Balti state university a. Russo chair of english philology

John Wicliffe
(1320? – 1384?) 
John Wicliffe is first of all a teacher, one who takes it to be his mission in life to instruct the 
others. His teaching is of a particular kind. He starts from religion. He is actually preaching. He 
formed a school of preachers called “true priests” and “poor priests” who were supposed to go 
from village to village and spread the Gospel
.
He studied at Oxford and was employed as a counsel for the Crown in an office connected 
with papal claims. He was the first to deny the Church‟s right to be rich and appealed to the 
authorities to reform the corrupted Catholic Church. He was on a mission for the government at 
Bruges in 1374. Wycliffe met the demand of the people by translating the Bible into English. In 
those days it was a daring thing to do. 
Wycliffe is remembered in English Literature as one who debated high questions of 
government in the common tongue. Thus he developed the English mind and helped the people 
to prepare for the uprising of 1381. After his death many of his writings have been destroyed. 
The followers of Wycliffe were called Lollards and their work among people was called 
The Lollard movement. John Ball, a follower of Wycliffe, became very popular among poor 
people because he saw their sufferings. He turned parts of Piers the Ploughman into 
proclamations, and recited the poem to the people. Often he ended his speech with the famous 
Wycliffe‟s words: 
“When Adam delved and Eve span 
Who was then a Gentlemen?” 
This statement became a revolutionary saying that demonstrated the protest against social 
injustice and exploitation of man by man. It was a very brave thing to compare the social 
system of England of that time with the order that God has established, since the church itself 

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broke it. Wicliffe‟s contribution to English literature and Christianity is great as he brought 
light into people‟s mind by offering to them the opportunity of knowing the truth directly from 
the Bible.