An English philosopher and priest who was an early dissident within the Catholic Church. Wyclif disagreed with several Catholic beliefs, particularly with papal authority and the belief of transubstantiation, or the conversion of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Wyclif’s religious writings were an important precursor to the Protestant Reformation, and they were especially influential to Jan Huss and John Calvin. Milton implies that without the work of Wyclif, the Protestant Reformation might not have happened.
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Wyclif Character Timeline in Areopagitica
The timeline below shows where the character Wyclif appears in Areopagitica. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Areopagitica
During the time of Martin V, when Wyclif and Hus were “growing terrible,” they “drove the papal court to a stricter policy of...
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...not been the obstinate perverseness of our prelates against the divine and admirable spirit of Wyclif,” perhaps neither Hus, Jerome, Luther nor Calvin would have been known. “The glory of reforming...
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