),  4to,  pp.  248,  contains  the  first  portions  of 
the  Samma — viz.,  the  first  three  books,  De  Dominio  Divino,  which  form  the  Intro- 
duction to  the  work,  but  all  three  only  in  a  fragmentary  form,  followed  by  the 
first  two  books  of  the  Summa  itself — viz.,  the  Liber  Mandatorum,  otherwise 
intitled  De  Mandatis  Divinis,  and  De  Statu  Innocenticp. 

4.  No.  1341  (D^nisCCCLXXXIL),  4to,  pp.  254,  forms  the  continuation  to  No. 
1339,  containing  the  third  and  fourth  books  of  the  Summa  proper — viz.,  the  first 
and  second  books  De  Cirili  Dominio. 

These  MSS.  volumes,  1337,  1339,  1341,  and  two  others  of  less  importance  (one 
of  them  a  duplicate  of  1339),  were  originally  the  property,  as  appears  from  several 
notices  found  in  them,  of  some  one  in  the  small  town  of  Nimburg,  which 
lies  about  ten  German  miles  north-east  of  Prague.  In  No.  1339  occurs  the  No. 
MCCCLXXXIIL,  which,  however,  it  is  certain,  does  not  indicate  the  date  of  the 
execution  of  the  MS.  Possibly  enough  this  date  stood  in  the  original  copy  tran- 
scribed in  England,  from  which  this  was  a  transcript,  made  in  Bohemia.  Dt^nis 
found  in  the  volume  a  business  letter  in  the  Czech  language,  addressed  by  a  boot- 
maker to  the  Dean  of  Nimburg,  from  which  he  inferred,  not  without  reason,  that 
the  volume  was  at  one  time  in  possession  of  this  priest ;  and  it  is  a  conjecture  of  my 
own  that  the  Dean  may  have  obtained  it  from  Hussite  hands,  or  may  have  confiscated  it. 

5.  No.  1343  (Denis  CCCXCIL),  4to,  pp.  230,  contains  the  three  last  books  of 
Wiclif's  Summa;  the  tenth,  De  Simonia ;  the  eleventh,  De  Apostasia ;  and  the 
twelfth,  De  Blasphemia.  At  the  end  of  the  eleventh  book  stand  the  words — 
Explicit  trartatus  de  Apbstasia  per  rev?rendum  doctorem  J.  W.  Cujus  anima  per 
misericordiam  altissimi  requiescat  in  pace.     Amen. 

6.  No.  1387  (Dt^nis  CCCLXXXIV.),  fol.  215,  a  miscellaneous  volume,  contain- 
ing fourteen  diff'erent  pieces  by  Wiclif,  some  of  them  of  larger  size,  such  as  the 
Trialogus,  pp.  163-215,  and  the  treatise  De  Eucharistia,  pp.  1-43  ;  others  of  small 
bulk,  e.g.,  letters,  some  controversial  pieces,  and  several  commentaries  on  Scrip- 
ture passages. 

7.  No.  392S  (De'nis  CD),  fol.  pp.  253,  contains  several  collections  of  Wiclif's 
sermons — 1.  Sixty  sermons  for  saints'  days  ;  2.  Twenty-four  Miscellaneous  ser- 
mons ;  3.  Ti-actate  on  the  Six  Yokes  ;  4.  A  small  tractate  by  a  disciple  of  Wiclif 
on  the  power  of  a  prince  over  his  clergy  when  sunk  in  mortal  sin  ;  5.  Thirty-eight 
sermons  of  Wiclif — originally  forty. 

8.  No.  3930,  fol.  pp.  359,  a  very  miscellaneous  collection,  comprising  several 
works  of  Wiclif — the  Dialogus,  the  Trialogus,  etc. — mixed  with  pieces  by  Huss  and 
several  of  the  leading  Hussites,  e.g.  Jacob  von  Mies  and  Johann  von  Rokyzana. 

9.  No.  3932  {T>6ms  CCCLXXXVIIL)  fol.  pp.  211,  bears  the  exact  <late  of  its 
transcription,  1418,  while  the  name  of  the  transcriber,  originally  inserted,  has  been 
erased.  The  volume  begins  with  the  TrialoguB,  which  is  followed  by  the  Dialogus, 
and  next  by  sermons  and  tracts. 

10.  No.  3933  (De'nis  CCCXCI.),  fob  pp.  196.  This  volume  was  once  the 
property  of  a  certain  Paul  von  Slawikowich.  It  contains  eleven  writings  of  Wiclif, 
all  of  them  smaller  pieces,  except  one  entitled  De  Ojjicio  Regis,  which  formed  the 
eighth  book  of  the  Summa.     The  volume  closes  with  a  Catalogue  of  Wiclif's  Latin 


wiclif's  writings.  841 

Writings,  which  waa  printed  by  Shirley  in  his  Catalogue  of  the  Original    Works  o/ 
John  Wi/clif,  1865. 

11.  No.  3934  (Dt^nis  CCCXCVIIL),  fol.  pp.  151.  The  only  writings  of  Wiclif 
found  in  this  volume  are  a  collection  of  his  Latin  Sermons,  pp.  1-132,  extending 
through  a  whole  year. 

12.  No.  3935,  (Denis  CCCCX.),  fol.  pp.  343.  Of  this  MS.  only  two-thirds 
contain  writings  of  Wiclif — viz.,  De  Dominio  Divino,  the  11th  and  12th  books  of 
the  iSumma,  De  Apoatasia,  and  De  Blasphemia,  followed  by  the  third  book  De  Static 
Innocentiae,  and  De  Trinitate.  The  remaining  thu'd  part  of  the  MS.  gives  the 
articles  of  Archbishop  Fitzralph  against  the  Begging  Friars  along  with  a  sermon  of 
his,  and  in  addition,  several  pieces  relating  to  the  disputation  between  Peter  Payne, 
the  zealous  Wiclifite,  and  Johann  von  Przibram,  which  took  place  in  Prague  in 
14-26-1429. 

13.  No.  4302.  (Denis  DCCCIL),  4to,  pp.  274.  A  miscellaneous  collection,  written 
partly  in  the  thirteenth  and  partly  in  the  fifteenth  centuries,  It  comprises  three 
genuine  works  of  Wiclif— -pp.  25-50,  Speculum  Militantis  Ecdesiac ;  p.  53-74,  Pas- 
torale, or  De  Officio  Pastorali ;  and  p.  75-96,  the  tract  De  Compositione  Hominis. 

14.  No.  4307,  (D(^nis,  CCCCVL),  4to,  pp.  242,  contains  six  of  Wiclif's  writings, 
almost  all  on  philosophical  subjects — p.  38,  De  Compositione  Hominis ;  p.  62,  De 
Universalihus ;  p.  115,  De  Incarnatione ;  p.  158,  De  Enie  in  Communi  ;  p.  167, 
De  Ente  Primo  ;  p.  190,  De  Ente  Particalari.  The  MS.  bears  the  name  of  the 
copyist,  Peter  von  Czaslaw,  and  also  the  date  and  place  of  transcription,  finibus 
Glatovie  (Klettau),  sub  anno  domini,  1433,  et  eodem  anno  fuit  Synodus  Generalis 
Concilii  cum  Dominis  Bohemis  Basilic. 

15.  No.  4343,  Denis  DLXV.,  8vo,  pp.  303.  A  miscellaneous  collection,  including 
several  small  pieces  of  Wiclif,  e.g.,  the  Speculum  Dominorum ;  also  a  tract  by 
Bishop  Grosstete,  De  Ocnlo  Morali,  and  a  defence  of  Wiclif  by  Peter  Payne. 

16.  No.  4483,  (Ddnis  CCCLXIL),  4to,  pp.  327,  contains  a  sermon  by  Wiclif,  De 
Sacramento  Corporis  et  Sanguinis  Christi,  in  addition  to  pieces  by  Huss,  Stanislaus, 
Von  Znaim,  and  others. 

17.  No.  4505,  (Denis  CCCCIII.),  4to,  pp.  227.  This  MS.  contains  only  Wiclif 
pieces,  especially  the  following  : — (1)  The  Dccalogus,  (2)  the  Trialogus,  (3)  the  Sup- 
plement to  the  Trialogus.  Comp.  Lechler's  edition  of  the  Trialogus,  Oxford, 
1869  ;  Prolegomena,  p.  23. 

18.  4514,  (Denis,  CCCXCIII.),  4to,  pp.  184,  contains  (1)  an  alleged  commentary 
of  Wiclif  on  the  Song  of  Songs  ;  (2)  the  book  De  Blaspihemia  ;  (3)  an  alphabetical 
catalogue  of  the  writings  of  Wiclif  (published  by  Shirley,  Catalogue,  etc.,  1865)  ; 
(4)  De  Officio  Pastorali. 

19.  No.  4515  (D^nis  CCCCII.),  4to,  pp.  236,  contains  several  pieces  of 
Wiclif,  e.g.,  the  Dialogus,  the  De  Simonia,  the  De  Septem  Donis  Spiritus,  in  addi- 
tion to  several  writings  by  Huss,  and  against  him. 

20.  No.  4523  (Denis  CCCXC),  4to,  pp.  156.  This  MS.  contains  only  writ- 
ings of  Wiclif,  and  these  exclusively  on  philosophical  subjects,  viz.,  the  Logica, 
the  Continuatio  Logicce,  the  De  Unirersalibus,  and  the  De  Ideis. 

21.  No.  4527  (litJnis  CCCLXXXIX.),  4to,  pp.  229,  a  volume  including,  among 
the  forty-one  short  pieces  which  it  brings  together,  letters,  tracts,  and  contro- 
versial pieces  of  W^iclif. 

22.  No.  4529  (Denis  CCCXCIX.),  4to,  pp.  188.  The  largest  part  of  this  MS., 
pp.  1-156,  contains  Wiclif's  Sermons  on  the  Gospels. 

23.  No.  4937,  4to,  pp.  296.  Among  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  pieces  referring 
for  the  most  part  to  the  Hussite  controversies,  occur,  Nos.  13-15,  several  small 
pieces  of  Wiclif,  e.g.,  De  Dacmonio  Mcridiano. 

24.  No.  5204,  4to,  pp.  100.  This  MS.  contains,  the  De  Unirersalibus,  and 
the  De  Propositionibus  Insolubilibus  of  Wiclif. 


342  LIFE  or  WICLIF. 

III. 

WICLIF,  DE  ECCLESIA,  C.   16. 

[From  MS.  1294  of  the  Imperial  Library  of  Vienna  ;  Denis, 
CCGCV.J.  180,  co^.  2.) 

Quinto  argiiitur  per  dediicens  ad  familiare  iuconveniens,  scilicet  : 
Sibeatus  Silvester  peccavit  in  recipiendo  dotac.ionetn  ecclesie  in  per- 
petuum,  sequitnr  a  pari,  qnod  collegia  nostre  universitatis  verisimiliter 
peccarent  in  recipiendo  temporalia  pro  sustentacione  perpetua  pan- 
perum  clericornm  ;  et  ita  sequitur,  quod  tarn  clerici  Domini  Wyntoni- 
ensis,  qu  im  alii  coUegiati,  tenentur  non  perpetuari,  et  per  consequens 
movere  patronos  ad  dissolvendiim  privilegia  pei-petua,  ut  est  de  privi- 
leges perpetuis  concessis  universitati  nostre  a  rege,  et  sic  de  cantariis 
et  aliis  elemosinis  perpetuis.  Revocetur,  inquit,  ista  lieresis,  cwva. 
extingueret  devocionem  populi,  elemosinas  perpetuas  clericorum,  et. 
per  consequens  cederet  ad  detrimentr.m  maximum  pauperibus  in 
fvitAirum. 

Hie  (\\co  2)Titno,  quod  conseqnencia  non  procedit ;  cum  homo  potest 
ficere  nedum  bonum  de  genere,  sed  bonum^  moraliter,  et  tamen  cum 
hoc  et  in  hoc  jieccare  venialiter,  ut  ista  pars  habet  dicere,  "  in  fami- 
liariori^  exemjilo  : "  Nam  Dominus  8imon  Hyslep,  archiepiscopus  Can- 
tuariensis,  fundavit  unura  collegium  in  Oxonia,-^  plus  pia  intencione, 
\xt  evidencius  ci'editur,  quam  de  fundacione  cuiuseunque  abbathie  ip 
Anglia;  et  ordmavit,  qu^I  in  ea'*  sub  forma  laudabili  studeant  ad 
utii  itatem  ecclesie  j-^we  clerici  seculares,  quod  et  factum  est ;  et  tamen^ 
pso  mortuo,  symoniace  cum  commentis  mendacii  eversum  est  tam  pii 
patroni  propositum,  et  illis  expulsis  pauci  alii  non  egentes  sed  diviciis 
aftluentes,  irregulariter  introducti,  contra  decretum  captum  ex  dictis 
beati  Jeronymi  positum  12,  qu.  2  :^  "  Gloria  episcopi  est  pauperum 
opibus  providere  ;  ignominia  sacerdotis  est,  propriis  studere  diviciis," 
Et  cum  pretextu"  illius  fuci^  episcopus  et  suum  capitulum  sunt  una 
persona,  a  qua  non  licet  alienare  bona  illius  ecclesie,  ista  persona 
vendicat  bona  illius  collegii  proprietarie  possidere.  Unde  consulendum 
videtur  domino  Wyntoniensi,  ut  caveat  hanc  cautelam.  Credo  autem 
quod  dictus  Symon  peccavit  fundando  dictum  collegium,  sed  non 
tantum,  quantum  Antisymon,  qui  ipsum  dissolverat.  Sed,  ut  credo, 
nunquam  fuit  ecclesia  approjJiiata  in  Anglia,  vel  possessio  in  per- 
petuam  elemosinam  mortificata,  quin  appropriatio  sapiiit  peccatum 
altrinsecus. 

^ bonum,  bene,    Shirley,   Fasc.  Zizan.,  ''Oorpiis  jur.    can.:  Decreti  secunda- 

526.  pars,  causa  12,  quaestio  2,  cap.  71. 

'^familiariori,  familiari,  Shirley.  ^pretextu.     Shirley   reads    pretextuni, 

^  in  Oxonia,  MS.  :  in  Oxonii.  conjectures,   however,  rightly,  pretextu  ; 

*  in  ea,  MS.,  as   if   not  coU eg ium  but  but  the  MS.  itself  has  in  i&ct  2'>'>'etextu. 

aula  had  preceded.  *fuci,  facti,  Shirley. 

^  tamen,  turn,  Shirley. 


WICLIF,   DE   ECCLESIA.   C.    IC.  343 

TJlteriiis  jjTO  materia  arg^imenti,  affectarem,  si  Deus  clecreverit, 
quod  lion  foret  in  regno  nostro  talis  ecclesiavum  appropriatio  vel 
reddituum  tempovalium  mortificatio,  scilicet  quod  totus  clerus  vivendo 
pure  exproprietarie,  de  decimis,  oblationibus  et  privatis  elemosinis  sit 
contentus. 


IV. 
FORMA  JURAMENTI  ARNALDI  PARE  THEZAURARII. 

{MS.  3929  of  the  Imperial  Library  of  Vienna  {Denis,  CGCLXXXV.), 
f  246,  col.  1 ;  /  247,  col.  2.) 

Hec  est  forma  iuraraenti  Arnaldi  de  Granario,^  collectoris  domini 
Rape  Gregorii  XI.  in  ecclesia  Anglicana.  £t  dividitur  sacramentum 
in  X  ai'ticulos  :  primo  promittit  et  iurat  ad  sancta  Dei  evangelia,  quod 
erit  fidelis  et  legalis  regi  et  corone  sue  etc. 

Forniidantissime  {sic)  domine  mi  rex  !  Ego  Arnaldus  de  Granario, 
receptor  iurium  s.  patris  nostri  domini  pape  intra  vestrum  regnum 
Anglie  promitto  et  iur  ad  sancta  Dei  evangelia,  quod  ero  fidelis  et 
legalis  vobis  et  vestre  corone. 

Nee  faciani  uec  curabo  nee  paciar  fieri  nee  procurari  aliquid  quod 
possit  esse  pi'eiudiciale  et  dampnosum  vobis  vel  regno  ac  legibus 
vestris  vel  iuribus  et  alicui  de  vestris  subiectis. 

Bonura  et  fidele  consilium  vobis  dabo  super  quanto  ex  vestra  parte 
fuero  requisitus. 

Consilium  vestrum  ac  regni  vestri,  dum  potero  esse  quomodolibet 
informatus,  vel  quodcunque  feceritis  me  scire  per  literas  vel  alio  modo, 
celabo  et  secretum  tenebo  sine  revelacione  vel  deteccione  alicui  per- 
sone  vive,  unde  dampnum,  preiudicium  vel  dedecus  possit  sequi  vobis 
vel  regno  vestro. 

Nullam  execucionem  literarum  sen  mandatortmi  papalium  per  me 
vel  per  alium  faciam  vel  fieri  permittam,  quod  possit  esse  displicens 
et  preiudiciale  vestre  regali  maiestati  nee  vestris  regalibus  legibus  ac 
iuribus  nee  alicui  de  subiectis  vestris. 

Nullas  literas  papales  et  alias  recipiam,  si  non  illas  portem  tradam 
et  deliberem,  quam  cito  potero,  consilio  vestro,  antequam  fuerint  pub- 
licate  vel  tradite  alicui  altexi  persoue  vive. 

Nullum  thezaurum  vestrum  vel  regni  vestri  pape  vel  cardinalibus 
aut  alteri  persone  cuicunque  in  moneta  vel  massa  auri  vel  aigenti,  per 
literas  Cambii  aut  aliter  transmittam,  nee  aliqualiter^  literas  quas- 
cunque  mandabo  extra  predictum  regnum  vestrum,  antequam  super 
hoc  habuero  specialem  licenciam  de  vobis  aut  vestro  concilio. 

^  MS.  :  Granario.  traction  aliqe,   and  the  Erencli   text,   in 

-  nliqualiter.  Tliis  reading  is  conjee-  which  this  chiu.se  is  wanting,  is  of  no 
tural,    as  the  MS.    has    only    the    con-     assistance  here. 


344  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

Honorem  vestrum  et  statum,  leges  vestras,  regalias  et  iura  custo- 
diam  et  defendam  inviolabiliter  pro  posse  nieo  ; 

Et  quod  11011   transibo  extra   regnum  Anglie  sine  special i  licencia 
regis  per  literas  sui  magui  sigilli, 

sicut   Deus   me   adiuvet  et   sua  sancta  evangelia,  secundum   scire 
meum  ! 

Hec  facta   sunt   in  pallacio   Regis   in  Westmonasterio   XIIIo  die 
Februarii  Anno  domini  MCCCLXXII, 

praesentibus  domino  Roberto  Thorp  cancellario, 

domino  Ricardo  de  Scrop,  thezaurario  Anglie. 
domino  J.  JSTevyle,  Senescall, 

ISTicol.  Caren,  custode  sacrati  sigilli, 
domino  Job.  Knyvet,  iusticiario  Regis, 
domino  Henrico  Wakfeld,  thezaurario  domus  Regis, 
domino  Henrico  Snayth,  cancellario  stactarii  (?) 
domino  Ricardo  de  Rauenesher,  clerico  de  Haneper, 
J.  de  Burncester 
et  Wilhelmo  Tyrygtan,  notai'io  Regis. 

Wiclif's  Judgment  on  the  above  Oath. 

De  istis  10  articulis  provideat  prudenti  examine  discretum  regis 
consilium,  utrum  dominus  collector  incurrebat  magnum  periurium. 
Nam  in  secundo  iurat,  quod  nee  faciet  aliquid  nee  procurabit  nee  jjer- 
mittet  fieri  aut  procurari,  quod  possit  esse  preiudiciabile  aut  damp- 
nosum  regi,  regno,  legiuus  vel  subditis  regis  nostri.  Numquid 
credimus,  quod  exhaustus  tanti  thezauri  ad  curiam  sine  recompensa 
corporalis  aut  spiritualis  suffragii  sit  tam  preiudiciabile  aut  damp- 
nosum?  Yidetur,  quod  sic;  cum  regnum  nostrum  iam  sensibiliter 
pei-cipiens  illud  gravamen  de  ipso  conqueritur.  Quantum  ad  retri- 
bucionem  corjyoi-alis  suffragii,  dicunt  experti,  quod  non  nostri  sed 
iiiimici  nostri  cum  thezauro  per  ipsum  extracto  de  Anglia  relevantur. 
Et  quantum  ad  spirituale  sutfragium,  non  videturdacio  tante  pecunie 
esse  nobis  elemosinaria  aut  meritoria,  dum  a  nobis  inuitis,  nee  ad  pios 
usus  nee  egenis  aut  pauperibus,  sit  extorta,  sed  pocius  videtur  pre- 
positis  nostris  dampnabilis  et  per  consequens  dampnosissima  quoad 
l^eum,  cum  secundum  theologos,  qui  potest  emendare  delictum  et 
negligit,  constituit  se  delicti  participem  qiioad  Deum. 

Si  dicatur,  quod  non  potest  esse  preiudiciabile  quod  summus  pon- 
tifex  arbitratur,  quia,  quod  illi  principi  placuerit,  legishabet  vigorem  ; 
imo  supposito,  quod  dictus  collector  incurrat  periurium,  habet  pres- 
bitero  sibi  assistenti  commissam  potestatem  ad  absoluendum  eum, 
quotiescunque  in  ipsum  incurrerit,  ita  plene,  sicvit  absoluerit  dominus 
noster  papa. 

Quoad  primum,  videtur  quod  sapit^  calumpniam,  cum  dominus  papa 
sit  satis  peccabilis,  imo  per  idem,  si  voluei'it,  conquireretur  sibi  regi- 

^  .lapif,  MS.,  capit. 


FORMA  JURAMENTI  ARNALDI  PAPE  THEZAURARII.    o45 

men  Anglie,  vel  transferre  in  alios  foret  iustum.  Et  quoad  secundum, 
videtur,  tam  sophistica  et  subdola  illusio  consilii  regis  nostri  foret 
tarn  preiudicialis  quam  dampnosa  regi  nostro^  et  omnibus  incolis  regni 
sui.  Ideo  cum  secundum  sapientera  "  qui  sophistice  loquitur,  est 
Deo  odibilis,"^  non  debet  supponi  tam  vulpina  calliditas  in  patre 
nostro  sanctissimo  vel  in  eius  venerabili  collectore ;  nee  per  idem 
supponi  debet  dolosa  quorundam  opinio,  qui  dicunt,  quod  in  omni 
iuramento  subintelligenda  est  condicio  :  "  si  pape  placuerit,"  vel  : 
"  nisi  ipse  decreverit  aliter  faciendum  "  quia  tunc  foret  esse  super- 
liuum,  regnum  nostrum  de  ministris  papalibus  recipere  aliquod  iura- 
mentum.  Et  idem  est  indicium  sup])Osito,  quod  post  iuramentum 
iurans  protestatus  fuit  coram  notariis,  quod  sic  fecerat  metu  mortis. 
Quomodo,  rogo,  suppositis  cautelis  liuiusmodi  "  finis  controversie  et 
pacis  signaculum  fuerit  iuracio"  Y^ 

Item,  inquit,  foret  tam  preiudiciale  quam  dampnosum,  regnum 
Anglie  tan  turn  depauperari  pecunia,  quod  assistente  invasione  liosti- 
bus,4  rex  non  haberet  unde  dispertiretur  exercitui  suo  stipendiura, 
qui  liostes  invaderet  et  regnum  regis  ac  pape  ecclesiarn  a  destruccit)ne 
defenderet.  Utrum  autem  talis  paucitas  pecunie  possit  regno  nostro 
contingere  ex  substraccioue  thezauri  regni  nostri  ad  cui'iam  romanam, 
relinquendum  est  superiorum  iudicio,  qui  noverant  statum  regni. 

Imo  cum  dictus  collector  sit  iuratus  in  tertio  articulo,  quod  bonum 
et  tidele  consilium  dabit  regi  et  regno,  super  quocunque,  super  quod 
scivei-it  [sic)  fuerit  i-equisitus  :  videtur,  quod  parliamenfum  debet 
onerare  eum  virtute  iuramenti  prestiti,  quod  vere  dicat  sibi,  quantum 
de  pecunia  vel  aequivalenti  })ro  uno  anno  transmisit  ad  curiam  vel 
promisit  aut  sciverit  transmitti,  vel  quantum  de  omnibus  horns  ecclesie 
Anylicane,  que  papae  vendicat,  superest  transmittendum.  Si  enim 
super  lioe  oneratus  negat  vel  dissimulat  dicere  veritatem,  non  videtur 
quod  sit  fidelis  vel  legalis  corone,  sicut  dicit  jmmus  articulus  iura- 
menti. Hoc  autem  cognito  potest  ixirliamentum  discernere,  si  trans- 
missio  talis,  que  iam  est  co[)iosior,  pensata  proporcione  ad  residuum 
thezaurum  regis,  eidem  regno  preiudicialis  fuerit  vel  dampnosa.  Item 
cum  regni  prosperitas  stat  in  complecione  pie  elemosine,  secundum 
formam  qua  rex  et  domini  i-egni  nostri  dotarunt  singulariter  ecclesiarn, 
quo'.uodo  non  foret  pi'ejudiciale  et  dampnosum  extrahere  elemosinas 
predictas  ad  curiam,  ex  quarum  defectu  foret  complecio  tam  pie  ele- 
mosine dissoluta  ?  Cum  enim  dei  suffragium  sit  prestancius  quam 
liumanum,  et  toi-pere  in  defensione  iuris  divini  sit  gravius,  quam 
omittendo  defendere  ius  humanum,  videtur,  quod  talis  thezauri  regni 
extraccio  eclipsat  a  regno  divinum  subsidium,  et  implicat  patronos, 
heredes   fundatorum,  in  periculosa  voragine  peccatorum  ;  permittens 

'  nostro,   MS.,  nostri.  *  So  the  MS.,  I  conjecture  :  insistente 

-Proverbs    xii.   22.     Vulg.  :    Aliomi-      invasione  hostium;  ov  insixtcnte  inrasionc 

natio  est  Domino  labia  niendacia.  hostibus.     In  the  one  case  a  defensive 

■*  Comp.  Heb.   vi.  16.  war  would   be  referred  to,  in  the  other 

an  offensive  war. 


316  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

autem  et  procurans  bee  fieri  non  potest  evadere  quin  permittit  aut  pio- 
ciirat  preiudicialia  et  dampnosa  regi,  regno,  legibus  et  subditis  regis  nos- 
tri,  cpiod  manifeste  obviat  iuramento  ;  nam  leges  Anglie,  que  currerent 
super  indigenis  sustentatis  ex  dictis  elemosinis,  deficiente  robore  popiili 
nostri,  et  multiplicata  gente  extera^  nobis  contraria,  sunt  frustratae.^ 

Item  cum  omnes  sacerdotes  ve]  clerici  de  regno  Anglie,  qui  solvunt 
curie  primos  fructus,  coacti  simt  per  dictum  collectorem  sub  pena 
gravis  excommunicacionis  deferre  sibi  Londonias  valentem  illorum 
fructvim,  nou  in  decimis  vel  rebus  sacris,  sed  in  moneta  regis  nostri, 
que  est  res  purissime  temporalis,  quomodo  sic  exsequens  tales  cen- 
saras  non  facit  preiudicium  tarn  regni  nostri  legibus  quam  personis  ? 
Legibus  quidem,  qiiia  per  censuras  cogit,  ut  sacre  decime  in  bonum 
mere  temporale  mutentur,  etsi  sine  remedio  regis  Anglie,  eciam  sup- 
posita  iniu^ria,  deferantur  ;  persons  autem,  quia  sunt  legii  homines  regis 
nostri,  non  defenduntur  in  pi-istina  lihertufe,  cum  ex  uno  latere  neces- 
sitati  sunt  ultra  solitunv^  facere  expensas  non  modicas  et  laboi-es  ;  ex 
alio  autem  latere,  cum  oportet  eos  vivere,  sustentacionem  extorquent 
a  subditis  pauperibus,  et  debitum  Dei  ministerium  pretermittunt.  Et 
isfci*  licet  parvipendantur  a  supei'ioribus,  qui  ipsa  non  senciunt,  de- 
crescit  regni  pi-osperitas,  quia  secvmdum  sapientem  "  qui  contempnit 
modica,  paulatim  decidit."  ^ 

Item  iuxta  quintum  articulum  iuramenti  dictiis  collector  non  debet 
exequi  literas  vel  mandata  papalia  per  se  vel  per  alium,  que  possent 
esse  *='  displicencia  aut  preiudicalia  regiae  maiestati,  i-egni  legibus  vel 
subditis.  Sed  constat  ex  facto  eius  notorie,  quod  sic  facit,  Ideo,  ut 
a  multis  creditur,  est  periurus.  Si  enim  prestaret  liodie  idem  iura- 
mentum  quod  prius,  sicut  videtur  multis  quod  foret  adhuc,  creditur, 
quod  execucio  sui  officii  regi  nostro,  lidet  in  etate  iuvenili  florenti,  et 
omnino  "  suo  consilio  racionabiliter  displiceret,  et,  si  non  fallor,  dis- 
pliceret  maiori  parti  populi  Anglicani.  Ex  istis  videtui-,  qiiod  literas 
quascunque  de  curia  romana  recepit  vel  transmisit  in  ista  materia, 
facit  preiudicium  regno  nostro  contra  quartam,  sextam^  et  octavam 
partem  iuramenti ;  et  per  consequens  nec  honorem  regni  nee  eius 
statum  pi'ospei'umcustodit  vel  defendit,  sed  omnino  opp.ositum,  contra 
nonum  articulum  iuramenti. 

Et  sic  si  decern  iuramenti  particulae  distincte  et  particulariter  sint 
discussae,  forte  dictus  collector  inveniretur  periurus  in  Deum  et 
homines,  et  per  conseqiiens  prevaricator  decalogi  mandatorum.  Lex 
itaque  corre])cionis  fraternae  urget  regnum  nostrum,  prevaricator! 
tarn  intoxicabili  i-esistere  et  radicem  tanti^  deo  et  regi  odibilem  cum 

^extern,  MS.,  exteri.  ^fsse,  MS.,  ex  Ke. 

-frustratae,  MS.,  frustrata.  '  onmiiw,  conjectural  for  oiniii. 

^  solitum,  MS.,  solicitum.  *  Here  we  must  either  read   tunte,  an 

*  isti,  so  MS.      It  may  be  questioner!  adverb  which  occurs  not  nnfrequently 

whether  the  reading  ista  might  not  per-  with  Wiclif,  or,  if  tanti  is  correct,  souip 

haps  be  preferaWe.  word  like  mal.i,  iierrati,  or  the  like,  must 

"  Sirach.  xix.  1.  have  fallen  out. 


FORMA  JURAMENTI  ARNALDI  PAPE  THEZAUIfARU.  347 

suis  coniplicibus  extii-pare,  specialiter  pensata  natura  legis  caritatis  et 
pacienciae  Christi  vicarii  et  natura  legis  elemo.sinae  bonorum.  Si 
enim  layci  non  extoi'quent  a  papa  suffragium  spii-itiiale  plus  debitum, 
multo  magis  interest  papae,  qui  in  humilitate  et  paciencia  excederet 
laycos,  elemosinam  praeter  evangeliuni  mendicatani  excommunica- 
cionibus  vel  tradicionibus  aliis^  extorquere.  Sic  enim  posset  papa 
christianismum  paupertate  et  paciencia  martirum  conquisitum  diri- 
mere  a  domino  quantum.-  Et  idem  videtur  beatum  Bernardum 
innuere  libro  tertio  ad  Eugenium  sic  asserentem,  quod  papa  solum  in 
spiritualibus  ut  humilitate,  caritate  et  paciencia  superat  seculares  ; 
alioquin,  inquit,  quo  pacto  te  reputes  superiorem  his,  a  quibus  bene- 
ficium  mendicas  ?  ^  Nee  videtur,  quin  liceret  in  principio  excom- 
municare  pro  elemosiua,  sicut  post  eius  subtraccionem,  postquam  fuit 
gratis*  repetita,  etc. 


V. 

SERMON  ON  LUKE  VIII.  4-15. 

XL.  Sermoiies.     MS.  3928  of  the  Imperial  Library  of  Vienna  (Denif, 
CCCC.),/ol.  207,  col.  2  ;  fol.  210,  col.  2. 

Unfortunately  that  portion  of  tliis  volume  wliich  contains  the  Miscellaneous  Ser- 
mons was  written  by  a  copyist  who  was  somewhat  ignorant,  and,  what  was  still 
worse,  executed  his  task  very  carelessly. 

Constat  ex  serie  evangelii,  quod  Salvator  noster  Dominus  Jesus 
Cbi-istus  crebro  locutus  est  suo  aviditorio  in  parabolis,  nunc  ut  sen- 
tentia  latens  et  salubris  in  patente  parabola  fortius  memoranter  im- 
primatur, sic  enim  docemur  artificialiter  per  domos  et  imagines 
memorari,  nunc  ut  audientes  ob  ponam  sui  demeriti  minus  intelligant, 
et  ut  proprietas  naturalis  tarn  exempli  quam  e^cemplati  philosophice 
doceatur.  Sic  enim  secundum  beatum  Augustinum  scriptura  sacra 
continet  omnem  veritatem  philosophicam.  Et  propter  primam  causam 
et  tertiam  totus  populus  Palaestinorum  et  multorum,  inter  quos  Sal- 
vator noster  conversatus ■  est,  intentus  fuit  ])arab()lir;.  Et  ideo  con- 
dignum  valde  fuit,  quod  evangelium  Christi,  medium  inter  Yetus 
Testamentum  et  epistolas  apostolorum,  particij^aret  conditionibus 
utriusque. 

Sed  inter  omnes  parabolas  Salvatoris  nullam  significantiiis  et  aper- 
tius  legitur  docuisse  quam  parabolam  seminautis.      Ipsam   enim  dig- 

^  If  I  do  not  quite  err,  non  must  have  *  Bernhard    of     Clairvaux,    I)c    con- 

fallen  out  before  the  infinitive.  skJcratione. 

-  velit,  libet,  or  some  similar  word,  has  *  gratis,  MS.,  gracilis. 
been  omitted  by  the  transcriber.   . 


348  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

natus  est  suis  discipulis  seorsim  exponere,  ultra  quam  sufficit  liumaua 
fragilitas  comprelieadere.  Uncle  ante  expositionem  factam  de  terra 
quadruplici  seminata  declamat  in  liaec  verba  :  "  Qui  habet  aures 
audiendi  audiat ! " 

Semen  itaque  secundum  expositionem  Salvatoris  est  verbum  Dei. 
Ex  quibus  verbis  elicio  michi  tria  fraternitati  vestrae  per  ordinem 
declaranda  :  primum  est  de  dispositione  spiritualis  seminis,  secundum 
est  de  dispositione  seminantis,  et  tertium  de  congruentia  sive  con- 
venientia  temporis  seminandi. 

1.  Pro  quo  advertendum,  quod  "  semen"  accipitur  tripliciter  in 
scriptura,  ^jr//?io  pro  materia  decisa  a  vivo  habente  in  se  virtutem 
inclinativam  ad  animatum  consimile  in  forma  et  in  specie  producen- 
dum,  sive  sit  terrae  nascentium  et  natatilium/  quorum  semen  est 
constans,  cum  non  habet  appropriatum  receptaculum,  sive  formale  et 
liquidum  ut  semen  gi-essibilium  vel  volantium,^  unde  Genesis  i.  : 
"  Protalit  terra  lierbam  viventem  et  facientem  semen  juxta  genus 
suum."  Seciuido  accipitur  pro  incUviduo  seminantis  ex  tali  semiue 
producto,  ut  Genesis  iii.  :  "  Inimicitias  ponam  inter  te  et  mulierem,  et 
semen  tuum  et  semen  illius."  Tertio  accipitur  pro  quocunque  02:)ere 
viatoris  digno  merito  vel  demerito,  unde  Gal.  vi.  :  "  Quae  enim  semi- 
naverit  homo,  haec  et  metet." 

Semini  ergo  primo  modo  dicto  similatur  verbum  Dei,  quia  decidi- 
tur  non  a  quocunque  vivo,  sed  ab  angelo  ecclesiae,^  sacerdote  videli- 
cet Domini,  misso  a^i  gignendum  et  nutriendum  populum  verbo  vitae. 
Habetque  verbum  debite  praedicantis  vocem  formatam  pro  suo 
materiali,  et  vim  mentis,  quae  secundum  praecipuos  philosophos  mul- 
tiplicatur*  cum  voce,  pro  suo  formali.  Hinc  enim  secundum 
magicos  naturales  habent  verba  sapientis  incantationem  suam  effica- 
ciam,  quantumlibet  distantia  transmutando,  sine  hoc  quod  taliter 
trans luuteut  medium.  Verbum  itaque  praedicantis  est  materiale 
quoddam  decisum  a  vivo,  habetque  in  se  quaudam  virtutem  semina- 
lem  datam  desuper  ad  producendum  novam  creaturam ;  quia  non 
dubium  quin  praeter  vocem  et  vim  animae  oportet  esse  interius 
verum  doctorem,  qui  mentem  illuminet  et  veritatem  ostendat.  Cum 
igitur  ille  magister  utitur  voce  tanquam  organo,  non  mirum  si  in 
illam  redundet  virtus  inclinativa  ad  spirifcualem  hominem  producen- 
dum. Et  ilium  sensum  praetendit  apostolus,  1  Corinth.  4 :  "In 
Christo  Jesu  per  evangelium  ego  vos  genui."  Ecce  praemittit 
Christum  Jesum  tanquam  opificem  principalem.  Quia  Jacobi  i., 
sci'ibitur  :  "  Voluntarie  genuit  nos  verbo  virtutis,  ut  simus  initium 
aliquod  creatui-ae  ejus."  Et  hinc  concipientes  in  animo  verbum 
divinitus  seminatum  et  foventes  calore  caritatis,  donee  formetur  in 
eis  Christus,  matres  ejus  sunt.  Unde  Matthaei  xii,  Salvator  dicit  : 
"  Quicunque  fecerit  voluutatera  patris  mei  qui  in  eolis  est,  ipse  mens 

'  Plants  and  fishes.  •'  Comp.  Apocal.  ii.  1,  8,  12,  etc. 

^  t^uadrupeds  or  fowls.  *  multip/i'atur,  MS.,  multipliciter. 


SERMON  OX  LUKE  VIII.  4-16.  349 

f  rater  et  soror  et  mater  est."  "  Frater  "  quidem  propter  jxlemptitatem 
patris  cblestis,  secundum  interiorem  hominem  renovatum;  et  ^' soror" 
secundum  naturam  corporeani,  quae  quamvis  est  difformis  sexus, 
tamen  fragilior ;  et  "mater"  propter  ministrationem  gignitionem  et 
nutritionem  Cliristi  in  anima  contriti/  cui  per  se  debetur  opera 
fervida  caritatis  ;  oportet  enim  merentera  ad  actum  suum  meritorium 
active  concurrere,  sed  oportet  matrem  coagere^  ad  formationem  suae 
prolis.  Et  illam  affinitatem  secundum  narratum  ordinem  oportet 
quemlibet  natnm  denuo  habere  ad  Christum  secundum  humanitatem, 
et  per  consequens  esse  filium  ejus  secundum  divinitatem,  ut  dicitur 
Jacobi  i.,  et  1  Joh.  i. 

O  stu[)enda  virtus  divini  seminis,  qiiae  fortera  ai-matum  superat,^ 
corda  quasi  lapides  indurata  emollit,  et  homines  per  peccata  conversos 
in  bestias  et  infinitum  a  Deo  distantes^  renovat  et  transmutans  in 
homines  facit  deiformes  !  Non  dubium,  quin  tam  summum  mirabile 
non  posset  verbum  sacerdotis  perficere,  nisi  principaliter  ccefficiat 
calor  spiritus  vitae  et  verbum  aeterura,;  unde  Matthaei  x.,  scribitur  : 
"  Non  enim  vos  estis  qui  loquimini,  sed  spiritus  patris  vestri,  qui 
loquitur  in  vobis." 

Sed  proh  dolor  !  his  diebus  est  verbum  sacerdotis  quasi  semen 
decisum  a  mortuo  !  Et  cum  influentia  colestis  semper  agit  secundum 
dispositionem  materiae,  non  mirum,  si  verbum  exliortationis  tantae 
efRcaciae  non  sit  sicut  olim.  Unde  manifestum  est,  quod  praecipua 
causa  mortificationis  spiritualis  in  populo,  et  per  consequens  totius 
neqviitiae  regnantis  in  seculo,  est  defectus  vel  mortificatio  seminis 
verbi.  Sed  unde  quaeso  tam  perniciosa  radix  peccati  ?  Eevera 
"  inimicus  homo"  surrepens  in  animas  sacerdotum,  superseminavit 
zizania  !  ^  Nunc  enim  si  quis  loquitiir,  non  quasi  sermones  Dei,^ 
sed  gratia  extraneandi  praedicabit  gesta,  poemata  vel  fabulas  extra 
corpus  scripturae,  vel  praedicando  scripturam  dividet  ipsam  ultra 
minuta  naturalia,  et  allegabit  moralizando  per  colores  rithmicos, 
quovisque  non  appareat  toxtus  scriptiirae  sed  sermo  praedicantis^ 
tanqviam  auctoris  et  inventoris  primarii.  Et  ex  ilia  afFectione  dya- 
bolica,  qua  quilibet  ap])etit  a  se  ipso,  et  non  ab  alio,  habere  talia, 
insurgit  tota  vitiosa  novitas  hujus  mundi.  Propter  hoc  antem  fiunt 
divisiones  seimonum  divisiones  ornamentorum  et  aliorum,  artificialium 
ulti-a  solitum.  Et  non  dubium  quin  istae  divisiones  vel  causant  vel 
pronosticant  divisiones  in  moribxis.  Et  ex  hinc  "refrigescit 
caritas  multorum,"  ^  quae  est  junctiva  virtus,  non  quaerens  ambitiose 
quae  sua  sunt  sed  quae  domini  Jesu  Christi.'-' 

'  contriti,  MS.,  conti.  5  Oomp  Matth.  xiii.  25,  28. 

^  i.e.,  cooperari.  ®  Comp.  1.  Peti'i  iv.  11. 

^  superat.  Conjectural.  The  MS.  has         ''  pi-acdicantis.     Conjectural.       In    the 

the     contraction,    erat.  Allusion     to     MS.  stands,  sermo  primus  dicantis. 

Luke  xi.  21  f .  «  Comp.  Matth.  xxiv.  1  'Z. 

^  diatnnies.    Conjectural.      The  MS.  ^  Comp.  Philip,  ii.  21. 
has  plainly,  dlsputantes. 


350  LIFE   OF   WICLIP. 

Sermo  ergo  ])erversa  intentione  sic  infectus  in  radicGj  et  fuco^  alli- 
gatus  in  germine  est  verbum  mortuuin  et  dyabolicum,  et  non  verbum 
domini  nostri  Jesu  Cbristi,  quia  juxta  confessionem  beati  Peti-i 
"verba  vitae  habet,"  ^  et  secundum  alium  apostolum  "verbum 
domini  non  est  alligatum."  ^ 

Sed  ut  piaedictum  peccatum  jactantiae  magis  appareat  et  cautius 
caveatur,  quod  tam  latenter  et  nequiter  perdit  oves  Christi  fame  re- 
fectionis  spiritualis,  recitabo  tres  evidenUas  inventas  a  sic  superbienti- 
bus  ad  excusandas  excusationes  in  peccatis. 

1.  Dicunt  enim,  quod  nisi  addidei-int  aliquas  novitates  l^ltra 
modum  praedicandi  solitum  ab  antiquo,  non  foret  differentia  inter 
theologvun  qiiantumlibet  subtilem  in  seminaudo  verbum  Dei,  et 
sacerdotem  ,   .   .   .  '^  quantumlibet  exiliter  literatum. 

Sed  quid  praetendit  ista  sententia  nisi  cupiditatem  inanis  gloriae, 
qua  affectamus  "  nos  ipsos  "  praedicare  et  non  dominum  Jesum  Cliris- 
tum  ?  ^  Cum  tameu  apostolus  Galatas  v.,  monet,  et  specialiter  nos 
ecclesiasticos,  quod  non  simus  inanis  gloriae  ci;pidi,  invicem  provocan- 
tes,  invicem  invidentes.'^  Inanis  gloriae  cupidus  est  qui  inititur 
divisionibus  et  texturis  verboi-uni,  ut  reputetur  subtil  is  ab  auditorio. 
lili  autem  "  invicem  provocant  et  invicem  invident,"  qui  nedum  di- 
visiones'''  thematis  sed  cujuslibet  auctoritatis  occurrentis  ingeminant, 
ut  aliis  svibtiliores  appareant. 

Non  sic,  carissimi,  sed  imitatores  simus  nostri  domini  Jesu  Christi, 
qui  cum  in  forma  Dei  esset,^  humiliter  confessus  est  Job.  vii.  :  "  Doc- 
trina  mea  non  est  mea  sed  ejus,  qui  misit  me,  patris;  quia  a  semet 
ipso  loquitur,  propriam  gloriam  quaerit.'"-*  Et  revera  liaec  est  inanis 
gloria  et  fallax:  inanis  quidem,  quia  gloria  in  confusione  eorum  qui 
terrena  sapiunt;  inanissima  ergo  est  gloria  laudis,  cui  quanto  quis 
ardentius  innititur,  tanto  abjectius  et  confusibilius  dejicitur.  Est 
etiam  summe  fallax,  qviia  tales  "  dicentes,  se  este  sapientes,  stulti 
facti  sunt  eo,  quod  mutai'unt  gloriam  incorruptibilis  Dei  in  similitii- 
dinem  imaginis  corruptibilis  lioniinis."  ^"^  Et  indubie  haec  est  sapien- 
tia  terrena  et  per  consequens  dyabolica.^'  Quae  qiiaeso  magis  dya- 
bolica  sapientia,  quam  honorem  propriura  lionori  divino  praeponere, 
et  dare  occasionem  extraneando  et  se  ipsum  exaltando  per  grandia 
verba  et  commenta,  ne  siniplices  audeant  praedicare  ?  Non  dubium 
quin  ista  sapientia  sit  expresse  caritati  contraria  et  per  consequens 
mei'e  dyabolica, 

2.  Sectmdo  ^'^  movet  jiraedictos  inaniter  gloriantes,  quod  de  lege 
naturae  fortna  semper  proportionanda  est  ejus  materiae;  cum  igitur 

1  fuco,  MS.,  fugo.  6  Coinp.  (^alat.  v.  26. 

-  Comp.  Joh.  vi.  68.  "  divisiones,  MS.,  divisionis. 

3  Comp.  2  Tim.  i.  9.  s  Comp.  Phil.  ii.  6,  ^^  /^o^f  >?'  dioiJ. 

*  Here  a  word  in  the  MS.  is  so  con-       9  John  vii.  16-18. 

tracted  as  to  be  illegible,  but  nothing  of      lo  Comp.  Rom.  i.  22,  23. 
the  sense  is  lost  from  this  circiunstance.       n  C!omp.  James  iii.  15. 

5  2  Corinth,  iv,  5.  12  serunilo,  MS.,  .seennda. 


SERMON  ON  LUKE  VIII.  4-15.  351 

materia  tlieologica  sit  perfectissima,  consequeus  est,  quod  forma  no- 
bilissima  et  pulcerrima  sit  sibi  tribuenda;  sed  liujusmodi^  est  color 
rhetoricus  et  colligantia  rithmica.  Sic  enim  secundum  auctores  elo- 
quentia  perficit  sai)ientiani. 

Sed  sic  arguentes  graviter  peccant  tam  in  materia  quam  in  forma  : 
in  materia  quidem,  quia  assumunt,  quod  forma  sapientiae  sitlepor  ver- 
borum,  et  sic  in  re  dicunt  "bonum  malum  et  malum  bonura,  et  lucem 
tenebras."  ^  Sed  quod  pejus  est,  dam  declamatorie  sic  loquuntur  sapi- 
entiam  quae  ex  solo  Deo  est,  formam  metricam  induimt  sibimet 
usurpando,  ad  quam  quidem  induitionem  est  labor  in  curiose  com- 
ponendo,  labor  in  pueriliter  repetendo,  et  labor  in  composite  profer- 
endo;  et  in  omnibus  istis  propter  carentiam  fructus  et  aggravationem 
scelerum  est  vanitas  vanitatum  et  afflictio  spiritus.  Respiciamus  igi- 
tur  ad  forman,  qua  sapientia  tlieologica  a  nostris^  auctoribus  est 
inducta,  et  instar  illius  coaptemus  formam  verborum  cum  ipsis  exlior- 
tationibus.  2  Coi'inth.  ii.,  scribit  apostolus :  "  Non  enim  sumus 
sicut  plurimi  adulterantes  verbum  Dei,  sed  in  sinceritate,  sicut  ex 
Deo,  coram  Deo  in  Christo  loquimur."  Quid  rogo  est  praedicatorie 
"  adulterare  verbiim  Dei  "  ?  Scilicet  involvendo  ipsum  in  peplis  et 
in  aliis  ornamentis  meretriciis,  extraneis  a  sci-iptura,  abuti  ipso  ad 
ejus  voluptuosam  ostentationera,  et  sic  a  sponso  excludere  florem  ejus 
et  friictuin,  qui  est  honor  Dei  et  conversio  proximi.  Et  quid  est  "in 
sinceritate  loqui,"  nisa  clara  intentione,  nude  et  apte  loqui  veritatem 
quae  aedificat?  Tunc  enim  praedicator  loquitur  '■'ex  Deo  "  et  non  de 
extraneo  sibi  ^  vel  extraneis  im2:»ertiuentibus  ad  salutem  animae.  Et 
cum  "  horainem  Dei"^  habet  principaliter  prae  oculis,  ad  gignendum 
Christum  in  anima  sponsae  suae,  non  dubium  quin  "coram  Deo  in 
Christo  loquitur,'^  coram  Deo  quidem,  et  non  latenter  more  adulteri 
in  angulis  falsitatis ;  in  Christo  etiam  loquitur,  qui  est  lux  mundi, 
tanquam  sibi  nihil  couscius,  et  non  in  tenebris  peccatorum.  Nee 
caret"  scriptura  nostra  eloquentia  sibi  debita,  sicut  egi-egie  declarat 
beatus  Augustinus  De  doctrina  Christiana  c.  6  :  *^  "  Quaereret  for- 
sitan  aliquis,  utrum  auctores  nostri,  quorum  scripta  divinitus  in- 
spii-ata  canonem  ^  nobis  saluberrima  auctoritate  fecerunt,  sapientes  tau- 
tummodo  aut  eloquentes  '^^  nuncupandi  sunt  ?  ^^  Quae  quidem  quaestio 
aput  me  ipsum  et  aput  eos,  qui  mecum  quod  dico  ^^  sentiunt,  facillime 
solvitur.  Nam  ubi  eos  intelligo,  sicut  eis  nichil  sapientius  ita  etiam 
nichil  eloquentius  tcichi  videri  potest.     Et  audeo  dicere,  omnes  qui 

^  hujusmodi.  Conjectural ;  MS.,  hujus.  "  caret,  MS.,  carent, 

^  Isa.  V.  20.  8  ])e  doctrina  christiana'iJih.  IV.,  c.  (3. 

^  a  nostris,  MS.,    amrs.     Under  nostri  ^  scripta  divinitus  inspirata  canoncm, 

auctores  Wiclif,    like   Augustin,    under-  MS.,   scriptura  Dei  intus    insfiirata  ca- 

s  bands  in  the  passage  immediately  follow-  none, 

ing,  the  biblical  writers.  ^^  aut  cloquevtes,  in    the  original  text 

*  scil.  Deo.  of  Augustin,  an  eloquentes  etiam. 

'  Comp.  2  Tim.  iii.  17.  "  sunt,  Augustin,  sint. 

"  Comp.  2  Corinth,  ii.  17.  ^-  quod  dico,  MS.,  (luodammodo 


352  LIFE   OF    WICLIF. 

recte  iutelligunt  quae  ipsi  loqiiuntur,  simul  iutelligere,  eos  non  alitev 
loqui  debuisse.  Sicut  euini  est  eloquentia,  quae  niagis  aetatem  juven- 
ilem  decet,  est  quae  senileni,  nee  jam  ^  diceuda  est  eloqueiitia,  si  /jer- 
sonae  non  congruat  eloquentis;  ita  est  quaedam  quae  viros  summa 
auctoritate  dignissimos  planeque  divines  decet.  Hac  ipsi  locuti  sunt, 
nee  ipsos  decet  alia  nee  alios  ipsa ;  quanto  enim  videtur  humilior, 
tanto  altius,  non  ventuositate  sed  soliditate,  ascendit."  Haec  Augus- 
tinus.  Utinam  ecclesiastici  nostri  moderni  sic  saperent  de  scriptura  ! 
Tunc  enim  forent  longe  j^lures  pugiles  pugnantes  in  campo  spiritualis 
militiae  cum  gladio  spiritus,  quam  sunt  modo. 

3.  Tertio  movet  praedictos  hypocritas,  quod  quidam  libri  hymnici  - 
et  proplietici  Veteris  Testamenti  contexi  sunt  metvice,  sicut  patet  de 
libro  beati  Job  pro  parte,  et  de  aliquibus  libris  Salomonis  ;  professor 
igitur  hujus  textus  debet  se  conformare  suae  auctoritati  specialiter, 
cum  nietrum  juvat  animos  paucis  comprehendere  multa. 

Sed  constat,  quod  ilhid  dictum  facit  ad  opposita.  Nam  aliud  est 
canticum  laudis  vel  prophetiara  canere,  et  aliud  verba  exhoi'tationis 
disserere ;  quoad  pri^^iuin  juvat  sermo  metricus,  sicut  patet  ex  laud- 
abili  usu  canticorum  ecclesiae  ;  sed  quoad  sensum,  non  dubium  qxiin 
colores  moderni  confundunt  intelligentiam  sententiae,  tamen  quia 
communiter  obscurius  profertur  sententia  praetextu  vocalis  con- 
cordiae,  tamen  etiam,  quia  auditus  assistentium  sentiens  pruriginem 
in  verbis  metricis,  plus  attendit  ad  signa  sensibilia  quam  signata  ;  et 
cum  sensationes  impertinentes  mutuo  se  confundunt,  patet  quod 
colores  modex-ni  abstraliunt  a  conceptu  sententiae,  etsi  quandoque 
juvent  memoriam  eloquentis,  unde  more  attendentium  ad  melodias 
musicas  pro  magna  parte  animo  obversatur  ^  ex  modernis  sermonibus 
nisi  pro  tempore'*  auditoris  ^  titillans  delectatio  et  fortfe  praedicatoris 
de  sua  subtilitate  ventuosa  laudatio. 

De  tali  igitur  dyscrasia  niorali  populi  christiani  potest^  verificari 
illud  apostoli  Timotli.  iv.  :  "  Erit  enim  tempus,  cura  salvam  doctrinam 
non  sustinebxint  sed  ad  sua  desideria  coacervabunt  sibi  magistros, 
prurientes  auribus  a  veritate  quidein  anditum  avertent,  ad  fabulas 
autem  convertentur." '''  Revera  completio  Lujus  prophetiae  instat 
hodie,  cum  major  pars  potentatum  ecclesiae  sit  tantum  dedita  tempor- 
alibvxs,  quod  seminantes  doctrinam  salutiferam  i-epxitant  jure  stolidos, 
et  liinc  juxta  sua  desideria  coacervant  sibi  ecclesiasticos,  qui  omnes 
dicunt  se  "  magistri  "  {sic)  populi.  Et  signanter  dicit  apostolus,  quod 
"  coacervant "  et  non  quod  "  ordiuant,"  cum  ecclesiastici  dicunt  esse 

^  jam,  MS.,  ilia.  for  the  contraction  in  this  place  suggests 

^  hymnici,  MS.,  ympnidici.  rsLther  quam  tempore. 

3  ohversatur,  res5ting  upon  conjecture,  *  auditoris,   also  conjectural  as  anti- 

as  the  place  is  hopelessly  obscure  and  thesis  to  praedicatoris,  for  there  stands 

written  with  contractions  ;  the  word  in  here  a  contraction  which  I  am  unable  to 

the    MS.   rather  looks  to  be  rej)etatnr,  make  out. 
where,   however,  the    subjunctive    form         ^  potest,  MS.,  possunt, 
does  not  suit  the  connection.  "  2  Tim.  iv.  3, 

*  pro  tempore,  a  c-oujectural  reading, 


SERMON  ON  LUKE  VHI.  4-15.  353 

infirniis  ^  firmum  defen.sormm  contra  liostes,  tauquam  tiirris  stans 
appropinquata  cum  propugnaculis.  Secl  niodo  sunt  impolliti  et  inor- 
dinate positi  propter  defectum  convenientis  scientiae  et  caritatis,  et 
sec  coacervati  quasi  materiae  depulsae  a  gradu  spuitualitatis  ad 
gradum  sunimum  mundanae  vanitatis,  in  tantuni  quod  religiosi 
quidam  propter  ambitionem  temporalium  egressi  claustris  commixti 
sunt  inter  gentes  et  didicerunt  ojiera  eorum.-  Et  revera  liaec  est 
horrenda  monstruositas  sponsae  Christi,  et  verisimiliter  praesumitur, 
quod  sit  occasio  pertuvbationis  totius  cliristianismi,  cum  secvmdum 
Lincobiiensem  '^  "  clausti'alis,  propter  ambitionem  temporalium  sic 
egi'essus,  sit  sicut  cadaver  mortuum,  pannis  funeralibus  involutum,  de 
sepulcro  egressum,  a  dyabolo  inter  homines  agitatum."  Quid  mii'um 
igitur,  si  pei-tui-batio  sit  consequens  tale  monstrum  ? 

Tales  igitur  magistri  sic  spissim  coacervati  ingerunt  pruritum  auri- 
bus  mundialium,  dum  alii  in  monachantibus  vel  machinantibus  lucro^ 
tempoi'aliiim  solum  inteudunt,  alii  lautis  refectionibus,  largis  muneri- 
bus  et  fictis  adulationibus  populum  pascunt.  Et  alii  palliantes  verba 
doctrinae,  dimissa  annuntiatione  sceleris,  populi  vanos  applausua 
auditorio  rhetorice  referunt.  Et  cum  in  rebus  insensibilibus  et 
aeternis  potissime  sit  Veritas,  et  in  istis  transitoriis  propter  eonim 
mutabilitatem  fabulosa  fallacia,  patet,  quomodo  moderni  a  veritate 
aiulitorium  avertunt  ad  ^  fabulas  convertentes.  Nam  si  quis  liodie 
veritatem  tlieologicam  annunciat,  non  auditur  sed  spernitur  tanquam 
vaniloquus ;  sed  tractanti  negotia  secularia  statim  intenditur,  quod 
sine  dubio  est  signum  carnalitatis  et  extinctionis  vite  spiritualis,  quia 
spiritualis  homo  appeteret  refici  cibo  spiritual!,  quo  vivei-et ;  et  talis 
appetitus  induratus  in  liomine  est  evidens  sigum  mortis. 

Patet  igitur  cuilibet  nutrito  ^  in  philosophicis,  quod  quaecunque 
media  ordinata  ad  finem  aliquem  de  tanto  sunt  aptius  proportionata, 
de  quanto  compendiosius  et  copiosius  ducunt  ad  finem  ilium.  Cum 
igitur  seminatio  verbi  Dei  sit  medium  ordinatum  ad  lionorem  Dei  et 
aedificationem  proximi,  patet,  quod,  quanto  compendiosius  et  copiosius 
hoc  facit,  de  tanto  est  aptior.  Sed  non  dubium  quin  plana  locutio  de 
pertinentibus  ad  salutem  sit  hujusmodi,  ideo  ista  est  eligenda,  decla- 
matione  heroica  ^  postposita.  Idem  enim  seciindum  Jeronimiim  ^  est 
loqui  sic  populo  et  miscere  semina  cum  floribus  ne  radicent.*^  Et 
secundvim  Lincolniensem  cum  praedicatores  sint  ubera  sponsae,  sic 
loquentes^'^  deludunt  populum,  ac  si  nutrix  divaricativam  porrigeret 
infantulo,  ne  lac  sugat,  et  ac  si  dispensator-  mensuram  furfuris  non 


^  infirmis.     If    this    word   is    rightly  ^  ad,  MS.,  et  ad. 

read,  for  which  I  cannot  pledge  myself,  "  nutritio,  MS.,  utruraqiie  nutrito. 

it  is  a  Dative  comniodi.  ''  heroica,  MS.,  eroica. 

-  Cornp.  Hosea  vii.  8  ;  Jerem.  x.  2.  *  Hieron. 

*  i.e.,    Robert    GrossetSte,    Bishop    of  ^  ne   radircnt.    Conjectural  ;  the  MS. 
lincoln.  has  ne  ut  dicent. 

*  liicro.      Conjectural ;    the    MS.    has  ^"  loqiientCH.      Conjectural  ;    the    MS. 
lucrum.  has  loqu.endi. 

VOL.  II.  Z 


354  LIFE  OF  WICLIF, 

tritici  daret  familiae  domini  sui ;  ^  non  enim  rutilante  cortice  ver- 
borum  sed  adipe  frumenti  satiavit  nos  Dominus.^ 

Sic  ers'o  consumto  calore  caritatis  ad  intra,  et  relucente  n  itore 
verborum  ad  extra,  sunt  praedicationes  modernae  tenebritatae  ^  nocte 
ignorantiae  sensibilia  innominata  ut  squamae  ad  quercum  putridam  ;  * 
sed  esus  talium  secundum  pliilosophos  est  mortif erus,  sterilisans  eden- 
tem  :  ideo  consulitur  metrice,  quod 

lucens  de  nocte 
non  comedatur  a  te  ! 

Non  sic,  sacerdos  Domini,  sed  sicut  in  Veteri  Testamento  ordinati 
sunt  sine  defectu  in  naturalibus  quoad  corpus,  sic  in  ^  Novo  Testa- 
mento correspondenter  ad  figuram  habundant  in  spiritualibus  et 
specialiter  in  fideli  dispensatione  divini  seminis.  Sicut  enim  inter 
omnes  actus  hierarchicos  ^  ecclesiae  militantis  est  '^  fidelis  seminis 
ministratio  Deo  maxime  placita :  sic  fraus  in  ilia  semiiiatione  est 
maxime  perniciosa  et  per  consequens  Deo  maxime  odiosa. 

Et  tantum  de  dispositione  divini  seminis. 

II.  Secundo  dixi,  quod  ostenderem  caritati  vestrae  dispositlonem 
seminantis,  quae  notari  potest  in  illo  verbo  tliematis.  Debet  enim 
quilibet  ^  fidelis  christianus,  et  specialiter  praedicator,  et  constanter  et 
mere  substare  divino  bene})lacito  ;  et  quamvis  de  se  non  luibeat  quali- 
tatem,  oportet  tamen  ipsum  quatuor  virtutibus  cardinalibus  spiritu- 
aliter  indui.  Et  primo  prudentia,  attendendo  ne  justitiam  suam  faciat 
coram  hominibus,  ut  videant  opera  ejus  bona,  ne  forte  sit  de  numero 
fatuarum  virginum,  de  quibus  Dominus  dicit  in  evangelio  :  "  Amen 
dico  vobis,  nescio  vos  !  "  Matth.  xxv.^  Quantum  fiitua  ergo  est  intentio 
aptare  labores  bouos  de  genere,  ut  vel  principialiter  ^'^  vel  mixtim 
captetur  applausus  populi  !  Idem  enim  est  sic  facei-e  et  commutare 
amicitiam  Dei  ^^  pro  ticta  et  adulatoria  fama  mundi,  et  per  consequens 
bonum  aeternum  gaudii  perdere  pro  gaudio  hypocritae,  qiiod  est  instar 
puncti  breve,  imo  constituere  uniim  talem  vilem  peccatorem  Deum 
suum,  et  sic,  quantum  in  se  est,  pervertendo  ordinem  universi,  dum 
ejus  laudem  praefert  laudi  Dei,  O  caeca  commutatio  ^^  et  distorta 
ratio!  Dicit  Salvator  Matthaei  vi.  :  "Quod  si  oculus  tuus,  hoc  est 
intentio  operandi,  fuerit  simplex,  tunc  totum  corpus  operum  simplex 
erit."  Et  credo,  quod  inter  omnes  cautelas  dyaboli  baec  est  u.na  de 
subtilissimis,  per  quam  surrepit  in  mentem  scolasticorum,  quia  vix  est 
aliquis,  quin  principaliter  vel  mixtim  facit  acta  sua  ut  videatur  ab 
hominibus.  Et  cum  minimus  error  in  principio  sit  causa  maximi  in 
fine,  patet,  quod  isti  cautelae  dyaboli  est  prudeutius  resistendum. 

1  Comp.  Luke  xii.  42.  .  '^  est,  MS.,  et. 

2  Comp.  Ps.  cxlvii.  14.  *  quilibet,  MS.,  quibus. 

3  Here  stands  in  the  MS.  the  ineor-         »  Matth.  xxv.,  MS.,  Matth.  x. 

rect   and   unmeaning  word,   tenehritatis.  ^^  principaliter.    Conjectural ;  MS.  has 

Anyhow,  the  passage  is  much  disfigured,  participaliter. 

■*  The  MS.  has  et  quercus  putridam.  ^^  Dei.    Conjectural ;  the  MS.  has  Deo. 

^  in,  wanting  in  MS.  ^^  commutatio,  MS.,  communicatio. 

^  hierarchicos,  MS.,  yerarticos. 


SERMON  ON  LUKE  VIII.  4-15.  355 

Secundo  requiritur  temperantla  in  cibariis  et  aliis  corporis  nxitri- 
tivis,  ne  forte  sacerdos  propter  petulantiam  et  ventris  ingluviem  ces- 
pitet  in  serendo.  Unde  exemplar  dicit :  "  Castigo  corpus  meum  et 
in  servitutem  redigo/  ne  forte,  cum  aliis  praedicaverim,  ipse  reprobus 
efficiar."2 

Tertio  requiritur  fortUudo  in  tolerando  adversa  pro  zelo  veritatis 
et  salute  populi.  lUud  patet  discurrendo  per  omnes  pugiles  laud- 
abiles  ecclesiae  militantis.  Unde  vere  dixit  apostolus  :  "  Omnes  qui 
pie  volunt  vivere  in  Christo,  pei'secutionem  patiuntur,"  ^ 

Et  demum  juatum  est,  quod  mens  sacerdotis  elevetur  in  JDeum  per 
notitiam  et  amorem  et  alias  latrias  Deo  debitas. 

Unde  Salvator  noster,  exemplificans  praedicatoiibus  suis  quoad 
omnia  ilia  per  ordinem,  non  legitur  in  evangelio  publice  praedicasse 
ante  annum  tricesimixm.  Sed  paulo  ante  praedicationem  suam  petivit 
desertum  *  locum,  ut  sic  doceret  discipulos  suos  2^'^'udentiam  ad  evit- 
andum  adulatorios  applausus  populi;  ubi  etiam  jejunavit^  40  diebus 
naturalibus,  ut  ipsos  doceret  temperantiam.  Tertio  pugnavit  vincens 
temptatorem  tripliciter,  ut  in  hoc  doceret  nosjortitudineni;  et  quarto 
oravit  pi'aestans  ohsequiutn  Deo  et  ostendendo  se  populo.  Ipsum 
ergo  magistrum  sequamur  in  nostris  operibus,  non  solum  secxindum 
ejus  humanitatem,  sed  secundum  ejus  divinitatem,  et  per  consequens 
totam  beatem  Trinitatem.  Non  enim  est  possibile,  quod  actus 
aliquis  viatoris  sit  Deo  placitus,  nisi  fuerit  ad  imitationem  summae 
Trinitatis  exemplatus. 

Oportet  ergo  sacerdotem  praecipue  esse  potentem,  correspondenter 
ad  Deum  jxdrem  ;  potentem  quideni  non  in  divitiis  nee  in  potestate 
mundi  vel  corporis,  sed  in  opere  et  sermone.  Opoi'tet  secundo  esse 
ipsum  sajnentem^  correspondenter  ad  filiuni,  non  in  sapientia  hujus 
mundi,  quae  est  stultitia  aput  Deum,*^  sed  sapientia  quae  vincit 
malitiam  populi  acerbe  fortiter  increpando  peccata,  et  suaviter  dis- 
ponendo  ac  nutriendo  bona  opera.  Sed  tertio  oportet  ipsum  esse  bene 
volentem,  correspondenter  ad  spiritum  sanctum  ;  bene  volentem  dico, 
non  injuste  conferendo  indignis,  propter  aflectionem  carnalitatis,  bona 
temporalia,  sed  caritative  procurando  salutem  animae  proximis  et 
bona  spiritual ia. 

Et  tantum  de  dispositione  seminantis. 

III.  Tertio  dixi,  quod  ostenderem  fraternitati  vestrae  convenien- 
tiam  temporis  seminandi,  quod  notari  potest  in  tertio  verbo  thematis, 
quod  successionem  implicat,  et  sic  constat  tempus  quoddam  ex  tertia 
significatione  seminis,  quod,  quamdiu  siimus  liic  in  via,  superest  tem- 
pus continue  seminandi.  Unde  Exodi  xiii.  praecii)itur,  quod  lex, 
quae  obligat  nos  ad  seminationem  praedictam  et  instruit,  continet 

^  The   words  et  hi  servitatcm  before         *  desertum,  MS.,  adsertum. 
redigo  are  left  out  in  the  MS.  ^  jejunavit,  MS.,  jejmiat. 

2  1  Cor.  ix.  27.  «  1  Cor.  iii.  19. 

3  2  Tim.  iii.  12. 


350  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

semen  nostrum,  sit  quasi  "  signum  in  manu  nostra  et  quasi  appen- 
sum  ante  oculos.''^  Sed  secundum  imaginationem  apostoli  semin- 
antes  sunt  bifarii,  ut  quidam  in  carne  quidam  in  spii'itu  ;  ^  et  hi  pro- 
portionabiliter  duplici  sapientiae^  tanquam  vasa  sui  seminis  colla 
subjiciunt.  Seminantes  autem  mundialiter  liabent  sapientiam  hujus 
niundi  pro  contentivo  et  ductivo  sui  seminis ;  sed  ista  sapientia 
secundum  Jacobum  est  triplex,*  animalis,^  correspondenter  ad  con- 
cupiscentiam  carnis,  et  terrena,  correspondenter  ad  concupiscentiam 
oculorum ;  et  est  dyabolica  correspondenter  ad  superbiam  vitae.  Et 
ita  mundialiter  seminantes  tres  auras  insalubres  sibi  captant  pro  suis 
seminibus.  Sunt  enim  nonnulli  ecclesiastici,  qui  in  conctipiscentia 
cai-iiis,  secundum  animalem  sapientiam,  sed  in  paludibus  seminant 
semen  suum ;  bi  sunt  qui  de  patrimonio  Christi  carnem  suam  gulose 
nutriunt,  meretrices  et  liystriones  vestiunt,  et  voluptatibus  luxuriae  se 
involvunt.  Et  non  dubium,  quin  abscisa  vena  voluptatis  {quod  in- 
evitabiliter  erit  in  bora  mortis)  taliter  seminantes  in  carne  de  carne 
metent  corruptionem.^  Sunt  alii  in  concupiscentia  oculorum,  secun- 
dum terrenam  sapientiam,  in  aura  gelida  seminantes ;  et  hi  sunt 
ecclesiastici,  qui  bona  pauperum  per  traditiones  suas  avare  congre- 
gant, vel  ut  totum  mundum  per  coactivam  potentiam  sibi  subjiciant, 
vel  de  praeda  possessiones  vel  pinguia  beneficia  sibi  perquirant,  vel 
ut  lites  ])vo  temporalibus  protenter  sus3iteut  et  foveant.  Nee  dubi- 
um quin  tales,  cum  dormierint  somnum  suum,  inveniant  pro  tali 
semine  acerbas  tristitias,  anxietates  corrosivas  ut  vermes,  et  colli- 
gantias  horridas  cum  opacis  teri'estribus,  quae  tam  inordinate  con- 
struxerunt.  Sunt  autem  tertii  in  siqmrbia  vitae,  secundum  sapien- 
tiam di/abolicam,  in  vento  valido  seminantes,  et  hi  sunt  inflati,  qui 
propter  pompam  seculi  acta  sua  faciunt,  ut  honorabiles  ac  dominati 
(sic)  spectantibus  appareant,  apparatus  splendidos  et  sumptuosos  sibi 
adinveniunt.  Et  in  isto  vitio  est  major  pars  ecclesiasticorum  hodie 
excaecata,  cum  vix  ullum  invenies,  qui  praelaciam  vel  officium  in 
ecclesi'a  suscipit,  ut  "semen"  spiritualiter  "  fratri  suo"  seniori  "  sus- 
citet,"  sed  magis  ut  laute  vivat  et  gloriosius  appareat.  Sed  cum 
durum  judicium  his,  qui  praesunt,  fiet,  non  dubium  quin  talis  sicut 
ceteri  hnaliter  obstinati  j^ro  tempore,  quo  reddet  rationem  villicatio- 
nis  suae,''  ignominiose  repulsus  projicietur  in  tenebras  exteriores, 
ligatis  manibus  et  pedibus.* 

Illi  autem  qui  in  spiritu  seminant,  sominant  in  benedictionibus ;  ^ 
et  sunt  isti,  quorum  omnia  opera  sunt  ad  imitationem  summae  Trini- 
tatis,  ut  superius  est  expositum,  exemplata  et  per  consequens  bene- 
dicta ;  quam  quidem  benedictionem  in  operibus  precatur  sibi  Psalm- 


^  Exod.  xiii.  9.  ^  animalis.     Omitted  in  the  MS. 

2  Comp.  Gal.  vi.  8.  6  Comp.  Gal.  vl.  8. 

^  Comp.  James  iii.  15.  ^  Comp.  Luke  xvi.  2. 

*  triplex.     The  MS.  has  erroneously         ^  Matth.  xxii.  13. 
duplex.  ^  Comp.  2  Cor.  ix.  6. 


EPISTOLA   MISSA  AD   SIMPLIGES   SACERDOTES.  357 

ista  sub  triplici  nomine  trina  Dei  ita  dicens  :  "  Benedicat  nos  Deus, 
Deiis  noster,  et  benedicat  nos  Deus  !  "  ^ 

Sic  ergo,  fi'atres  carissinii,  seminemus  in  benedictionibus,  dum 
tempus  habemus,"  quia  non  dubiiini  quin  tunc  tempore  sue  et  in 
benedictionibus  metemus,  quando  veniemus  cum  exsultatione  portan- 
tes  fructuui  ^  divini  seminis,  qui  quidem  fructus  est  sempiterna  fruitio 
beatae  Trinitatis,  quam  nobis  concedat  Deus  dominus  noster  !    Amen. 


VI. 

EPISTOLA  MISSA  AD  SIMPLICES  SACERDOTES. 

First  printed  by  Shirley  from  the  Vienna  MS.   1337,  Fasciculi  zizaniorum,  Introd. 

XLI.  not.  1,  from  the  Vienna  MS.    1337  (D(?nis  CCCLXXVIII.)  f.  52 
MSS.,  A.   -  Vienna  MS.,  1387.     D^nis  CCCLXXXIV.  f.  105,  Col.  2. 
„      B.  -        „        „      3929.        „        CCCLXXXV.  f.  207,  Col.  2. 

Videtur  meritorium  mihi"*  bonos  colligere  sacerdotes,  ciim  Christus 
exemplar  cujuslibet  boni  operis  sic  fecit.  Sed  elemosynantes  caverent 
de  talibus  sacerdotibus  praecipue  in  his  tribus.  Primo  quod  sint 
amovibiles  et  non  liaeredati,  cum  jam  non  sint  in  merito  ^  confirmati, 
sed  sub  conditione,  quod  vivant  digne  et  juste,  habeant  de  temporali 
eleemosyna  in  mensura.  S'ecundo,  quod  sint  in  numero  loco  et  ^ 
tempore  competenti,  quia  abundantia  et  defectus  in  isto  peccatum  in- 
ferunt  secundum  sententiam  sapientum.  Tertio  quod  sint  soUiciti  in 
officio  congruo  sacerdoti,''  cum  tam  insolertia  ^  quam  ostiositas  ipsos 
inhabilitat  ad  hoc  opus,  nee  quaelibet  occupatio  pertinet  sacerdoti, 
sicut  tabernae  exercitatio,  ferarum  venatio,  ad  ^  tabulas  vel  ad  scac- 
cos  occupatio,  sed  atteuta  legis  Dei  informatio,  clara  verbi  Dei  prae- 
dicatio  et  devota  oratio. 

Praecipuum  ^^  autem  istorum  est  evangelii  ^^  praedicatio,  cum 
Christus  Marci  ultimo  pro  memoriali  perpetuo  sacerdotibus  banc  in- 
junxit.^^  Per  hanc  enim  Christus  regnum  suum  de  manu  diaboli  con- 
quisivit,  et  per  hanc  filios  suos  ad  statum  triumphalem  reduxit. 
Qui  autem  non  praedicat  publico,  hortetur  private,  sic  quod  si  quis 
loquitur,i3  loquatur  secundum  Petri  sententiam  verbum  ^^  DeL^^     Per 

^  Ps.  Ixvii.  7,  8.  ^^  Praecipuum,  primum,  Shirley. 

2  Comp.  Gal.  vi.  9,  10.  ^^  evajigelii,  Christi  evangelii,   Shirley. 

^  Comp.  Ps.  cxxvi.  6.  ■•-  injunxit,  injunxerit,  A. 

*  mihi,   omitted    in    Shirley,    and  in        '*  sic  quod  si  quis  loquitur,  wanting  in 

MS.  A.  Shirley. 

^  in  merito,  in  Shirley  immerito,  which        ^*  verbum.     Shirley  rightly  conjectures 

entirely  destroys  the  sense.  this  to  be  the  true  reading.     The  MS. 

^  et,  wanting  in  A.  used  by  him  has  verbi,  but  A  and  B  both 

'  sacerdoti,  sacerdotii,  Shirley.  have  verbum. 

8  insolertia,  insolentia,  A.  ^^  Comp.  1  Peter  iv.  11 

"  ad,  vel  ad,  B. — scacct^:  chess. 


358  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

hoc   aiitem   vigerent   presbyteri   et  aedificarent    ecclesiam    tanquam 
apostoli. 

Et  quicunqiie  sciverit  sacerdotes  melius  redncere  ad  hiinc  statum, 
habet  potestatem  a  domino  et  meritum  caritative  taliter  operando. 


YII. 
DE  SEX  JUGIS. 

I  name  first  the  Vienna  MSS.,  which  I  have  collated,  and,  for  brevity,  I  dis- 
tinguish by  the  following  letters  :  — 

A.  Cod.  lat.  No.  1337  (Denis  CCCLXXVIIL),  fol.  161,  col.  1  to  fol.  165,  col.  2. 

B.  No.   3928    (D.^nis   CCC),  fol.    186,  col.  2— fol.  189.  col.  1.     To  be  carefully 

distinguished  from  the  other  copy  in  the  same  volume,  in  which  the  five 
sermons  which  make  up  the  tract  occur  separately. 

C.  No.  3928,  fol.  53,  col.  4,  with  breaks  in  fol.  66,  col.  2. 

D.  No.  3932  (D^uis  CCCLXXXVIII.),  fol.  153,  col.  1.— fol.  155,  col.  3. 

TJt  simplices  sacerdotes  ^  zelo  aniraarum  siiccensi  ^  habeant  mate- 
riam  pi-aedicandi,  notanda  sunt  sex  juga  secularis  brachii,  quae  tra- 
bunt  efficacius  currum  Christi  :  Prinium  est  inter  Christum  et  fideles 
simplices  viatores,  secundum  est  inter  conjuges  secundum  legem  Dei  ^ 
conjugatos,  tertium  est  inter  parentes  et  iilios  naturales,  quartum  est 
inter  patresfamilias  et  suos  mercenaiios  et  eis  servientes,  quintum  est 
inter  dominos  seculares  et  suos  servos  vel  tenentes,*  et  sextuin  genera- 
liter  inter  proximos  conviventes.^  Omnibus  enim  istis  debet  ^  co- 
lumba  eccle  dae  "^  canticum  pacis  et  caritatis  canere  et  optare.  Cum 
autem  ^  ista  sex  juga  secundum  istam  levitatem  et  suavitatem  ^  sunt 
fundabilia  in  scriptura,  evangelisans  sic  animatus  ^"^  a  domino  debet 
animose  atque  viriliter  ista  per  ordinem  praedicare.  Illud  autem 
jugum,  quod  debet  esse  sacerdotu7n  ad  Christum  vel  populum,^^  vel 
est  ^-  in  lege  domini  plene  iustructum  vel  ex  antichristi  perhdia  plena 
disparatum.  ^'^ 

Jugam  autem  primum,  quod  est  ^^  tocius  ecclesiae  ad  Christum, 
stat  in  observantia  mandatorum,  nam  quicunque  christianus  ipsa 
servaverit,  erit  salvus.  Et  hoc  jugum  est  suave  non  exasperans  hoc 
ferentem,  et  leve  est  non  deprimens  supportantem,  ut  dicitur  Matth. 

1  simplices  sacerdotes,   ydiote  et  sim-         ''  Comp.  Song  of  8ongs,  ii.  12. 
plices  sacerdotes,  C.  ^  autem,  wanting  C 

^  zelo  animarum  succensi,   wanting  in         ^  Comp.  ]\Iatth.  xi.  30. 

C.  ^^  sic  animatus,  sit  animatus,  C. 

^  Dei,  wanting  in  A,  B,  D.  -"^  popuium,  papam,  C. 

*  suos  SC7T0S  et  tenentes,    mercenarios  ■'^  est,  esse,  B. 

eis  servientes  C.  Tenentes  =  Vasallen.  ^^  disparatum,  desperatum  A,  B,  D, 

*  conviventes,  convivantes,  C.  ^*  primum  quod  est,  wanting  C. 
^  debet,  wanting  A,  B. 


DE   SEX  JUGIS.  359 

xi.^  Nam  in  lege  veteri  ^  observarunt  decalogum  cum  oneribus 
extra  Christum  ;  ^  sed  modo  per  eorum  exonerationem,  per  Christi 
confortationeni  et  adjutorum  multiplicationem  est  levius  quam  tunc 
fuit. 

Constat  quidem,  quod  lex  Dei  fuit  per  cerimonias  legis  veteris 
multipliciter  onerata,  ut  dicit  Petrus  Act.  15™°.  Cum  ergo  totum  hoc 
onus  ex  libertate  Christiana  deponitur,  patet  primum.^  Sed  heu  anti- 
cln-istus  tantum  ditiicultavit  '^  legem  graciae  per  suas  traditiones  cae- 
sareas,  quod  tolerabilior  fuei-at  ^  lex  antiqua.  Sed  prudens  et  sim- 
plex christianus  debet  traditiones  illas  ^  sapienter  excutei'e,  cum  in 
earum  regulari  observantia  sit  venenum. 

Quantum  ad  confortationem  Christi,  patet,  quod  superat  omnem 
gravedinem,9  cum  fidelis  constanter  retinet,  quod  tenendo  legem 
suam  et  contemnendo  traditiones  hominis  ^°  peccati  magnitice  prae- 
miatur. 

Et  quoad  tertium,^^  patet,  quod  licet  sunt  rari  adjutores  supei'sti- 
tes,  tamen  omuino  multiplicantur  adjutores  militantium  in  ecclesia 
triumphante,  sic  quod  currus  Dei  hodie  est  magis  multiplex,  ideo  sicut 
niillia  exultantium,!^  quia  Deus^^  est  in  ecclesia  militante.  Et  quan- 
tum ad  omnes  argutias  vitulaminum  spuriorum,^'^  patet,  quod  omnia 
Christi  consilia  facilitant  ad  observautiam  mandatorum.  Et  illi  qui 
stulte  et  private  sine^^  auctorisatione  ad  consilia  ipsa  se  obligant.  ab 
eis  magis  degenerant. 

Nee  oportet  hortari  Christum,  ut  recte  faciat,  qui  est  pars  altera 
hujus  jugi,  cum  ex  fide  firmiter  capimus,  quod  ex  parte  sui  non  posset 
pactum  deficere. 

De  observatione  istorum  mandatoi'um  decalogi  patet  alibi. ^^ 

(c.  2.)  Secundum. 1'^ 

Quantum  ad  duo  juga  sequentia  capite  proximo  introducta,  notanda 
est  vox  turturis^s  sancti  Pauli  ad  Colossenses  3'°-  Quamvis  enim 
Christus  sit  turtur  praecipiie  Matthaei  5"  miscens  luctum  cum  gaudio  : 
"  Beati,  inquit,  qui  lugent,  quoniam  ipsi  consolabuntui-,"  tamen^^ 
membra  ejus  turtures-'^  possunt  dici.  Nam  magnus  turtur  fuit 
Baptista  Joh.  iii.  dum  sic  cecinit :     "  Amicus  sponsi,  qui  stat  et  audit 

1  Matth.  xi.,  Matth.  xx.  C.  •'"  millia  exsultantium,  sunt  multi  exul- 

2  veteri,  domini.  A,  B,  D.  tantium  C;  comp.  Ps.  Ixviii.  18. 

3  Christum,  ipsum,  A,  B,  D.  ^^  Deus,  dominus,  C. 

*  adjutorum,  adjutoriorum,  D.  ^*  spuriorum,    spirioruni    C.       Comp. 
^  jyrimum,  namely  exoneratio.                     De  officio  jMstorali,  I.,  c.  1  p.  7. 

*  difficultavit,  difficultat,  A,  D.  ^^  sine,  sua  C. 

7  fuerat,  foret,  C.  ^^  alibi,  superius  parte   prima  C,   re- 

8  illas,  istas,  B,  C,  D.  ferring  to  the  first  collection  of  sermons. 
8  fp-avedinem,  gravedinem  antichristi,        ^''  Secundum.      Secundum  jugum,  A, 

which  appears  to  be  a  Gloss.  C,  D. 

1"  hominis,  homines,  A.  '*  Comp.  Song  of  Songs,  ii.  12.     , 

11  tertium,  secundum,  B,  D.  '^  tamen,  cum  C. 

-"  turtures,  turturea  C. 


3(30  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

cumi  gaiiclio,  gauclet  propter  vocem  spoiisi."  ^  Magnus  etiam  fuit 
turtur  Paulus  apostolus,  duni  cecinit :  "  Ipse  sjiiritus  postulat  pro 
nobis  gemitibus  inenarrabilibus."  Ex  quibu?  colligitur,  quod  iste 
spiritus  erat  turtur. 

Docet  autem  iste  apostolus  ad  Colossenses  ubi  supra,  quod  omnia 
quaecunque  fidelis  fecerit,  debet  facere  in  nomine  domini  Jesu  Christi  : 
"Omne,  inquit,  quodcunque  facitis  verbo  aut  opere,  omnia  in  nomine 
domini  Jesu  Christi  facite."^  Patet  rationabilitas  liujus  principii 
ex  hoc,  quod  omnis  vita  hominis  viantis  voluntaiia  vel  naturalis  debet 
esse  meritoria,  et  per  consequens  esse  in  gracia  domini  nostri'*  Jesu 
Christi.  Ipse  enim  est  prima  natura  et  gi'acia,  in  qua  natiira  suh- 
ducto  peccato  oportet  fieri  creatuvi  quodlihet  naturale.  Tolle  inquam-^ 
peccati  vetantiam,  et  in  virtute  ejus  ac  gratia  est  quaelibet  creatui-a; 
multo  evidentius  quidquid  homo  fecerit,  qui  Christi  ministerio  tarn 
specialiter  deputatur. 

Isto  itaque*'  principio  ut  fide  supposito  adjungit  apostolus  :  "  Mulie- 
res,  inquit,  subditae  estote  viris  vestris,  sicut  o[)ortet,  in  domino. 
Viri  diligite  uxores  vestras  et  nolite  amari  esse  ad  illas."  Debent 
enim'^  mulieres  de  natura  et  ex  mandato  trinitatis  esse  subditae  viris 
suis,  in  cajus  signum  ordinatae  sunt  esse  in  natura  inferiores,  unde 
philosophi  vocant  eas  viros^  in  naturalibus  defectives.  Genesis 
autem  tertio^  legitur,  quomodo'*^  prima  femina  ex  costa.primi  viii, 
non  ex  pede  vel  capite  est  formata.  Et  ambo  ista  docent,  quomodo 
quadam  infei-ioritate  mulier  debet  esse  viro  matrimonialiter  copidata. 
Ideo  cum  hoc  sit  naturale,  dicit  apostolus  mulieres  oportere  esse 
subditas^^  viris  suis.  Sed  signanter  modificat,  quod  sint  subditae^^ 
"  in  domino; "  debent  enim  uxores  viris  sviis  tanquam  domino 
deservire,  ut  docet  Petrus  de  Sara  et  Abraham.  ^^  Si  autem  vii'i  ab 
uxoribus  suis  quidquam  exigant  quod  a  domino^*  est  vetitum,  tunc 
non  debent^^  in  completione  hujus^^  esse  subditae  viris  suis,  quia 
tunc  non  forent  illis  subditae^'^  in  domino. 

Et  per  locum  a  majori,  si  superior  vel  praelatus  ecclesiae  subjecto 
suo  qnidquam  praeceperit^^  quod  dissonat  legi  Christi,  tunc  debet  ex 
obedientia  debita  Christo  et  illi  praelato  humiliter  rebellare.  Quum 
enim  duo  praelati  quorum  unus  ese  superior  et  alter,^^  inferior,  man- 
dant  contraria,  superiori  in  rationali^*^  est  parendura ;  cum  ergo 
Christus  sit  superior  quocunque  praelato  ab  homine  instituto,^^  nee 
potest  nisi  rationale  et  justum  mandare  cuiquam,^^  patet  quod  quid- 

1  cum  eum  C.  i-  subditae,  subjectae  B,  C. 

^  sjjonsi,  sponsus  B,  !■'  1  Petr.  iii.  5  f. 

3  Rom.  viii.  26.  i*  domino,  Deo-  B,  C. 

*  nostri,  wanting  in  C.  ^"  debent.  A,  B,  D. 

^  inquam,  inquit  A,  C,  D.  ^^  hujus,  hujusmodi  C. 

^  itaque,  naiuque  A,  B,  D.  ■'''  subditae,  subjecta  B,  C. 

^  enim,  autem  C,  ^^  praeceperit,  praecepit  C. 

8  viros,  wanting  A,  D.  ^^  alter,  alius  B,  et  alius  C. 

^  G-en.  ii.  22.  ^^  rationali,  rationabili  B,  C. 

^^  quomodo,  quum  C.  ^^  institute,  substituto  A,  B. 

^^  subditas,  subjectas  0.  ^^  cuiquam,  cuique  A,  cuicunque  B. 


DE   SEX   JUGIS.  361 

quid  voluntatis  suae  contrarium  pap  i  quicunque  praelatus  quaiitum- 
cunque  stricte  mandavei'it  suo  subdito,  debet  viiiliter-  contra  illud 
rebellare,  nam  faciendo  oppositum  peccaret  graviter.  Ex  quibus 
patet  quod  tam^  praelatus  quam  subditus  debent  cognoscere  bene- 
placitum  domini  ^  Jesu  Christi ;  nam  sine  obedientia  sui  jmvati 
praepositi  patest  salvari,  cum  non  juvat  nisi  de  quanto  promovef^  ad 
obedientiam  domino  Jesu  CLristo ;  sed  sine  obedientia  Christi  non 
stat,  quod  alias  sit  salvatus. 

Ideo  ad  discendum  [sic]  Christi  regulara  debent  privati  ordines 
primo  tendere,  et  se  fuerint  ita  stolidi,  quod  per  se  ipsos  et  Cliristi 
regulam  non  sufficiant  regulari,^  tunc  consul  ant  superiorem  intuitu 
caritatis,  ut  eos  misericorditer  dirigat  in  agendis ;  si  aiTtem  impro- 
vise^ obligati  fuerint  maledicto  vel  ignaro^  praeposito,  dissolvant 
statim  hunc  nexum  fatuum,  et  vel  vivant  prudenter  secundum 
alium  vel  teneant  religionem  simplicera  chi-istianam  pure  secundum 
abbatein  communem,^  dominum  Jesum  Christum.  Et  licet  in  stultis 
maritis  jacet  periculum,  tamen  longe  plus  in  stiiltis  praelatis,  quia  in 
majori  parte  exigunt  a  subjectis,  quod  ignorant  esse  Dei  beneplacitum, 
vel  debent  cognoscere  esse  mandato  suo  contrarium,  Quandocunque 
quis^*'  praelatus  praecipit,  subjectum  facere  quod  non  est  expeditius 
vitae  ss  suae  et  Deo  placentius,  peccat  graviter.  Sed  quid  scit  ^^  ipse 
hic^^  de  subjecto,  cujus  statum  et  vitam  ignorat,  cum^^  crebro  nesciat 
de  se  ipso  ?  Tdeo  secundum  regulam  Christi,  cui  non  licet  contradi- 
cei'e,  debet  qiailibet  viator  continue  mereri  et  spiritu  Christi  duci, 
nam  ductus  ille  non  deficit,  nisi  peccator  pouens  obicem  sit  in  causa. 
Ideo  durum  judicium  fiet  istis  praelatis,  qui  sic  caece^^  praecipitant 
se  et  suos. 

In  conjugatis  autem,  non  sic  temere  obligatis  istis  consiliis,  oportet 
virum  praecipue  mandata  Dei  cognoscere,  et  uxorem  vel  ab  informa- 
tioue  conjugis^'^  ygj  g,  Christo  mandata  Dei  cognoscere.  Ideo  mandat 
Christus  in  suo  apostolo  viros  ill  caritate  uxores  suas  diligere,  et  non 
illas  amare  tractare  ;  ille  autem  amare  tractat  uxorem,  qui  tractat 
earn  crudeliter  ut  ancillam,  nunc  verberat,  nunc  conviciat  et  nunc  ad 
peccatum  inclinat. 

Verumtamen  cum  toto  isto  ti^actatu  non  videturmihi  matrimonium 
debere  dissolvi,  cum  saepe  salvatur  vir  infidelis  per  mulierem  fidelem  : 
et  mulier  ex  patientia  injuriae,  salve  semper  quod  non  consentiat  ad 
peccatum,  vivit  mei-itorie  in  vero  matrimonio,  ut  deberet.  Istis  ergo 
conjugibustam  generaliter  quam  specialiter  debet  praedicari  vinculum 

'  voluntatl,  voluntatis  B.  ^  comrminrm,  wanting  C. 

^  viriliter,  contra  illud  humiliter  C.  ^"  quis,  quideni  A,  B. 

^  tarn,  wanting  A.  ^'  ritae,  viae  B,  C. 

*  domini,  domini  nostri  B.  '-  scit,  wanting  A. 

®  promovet,  promovet  in  rationabilibus  ^'^  Mc,  hoc  C. 

A,  B.  ^^  cum,  cum  hoc  A,  B. 

•>  regulari,  regulare  C.  '•'  qui  sic  caece,  qui  se  in  C. 

^  improvise,  improvide  B.  ^®  covjugis,  conjugis  i.e.,  viri,  A,  B., 

^  ignaro,  ignavo  A,  B,  which  in  any  case  is  a  Gloss. 


362  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

caritatis.     Et  alii  casus  ^  privati  exigunt  speciales  conditiones  et  con- 
silia  evangelica  praetei  leges  privatis  de  sponsalibus  introductas. 

(c.  3.)  Tertium.2 

Quoad  tertium  jugum,,  scilicet  inter  parentes  et  prolem  suam  sive 
de  sexu  virili  sive  ^  femineo,  est*  notandum,  quod  parentes,  plus 
tenentur  providere  de  sua  prole  in  spiritualibus  secundum  legem 
domini  quam  in  carnalibus,^  licet  ipsa  carnalia*'  propius  et  immedia- 
tius"  a  parentibus  sint  causata.^  Probatur,  quod^  perfecta  caritas 
lioc  requirit,  sed  tenentur  perfecta  caritate  prolem  suam  diiigere,  ergo 
conclusio.^*^  Deus  enim  plus  ponderat  vitam  spiritualem  interioris 
liominis  quam  carnalem  j^^  cur  ergo  non  parens,  qui  solum  in  Deo 
debet  pi'olem  suam  diiigere  ?  Item  profectus  in  moribus  est  proli 
utilior  quam  nutritio  corporalis ;  quare  ergo  parentes  ex  sincera 
dilectione  non  debent  ilium  profectum  majorem  proli  suae  appetere  ? 
Nam  amando  minus  bonum  in  Esse  genito  foret  ordo  praeposterus,!^ 
non  amor  sed  odium  venenosum.  Item  illud  debet  homo  plus 
appetere  in  Esse  alteri,  de  cujus  carentia  plus  dolei-et ;  sed  quis  non 
doleret  plus  de  damnatione  prolis,  et  de  maculatione  peccato,  quam 
de  sua  corporali^^  esurie  vel  penuria  moi'tali,  quod  raro  vel  nun- 
quam  eveniet  ?  ^^  Ergo  debet  ad  illud^^  bonum  spirituale  melius 
magis  niti. 

Ex  isto  patet,  quod  sinistre  et  inordinate  multi  parentes  diligunt 
pi'olem  suam  ;  multi  namque  delectabiliter  ipsos^*^  nutriunt  in  peccatis, 
et  vel  non  cui-ant  ipsos  corripere  vel  correptionem  illam  faciunt  nimis 
remisse,  quod  est  signum  evidens,  quod  inordinate  diligunt  Deum  atque 
prolem  ;  debent  enim  secundum  legem  caritatis  ordine  converso^^  diii- 
gere proximum  quantumcunque  extraneum,  ergo  longe  evidentius 
prolem  suam.^^ 

Sed  mundiales  graviter  et  indignanter  ferunt  istam  sententiam 
dicentes,  quod  juxta  illam  pei-mitterent^^  homines  nedum  proximos-*^ 
sed  projji'ios  natos  mori,  quod  cum  contradicit  legi  naturae,  mani- 
festum  est  quod  est  contrarium  legi  Dei.  Nemo  enim  scit,  si  ex  tali 
educatione  carnali^^  quis  peccabit  mortaliter  vel  erit  deter i or  quoad 

^  casus,  casti  A.  *^  corporali,  carnali  C. 

^  Tertium,    wanting     C.  ;      Tertium         ^*  eveniet,  evenit  A,  B. 

jngum  k.  ^"  illud,  id  A. 

**  sive,  vel  A,  B.  ^^  ipsos,  eos  C. 

^  est,  wanting  C.  ^"^  cotirerso,  transverso  A. 

^  carnalibus,  corporaMhua  C.  ^^  ordine  converso  ....  prolem  suam, 

^  carnalia,  corporalia  C.  wanting  in  C. 

^  propius  et  immediatius,  proprius  et         i''  pjcrmitterent.     A  conjectural  read- 

magis  immediatius  C.  ing  ;    all  the  MSS.  have  promitterent, 

"^  causata,  curata  B.  which  does  not  suit  the  connexion. 

^  quod,  quia  C.  -"^  proximos,    homines    C. ;    meaning- 

^^  conclusio,  conclusio  vera  A.  less,    but  occasioned    by  homines    pre- 

1^  carnalem,  corporalem  C.  ceding. 

'^  pracposterus,  praeposteris  C.  ^^  carnali,  corporali  C. 


DE   SEX  JUGIS.  3G3 

mores.  Hie  dicit  logicus,  quod  nedum  oportet  patres  ^  dimittere  sed 
debent  ^  gratanter  sufferre  mortem  proximi  ^  sive  nati  ut  patet  II. 
Regum  12,^  de  David,  quod  bilariter  sustulit'^  mortem  nati. 
Verumtamen  isti  non  repugnat  sed  consonat,  quod  parens  potens 
debet  proli  de  vitae  necessariis  providere,  licet  in  malum^  praeter 
intentum  parentis,  ex  hinc  quandocunque  proli  eveniat."  Oportet 
tamen  parentes^  prudenter  et  cum  moderamine  talia  ti'ibuere  proli 
suae  et  non  propter  fortiticandum  pulcritudinem  vel  potestatem 
prolis  carnalem,  aut  propter  magnificentiam  seculi  in  parentibus 
extollendum,^  sed  utrobique  ad  bonorem  Dei  et  profectum  ecclesiae 
intendendum.  Et  si  occasione  mala^*^  accepta  sit  proles  ex  facto 
parentis  deterior,  parens  propterea  non  est  increpandus,  cum  secun- 
dum rationem  Augustini  nemo  tunc  faceret  quodvis  opus.  Oportet 
ergo  intendere  ad  intentionem  prudentem^^  in  talibus. 

E  contra  autem  necesse  est  liortari  prolem,  ut  excellenti  gi'adu 
bonorificet  et  obediat  suis  parentibus,  ut  patet  in  materia  de  primo 
mandato  secundae  tabulae  ;  oportet  tamen  ut  ^^  catolicus  istam  obedi- 
entiam  modificet  ut  priorem.  Ideo  dicit  apostolus  ubi  ^^  supra  :  "  Filii 
obedite  parentibus  per  omnia,  hoc  enim  beueplacitum  est  domino. 
Patres  nolite  ad  indignationem  provocare  filios,  ut  non  pusillo  animo 
fiant."^*  Debent  autem  filii  obedire  parentibus,  non  solum  in  opere 
manuali,  sed  praecipue  in  spiritual!,  quod  sonat  in  salutem  animae 
suae.  Ideo  cum  spirituale  et  corporale  sit  ^^  omnia,  signanter  dicit 
apostolus,  quod  filii  debent  obedii'e  parentibus  suis  "^>>e?*  ovinia;^' 
non  autem  dicit,  quod  filii  obediant  in  quibuscunque  pai'entes  man- 
daverint,  quia  stat  ipsos  mandare  irrationabiliter ;  et  per  consequens 
tunc  debent  obedire  rationi,  qui  ^^  est  pater  superior,  dominus  Jesus 
Cbiistus.  Talis  autem  irrationabilis  praeceptio  non  ponit  in  numeruni 
cum  mandatis.i'' 

Patres  autem  non  debent  nimis  aspere  tractare  filios,  ne  postmo- 
dum  fiant  invalidi  ad  debite  patiendum.  Sicut  enim  Cliristus  pallia- 
tive introduxit  suam  bumanitatem  a  deitate  ^^  assumptam,  ut  patet  de 
Baptista  et  sua  conversatione  usque  ad  annos  triginta,  sic  debent 
parentes  bonos  mores  in  filiis  suis  inducere  2}(iulative. 

(c.  4.)  Quartum.i9 
Quantum  ad  quartum  jugum,  quod  est  inter  patremfamilias  et  suos 

^  patres,  patrem  C.  i-  ut,  quod  C. 

^  debent,  debet  C.  ^^  ubi,  vide  A. 

*  proximi,  Christi  C.  '*  Coloss.  iii.  20,  21. 

4  2  Samuel  xii.  20  f.  ^5  g^^  g^nt  C. 

^  sustulit,  sustinuit  C.  ^®  qui,  quae  C. 

^  malum,  alium  A.  ^'^  non  ponit  .  .   .  mandatis,  i.e.,   does 

^  eveniat,  conveniat  A,  B,  not    count  among  the    commandments, 

8  parentes,  parentem  C.  does  not    deserve  to  be   regarded  as   a 

^  extollendum,  extollendam  C.  commandment. 

^^  mala,  male  A.  ^^  a  deitate,  ad  deitatem  C. 

^^  prudentem,  prudentis  C.  ^^  Quartum,  De  quarto  jugo  A,  C. 


364  LIFE  OF   WICLIF. 

mercenai'ios  et  ei  servientes/  oportet  quod  sint  fides  spes  et  caritas 
inter  illos,  et  per  consequens  oportet  quod  inter  conjuges  conducentes 
et  suos  mercenaries  sit  fides,  rationabiliter  conducendo,  debite  tract- 
ando  et  fideliter  niercedem  debitam  persolvendo.  Sicut  enim  fraus  in 
emptionibus  et  venditionibus  est  damnanda,  sic  in  conductionibus  et 
aliis  duobus  sequentibus  in  fideliter  serviente.^  Patet,'"'  quia  tanta 
est  ratio  utrobique.  Unde  quoad  tertium'^  in  lege  antiqua  Levitici 
19™°  dicitur  :  ^  "  Non  morabitur  opus  mercenarii  tui  apud  te  usque 
mane."  Quamvis  autem  istud  exponatur  communiter,  quod  post  com- 
pletionem  laboris  opus  mercenarii  non  debeat  remanere  "  per  tempus 
culpabile  tenebrosum,  tamen  assistente  indigentia  mercenarii  debet 
merces  retribui  in  completione  laboris.  Deus  enim  exemplar  humanae 
justitiae  semper  gratiose  praevenit  servitorem  et  tribuit  copiosius 
quam  suus  mercenarius  merebatur.  Et  quantum  ad  medium  ~  novit 
mundus,  quantum  injuste  multi  mercenarii  sunt  tractati  nunc  labores 
indebitos  ex  diuturnitate  temporis,  ex  qualitate  operis  et  ex^  aliis 
circumstantiis  exigendo.  Ideo  debet  esse  regula  aequitatis  in  talibus 
illud  ^  Matthaei  7™°  :  "  Omnia  quaecunque  vultis  ut  faciant  vobis 
homines,  et  vos  facite  illis  !  "  Ista  ^^  autem  regula  intellecta  debite 
est  principium  communicationis  moralis ;  quicunque  enim  juste 
voluerit  aliqualiter  sibi  fieri,  debet  ^^  similiter  facere  alii  in  casu 
simili;^^  et  totum  hoc  intelligitur  in  hoc  dicto  :  "  ita  et  vos  facite 
illis."  Debent  autem  ^^  homines  proportionabiliter  facere  proximis, 
ut  dicunt^*  velle  illos  facere  sibi  ipsis.  Unde  in  isto  principio  fun- 
datur  quinta  ^^  petitio  orationis  dominicae,  dum  oratur :  "  Dimitte 
nobis  debita  nostra,  sicut  et  nos  dimittimus  debitoribus  nostris  ! " 

Ex  parte  autem  mercenarii  contingit  esse  fraudem  multiplicem,  ut 
in  ingressu  locando  operam  servitoris,  in  progressu  fraudando  a  pleni- 
tudine  temporis,^*^  et  finaliter  fraudando  in  operis  bonitate.^*"  Contra 
quos  loquitur  aj^ostolus  ad  Colossenses  tertio,  mandans  quod  sint  non 
ad  oculum  servientes  quasi  hominibus  placentes.  sed  in  simj^licitate 
cordis  timentes  dominum ;  "  Quodcunque,!^  inquit,  facitis,  ex  animo 
operamini,  sicut  domino  et  non  hominibus,  scientes  quod  a  domino 
accipietis  retributionem  haereditatis.  Domino  Christo.  servite.  Qui 
enim  injuriam  fecit,  recipiet  id  ^^  quod  inique  gessit,  et  non  est  per- 
sonarum  acceptio  aput  Deum."  In  quibus  verbis  manifesto  sequitur 
cum  isto  principio  fidei,  quod  omnia  quaecunque  fidelis  fecerit"-*^  debet 

^  et  ei  servientes,  wanting  in  B,  while  ^^  roluerit  .  .  .  debet,  aliqualiter  volu- 

A  erroneously  has  eis  instead  of  ei.  erit  sibi,  sicut  debet  C. 

^  in    fideliter     serviente,    in     fideliter  '-  simili,  consimili  C. 

(without  serviente)  A.  ^'^  autem,  enim  (J. 

^  patet,  secundum  men  turn  patet  A.  ^'^  dicunt,  debent  A,  B. 

■*  tertiiim,  the  pa,yment  of  the  wages.  ^^  quinta,  secunda  C 

^  dicitur,  wanting  C.  ■•"  temporis,  operis  C. 

^  remanere,  manere  A.  •'''  operis  honitate,  bonitate  operis  C. 

^  medium,  das  debite  tractare.  ^*  quodcunque,  quaecunque  C, 

^  ex,  wanting  C.  ^^  id,  illud  C 

8  illud,  juxta  illud  C.  ^^  feccrit,  facit  A. 
i«  Ista,  ilia  A,  B. 


DE   SEX  JUGIS.  '665 

facere  coram  Deo,  ac  si  serviret  proprie  ipsi  Deo,  quia  non  servirent^ 
solum  apparentev  in  praesentia  conducentis  et  in  ejus  absentia  fraud- 
antes  ab  opere,  quia  tunc  servirent  ^  in  cordis  duplicitate,  quod  servi- 
tium  non  convenit  Deo  vero. 

Secundo  sequitur,  quod  servientes  debent  locantibus  fide]  iter  ser- 
vire  continue,^  quia  debent  continue  servire  Deo,  cujus  praesentiam 
debent  credere  adesse  continue,  et  totam  qualitatem  operis  cum  in- 
tentione  cordis  clarissrae  intueri.  Si  ergo  mercenarius  *  propter  prae- 
sentiam hominis  serviret^  fideliter,  quantum  magis  pi'opter  praesen- 
tiam Dei  infinitum  majoris  domini  et  totam  qualitatem  operis  veiius 
cognoscentis  !     Non  enim  subest  ^  ratio,  nisi  infidelitas  excusaret. 

Tertio  patet,  quod  ministri  debent  ^  pensare  laborem  secundum 
rationem  qua  Christo  serviunt.^  Ista  enim  est  ratio  potissima  maxime 
attendenda,  quia  si  serviunt  Christo  fideliter,  quomodocunque  sit  de 
locante,  non  possunt  a  mercede  Christi  deficere.  Et  haec  ratio,  quare 
ministrando  infidelibus  vel  quantumcunque  discolis  debent  mercenarii 
fideliter  ministi'are,  quia  secundum  rationem,  qua  Christo  serviunt, 
mercedem  ^  infallibiliter  ab  ipso  capiunt.^*^  Quanto  magis  nos  sacei'- 
dotes,  Christi  servi,  tam  specialiter  et  comminatorie  ab  ipso  conducti ! 

(c.  5.)  Quintum.ii 

Circa  ^^  quintum  jugum,  quod  est  ^^  inter  dominos  seculares  et  suos 
servos  et  teoienfes,^^  hortanda  est  utraque  pars  ad  observantiam  cari- 
tatis.  Domini  enim  debent  tractare  suos  subditos  ^^  tanquam  fi-atres 
in  domino,  et  nichil  facere  ser\'is  suis  nisi  quod  appeterent  ^^  sibi  fieri 
in  casu  consimili ;  ^''  omnia  enim  opera  viantium  debent  fiei'i  ex  amore, 
Unde  ad  Colossenses  quarto  "  Domini,  quod  justuni  est  et  aequum 
servis  praestate,  scientes  quod  et  vos  domiuum  habetis  in  cblo." 
Unde  postponenda  sunt  jura  civilia  ^^  momentanea  et  infundabilia  in. 
ista  materia.  Cum  certum  sit  ex  fide,  quod  domini  non  debent 
tractare  sei-vos  ^^  nisi  in  caritate  et  defensioiie  quoad  mundanas  re- 
pugnantias  ac  directione  viae  ad  patriam,.  Unde  ad  Ephesios  6'"  '^^ 
"  Vos  domini  eadem  facite  servis  vestris  remittentes  iiijurias,^!  scientes 
quia  "2  illorum  et  vester  dominus  est  iii  col  is,  et  personarum  acceptio 
non  est  aput  Deum."     Cum  enim  Deus  librat^^  et  acceptat  quem- 

^  servirent,  serviret  B,  C.  ^^  est,  wanting  B. 

2  servirent,  serviret  A.  ^*  et  suos  servos  et  tenentcs,  et  servos 
^  Corresponding  to  plenitudo  temporis,   suos  tenentes  C. 

above.  '^  suos  subditos,  subditos  servos  B. 

■*  mercenarius,  mercenarii  C.  ^®  appeterent,    deberent    appetere    C, 

^  serviret,  servirent  C.  deberet  appetere  A. 

^  subest,  obest  C.  i^  consimili,  simili  A. 

^  debent,  debet  C.  ^^  jura  civilia,  miracula  C 
^  Christo  serviunt,  Christus  servivit        ^^  servos,  servos  suos  C. 

A,  B.  ""  Ephesios  6to,  Ephesios  dicitur  C. 

^  mercedem,  et  mercedem  B.  C  ^^  injurias,  misericordias  B. 

■"'  capiunt,  recipiunt  C.  --  qida,  quod  et  0. 

^^  Quintum,  De  quinto  jugo  A.  -•'  librat,  Ifberat  C.  erster  Hand. 
12  Circa,  Sed  C. 


366  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

cunque  secundum  ejus  virtutem  aut  bumilitatem/  et  non  secundum 
statum  quern  occupat  ^  aput  mundum  :  manifestum  est  quod  servus 
humilior  et  virtuosior  de  tanto  acceptior  est  aput  Deum.  Unde 
videtur  multis,  quod  servoriun  subjectio  sit  catena  ^  superbiae  a  veri- 
tate  sive  *  vii-tute  retardaus  et  saepe  impediens  dominos  seculares ; 
debent  enim  providere  servis  suis  de  vitae  necessariis  secundum  con- 
gruentiam  sui  status. 

Secundo  debent  ipsos  ^  defendere  a  ^  raptoribus  tarn  ecclesiasticis 
quam  secularibus  irrationabiliter  insultantibus.  Et  tertio  debent 
eos ''  in  caritate  tractare  tam  verbis  quam  opere,  ut  patet  ex  praedicto 
morali  principio. 

Servi  autem  non  debent  remurmurare^  contra  eorum  subjectionem, 
ut  dicit  apostolus  (1  Corinth,  vii.) :  "  Servus  vocatus  es,^  non  sit  tibi 
cui-ae."  Et  ratio  est,  quia,  ut  patet  ex  utroque  testamento,  ordinatio 
Dei  est,  quod  a  subjectis  in  pdnam  peccati  sui  superioribus  dominis 
serviatur.  Et  saepe  est  ille  status  aptior  quam  seculare  dominium,  ut 
servus  Dei  amplius  mereatur.  Unde  quia  status  servitutis  liujusmodi 
est  consonus  legi  Dei,  ideo  scribit  apostolus  1  Timoth.  6  :  "  Quicunque 
sunt  sub  jugo  servi,  omni  ^**  bonore  dominos  suos  dignos  arbitrentur 
ne  nomen  domini  et  doctrina  blasphemetur."  Christus  enim  ordinavit 
genus  suum  adjici  ^^  servituti  per  plurimos  annos,  ut  patet  Gen.  et 
Exod.  per  processum.  Sed  quia  duae  sunt  maneries  dominonim, 
scilicet  justae  et  injustae,  declarat  apostolus,  quod  sicut  nee  servitus 
sic  nee  dominium  repugnat  statui  promerendi,  et  per  consequens 
qualescunque  sint  ^^  domini,  servi  debent  voluntarie  eis  subdi.  "  Qui, 
iiiquit  apostolus,  fideles  habent  dominos,  non  contemnant,  quia  fratres 
sunt  et  i'^  dilecti,  qui  beneticii  i"*  participes  sunt."  ^^  Sententia  ergo 
apostoli  est,  quo  1  servi  fideliter  serviant  dominis  sive  lidelibus,  quia 
principaliter  serviunt  domino  Jesu  Christo.  Et  breviter  quia  omnia 
tilia  possunt  fieri  sine  consensu  ad  facinus,  debent  mitigando  malitiam 
servire  fideliter  utrobique.^*^ 

Et  patet,  quam  leviter  et  quam  sinistre  ^^  loquuntur  qui  hortantur 
servos  vel  famulos  rebellare,  eo  quod  domini  tyrannice  regunt  eos. 
Nam  secundvim  legem  evangelii  tam  Christi  quam  sui  apostoli  servi 
et  famuli  debent  bumiliter  servire  tyrannis,  non  sub  ratione  quod  ^^ 
tales,  sed  sub  ratione  quod  serviunt  domino  Jesu  Christo.  Et  si  dis- 
cipuli  diaboli  objiciunt  contra  istem  patieutiam  et  colorant  ^^ "  re- 
bellionem  ac  repugnantiam  per  hoc,  quod  aliter  facinori  consentirent ; 

^  humilitateTii,  habilitatem  A.  ^^  adjici,  adduci  C. 

^  occiqmt,  acceptat  C.  '-  sint,  sunt  A. 

^  catena,  cathedra  A,  B,  '^  et,  wanting  C 

^  a  veritatc  sive,  wsmting  C.  '■*  hcneficii,     beneficiis  -A,    B.     prima 

^  ipsos,  eos  C.  manu. 

6  a,  de  B,  C.  i^  1  Timoth.  vi.  2. 

7  eos,  ipsos  C.  ^^  iitrobique,  utrique  C. 

8  remurmurare,  renunciare  A.  ^''  sinistre,  sine  tempore  C. 

9  es,  est  A.  ^^  quod,  qua  C. 

1"  07nni,  cum  omni  C.  ^^  colorant,  colerent  B.,  colarent  C. 


DE   SEX  .TUGIS.  367 

item  :  subditi  tales  habent  iit  sui  domini  potentiam  invasivam,  quare 
ergo  non^  resisterent  injuriantibus  ^  ut  .  .  ,  .^  et  serpentes?  Item 
Deus  movet  propter  demeritum  inliabitantium  ad  conquestus  ;  quare 
ergo  non  moveret^  subditos,  ut  contra  deprimeiites  ipsos  recalcit- 
rarent?  Hoc  ergo  ex  iiistinctu  natural!  habet  quilibet,  ut,  sicut 
appetit  vivere,  sic  appetat  libertatem. 

Sed  bic  dicitur  scolae^  diaboli,  quod  omnis  instructus  in  lege  et 
gratia  domini  Jesu  Christi  debet  in  talibus  injuriis  noa  rebellare  sed 
pati  bumiliter.  Cujus  ratio  est,  quia  propositis  duabus  conti-ariis  viis, 
quarum  una  est  difficilis  atque  ambigua  quoad  mores,  et  alia  facilis 
atque  certa,*'  lex  gratiae  est  quod  prior  dimitatur  et  altera  eligatur. 
Lex  ergo  liumiliter  patiendi  injurias  est  fiicilis  atque  certa  ;  et  lex 
invadendi  atque"  resisteudi  difiicilis  atqua  ambigua.  Ideo  scola  foret 
diaboli,  priorem  reliuquere  et  istam  ambiguam  acceptare.  Et  bine 
Christus  eam^  docuit  tam  opere  quam  sermone.  Nam  gratis  passus 
est  mortem  dvirissimam,^  et  docuit  apostolus  istam  scolam  :  "  In 
patientia,  inquit,  vestra  possidebitis  animas  vestras."^*^  Qui  ergo 
bortatur  ad  rebellionem  liujusmodi,  indicatse  esse  expertem  sapientiae 
scripturarum.  Sed  lioc  dicendum  est^^  dominis  seculai-ibus  et  civili- 
bus  cbristianis,^^  quod  non  consentiant  facinori  sacerdotum  rebellan- 
tium  legi  Cbristi,  hoc  est  enim  inseparabilitor  malum  sicut  consensus 
ad  istud.  Ideo  cum  subtractio  juvaminis  non  sit  actio  sed  actionis 
dimissio,^^  ad  ipsam  sunt  cbristiani  singuli  instruendi.  Et  haec  ratio, 
quare  sacerdotum  eleemosinaria  ministratio  debet  esse  libera  non 
coacta. 

Ad  primmn  instantiam^'^  dicitur  negando  primam  consequentiam, 
quia  nullus  ex  invasione  est  certus  ut  resistat  facinori,  sed  potius  ex 
sibi  dubio  augebit^^  f acinus  tam  ex^*^  parte  propria  quam  invasi.^^ 

Quoad  secundum  dicitur,  quod  subditi,  licet  habuerint  talem  poten- 
tiam, mediante  qua  possent  sic  in  christianos  irruei-e,  tam  en  quia  ilia 
potentia  ex  primo  crimine  est  infecta,  ideo  dimissa  inclinatione  sua 
est,  secundum  legem  gratiae,  patientiae  insistendum.  Nee  excuso 
seculares  dominos  in  istis  invasionibus  vel  conquestu,  sed  Deo  appro- 
pi-io  propter  excellentiam  sui  capitalis  dominii  activam  -^^  nee  est 
michi  evidentia  capta  de  stiraulo  serpentino. 

Quoad  tertium  articuluni  dicitur,  quod  habentes  ad  boc  revela- 
tionem  possunt  libere  rebellare,  sed  debent  temptare  spiritus,  se  ex 

^  quare  ergo  non,  non  ergo  A.  ■'"Luke  xxi.  19. 

-  injuriantihus,  wanting.  ^'^  est,  wanting  C. 

■*  Here  in  all  three  MSS.  are  two  words         ^-  rivilihus  christianis,  cuilibet  christi- 

contracted  which  I  have  not  been  able  ano  B,  C. 
hitherto  to  decipher.  ^'-^  dimissio,  divisio  B. 

^  moveret,  movet  A,  C.  i*  namely,  quod  aliter  facinori  consen- 

^  scolae,  i.  e.,  scholae,  discole  B.,  acolari  tirent,  oben. 
dyaboli  C.  ^^  augehit,  augebat  A. 

''  certa,  certa  via  A,  ^^  ex,  iu  C. 

"^  atqae,  vel  C.  ^'^  invasi,  ex  parte  invasi  A. 

^  earn,  ipsam  B,  C.  ^^  activam,  actionem  A,  B. 

"  durissima7n,  gravissimam  C. 


368  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

Deo  sunt  ;  ^  imo  conceditur,  quod  Deus  dat  peccantibus  et  rebellan- 
tibus  naturalem  potentiam  et  iiistinctum  ad  quodlibet  ciiminis  posi- 
tutn,2  sed  a  rege  superbiae  habent  complexionem^  defectum  in  moribus. 
Conceditur  ergo,  quod  omnis  homo  appetit  naturaliter  libertatem,  sed 
specialiter  a  peccato.  Sed  quia  ad  illam  libertatem  est  patientia  via 
securior,  et  inva^io  abducit  communiter,  ideo  debet  ilia  dimitti  et  lex 
patientiae  accipi  propter  appetitus  vehementiam  libertatis.  ]Nec 
sequitur,  quod  corporales*  do  mini  super  suos  subditos  tyrannisent, 
quod  propter  hoc  eadem  mensura  debeat^  remitiri,  quia  scola  Cbristi 
est,^  propter  malum  bonum^  retribuere. 

(c.  6.)  Sextum.s 

Sextum  jugum,  quod  est  amor  inter  pi'oximos,  est^  paululum 
pertractandum.  Quamvis  autem  apostolus  1  Corinth.  13™°  narrat 
conditiones  sexdecim  caritatis,  ex  quibus  juxtopositis^o  conv'ersationi 
nostrae  caritas  nostra  extinguitur,  hypocritice  tingimus,  quod  obser- 
vamus  caritatem,  quae  sufficiat^^  ad  salutem.  Quis  enim  est  sufH- 
cienter  "  pat ie')is"  injurias  atque  molestias?  quis  secundo  "  benigne" 
dolet^^  alienas injurias,  ita  ut  vere  dicere  possit^^  c^jj^  apostolo  :^^  "quis 
infirmatur,  et  ego  non  infirmor"  ^^  quin  potius  gaudet^^^  de  molestiis 
proximorum  1  Quis  tertio  "  no7i  invidet"  sectae^"  procurans  et  sectis 
sibi  contrariis  improperans  ac  de  contentione^^  sectae  Christi  propter 
superbiam  indubie  dedignatur  ?  falsum  quidem  est,  quod  caritas  talium 
"non  emuletur."  Quis  quarto  non  declinat  a  mandatis  Christi 
atque  consiliis,  "  agendo  perperam  ? "  Quis  quin  to  ex  bonorum 
fortunae  copia  vel  bono  naturali,  aut  dato  vel  ficto  bono  gratiae 
"  non  injlatur"  tangere^^  montes  ad  habendum  experientiam,  etfumi- 
gabunt  ?-*^  Sexto  cujus  viantis  caritatis  capacitas  "  non  est  ambi- 
tiosa?"  judicet  autem  super  isto  propria  conscientia,  si  quis  honores 
mundanos,  famam  seculi  vel  temporalia  non  affectat,  quod  si  defor- 
matur  in  istis  primae  rcgulae,  quis  dubitat,  quin  tunc  declinet  ab 
observantia  caritatis  ?  Septimo  caritas  "  non  quaerit  esse  proprie- 
taria ;"  sed  ut  obmittam-^  cupiditatem  secularium.  cujus  clerici  cai-itas 
non  extinguitur  hoc  peccato  ?  nam  possessionati  plus  laborant  pro 
jn'oprietate  quam  beatitudine,  mendicantes  vel  exproprietarii  labor- 
ant pro  multii)lici  proprietate  damnabili,   ut   quod    illorum^^  religio 

'  Corap.  1  John  iv.  1.  '^^  sufficiat,  sufficit  C. 

^  positum,  all  the  MSS.     Perhaps  we  ^^  dolet,  wanting  A,  B. 

should  read  propositam.  ^'■^possit,  posset  A. 

^  comjilexionem,  complecionem  B,  C.  ^'^  ajtostolo,  Paulo  C. 

*  corporales,  temporales  B,  C  ^^  Comp.  2  Cor.  xi.  29. 

^  deheat,  debeant  C.  ^^ gaudet,  congaudet  C. 

^  est,  docet  C.  ■'''  sectae,  sectas  C 

''  honum,    wanting    C.    Comp.    Rom.  '^  contentione,  contentatione  C. 

xii.  19  f.  '^  tangere,  tange  A,  C. 

^  Sextum,  De  sexto  et  ultimo  jugo  A,  ^^  Comp.  Ps.  civ.  32. 

®  est,  et  A,  B.  ^'  ohmittam,  amittam  C,  dimittam  A. 

^^  juxtapositis,  i.e.,  put  to  one  side.  ^"  illorum,  eorum  A. 


DE  SEX  JUGIS.  369 

vel  quod  illis  est  proprium  extollatui',  quod  suae  propi-ietati  tem- 
])oralium  copia  adquiratur,  et  quod  illis  cederet  ad  honorem  pro- 
prium/ licet  honorem  Dei  suppeditet,  in  populo  efFeratur.  Et  idem 
est  judicium  de  rectoribus,  de  vicai'iis  et^  de  quocunque  genere 
viatorum.  Quis  enim  affectat,  ut  cuncta  fiant  conimunia,  sicut  in 
statu  innocentiae  et  statu  ajiostolico  a  Christo  fuerat  ordinatum  ? 
Quis  octavo  pro  dicta  sibi  sententia  veridica  de^  talibus  vitiis  "  non" 
contra  dicentem  licet  benevole  "  irritatur"  ?  Tangat  liortator  in 
quantacunque  caritate  voluerit,  et  videbit  quod^  cunctum  genus 
viatium,  etiam  fratres,  succumbent  in  ista  macula  caritatis.  Nono 
caritas  "^  non  cogitat^"  quomodo  "  malum''  ponae  vel  culpae  sit 
proximo  irrationabiliter^  inferendum.  Sed  quis,  licet  extinxerit*' 
alias  caritatis  maculas,  in  isto  senserit  se  immunem  ?  Omnes  enim 
cogitamus  superfine,  quomodo  vindicta  cajoeretur  de  hostibus  Chvisti 
atque  ecclesiae,  et  potius  cogitamus  imprecando"  istam  vindictam 
quam  alia  media  misericordiae,  quae  sic  injuriantibus  cederent  ad 
salutem.  Decimo  "  caritas  non  gaudet  suj^er  iniquitate"  qualiter 
faciunt  maligni  more  diaboli,  qui  delectantur  de  vindicta  capienda 
de^  proximo  et'^  denigratione  famae  personae,  cui  invident ;  gaud- 
enter  audiunt  peccata  proximi  et  gaudentius  publicant  malum  suum 
meudaciter  dilatando.  Undecimo  caritate  formatus  "  congaudet  I'ec- 
titudini  Justitiae "  proximorum,  ut  quum  audit  zelare  quemcunque 
pro  justitia  sine  personarum  acceptione,  lioc  approbat  et  de  lioc 
gaudet.  Sed  suscitata  ista  conditione  caritatis  diflamatio^^  et  detractio 
deliterent.  Duodecimo  "  caritas  omnia"  genera  tarn  bonorum  quam 
malorum  "  suftert "  cum  gaudio  moderato,  Numquid  credimus  im- 
petuosos^i  ista  proprietate  indui  caritatis  ?  Tredecimo  caritas  movet 
tarn  de  bonis  quam  de  malis,  ut  "credat"^^  omnes  fidei  veritates. 
Sed  illi  qui  volunt  credere  eis  placens  et  favorabile,  atque  discredere 
eis  displicens,  licet  sit  Veritas  ac  Dei  ordinatio,  ex  ista  caritatis 
deficientia  sunt  culpaudi.  Quartodecimo  caritas  "sperat"  tarn  de 
beatis  gaudium  quam  damnatis ;  non  enim  cadit  in  istam  liaeresin, 
quod  singuli  sint  salvandi,  sed  de  unoquoque,  sive  praedestinato  sive 
praescito  sperat  gaudium,  cum  non  sit  conscientia  quod  damnetur,^'^  et 
certa  sit,  quod  "  timentibus  Deum  omnia  cooperantur  in  bonum."^^ 
Quintodecimo  caritas  "  omnia  sustinet  "  tarn  juste  illata  a  domino  quam 
injuste  illata  a  proximo.  Sed  nunquam  credimus  illos,  qui  tantum 
zelant  pro  vindictis  propriis,  esse  in  isto  capitulo ;  cujusmodi  sunt 
qui  contendunt  pro  suis  supra  limites  rationis,  qui  pugnant  cum 
regnis  exteris  pro  justitia,  quam  somniant^^  non  cognoscunt,  vel  qui 

1  proprium,  propitium  A.  ^  de,  in  B,  C. 

^  et,  wanting  C.  ^  et,  de  A,  B. 

^  de,  pro  B.  '^'^  diffnmatio,  defamatio  A,  B. 

■*  quod,  wanting  A.  ^'  impetuosos,  impetuosus  B. 

^  irrationahilitcr,  nostro  A.  ^"^  credat,  credantnr  B,  C. 

'^  extinxcrit,  extvaxerit  vel  extinxerit          ^'^  danuwtiir,  da,ui\met  C 

A.  "  Comp.  Rom.  viii.  28. 

"  imprecando,  in  praedicando  A.  ^^  somniant,  somniautes  A. 

VOL.  II.  2  A 


370  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

rebellant  contra  suos  dominos  etiam  propter  injurias  quas  eis  infer- 
unt,  et  regulariter  qui  sic  pugaant.  Et  ne  videatur  istam  cou- 
ditionem  cum  duodecima  conditione  incidere,  notaudum  est,  quod 
pei-fecti  in  caritate^  sustinent  omnia  ista  in  opere  et  sermone,  non 
solum  quoad  suas  injurias  sed  omnia  quae  illata  fuerint  cuicuuque, 
scientes  quod  Justus^  cuncta  respiciens  facit  et  patitur  singula  hujus- 
modi  pro  justitiae  complemento  ;  ideo  caidtativus  manet  in  talibus  in- 
turbatus.^  Sedecimo  caritas  '^nunquam  excidit,^  quia  si  respectu  cujus- 
quam  excideret,  potissimeboc  foret  propter  injuriam  inimici,  sed  omnem 
talem  injuriam  sustinet  patienter,  ut  patet  ex  conditione  proxima. 

Ex  quibus  convincitiu',  quomodo  dicentes  se  servare  caritatem 
generaliter  mentiuntur.  Et  patet,  quam  vera  est  ilia  generalis  sen- 
tentia,  quod  caritas  se  non  comjiatitur  cum  mortali.^  Imo  quantum- 
cunque  quis  sciverit  de  se  ipso,  ignorat  caritatem  suam  ex  conditione 
hac  ultima,  nise  forte  fuerit  sibi  revelatum.  Et  ut  breviter  dicam, 
non  video  quomodo  quicunque '°  in  cai'itate  persisteret,  qui  propter 
amorem  ad  quemcunque  proximum  martirio  se  non  daret ;  omnis 
enim  talis  non  plus  diligit  proximum  carne  sua,  et  per  consequens 
pervertitur  sinistre  ^  regula  caritatis.  Et  patet  quod  ex  vita  et 
oi:)eribus  melius  judicandum  est  de  caritate  proximi  quam  de  verbis 
propriis,  quantumcunque  solemniter  confitetur.  Et  patet  tam  de 
clericis  quam  de^  laicis,  quomodo  eorum  cai'itas  hodie  refrigescit.^ 
Si  enim  babent  talem  habitum,  tum  inclinant  ^^  ad  actus  proprios  cari- 
tatis. Istae  autem  regulae  praedicandae  sunt  instanter  populo,  ut 
cognoscant,  si  ipsi  vel  clerici  plene  servaverint  caritatem.  Nee  dubito 
quin  ^1  discrasia  introducta  per  sectas  novellas  ab  observantia  legis 
Christi  buic  observationi  sexdecuplae  sit  repugnans.  Et  cum  omne 
sonans  conti'a  caritatem  tanquam  baereticuni  sit  damnandum,  patet 
cum  quanta  diligentia  exequeretur  ecclesia  contra  hujusmodi  novi- 
tates.^- 

^ in  caritate,  vfnuimg  Q.  "^pervertitur  sinistre,  in  ipso  sinisti-e 

'^Justus,   Deus  Justus  all  the    MSS.  pervertitur  B.,    pervertitur  sinistre  in 

But  Deus  evidently  does  not   suit  the  ipsa  A. 

connection ;  a  distinction  is   taken  be-  '^  de,  wanting  C. 

tween  Justus  and  caritativus,\)\i.i  in  both  ^  Comp.  Matth.  xxiv.  12. 

cases  the  subject  spoken  of  is  only  man.  ■'*'  inclinant,  inclinat  C. 

^  inturhatus,  turbatus  A.  ■'^  quin,  quando  A. 

*  ea;ctVZii,  excidet  C  ^^  novitates,   novitates.       Amen.      B. 

®  mortali,  scil,  peccato,  i.e.,  Love  is  not  Whereupon   follow   in     Czech,    Taksem 

consistent  with  mortal  sin.*  chti/el.     Whereas  in  MS.  A  stands.  Ex- 

®  quomodo    quicunque,     quomodocun-  pUcit  tractatus  de  sex  Jugis . 
que  A. 


WICLIE^'S  BOOK  '*DE  VERITATE  SACRAE  SCRIPTURAE,"  C.  14.   371 

VIII. 

A  SECTION  OF  WICLIF'S  BOOK  "DE  VERITATE  SACRAE 
SCRIPTURAE,"  c.  14. 

Vienna  MS.  No.  1294,  fol.  40,  col.  3-fol.  44,  col.  2. 

Sic  enim  ^  salutatus  sum  nuper  a  quodam  doctore,  quern  credidi 
amicum  meum  specialem  et  defensorem  praecipuum  catholicae  verita- 
tis.  Et  licet  patienter  sutferam  jJ^'t'sonales  injurias  secundum  regulam 
scripturae,  tamen  necesse  est  mihi  ob  limwrem  Dei  et  profectum  eccle- 
sice,  ut  tollam  ab  ea  scaudalum,  quod  darem  ex  tacituvnitate  culpa- 
bili,  respondere  ad  argumenta,  quibus  ai)paret  multis  doctorem  docere 
7ne  et  omnes  fautores  meos  esse  haereticos  et  regni  subdolos  proditores. 
Hoc  enim  debeo  facere  secundum  legem  Christi  hurailiter  patientis  et 
diligentis,  cum  Christus  et  .sui  apostoli  sic  fecerunt  (Jobn  viii.  49), 
et  Cbristus  subditus  erat  dominis  secularibus  ut  .  .  .  .  Caesari  (Matth, 
xxii.  21.) 

I.  Imponitur  autem  mihi  primo,  quod  tanquam  periculosissimus 
inimicus  ecclesiae  sum  Doctor  fallaciarum,  eo  quod  ex  confessions 
mea  pi'opria  frequenter  aequivoco  et  instar  Christi  Bum  Doctor  aequi- 
vocorum,  aequivocatorum  ....  aequivocantium 

This  he  immediately  proceeds  to  combat  in  the  formally  logical 
style. 

II.  Secundo  fit  tripliciier  argumentum  opprobriosum  ad  proban- 
dum,  quod  sum  Iiaereticus ;  cujus  argumenti  recitationem  et  solution- 
em,  si  non  esset  scolae  seductio  et  famae  insontium  declaratio  [sic] 
mallem  sub  silentio  praeterire. 

A.  Reportatum  est  autem  mihi  a  tribus  personis  gravibus  auditori 
satis  sagacis,  scilicet  magistris  artil^m,  religiosis  possessionatis  et 
similibus,  quod  doctor  ille  assumit,  one  inniti  sensui  verhali  sci'ipturae 
sacrae  I'atione  cujus  in  errores  plurimos  sum  prolapsus ;  ut  inter  mult 
exemplificat,  quomodo  ex  illo  textu  apostoli  1  Cor.  ii.  :  "spiritualis 
homo  judicat  omnia,"  reputando  me  sic  spiritualem,  nullius  judicio  nisi 
judicio  divino  et  proprio  me  submittei'e  ;  hoc  autem  est  maximum 
signum  haeretici ;  si  enim  haeriticus  neminem  in  terria  habeat,  qui 
eiim  a  suo  errore  compesceret,  a  quo  de  jure  judicari  possit,  quid 
restat  amplius,  nisi  ut  libere  et  sine  freno  suas  haereses  dogmatizet, 
ciijus  libertatis  acquisitionem  omnis  Iiaereticus  summe  desiderat  ?  Sic 
enim  ille  haereticus  Occam  '^  et  sui  sequaces  suos  ei-rores  asseruit,  sed 
stare  judicio  summi  pontiticis  vel  ecclesiae  romanae  tanquam  venenum 
effugerat,  ne  videlicet,  eorum  doctrina  igne  examinationis  probata, 
Veritas  in  gazophilacium  Domini  reponatur,  et  sententiam  dampna- 
tionis  reciperet  doctrina  erroris.  Eodem  modo  per  omnia  iste  Doc- 
tor ^  judicium  summi  pontificis  et  romanae  ecclesiae  subterfugit,  ut 

^  Immediately   before,    he  had   been         ^  Occam,  Hocham,  MS. 
speaking  of  lying  calumnies.  ^  ,-^(^  Doctor,  viz.,  Wiclif  himself. 


372  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

liberius  suos  errores,  ymo  iit  verius  dicam  haereses,  possit  astruere. 
Vidi  enim  protestationem  suam,^  quam  misit  Domino  siimmo  ponti- 
fici,  in  qua  fatetur  se  velle  stare  judicio  Dei  at  ejus  universalis  eccle- 
siae,  sibi  tamen  cavendo  diligentius,  ne  judicio  ecclesiae  romanae  vel 
judicio  summi  pontiticis  sit  subjectus;  quae  protestatio  videtur  mibi 
valde  suspecta  so  quod,  si  ejus  conclusiones  catholicas  et  pro  utilitate 
ecclesiae  reputaret,  subjiceret  se  sunimo  domino  pontifici,  nee  eccle- 
siae romanae  eas  tradere  foi'midaret,  ut  ijjsi  exarainarent,  si  dictae 
conclusiones  teneri  debeant  vel  damnari. 

Istud  longum  argumentum  includit  venenum  sextuplex. 

Primo  enim  fundatur  super  mendacio.  Concessi  quidem,  quod 
"  spiritualis  bomo  judicat  omnia ; "  sed  non  est  liucusque  auditum, 
quod  judicavi  7ne  esse  de  numero  illorum  spiritualium ;  tamen  recog- 
nosco  et  recognovi  saepius,  me  esse  miserum  accidum,^  mole  mundi- 
alium  praegravatvim. 

/Secundum  mendaciimi  est,  quod  nolo  stare  judicio  alicujus  nisi 
judicio  Dei  et  proprio  ;  quia,  ut  patet  in  j)'>'otestcdio)ie,  "  submitto  me 
judicio  scmctae  matris  ecclesiae  ;  ^  et  iste  modus  loquendi  est  scripturae 
s.  conformior,  generalior  et  humilior,  quam  dicere,  quod  homo  sub- 
mittit  se  romanae  ecclesiae,  licet  hoc  implicet.  Yolo  enim,  sicut  debeo 
ex  fide  scripturae,  esse  subjectus  omni  homini  propter  Christum.* 

Tertio  implicat,  omnem  papam  haereticum  fuisse  summe  haereti- 
eum,  eo  quod  multi  fuerunt  pajiae  dampnati  haeretica  pravitate,  et,  ut 
Doctor  asserit,  nemo  debet  in' causa  papae  cognoscere  nisi  solum  Deus 
et  ipse,  quae  foret  conditio  summi  haeretici. 

Quarto  assumit,^  quod  Venerabilis  Inceptor  Occam  ^  fuit  haereti- 
cus,  quod  nee  scit  probare  nee  ^  sibi  consonat,  cum  in  his,  quibus 
maxime  videretur  a  fide  devius.  Doctor  iste  ^  fuit  et  est  excellens  et 
praecipuus.  Ubi  enim  Occam  pouit,  quod  nihil  est  nisi  substantia 
vel  qualitas,  iste  Dr.  ponit,  quod  nihil  est  nisi  substantia,  et  illam 
vocat  rem  per  se  signabilem,  sicut  didicit  ex  Occam,  ex  Doctore  de 
Aureolis,^  et  illis  fratribus  quos  nunc  odit. 

Quinto  committitur  mendacium  in  hoc,  quod  imponendo  mihi 
haereses  dicit,  quod  subterfugi  judicium  summi  pontiticis  et  romanae 
ecclesiae,  cujus  judicio  "  humiliter  me  submitto,"  ^^  cum  etiam  quia 
ecclesia  universalis  mater  nostra,  cujus  tiliationem  humiliter  recog- 

^  Protestatio,  in  Lewis,  Life  of  John        ^  Occam,  "Vienna  MS.,  the  Bodleian 

WicUf,    Appendix   No.    40,    S.    382    f.,  MS.  has  here  ^oMam. 
with  the  commencing  words  :  Protestor         ''  nee  scit  probare  nee,  nescit  probare. 

piibliee,  ut  saepe  alias  u.  s.  w.  Nee,  Shirley. 

2  avcidum,  a  conjectural  reading.  The         8  J)octor  iste,  the  opponent  to  whom 

MS.  has  accivmn,  or  attivum.     Accidus,  Wiclif  is  replying. 

derived  from  accidia  [anrjhia),  means         ®  Doctor  de  AureoUs,  Petrus  of  Ver- 

indoleut,  indifferent.  eria.,  called  Aureolus,  t  1345.     Comp., 

^  s.  Lewis,  p  382.  Prantl,  Gesch.   der  Loijik  in  Abendlande 

4  Eph.  V.  21.  IIL,  319. 

^  The   words   assumit    .    .    nisa   sub-        -^^  humiliter    me    submitto,    from   the 

stantia,    are  given  by  Shirley,    Introd.  "  Protestatio  "  s.  Lewis,  382. 
to    Fasc.    Zizaniorum,   p.    LIIL,    note, 
after  a  MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library. 


WICLIF'S  book  '•  DE  VERITATE  SACRAE  SCRIPTURAE,"  C.  14.    373 

nosco,  est  romana  ecclesia,  sicut  patet  ex  jure  canonico  et  conformi- 
tate  1  ecclesiae,  et  patet  respicienti  protestationem  meam,  quod  nimis 
sinistre  conclusum  est,  quod  soli  judicio  Dei  et  meo  proprio  me  sub- 
mitto,  cum  ex  protestatione  formaliter  sequatur  oppositum. 

Sexto  committitur  ^  conditionalis  impossibilis,  cum  sic  coiicluditur  : 
"  si  rejjutarem  conclusiones  meas  esse  catholicas  et  ecclesiae  Dei  utiles, 
non  dubitarem  dare  eas  summo  pontifici  nee  tradere  eas  examinandas 
romanae  ecclesiae.  Nam  posset  esse,  quod  dominus  papa  foret  igna- 
rus  legis  scripturae,  et  quod  ecclesia  anglicana  foret  longe  praestantior 
in  judicio  veritatis  catliolicae,  quam  tota  ista  romana  ecclesia  collecta 
de  istis  papa-^  et  cardinalibus.  Imo  ex  facto  meo  colligitur,  quod 
non  sum  suspectus  de  formidine  istarum  conclusionum,  cum  transmisi 
illas  per  magnam  partem  Angliae  et  Cliristianismi,  et  sic  '^  usque  ad 
curiam  romanam,  salte  mediate,  examinandas.  Imo  cum  dictus  Doc- 
tor viderit  protestationem,  et  illi  ^  patebit  per  Dei  gratiam,  quod  non 
timebo  ^  respondere  sibi  et  omnibus  suis  complicibus,  vel  in  facie  vel 
in  scolis,  quod  posset  manuducere  etiam  inimicos,  quod  nee  '^  sum  con- 
scius  milii  ipsi  de  conclusionibus  praedictis,  cum  volo  non  solum  illas 
examinari  per  romanum  curiam  sed  per  totam  ecclesiam  militantem 
et  triumphantem,  quae  est  "  sancta  mater  ecclesia,"  cui  "  humiliter  me 
submisi,"  a  qua  absit  me  excludere  romanam  ecclesiam,  cum  credo 
illam  esse  caput  aliarum  ecclesiarum  militantium.  TJnde  quia  volui 
materiam  communicatam,  collegi  et  communicavi  33  conclusiones 
illius  materiae  in  lingiija  duplici. 

II.  B.  Secundo  arguit  Doctor  forma  consimili  :  De  communi,  inquit, 
consuetudine  liaereticorum  semper  fuit,  spreto  ecclesiae  judicio  ad 
dominorum  secularium  inrcesidium  convolare.  ut  errores  suos,  quos 
non  valebant  ratione  defendere,  saltem  bracliio  seculari  et  manu  va- 
lida  supportarent,  inferendo  viris  ecclesiasticis  et  verae  obedientiae 
filiis  molestias  corporales  atque  diversas  injurias,  sicut  patet  ^  respici- 
centi  cronicas  et  gesta  antiquorum  liaereticorum ;  invenietis  enim, 
qtiod  semper  haeretici  infestabant  fideles.  Unde  et  ille  maledictus 
liaereticus  Occam,  cujus  in  persecutione  ecclesiae  videor  esse  sequax, 
pro  defensione  sui  erroris  adliaesit  imperatori  Bavaro  ^  qui  ad  tempus 
suas  haereses  supportavit.  Sic,  inquit,  ego  pro  defensione  conclusion- 
um mearuni  non  dubium  haereticarum  his  diebus  bracliio  seculari 
adhaereo,  ut  saltem  gladio  et  illatis  injuriis  contra  adversantes  queam 
defendere  ;  quales  etiam  injurias  atque  molestias  per  dominos  seculares 
ego  intulerim  membris  ecclesiae,  ipse  in  persona  sua  in  parte,  ut 
asserit,  est  expertus.     Sed  licet,  inquit,  ad  tempus  regnet,  ego  tamen 

^  conformitate,  conjectural.     The  MS.  ■*  et  sic,  after  Shirley, 

has  confre.  ^  et  illi,  after  Shirley  ;  Vienna  MS., 

-  This  paragraph,  from  committitur  to  et  illas  (scil.  conclusiones)  patebit,  &c. 

lingua   du2:)lici,    Shirley,    Fasc.     Zizan.  ^  timebo,  Shirley,  timeo. 

XXXIII.,    note    2,   was    printed    from  ''  nee,  non  Shirley. 

the  Bodleian  MS.  ^  pa<rf,  conjecture  ;  potest,  MS. 

^  papa,  after    Shirley.     The  Vienna  "  Bavaro,  Lewis  of  Bavaria. 
MS.  has  papis. 


374  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

non  timeo,  nisi  de  quibusdam  conclusionibus  voluerit  emendari,  fina- 
liter  judicabitur  inimicus  crucis  Christi  atque  ecclesiae. 

Sed  ista  ratio  videtur  milii  in  multis  deficere.  Primo  in  fallacia 
consequentis  :  haeretici  solent  inniti  dominis  secularibus,  ut  patet  de 
Arrianis ;  et  ego  sic  facio ;  ergo  ego  et  socii  mei  sumus  haeretici. 

Constat  Doctori,  quod  non  valet  argutia,  quia  tunc  Christies  et 
sanctus  apostolus  ex  defensione  veritatis  scripturae  forent  haeretici, 
Christus  enim  spretis  sacerdotibus,  scribis  et  pharisaeis  adhaesit  do- 
minis secularibus,  ex  quorum  ^  sufiragiis  voluit  se  et  suos  discipulos 
relevari.  Sic  enim  voluit  inopiam  sui  et  parentum  suorum  in  sua 
nativitate  per  tres  magos  orientales,  quos  scriptura  vocat  reges  Thar- 
sis  et  insulae,^  relevari,  ut  patet  Matthaei  2°.  Sic  in  media  aetate 
sua  suscej)it  eleraosinas  de  devotis  mulieribus  et  aliis  secularibus, 
comedendo  cum  publicanis  et  aliis  secularibus,  ut  patet  de  Lazaro  et 
Zachaeo.  Et  tertio  in  morte  sua  voluit  impensis  et  ministerio  secula- 
rium  sepeliri,  ut  patet  de  Joseph  ab  Arimathia,  qui  fuit  nobilis  decu- 
rio.  Quod  autem  comedit  cum  sacerdotibus  vel  suscejiit  ab  eis  elemo- 
sinas  corporales  et  spirituales,  ut  patet  de  Nichodemo  et  centurione. 
Non  ergo  sequitur  :  adhaesit  dominus  secularibus,  et  movit  eos  ad 
spoliandum  sacerdotes,  ut  patet  de  Yespasiano  et  Tyto  principibus, 
quos  quadragesimo  secnndo  aimo  post  ascensionem  fecit  ire  Jerusalem 
ad  destruendum  illos  sacerdotes ;  ergo  fuit  haereticus. 

Conformiter  dicitur  de  apostolo,  qui  spreta  submissione  summi  pon- 
tificis  appellavit  Caesarem,  non  beatum  Petrum  papam,  licet  causa  sua 
fuerit  fidei,  ut  patet  Actorum  25  ^ ;  non  tamen  ex  hinc  sequitur,  quod 
fuit  tunc  haereticus,  sed  perfectus  Christianus.  Et  idem  patet  de 
Jeremia,  qui  fuit  sinistre  accusatus  a  sacerdotibus  et  jDrophetis  repu- 
tantibus  ex  conditionali  prophetae  sententiam  de  inesse  ^  •  sed  prin- 
cipes  seculares,  quibus  Jeremias  adhaeserat,  eum  liberarunt,  ut  patet 
Jeremiae  26^.  38**.  42*^.  et  43*^.  capitulo.  Imo  de  Nahuchodonosor 
pagano  habuerat  Jeremias  et  Daniel  plus  amicabilitatis  quam  de  per- 
versis  sacerdotibus  sui  generis,  ut  patet  Jeremiae  40  et  Daniel ;  "a 
sacerdotibus  autem  et  pseudoprophetis  fuerant  persecuti,  ut  patet 
3,eremiae  20,  et  ideo  locuti  sunt  eis  aspere  instar  Christi'^. 

Cum  ergo  multi  haeretici  adhaeserunt  brachio  seculari,  ut  dicitur  in 
libris  apocx'ifis-^,  multi  autem  catholici  adhaeserunt  brachio  seculari, 
ut  dicitur  in  scriptura  sacra,  quae  non  potest  esse  falsa,  oporteret  de- 
scendere  specificando  modum  adhaerendi  brachio  seculari,  ex  quo  cog- 
noscitur  hominem  esse  haereticum,  et  non  turpiter  arguere  ex  fallacia 
consequentis  a  communi'^  usque  ad  suum  particulare  :  "  Isti  haeretici 
adhaeserunt  brachio  seculari  pro  defensione  suae  opinionis  ;  et  tu  ad- 
haeres  brachio  seculari  pro  defensione  tuae  opinionis  ;  ergo  tu  es  hae- 

1  quorum,  conjecture  ;  quibus,  MS.  *  instar  Christi,  i.e.,    as    the   priests 

2  Comp.    Ps.    Ixxii.    fol.     10,    Isaiah     spoke  against  Christ. 

Ix.  fol.  9.  ^  apocrifis,  MS. ,  ajtocrisis. 

•*  de  inesse.  The  marks  of  contraction  ®  a  communi,  conjecture  ;  MS.,  ad 
in  this  MS.  are  not  clear  to  me.  communi. 


WICLIF'S  book  "DE  VERITATE  SACRAE  SORIPTURAE,-"'  c.  14.    375 

reticus."  Unde  ad  discemendum  ista  est  milii  pro  regula :  si  quis 
adhaerat  brachio  secular!  wwre  7^0  defensible  vei'itatis  sc7-i2)tm'ae,  tunc 
ilDse  est  catholicus  ;  et  si  adhaeret  brachio  seculari  vel  sacerdotali  ^;ro 
defensione  falsitatis  suae,  scripturae  s.  contrariae,  tunc  ipse  est  liaere- 
ticus,  quia  adversarius  legis. 

Sed  liucusque  nee  Doctor  iste  nee  alii  priores,  qui  multiplicarunt 
contra  me^  argumenta,  potuerunt  convincere,  quod  aliqua  conclusio- 
num,  quas  impugnant,  sit  scripturae  sacrae  contraria ;  sed  ex  inven- 
tione  eorum  patuit  scolae  et  mundo,  quod  sententia  eorum  fuit 
scripturae  magis  consona.  Et  sic  tarn  ratione  quam  scriptura  scio 
conclusiones  illas  defendere  gracia  Dei,  qui  me  preservans  a  mania 
accommodavit  intelligentiam  ad  tollendum  omnes  suas  versutias  dictis 
meis  et  legi  Dei  contrarias. 

Secundo  quantum  ad  exprobrationem  ^  Inceptoris  Occam,  quern  dicit 
me  sequi  nee  aliquid  novitatis  invenire  nisi  quod  in  libris  suis  inse- 
ritur,  hie  dico  tria  :  primo,  quod  ego  nescio  ipsum  prolsare  fuisse  liae- 
reticum,  sicut  forte  nee  Doctor,  sicut  pateret  eis,  qui  volunt  opiniones 
suas  defendere  vel  ad  Doctoris  evidentias  in  ista  materia  respondere. 
Hecundo  dico,  quod  conclusiones  meae  nee  ab  ipso  nee  a  me  sumpse- 
runt  originem,  cum  sint  in  scriptura  sacra  infringibiliter  stabilitae  et 
per  sanctos  Doctores  eas  astruentes  saepius  repetitae,  sicut  collegi  in 
quodam  compendio  istius  materiae  ^.  Tertio  dico  ut  supra,  quantum 
ad  libros  hujus  Venerahilis  Incejitoris,  quos  ego  vidi.  Doctor  ^  est  in 
pluribus  sequax  suus  assiduus,  quam  sum  ego ;  nee  verecundor  sed 
gaudeo,  si  in  veritatibus  convenimus.  Quum  autem  dicitur,  quod 
conclusiones  meae  indubie  sunt  baereticae,  fuisset  plus  lionorificum 
notasse  illas,  et  vi  argumentorum,  non  nudis  scandalis,  docuisse  banc 
scolam  ;  quia  aliter  non  crederet  dictis  suis. 

Tertio  quantum  ad  illud,  quod  dicit,  ipsum  in  parte  sensisse  inju- 
rias  ex  instigatione  mea  illatas  clero  per  dominos,  videtur  mibi  pericu- 
losum  dictum,  salva  sua  reverentia,  propter  viulta :  videtur  enim 
imponere  regi,  regni  consilio,  et  suis  legibus  nedum  errores  sed 
baereses.  Quantum  ad  errores,  dicit  consilium  regis  injuste  egisse 
cum  eo.  Et  cum  egerunt  cum  eo  secundum  leges  Angliae,  innuitur, 
leges  illas  esse  injustas,  et  sic  scripturae  sacrae  contrarias  et  per  con- 
sequens  haereticas,  et  sic  dominos  sub  legibus  illis  militantes.  Secundo 
confirmatur  ex  hoc,  quod  inter  alia  sic  loquitur :  per  malam,  inquit, 
informationem  meam  et  meorum  sequacium  domini  seculares  accep- 
tant  et  temptarunt  in  parte,  spretis  censuris  ecclesiasticis  cognoscere 
de  possessionibus  religiosorum,  et  etiam  auferre  ab  eis  quasdam  eorum 
possessiones,  quas  in  puram  et  perpetuam  elemosinam  eorum  j^rogeni- 
tores  ecclesiae  contulerunt.  Istud  dictum  indubie  cum  verbis  impli- 
cat,  ipsos  esse  haereticos,  et  potissime  caperet  veritatem  de  monachis 
f rands  translatis  deAnc/lia,  et  de  thezauro  regis,  propter  necessitatem 

^  exprobrationem,  MS.,  exprobationem.         ^  The  anonymous  opponent  himself. 
2  What  was  this  nature  of  the  writing 
has  not  hitherto  been  ascert^iined. 


376  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

suae  detentionis  detento  a  curia ;  quod  factum  liaereticare  foret 
nedum  liaereticare  regis  consilium,  regnum  nostrum  et  leges  suas,  sed 
etiam  regnum  Franciae  ac  alia,  et  leges  civiles  atque  canonicas. 
Tertio  confirmatur  ex  hoc,  quod  patenter  asserit,  dominos  regni 
nostri  defendere  me  in  opinionibus  meis  haereticis.  Sed  tunc  indubie 
cum  verbis  sequitur,  ipsos  esse  liaereticos,  quia  24.  quaestione  ultima  : 
^^qui  aliortom"  ^  vere  dicitur  ab  Urbano  papa  :  "  Qui  aliorum  errorem 
defendit,  multo  est  dampnabilior  illis  qui  errant,  quia  non  solum  ille 
errat,  sed  etiam  aliis  offendicula  erroris  praeparat  et  confirmat ;  unde, 
quia  magister  erroris  est,  non  tantum  liaereticus  sed  haeresiarcha 
dicendus  est."  Periculosum  itaque  videtur,  imponere  dictis  dominis 
liaereses,  nisi  quis  sciverit  probare,  quod  fundamentum  est  falsum, 
scripturae  sacrae  contrarium  ;  specialiter  cum  impouens  alteri  liaeresim 
obligat  se  ad  poenam  talionis,  nisi  sciverit  hoc  probare.  Si  ergo  Lector 
nesciat  2^'>'obare,  conclusiones  meas  esse  falsas  vel  scripturae  sacrae 
contrarias,  securus  sum,  quod  non  probabit  haereses  ex  illis  in  me,  in 
meis  sequacibus  aut  defensoribus,  quin  potius  sequitur  haeretica 
pravitas  in  secta  of)posita.  Si  autem  sciret  hoc  facere,  videtur  milii 
quod  Christi  caritas  urgeret  ipsum  signare  conclusionem  haereticam, 
et  docere  scriptura  vel  ratione,  quod  sit  haeretica,  vel  in  scolis  publice 
vel  ad  partem  specialiter,  cum  sim  paratus  ad  revocandum  et  emen- 
dandum  me,  si  sim  doctus,  quod  sit  haeretica.  Et  iterum  cum  sen- 
tentia  mea  sit  catholica,  rei  publicae  directiva,  a  fide  scripturae  secun- 
dum postillationes  sanctorum  concorditer  elicita :  videtur  peccatum 
grande,  retrahere  dominos  a  tantae  veritatis  defensione,  cum  secun- 
dum Ci'isostomum,  ut  dictum  est  proximo  capitulo,  ^  omne  genus 
hominum  tenetur  veritates  tales  modo  suo  defendere. 

Quarto  quantum  ad  pronosticationem  vel  prophetiam  quam  annec- 
tit,  quod  finaliter  judicabor  inimicus  crucis  Christi  atque  ecclesiae  : 
videtur  mihi,  quod  sententia  mea  est  remota  a  contrarietate  crucis 
Christi,  quia  secundum  partem,  quam  plus  impugnat  Doctor,  quod 
sacerdotes  Christi  debent  vivere  in  paupertate  et  persecutione  propter 
justitiam.  Unde  ad  docendum,  quod  Doctor  iste  sit  in  inimicitia 
crucis  Christi  profundior,  deliberatione  magna  cum  suis  complicibus 
ordinavit,  ut  unus  frater  minor,  qui  gi'avavit  eos  ex  praedictione 
paupertatis  et  status  primitivae  ecclesiae,  per  modum  revocationis, 
confiteretur  publice  in  ecclesia  beatae  Virginis  ^  sanctitatem  conver- 
sationis  praesentis  ecclesiae  sub  hac  forma  : 

"  Non  teneo,  ecclesiam  militantem  propter  suam  dotationem  im- 
perfectionis  gradum  incurrere  aliquem." 

Et  revera  talis  confessio  non  est  scripturae  consona  nee  Sanctis 
Doctoribus  aliquatenus  vallata  nee  rationi  de  perfectione  status  con- 
sentanea,  sed  omnino  oj^positum.  Ulterius  de  conclusione  prophetica 
f  ormido,  non  propter  spiritum  prophetiae,  quern  scio  ipsum  ^  habere, 

^  Corpus  juris  canonici.  The  whole  incident  is  not  without  in 

^  De  Veritate  s.  Scripturae,  c.  13.  terest. 

3   Virginis,    in    St.    Mary's    Oxford.         ■*  ipsum,  the  opponent. 


WICLIF's  book  "  DE  VERITATE  SACRAE  SCRIPTURAE,"  C.  14.   377 

seel  propter  fragilitatem  meam  quam  timeo,  perseverare  in  constant! 
assertione  veritatum  evangelicarum,  quas  assero  et  defendo.  Certus 
sum  enim,  si  vixero  in  confessione  earum  usque  ad  mortem,  quod 
relinquam  mundum  et  temporalia  per  carnis  et  mundi  crucifixionem, 
et  per  consequens  fiam  amicus  sponsi  ecclesiae  ^  per  aeternam  domus 
suae  coliabitationem,  et  sic  ero  amicus  sanctae  matris  ecclesiae,  quia 
sponsi,  per  consummatam  incorporationem.  Conclusiones  itaque 
erroris  et  seculi  oportet  me  destruere  et  sequi  Christum  in  pauperie, 
si  debeo  coronari. 

Tertio  sic  arguitur :  Omnes  liaeretici  antiqui  de  more  habebant 
fidelibus  insultare  dicendo  eis,  quod  erant  opinionis  contrariae,  verba 
contumeliosa,  et  sic  instar  latronum  fideles  de  latrocinio  accusantium 
fideles  vocant  liaereticos  et  multa  falsa  fingentes  eis  improperant.  Sic 
enim  invenimus,  quod  Ai'rius  vocavit  Athmiasiurti"  haereticum,  et 
quia  Athanasius  docet  trinitatem  personarum  esse  omosion,^  unius 
substantiae,  Arrms  cum  suis  complicibus  vocavit  Athanasium  cum 
suis  sequacibus  omosiones,  ut  patet  in  quodam  sermone.  Sic  ego  cum 
meis  sequacibus  voco  liaereticos  omnes  a  meis  opinionibus  discrepantes, 
et  alia  multa  opprobriosa*  ac  contumeliosa  ipsis  inferimus,  quum 
nobis  deficiunt  argumenta,  et  sic  more  meretricum  ad  litigia  nos  con- 
vertimus,  ut  omnino  ultimum  verbum  improperatorium  sit  nobiscum. 
Ex  istis,  inquit,  verisimiliter  sequi  videtur,  quod  ego  cum  secta  mea 
tarn  in  conclusionibus  quam  doctrina  sapiam  haereticam  pravitatem. 
Verumtamen,  inquit,  boc  adhuc  ex  causa  nostra  assero ;  sed  postmo- 
dum  in  facie  resistet  milii,  cum  sit  ad  hoc  ex  causa  multiplici 
animatus. 

Quantum  ad  istud,  videtur  milii,  quod  hoc  argumentum  ex  fallacia 
consequentis  non  sit  multum  scolasticum ;  imo  si  debeat  credi  talibus 
suasionibus  topicis,  cum  quibus  ignari  possent  decij)i,  videtur  argu- 
mentum illud  in  Doctorem  meum  et  dominum  retorqueri,  cum  scola 
cessante  ipse  manifestius  habundat  in  verbis  improperatoriis  et 
calumniis  defamatoriis  et  in  subterfugiis  frustratoriis,  quam  alias 
sectae  nostrae.  Ideo  si  per  se  ex  tali  conditione  argueretur  haereticus, 
ex  jihtri  illius  conditionis  argueretur  major  haereticus,  numquam  enim 
memini  me  hucusque  explicite  imposuisse  haeresim  alicui,  sed  saepe 
dixi,  quod  adhuc  repeto :  si  quis  pertinaciter  asserit  sic  vel  sic,  ut 
puta  quod  scriptura  sacra  sit  falsa,  aut  quod  sapientia  Dei  patris  non 
sit  passa,  tunc  ipse  est  haereticus ;  sed  ille  est  sibi  conscius,  qui 
assumit  super  se  consequens,  et  turn  non  audet  simpliciter  asserere 
antecedens. 

Et  eodem  modo  vidi  in  quadam  epistola,  quomodo  si  papa  vel  an- 
gelus  de  colo  pertinaciter  dampnaverit  quatuor  datas  sententias,  tunc 
ipse    foret   haereticus ;    quam  veritatem    connexionis  obligo    me   ad 

^^amicus  sponsi  ecclesiae,  aiiev  John  in.  2^.       3    omosion,      O'MioxjeiOV ;     omosiones, 

"  Athanasium,  the   MS.   has   instead   of  o/aoo,.^,/), 

this  Auqustinum.  Auqustinus  three  times       a  ' ,    .        ,,o.    • 

■^  ■        "  4  opprooriosa,  Mb.,  impropnos^a.. 


378  LIFE  OF  WIOLIF. 

vicarie  sustinendum.  Seel  simile  est  imponere  scribae  illius  epistolae 
asserere,  quod  pajia  est  haereticus,  eo  quod  dicitur :  "  si  sic  dampna- 
verit,  tunc  est  haereticus ; "  ac  si  quis  argueret,  quod  nolo  subjici 
romanae  ecclesiae  nee  cuiquam  nisi  Deo,  quia  volo  subjici  sanctae 
niatri  ecclesiae.  Secundo  dico,  quod  oportet  dimittere  convicia 
latronum  et  meretricum,  et  j^i'obare  ratione  vel  auctoritate,  quod  con- 
clusio  quam  Doctor  proponit  liaereticare,  sit  falsa,  scripturae  s.  con- 
traria ;  quia  sum  certus,  si  sit  vera,  non  est  liaeretica  vel  dampnanda. 
Et  sic  videtur  multis,  quod  improprians  nobis  de  defectu  argumen- 
torum  dissolveret  gazophilacium  margaritarum  suarum  et  doceret  per 
copiam  rationum  vivacium  conclusionem  quam  asserit,  et  falsitatem 
sententiae  quam  diffamat.  Yerumtamen  quia,  dominante  in  mundo 
liypocrisi,  homines  possent  alternando  ^  sibi  imponere  haereticam 
pravitatem,  ordinavit  sponsus  ecclesiae  legem  scripturae  pro  regula, 
ubi  potuerit  hoc  discerni ;  quicunque  enim  non  vere  fundaverit  vel 
vitam  suam  vel  sententiam  suam  in  scriptura  s.,  sed  adversatur  sibi 
et  suis  professoribus,  hie  obliquat  ut  pugil  diaboli  atque  haereticus. 
Tertio  miror,  quomodo  Doctor  concludit  ex  dictis,  quod  sapimus 
haereticam  pravitatem,  sed  adliuc  ex  causa  differt  nobis  ipsam  im- 
ponere. Prhiio  quia  omnia  argumenta  sua  facta  per  locum  a  simili 
vel  assumunt  mendacium  quod  non  probat,  vel  e  contra  vel  evidentius 
docerent,  ipsum  ac  suos  esse  haereticos,  cum  ipsi  sint  copiosius  condi- 
tionis,  per  quam  nimis  levis  discernit  haereticum.  Miror  insuper, 
quomodo  dicit,  se  non  adhuc  nobis  imponere  haereticam  pravitatem, 
cum  saepe  prius  inculcat,  verum  esse  quod  sumus  haeretici.  Et 
revera,  ut  dixi  superius,  propinquius  est  contradictioni  dicere,  quod 
"  verum  est  me  esse  haereticum,  sed  non  dico  hoc,"  quam  foret  dicere  : 
"  non  malefaciam  illi  homini,  et  tarn  facto  quam  verbo  depravo  eum, 
quantum  sufficio."  Consideret  itaque  lector  argumenta  Doctoris  per 
locum  a  simili,  et  apparebit,  quomodo  pertinentius  concluderet,  nos 
esse  latrones  et  meretrices,  quam  haereticos,  et  ^^t  credo  ex  signata 
similitudine  tam  omne  genus  perversorum  quam  etiam  improbos 
viros.  Si  ergo  Doctori  liceret  per  locum  a  tali  similitudine  occupare 
scolam  cum  talibus  nudis  argutiis,  tunc  vel  pauperi  sophistae  non 
deficerunt  argumenta. 

Qtiarto  arguit  Doctor  conformiter :  Apud  antiquos,  inquit,  haereti- 
cos ista  diabolica  calliditas  inolevit,  ut  in  gestu  et  exteriori  habitu 
simulent  quandam  sanctitatis  imaginem,  ut  perversam  doctrinam  ^ 
eorum,  quae  de  se  non  habet  apparentiam  veritatis,  saltern  suis  simu- 
latis  fictitiis  et  falsae  hypocrisis  versutiis  palliarent,  et  sic  venenum 
sub  velamine  cibi  sani  Christi  fidelibus  periculosius  propinarent.  Sic, 
inquit,  magnus  ille  haeresiarcha  Arrius  nimiam  victus  austeritatem  et 
vestium  abjectionem  continue  jDraeferebat  ad  hoc  non  dubium,  ut  suas 
haereses  colaratius  praedicaret  et  simplicium  animos  coj^iosius  capti- 
varet.     Si,  inquit,  ad  folia  istorum,  scilicet  ad  exteriorem  hominem 

^  alternando,  conjecture,  as  the  MS.  ^  perversam  doctrinam,  conjecture,  the 
here  has  an  unreadable  contraction.  MS.  has  perversa  doctrina. 


wiclif's  book  "DE  veritate  sacrae  scripturae,"  c.  14.  379 

attendatur,  quis  non  eos  sanctissimos  reputaret  ?  Sed  si  ad  fructum 
profunde  inspicitur,  quis  eos  esse  haereticos  validissimos  formidaret  ? 
Ideo  signal! ter  docet  Christus  :  " a  fructihus  cognoscetis  eos!"  Sic, 
inquit,  modernis  temporibus  ego  cum  meis  sequacibus,  licet  veniamus 
in  vestimentis  ovium,  in  omni  secus  tamen  sumus  lupi  rapaces,  cum, 
ut  conlirmemus  nostras  doctrinas  evidentia  sanctitatis,  nimiam  victus 
austeritatem  et  vestium  abjectionem  aliarumque  apparentiam  virtutum 
objicimus  conspectibus  incautorum,  ut  vel  sic  nolns  credatur  callidius 
et  nostri  sequaces  multiplicius  cumulentur.  Praeservamus  quidem 
nos  a  juramentis  extrinsecis,  et  intrinsecus  laboramus  invidia  et  ran- 
core,  et  sic  instar  hypocritarum  tempore  Cliristi  "  colamus  culicem  sed 
deglutimus  camelum.^  Addimus  iiisuper,  nostram  doctrinam  con- 
tinere  infringibilem  veritatem  et  testimonio  catholico  undique  compro- 
batam,  sed  revera  non  sequitur,  quod  verum. 

"  Nolite,  inquit,  eis  nimis  caeco  credere,-  cum  secundum  doctrinam 
apostoli  debemus  temptare  spiritus,  si  ex  Deo  sunt,^  nempe  quan- 
tamcunque  sanctitatem  quis  in  homine  exteriori  praetendat,  difficile 
tamen  est  cognoscere,  qualis  veraciter  intus  existat ;  et  ideo  oportet 
ad  fructum  attendere,  et  tunc  indubie  scire  potestis,  qualis  sit  arbor, 
ex  qua  fructus  liujusmodi  processerunt.  Si,  inquam,  ad  fructus  hujus 
sectae  attenditis,  videre  potestis,  quod  a  doctrina  eorum  oritur  regni 
perturbatio  et  ecclesiae  persecutio,  cum  velut  ingrati  filii  maternum 
honorem  ferre  non  valentes  s.  matrem  ecclesiam  jure  et  libertatibus  suis 
privare  satagunt  toto  nisu,  sicut,  inspicienti  eorum  doctrinam  luce 
clarius  elucescit.  Insuper  et  ad  divisionem  ecclesiae  per  substrac- 
tionem  obedientiae  ab  ecclesia  romana  totus  viribus  elaborant,  et  sic 
ex  consequenti  corpus  Cliristi  misticum,  praecidentes  domini  caput  a 
corpore,  amputare  desiderant  totam  ecclesiam  destructis^  suis  com- 
pagibus,  quantum  in  eis  est,  dissolvere  et  mere  [sic)  moliuntur.  Uiide 
digne  liaeretici  sunt  consendi,  dicente  Decreto  distint.  22  :  "  Omnis 
quisquis  cuilibet  ecclesiae  privilegium  ab  ipso  summo  omnium  ecclesi- 
arum  capite  traditum  auferre  conatur,  liic  procul  dubio  in  liaeresim 
labitur,  et  cum  ille  notetur  injustus,  hie  est  dicendus  haereticus." 
Hoc,  inquit,  me  et  meos  complices  fecisse,  quantum  in  nobis  est, 
sufficienter  ostenditur  ex  praemissis.  Uiide  credo,  quod  positus  est 
hie  in  ruinam  et  non  in  resurrectionem  sed  in  signum,  cui  per  Dei 
graciam  contradicetur.^  Nullus,  inquit,  aestimet,  quod  dico  ista  malo 
animo/  nolo  eiiim  teste  conscientia  malum  dicere  alicui.  Unde 
diligo  ipsum  forte  melius  quam  credit,  cum  omnia  ista  dico  secundum 
regulam  caritatis." 

Videtur  milii  salva  reverentia  Doctoris,  quod  lioc  argumentum  de- 
ficit plurimum  secundum  infamem  binarium,  tam  in  materia  quam  in 
forma.     In  materia  quidem,  quia  falsum  pro  fundamento  saepius  as- 

^  Matt,  xxiii.  24.  ^  1  John  iv.  1. 

2  This  passage  has  the  appearance  of  ■*  destructis,   conjectural ;    structuris, 

being  taken  from   the   lecture   of    the  MS. 

opponent.  *  Luke  ii.  34. 


380  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

sumitur,  ex  quo  non  minus  falsum  iuformiter  concluditur.  Nam  non 
docetur  ex  cronicis,  quod  Arriani  nimiam  pcenalitatem  exterius  infere- 
bant,  sed  nimis  modicam,  cum  indigni  fuerant  vivere  super  terram. 
Ideo  debuerunt  macerasse  carnem  suam,  quousque  fuissent  noscentes 
veritatem  scripturae,  quam  totis  viribus  depravarunt ;  et  insuper 
fuissent  impotentes  ad  sinistra  seminandum  suas  liaereses  et  ad  pallian- 
dum  ipsas  mendaciis  contra  scripturam  per  catervas  infidelium,  quas 
illudunt.  Unde  nullus  cliristianus  reputaret  eos  sanctissimos,  nisi  ex 
ignorantia  et  inadvertentia  scripturae  fuerit  maniacus  et  insanus. 

Secundo  dice,  quantum  ad  applicationem  similitudinis  per  locum  a 
simili,  quod  argumentum  deficit  infami  binario  supradicto.  Falsum 
quidem  est,^  quod  ego  cum  meis  sequacibus  nimiam  ponalitatem  et 
abjectionem  cum  apparentia  virtutum  objicio  conspectibus  incautorum  ; 
nam  inter  alia  peccata,  de  quibus  timeo,  hoc  est  unum  praecipuum, 
quod  consumendo  in  excessivo  victu  et  vestitu  bona  pauperum,  deficio 
dando  exemplum  aliis,  ut  lux  et  regula  sanctitatis  vitae,  quam  debe- 
rem  habere,  luceat  sacerdotaliter  conspectibus  laicorum.  Quod  autem 
communem  vitam  vivendo  frequenter  avide  et  laute  manduco,  dolenter 
profiteor ;  cum,  si  illud  hypocritice  simulare  voluero,  testarentur 
contra  me  socii  commensales.  Et  quantum  ad  formam  argumenti, 
est  similis  cum  priori,  quo  sic  arguitur :  haeretici  communiter  adhae- 
rent  infidelibus  et  tyrannis  pro  defensione  sui  perversi  dogmatis ;  et 
ego  adhaereo  christianis  principibus  pro  defensione  catholicae  veritatis  \ 
ergo  sum  haereticus. 

Tertio  videtur  mihi  mirabile,  ex  quo  spiritu  Doctor  imponit  milii 
tantam  victus  et  vestium  parcitatem,  specialiter  cum  hoc  non  didicit 
ex  sensu  vel  testimonio,  nee  credo  hoc  sibi  fuisse  revelatum  ex  spiritu 
prophetiae.  Ideo  non  occurrit  mihi  locus,  quo  illud  crederet,  si  non 
per  locum  ab  insuflicienti  similitudine  :  "  Tu  sic  facis,  eo  quod  Arrius 
haereticus,  cum  quo  in  aliquo  convenis,  ita  fecit."  Sed  si  locus  a  tali 
similitudine  attendi  debeat,  evidentius  sequeretur  :  "  Arrius  haereticus 
negavit  scripturam  asserendo,  quod  debet  concedi  catholice,  Christum 
Deum  simul  et  hominem,  secundum  formam  quam  evangelium  exprimit 
posse  pati ;  et  tu  sic  facis,  ergo  tu  es  haereticus."  Nam  quantum  ad 
ponalitatem  et  vitae  austeritatem  attinet,  non  dubium  quin  Baptista 
apostoli  et  multi  sancti  primitivae  ecclesiae  superaverant  Arrianos,  imo 
beatus  Jeronymus,  beatus  Martinus  et  ceteri  sancti,  qui  Arrianis  in 
facie  re.stiterunt ;  ideo  si  ex  nuda  similitudine  ponalitatis  cum  ^?tiW{s 
arguendns  foret  haereticus,  isti  sancti  Doctoresex  majori  in  ista  simi- 
litudine arguendi  forent  haeretici  plus  quam  ego. 

Qum-to  videtur  mihi  non  sanum  judicium,  quo  dicit  nos  cavere 
juramenta  extrinseca  et  laborare  intrinsecus  invidia  et  rancore.  Nam 
licet  nobis  judicare  de  manifestis  criminibus,  de  occultis  autem  nequa- 
quam ;  sed  de  operibus  bonis  de  genere,  nisi  docto  in  facie  ecclesiae, 

^  Falsum   quidem   est  .   .  commensales     number  of  the  chapter,  however,  is  1 4, 
given  by  Shirley  as  above,  p.  XLVI.,      not  12,  as  there  marked. 
Note   1,   from   the   Bodley  MS.      The 


wiclif's  book  "DE  veritate  sacrae  scripturae,"  c.  14.  381 

quod  fiant  'niala  intentio^ie,  non  debemus  ad  deterius  judicare  ;  hoc 
enimforettemerarium  judicium  ascriptura  sacra  prohibitum;  ]\Iatthaei 
septimo  dicit  Christus  :  "  Nolite,  inquit,  judicare,  et  non  judicabimini." 
Multis  enim  videtur  probabile,  quod  Doctor  interpretans  opera  bona 
de  genere  ad  malum,  ut  puta  perniciosam  ponitentiam  et  juramenti 
abstinentiam,  ex  hoc  quod  procedunt  ab  hypocrita  ex  invidia  et 
rancore,  incidit  in  judicium  quod  ostendit,  quia  nee  servatur  forma 
correctionis  fraternae  in  forma  judicii,  nee  dictum  illud  videtur  con- 
sonum  confessioni  priori.  Quum  autem  dedit  ista  signa  incompleta 
sub  quodam  involucro  verborum  communium,  per  quae  discernit 
haereticum,  scripsi  sibi,  cum  aliqua  pars  scolae  supponit,  quod  me 
intelligit  in  verbis  suis  communibus ;  respondit,  qriod  non,  cum 
reputat  me  virum  catholicum.  Ntmc  auteni  efFundendo  virus  col- 
lectum  antiquitus  multiplicat  argumenta  secundum  numerum  illorum 
signorum  haeretici,  et  omnia  ilia  ad  ine  modo  applicat,  singulariter  et 
expresse.  Constat  autem  mundo,  quod  ex  hinc  non  potest  convincere, 
unde  sim  modo  noviter  super  haeresim  singulariter  impetitus.  Unde 
ne  materia^  istius  contentionis  sit  nimis  formalis,^  statui  mihi  pro 
tripla  regula  ex  scriptura,  quod ^??'^mo  mundem  me  cavendo  diligentius 
de  culpa  quae  mihi  imponitur ;  scio  enim^  quod  nimis  crebro  immisceo 
zelum  sinistrum  vindictae  cum  intentione  dextra,  si  quam  habuero. 
Ideo  quoad*  illud,  quod  imponit^  mihi,  sub  praetensa  sanctitate  latere 
hypocrisim,  invidiam  et  rancorem,  timeo  mihi,  quod  dolens  refero, 
quod  illud  mihi  evenit  nimis  crebro,  ratione  cujus  mereor  pati  scandala 
longe  plura,  quam  adhuc  mihi  illata  sunt.  Et  hinc  pulsando  Deum 
meum  orationibus  nitar  diligentius,  de  peccatis  spiritualibus,  quae  est 
solius  Dei  coguoscere,  de  cetero  praecavere.  Secitndo  considerans, 
quod''  diabolus  tanquam  leo  rugiens  circuit  quaerens  quem  devoret,'^ 
quem  non  potest  devorare  seductum  nequitia  manifesta,  famam  ejus 
inquinare  conatur,  ut  vel  sic  opprobriis  hominum  et  malarum  lingua- 
rum  detractione^  deticiat,  non  conscius  mihi  de  criinine  manifesto'-* 
imposito  patienter  sufFeram  maledictum,  quia  1  Cor.  4**  dicit  apostolus  ; 
"mihi  autem  pro  minimo  est,  ut  a  vobis  judicer  aut  ab  humano  die." 
Tertio  excusans  me  a  scandalo  mihi  imposito,  rogabo  pro  scandalizan- 
tibus,  ne  livor  et  zelus  vindictae  dolorem  mihi  super  priora  vulnera 
superaddant.  Et  ista  triplex  regula  mihi  necessaria  elicitur  ex 
epistola  Augustini  ad  cives  Ypponenses.  Quarto  quoad  fructum 
sectae  nostrae,  quo  assumitur  nos  perturbare  ecclesiam  et  niti  separare 
membra  a  capite  nitendo  destruere  privilegia  romanae  ecclesiae,  non 

1  The  section  from  ne  materia  ....  *  quoad,  ergo  ad,  Shirley, 

vuliiera  superaddant,  Shirley  has  printed  ^  impanit,  imponitur,  Shirley, 

from  the   Bodleian   MS.     Introduction  *"  quod,  quia,  Shii-ley. 

to  Fasc.  Zizan.  XL.  f.,  note  1.  ''1  Peter  v.  8. 

2 /orniaZi's,  sterilis,  Shirley.  ^  detract  ione,     conjecture,       Shirley; 

^  scio  etiini,  wanting  in   Shirley,  but  ohtractione,  Vienna  MS. ;  subtractione. 
erroneously  ;  giving   quite  a    different 
sense. 


382  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

sum  milii  conscius  quoad  ista,  cum  intendo  tam  in  universal!  quam  in 
particulari,  quod  destruam  peccatum  scandali  a  Cbristi  ecclesiae,  quod 
est  per  se  causa  totius  perturbationis  in  populo.  Ex  quo  patet,  quod 
non  in  praedicando  veritatem  evangelicam  ad  destructionem  peccati, 
sed  in  fovendo  peccata  et  impediendo,  ne  lex  scripturae  servetur,  tur- 
batur  ecclesia,  licet  quantumlibet  malum  p  nae  sequatur  ex  primo,  et 
quantumlibet  apparens  prosperitas  ex  secundo.  Apparet  ex  III'' 
Kegum  18^  dicto  Heliae  :  "  Tune  es  ille  qui  conturbas  Israel  ?  "  et  ille 
ait :  "  Non  ego  turbavi,  sed  tu  et  domus  patris  tui,  qui  dereliquisti 
mandata  Domini  !  "  Sic  ergo  debet  omnis  catliolicus  niti  unire  mem- 
brum  capiti  Cbristo,  faciendo  in  casu  divisionem  hostium  crucis 
Cliristi,  quia  hoc  est  ad  veram  pacem  matris  ecclesiae,  licet  pbnalis 
corporalis  pertui'batio  consequatur,  dicente  Christo  Matth.  x.  :  "  Non 
veni  pacem  mittere  in  terram  sed  gladium ;  veni  enim  sejDarare 
liominem  adversus  patrem  suum,  et  filiam  adversus  matrem  suam, 
etnu  rum  adversus  socrum  suam."  Venit  itaque  Christus  ad  dissolven- 
dum  confoderationem  fictam  inter  homines  mundanos  per  supe^'biavi 
diaboli  ;  ilia  enim  viros  fortiores  fallit,  cum  diabolus,  rex  super  omnes 
filios  superbiae,  omnes  peccatores  illaqueat ;  carnales  autem  ex  vitio 
ro/ujitatis  carnaUs  conjunct!  sunt  per  Christi  ponitentiam  sejungendi ; 
sed  mundo  nupti  sunt  per  Christi  pauperiem  separandi.  Qui  ergo 
nititur  quiete  fovere  populum  in  aliquo  horum  triuni,  nititur  dis- 
solvere  veram  pacem,  quia  pacem  originalem  hominis  ad  Deum,  quae 
solum  dissolvitur  per  peccatum.  Unde  geneialiter  omnes  sancti 
utriusque  Testament!  ad  ilium  finem  fecerunt  seditionem  in  populo,  cum 
aliter  non  forent  milites  Christi  exercitus,  nisi  pacem  diaboli  sibi  con- 
trariam  nitei'entur  dissolvere.  Unde  et  istam  accusationem  de  commo- 
tione  populi  tulerunt  sacerdotes  et  scribae  adversus  dominum  Jesum 
Christum,  accusantes  eum  tanquam  haereticum  occidendum,  ut  patet 
Lucae  23^  :  "  Commovet,  inquiunt,  populum  docens  per  universam 
Judaeam  incipiens  a  Galilaea  usque  hue;  "  et  sequitur  :  "Stabant  autem 
principes  sacerdotum  et  scribae  constanter  accusantes  eum."  Patet 
ergo,  quod  non  sequitur :  Iste  christianus  commovet  populum  ad 
pugnandum  secundum  fidem  scripturae  contra  diabolum ;  ergo  est 
haereticus  ;  cum  sit  signum  oppositi. 

Ex  istis  perpendi  jjotest  fructus  sententiae,  quam  per  tempus  soli- 
cite  semiiTavi.  Primo  discerni  potest,  qui  clerici  conjugati  cum  seculo 
et  per  consequens  cum  Mammona  ut  socro  fortius  quam  cum  Deo  ; 
quia  omnes,  qui  plus  remurmurant  contra  praevaricationes  tempor- 
alium  quam  virtutum.  iSecundo  discerni  potest  quomodo  mundo 
divites  debent  a  talibus  prudenter  subtrahere  elemosinas  corporales, 
cum  nemo  debet  "jugum  ducerecum  infidelibus  "^  confirmando  matri- 
monium  tam  monstruosum,  quin  potius  dissolvendo.  Tei-tio  si  Deus 
voluerit,  possunt  de  omni  genere  clericorum  hi,  quoram  corda  spiritus 
sanctus  tetigit,  animari  ad  mundi  contemptum  et  induendum  pauper- 

i2Cor.  vi.  14. 


WICLTF'S  book  "  DE  VERITATE  SACRAE  SCRIPTURAE,"  C.  14.   383 

tatem  evangelicam  propter  Christum.  Nee  credo  tantum  fructum 
procedere  ex  opinione  dicente,  quod  scriptura  sacra  sit  haeretica  et 
blasphema. 

Ulterius  quantum  ad  destructionem  privilegiorum  romanae  ecclesiae 
protestor  publico,  quod  amando  et  venerando  romanam  ecclesiam 
matrem  meam  desidero  et  procuro  defensionem  omnium  privilegiorum 
suorum  atque  insignium.  Scio  quidem  ex  fide  scrijjturae  tanquam 
infringibiliter  verum,  quod  omne  suum  privilegium  est  ex  Deo  ;  et 
de  quanto  secuta  fuerit  Christum  conformius,  de  tanto  amplioribus 
privilegiis  insignitui\  lUi  autem  qui  alliciunt,  ut  dicta  ecclesia  plus 
attendat  ad  homines  ac  prosperitates  mundanas,  quam  ut  persecu- 
tionem  patiatur  pro  justitia/  ut  plus  appretietur  dotationem  ac  aedi- 
ficationem  Caesaris  quam  capitis  sui  Christi,  sunt  ejus  subdoli  inimici, 
dicente  Christo  Matt.  x.  postquam  docuit  se  daturum  non  pacem 
mundanam  sponsae  suae  sed  gladium,  "inimici,"  inquit,  "hominis 
domestic!  ejus."     De  hoc  alibi. 

Sexto  cum  Doctor  determinatione  multiplici  docuit  ex  Sanctis 
Doctoribus,  per  quae  signa  possunt  haeretici  cognosci,  et  jam  ultimo 
eadem  repetiit,  applicando  ad  7ne  singulariter  quae  prius  dixerat  in 
communi,  restat  colligere,  ex  quo  signo  infallibiliter  cognosci  possunt 
haeretici,  quia  certum  est  quod  nullum  signorum  in  forma  qua  mihi 
recitata  sunt,  probant  vel  topice  quantumcunque  haereticum  :  idee 
dico,  ut  supra,  quod  omnis  talis  et  solum  talis  est  haereticus,  qui 
scripturae  sacrae  verbo  vel  opere  pertinaciter  contradicit.  Cum  enim 
ilia  sit  testimonium  Dei,  quod  voluit  remanere  in  terris,  ut  suam 
voluntatem  cognoscerent,  patet  quod  impossibile  est,  nisi  per  confor- 
mitatem  ad  illam,  fidelium  mentes  bonae"^  eifici  voluntatis.  Ideo  sig- 
nanter  legitur  Lucae  16°  :  "  Habent  Moysen  et  prophetas ;  audiant 
illos  ! "  Lex,  inquam,  scripturae  sufficit  pro  instructioue  ecclesiae,  et 
sic  omnis  haereticus  est  adversarius  legis  et  prophetarum,  ut  saepe 
exposui.  TJnde  beatus  Gregorius  tertio  Moralium  super  libro  Job 
2°  :  "  condixerant  enim  sibi,  ut  pariter  venientes  visitarent  eum  ; 
condicunt,  inquit,  sibi  haeretici,  quum  prava  quaedam  contra  ecclesiam 
concorditer  sequuntur,  et  in  quibus  a  veritate  discrepant,  sibi  in  falsi- 
tate  concordant."  Volvant  et  revolvant  quicunque  voluerint,  et  non 
invenient  in  Sanctis  Doctoribus  vel  ratione  fundatum,  quod  quicunque 
sunt  haeretici  nisi  ex  eo,  quod  fundantur  in  falsitate  scri2)turae  sacrae 
contraria,  quia  Veritas  scripturae  sacrae  non  jwtest  esse  ecclesiae 
sanctae  contraria,  et  solum  illud  dogma  est  haereticum,  quod  est 
contra  ecclesiam.  Solum  ergo  illi,  qui  contra  scripturam  sacram,  quae 
est  carta  sanctae  matris  ecclesiae,  conspirant  et  sentiunt,  sunt  cen- 
sendi  haeretici,  eo  quod  solum  illi  sunt  contra  ecclesiam.  Ad  con- 
vincendum  ergo  haereticos,  quod  vel  false  sentiant  extra  scripturam, 
vel  quod  de  ipsa  sinistx'e  sentiunt,  tales  inquam  non   solum  haeretici, 

^Matt.  V.  10.  _       ^  contraction  used  in  the  MS.  here  is  hard 

-  bonac.     This  reading  is  conjectural,      to  decipher, 
with  an  aUusion  to  Tjuke  ii.   4-i,  as  the 


384  LIFE  OF  WICLIF. 

h.  e.  a  voluntate  Dei  divisi,  sed  proditores  ac  persecutores  Dei  merito 
possunt  dici.  Unde  Crisostomus  in  Imperfecto,  horaelia  20  exponens 
illud  Matt.  XX.  :  "  Assumpsit  Jesus  duodecim  discipulos  suos  seorsum 
in  itinere  et  ait  illis  :  ecce  ascendimus  Jerosolymam,  et  iilius  bominis 
tradetur  principibus  sacerdotum  et  scribis,  et  condempnabunt  eum 
morte,  et  tradent  eum  gentibus  ad  illudendum  et  flagellandum  et 
crucifigendum,"  omnis,  inquit,  gloria  Dei  et  omnis  salus  homiiium  in 
Christi  morte  posita  est :  nulla  enim  est  res,  quae  ad  salutem  hominum 
magis  pertineat,  nee  aliud  propter  quod  magis  Deo  gracias  agere 
debeamus ;  ideo  cum  plurima  turba  sequeretur  Christum  in  via,  12 
apostolos  tulit  (sic)  secreto  et  eis  tantum  suae  mortis  nuntiavit  mis- 
terium,  quia  semper  pretiosiorem  thezaurum  in  melioribus  vasis  in- 
cludirous ;  plebs  ergo  propter  incapacitatem  et  mulieres  propter 
naturae  suae  mollitiem  excluduntur.  Sed  post  tradit  iste  sanctus^  ex 
praedictis  verbis  evangelii  sensum  magis  mellifluum  :^  Christus,  inquit, 
verbum  veritatis  est  secundum  testimonia  scripturarum  :  unde  sicut 
tunc,  sic  et  modo,  Deus  tradit  eum  sacerdotibus  et  scribis  ad  mani- 
festandum  fidem  sanctorum  et  pertidiam  iniquorum,  cum  tradit  eis 
scripturam  sacram,  quae  est  verbum  veritatis.  Et  sicut  tunc  fideles 
videntes  eum  pati  secundum  bumanitatem  non  recedebant  a  fide 
deitatis,  iniquorum  autem  perfidia,  licet  intellexerit,  eum  esse  filium 
Dei  secundum  te.stimonia  scripturarum,  ausi  sunt  eum  interficere, 
sicut  et  modo,  quum,  inquit,  vides  scripturas  prophetarum,  evangelii 
et  apostolorum  traditas  esse  in  nianus  falsorum  sacerdotum  et  scrib- 
arum,  intellige,  quia  vivum  verbum  veritatis  traditum  est  principibus 
iniquis  et  scribis  "  etc. 

Ex  testimonio  autem  istius  sancti  et  aliorum  sanctorum  elicitur, 
quod  sicut  haeresis  antichristiana  in  primitiva  ecclesia  coepit  perse- 
quendo  Verbum  Dei  in  natura  corporea,  sic  eadem  haeresis  continu- 
atur  depravando  illud  verbum  quod  est  scriptvira  sacra,  adversando 
sibi  tam  opere  quam  sermone.  Hoc  ergo  est  per  se  signum  cognos- 
cendi  haereticum. 

Ulterius  quoad  prophetiam  de  ruina  tnea,  iuxta  proplietiam  Symo- 
nis  de  Christo  Luc.  2,  rogo  Dominum,  quod,  si  non  sit  a  Deo  senten- 
tia  quam  praedico,  sed  falsitas  fidei  scripturae  opposita,  qnod  ruam 
cum  meis  fautoribus,  saltern  ab  ejus  defensione  temeraria  ad  lumen 
fidei  resurgendo.  Et  sic  videtur  mihi,  quod  sive  sim  haereticus  sive 
catholicus,  quod  "  positus  sum  in  resurrectionem  f  si,  inquam  sim 
haereticus,  sum  certus,  quod  sententia  mea  ad  resurrectionem  multo- 
rum,  quia  ad  declarationem  fidei,  destruetur ;  si  autem  in  hoc  sim 
catholicus,  sum  certus  iterum,  quod  sententia,  quam  teneo,  per  wgana 
De  vel  ante  adventum  antichristi  vel  postea  defendetur,  quia  super 
omnia  vincit  Veritas  vei'bi  Dei,  ut  dicitur  Esdrae  3**.  Et  sic  utro- 
bique  vel  ad  bonum  meum  vel  malum  dogma  meum  proderit  sponsae 
Christi  et  erit  cum  paribus  ad  resurrectionem  multorum  a  velutabro 
voluptatum. 

'  sanctus,  scil.  Chrysostomus.  ^  mellifluum,  mellifusum  MS. 


METRICA   COMPILATIO   DE   REPLICATIONIBUS,   ETC.  385 

Quantum  ad  dilectionem  quam  Doctor  jurat  se  erg  a  me  gerore  plus 
quam  credo,  si  Veritas  ita  se  liabeat,  Deus  sibi  retribuat ;  si  sopliisticc 
])alliat,  rogo  Deum,  ut  de  perjurio  sibi  parcat,  quia  multis  videtur, 
quod  mixtio  mendacii  sit  malum  in  genere,  et  raro  evenit,  quod 
malum  tale  bene  circumstantionetur  \sic\  moraliter,  cum  de  difficultate 
simplex  intentio  adjaceat  bono  extrinsoco.  Constat  quidem  ^  ex  tes- 
timonio  Crisostomi  omelia  IT'""*  Imperfecti,  quod  licet  cliristiano 
corripere  christianum,  sed  oportet  cavere,  quod  vera  corripiat  de 
reatu,  subducto  odio,  pro  peccato  commisso  in  hominem,  subducta, 
inquit  ^,  jactantia  de  propria  justitia  vel  virtute,  et  tertio  servata 
forma  evangelica,  quod  non  judicetur  ex  levi  suspicione  ambigua  et 
occulta.  Quae  videntur  multis  in  ista  correptione  deficere,  cum 
notum  sit  milii,  quod  cum  duplicitate  verborum  ad  partem  ^  in  publico 
falsum  fingitur,  et  caritativa  communicatio  in  scriptis  patule  denega- 
tur.  Ideo  timens  de  malo,  quod  Doctor  mens  ■*  posset  ad  verificandum 
pronosticationem  suam  disponere,  licet  fuerim  citatus  ad  comparen- 
dum  ^  nunc  coram  domino  arcliiepiscopo  in  quocunque  loco  fuerit  suae 
provinciae,  timui  illo  ire ;  audivi  enim,  quod  dixit  in  sententia,  quod ' 
"  Modicum,  et  non  videbitis  me,  et  iterum  modicum,  et  videbitis  me^\" 
Si,  inquam,  vadit  ad  patrem  papam  vel  archiepiscopum,  posset  faciliter 
parare  milii  locum  insidiarum  et  caedis  corpoi-is,  cum  multi  sunt 
instructi,  Deus  scit  a  quibus  et  qualiter,  quod  foret  elemosina,  ut 
combustione  ",  occisione  vel  morte  alia  sim  extinctus  in  tantum,  quod 
ista  argumenta,  quae  Doctor  jam  fecerat,  notantur  communiter  in  ore 
multorum  clericorum  episcopalium,  tralientium  ignaros  ad  infidelita- 
tem,  quotquot  possunt  cum  ipsis  subvertere. 


IX. 

METRICA  COMPILATIO  DE  EEPLICATIONIBtJS  CONTRA 
MAGISTRUM  JOHANNEM. 

Article  IX.  in  Dr  Lecliler's  Appendix  is  a  Latin  poem  of  Wiclif's 
time,  intituled  Metrica  Cornpilatio  de  Beplicationibus  contra  Magistrum 
Johannem,  or,  as  it  is  intituled  in  another  MS.,  Invectivum  contra 
Monachos  et  alios  religiosos  t&mpor  Richardi  Secundi.     The  piece  is 

^  From  Constat  quidem  ....    sim  *  mens,  nimis,  Shirley,  perhaps  owing 

extinctus.       Shirley   has  presented  this  to  a   contraction   which   is    also    found 

passage   after  the  Bodleian  MS.,  Fuse.  here  in  the  Vienna  MS. 

Zizan.,  XXXIV.,  note.  '''  com^jare/ic^MTWjComparandumjVienna 

^  subducta,  inquit,  subdiictaquc,  Shir-  MS. 

ley,  arising  from  an  erroneous  reading  ^  John  xvi.,  16. 

of   a  contraction   which   occurs  in   the  "  combustione,     combustive,    Shirley, 

Vienna  MS.  who,  however,  conjectures  combustiva. 

•*  ad    partem,    partem,    without    ad, 
Shirley,  whereby  the  sense  suffers. 

VOL.  II.  2  n 


386  LIFE   OF   WICLIF. 

one  of  singular  interest  and  curiosity,  botli  for  its  literary  form  and 
for  its  historical  value  as  a  mirror  of  the  time,  which  was  one  of 
extreme  agitation  and  excitement  both  in  religious  and  political 
affairs.  It  is  not  surprising  that  our  author  should  have  included  it 
in  his  Appendix  at  full  length,  as  it  apparently  had  not  previously 
been  incorporated  with  any  German  work  bearing  upon  the  history 
of  the  period.  It  was  no  doubt  intended  mainly  for  the  eyes  of  his 
learned  countrymen,  as  he  was  well  aware  of  its  having  been  already 
twice  printed  in  England — first  in  the  Monumenta  Franciscana, 
edited  by  Prof.  Brewer,  1858,  and  in  the  following  year  in  Political 
Songs  and  Poems  Relating  to  English  History,  edited  by  Thomas 
Wright,  1859 — both  these  works  being  included  in  the  collection  of 
Rerum  Britaiinicarum  Medii  aevi,  still  in  progress  of  publication  at 
the  expense  of  Government.  As  these  volumes  are  readily  accessible 
to  all  English  lovers  of  historical  research,  it  is  not  thought  necessary 
to  reprint  the  piece  here,  as  it  extends,  with  the  elaborate  mass  of 
notes,  in  which  the  author  gives  the  results  of  a  very  careful  collation 
of  the  two  extant  MSS.  of  the  poem — that  of  the  Imperial  Library 
of  Vienna,  chiefly  followed  by  Lechler,  and  that  of  the  British 
Museum,  followed  by  Brewer  and  Wright.  ThLs  collation  is  of  much 
value  for  the  settlement  of  the  text ;  but  it  is  sufficient  that  those 
to  whom  it  is  of  interest  sho\dd  have  access  to  it  in  the  aiithor's 
original  work. 


X. 
LITER  A  MISS  A  PAPAE  URBANO  SEXTO.  ^ 

A.  MS.  of  the  Vienna  Imperial  Library,  No.  1387,  fol.  105. 

B.  MS.  of  the  Bodleian  Library.  E.  Mus.  86,  printed  in  Fasciculi  Zizanio^'um,  ed. 

Shirley,  p.  341. 

Gaudeo  plane  detegere  cuicunque  fidem  -  quam  teneo,  et  specialiter 
Romano  pontifici ;  quia  suppono,  quod  si  sit  orthodoxa,  ijtse  fidem 
illam  humiliter  confirmabit,  et  si  sit  ei-ronea,  emendabit. 

Suppono  autem,  quod  evangelium  Christi  sit  cor  corpoi'is^  legis 
Dei ;  Christum  autem,  qui  evangelium  illud  immediate  dederat,  credo 
esse  verum  Deum  et  verum  hominem,  et  in  hoc  legem  evangelii  omnes 
partes  scripturae  alias  '^  excedentem. 

Suppono  iterum,  quod  Romanus  pontifex,  cum  sit  ^  summus  vica- 

^  A.     The  title  in  B  is,  Copia  ciijus-  ^  Jidem,  A  ;  fidem  meam,  B. 

(Jam  literae  Magistri  Johannis  Wyccb/ff  ■*  cor  corporis,  A  ;  corporis,  B.  ;   cor- 

missae  papae  Urhano  VI.  ad  excusation-  pus,    Shirley,   conjectural,    but   errone- 

em  de  noil  reniendo  sibi  ad  citaiionem  oiisly. 

suam,   a.  d.  MCCCLXXXIV. — Lewis,  ■*  (dias,  A  ;    wanting   in  B.     English 

Life  of  Wiclif,  ed.   1820,  194,   No.  81  :  edition,  all  other  la  urn. 

Excusatioiicsad  Urha)min,^ives,t\\e  title.  "  sit,  A;  wanting  in  B. 


LITERA   illSSA   PAPAE   URBANO   SEXTO.  387 

I'ius  Christi  in  tei'ris,  sit  ad  istam  ^  legem  evangelii  inter  viantes 
maxime  obligatus  ;  majoritas  enim  inter  Christi  discipulos  non  penes 
magnitudinem  miindanam,  sed  penes  Christi  imitationeni  in  moribus 
mensuratur. 

Iterum  ex  isto  corde^  legis  Domini  patenter  elicio,  quod  Christus 
fuit  pro  statu  '^  hujus  viationis  homo  pauperrimu.s,  omnem  domiua- 
tionem  mundanam  abjiciens.  Patet  per  fidem  evangelii,  Mattli.  viii. 
20,  et  2  Cor.  viii.  9. 

Ex  istis  communiter  elicio,  quod  nee  papam  ^  nee  aliquem  ^  sanc- 
torum debet  fidelis  aliquis  imitari,  nisi  de  quanto  ipse  imitatus  fuerit 
Dominum  Jesum  Christum.  Nam  Petrus,  Paulus  et  filii  Zebedaei 
cupiendo  dignitatem  mundanam  contra  istam  imitationeni,  deliquer- 
ant ;  ideo  non  sunt  in  istis  erroribus  imitandi.  Ex  istis  elicio  tan- 
quam  consilium,*^  quod  papa  dimittat  seculari  brachio  temporals  domi- 
nium,'^ et  ad  hoc  clerum  suum  effieaciter  exhortetur.  Sic  enim 
Christus  fecit  signanter  per  suos  apostolos. 

Si  autem  in  istis  erravero,  volo  humiliter,  etiam  per  mortem,  si 
oporteat,  emendari.  Et  si  in  persona  propria  ad  votum  potero  labo- 
rare,  vellem  praesentiam  Romani  pontificis  humiliter  visitare.  Sed 
Deus  necessitavit  me  ad  contrai'ium,  et  cousequenter  ^  me  docuit  plus 
Deo  quam  hominibus  obedire.  Cum  autem  Deus  dederit  papae  nos- 
ti'O  instinctus  justos  evangelicos,  rogare  debemus,  quod  instinctus  illi 
non  per  subdolum  consilium  extinguantur,  nee  quod  papa  aut  cardi- 
nales  aliquid  agere  contra  legem  Domini  moveantur.  Igitur  roge- 
mus  Dominum'-*  cujuslibet  creaturae,  quod  sic  excitet  papam  nostrum 
Urbannm  sextum,  sicut  inceperat,  ut  imitetur  cum  clero  suo  in  mori- 
l>us^*^  Dominum  Jesum  Christum,  ut  ipsi  eiiicaciter  doceant  populum 
in  hoe  ijisos  fideliter  imitari,  et  rogemus  spii^itualiter  papam  nostrum 
a  maligno  eoncilio^^  praeservari ;  quod  certum  ^-  eogno&cimus,  quod 
"  Inimici  hominis  domestici  ejris"^''^  et  "  De^is  non  2)er)niUit  nos  tentari 
snjyi'a  id  quod  2yossumus : "  ^^  multo  magis  Deus^^  a  nulla  ci-eatura 
requirit,  quod  faciat  quod  non  potest ;  cum  ilia  sit  patens  conditio 
Antichristi. 

^  istam,  A  ;  illam,  B.  "  Dominum,  A  ;  Deum  Dominum,  B. 

^  isto  corde,  a  proof  that  cor  must  not  '"  in  moribus.  A;  etiam  in  moribirs,  B 

be  omitted  in  reading  preceding  note  3.  "  concilio,  A  and  B  ;  consilio,  Shirley, 

^  statu,  A  ;  tempore,  B.  by    conjecture,    but    without    sufficient 

*  papam,  A  ;  ipsum  papam,  B.  ground. 

®  aliquem,     B  ;     alium,   A.      English  '-  rertum,  A  ;  iterum,  B. 

ed.,  ?!.e  no  saint.  ■'  Conip.  Matth.  x.  36. 

''  consilium.  A;  concilium,  B.  '■*  C'omp.  1  C-or.  x.  1.3. 

''  temporale  dominium,  A  ;  dominium  '■'  multo   maijis  Deus,   A;    multo  plus 

temporale,  B.  (without  Deus),  B. 

^  consequenter,  A  ;  communiter,  B.  ' 


THE   E\D. 


ERRATUM. 


Vol.  I.,  p.  150 — For  John  Scotus  Erigena,  read  John  Dims  Srotus. 


COLSTON    AND    SON,    PRINTERS,    EDINBURGH. 


'  /:' 


i 


Date  Due 


'^^«»»., 


v^. 


^■■^.%v 


'"■^^t- 


oiiii  lift '^"18