John Wycliffe (c. 1328-1384) was born in Hipswell, England, and died in Lutterworth, England. He was a scholastic philosopher, theologian, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of Oxford. He became an influential dissident within the Roman Catholic priesthood during the 14th century and is considered an important predecessor to Protestantism. Wycliffe advocated translation of the Bible into the common vernacular and is said to have completed a translation direct from the Vulgate into Middle English--a version now known as Wycliffe's Bible. Wycliffe's later followers, known as the Lollard movement, adopted many of the beliefs attributed to Wycliffe such as theological virtues, predestination, iconoclasm, and the notion of caesaropapism, while questioning the veneration of saints, the sacraments, requiem masses, transubstantiation, monasticism, and the legitimacy of the Papacy. Wycliffe was dismissed from the University of Oxford in 1381 for criticism of the Roman Catholic Church. He increasingly argued for Scriptures as the authoritative center of Christianity, that the claims of the papacy were unhistorical, that monasticism was irredeemably corrupt, and that the moral unworthiness of priests invalidated their office and sacraments. The Catholic Church declared Wycliffe a heretic in 1415, posthumously excommunicating him and banning his writings.

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