John Wycliffe
1320-1384
The Morning Star of the Reformation. John Wycliffe was a
Saxon, born in Hipswell, England. He earned degrees at Oxford
University and became a doctor of theology in 1372. After
serving as an envoy to France, representing England in a dis-
pute with the Pope, he returned to England and published
writings against the secular power of the Papacy.
        In spite of attempts by the Church to have Wycliffe
arrested and assassinated, he continued to write and to
preach. He maintained that no Pope nor council was infalli-
ble, and if their views contradicted the Bible, those views
were wrong. He taught that the clergy should not rule as
princes of the church, but should help the people and lead
them to Christ.
        Finally prohibited by the Bishop of London from
preaching, Wycliffe confined himself to writing and translat-
ing the Bible from Latin to English. Thirty-one years after
his death, the Church ordered all his books burned, his bones
dug up and burned, and his ashes scattered on the Thames
River.

ARTIST’S NOTE: The morning star motif is self-explanatory.

Ruckman ’66