WYC LIFFE 709 Some years indeed before this time he had thrown himself publicly into the defence of what had become the national resistance to the papacy at Avignon, closely associated as the latter was with the interests of France. He had entered the service of the royal court, and apparently as king s chaplain ("peculiaris regis clericus ") had published a tract, Determinatio quaedcun de Dominio, in support of the action of parliament in 1306, when it repudiated the tribute due to the pope. The tract is of interest, not only because it contains the first trace of the writer s special doctrine of "dominium" or lordship (adjusting the spiritual relation to a feudal framework), but also because it shows the line of thought by which Wycliffe s position became determined in a sense hostile to the papal system. It was not at the outset dogmatic but political elements in it which provoked his censure. He disputed the right of the spiritual power to interfere in temporal matters, and was gradually led on to deny the lawfulness of any temporal possessions of the church, and thus to become the common enemy of the beneficed clergy and of the endowed monks ; with the friars he was at present on friendly terms. Wycliffe thus drew from Richard Fitz- Ralph, archbishop of Armagh, whose instruction he may have personally followed in his youth, 1 his doctrine of " dominium," which the latter had employed against the friars and in favour of the endowed clergy ; while at the same time he combined it with the doctrine of the excellence of "evangelical poverty" which he derived from William of Ockham and the tradition of the Spiritual Franciscans nearly half a century earlier. Wycliffe s position may appear paradoxical ; but in truth he made a selection from the discordant views, and built up a con sistent theory of his own, of which the salient principles were (1) that sin deprived a man of all right to possess anything; (2) that all property should be held in common; (3) that the spiritual power is entirely separate from the civil, and thus (4) that, should it overstep its bounds and come into contact Avith temporal concerns, it becomes thereby subject to civil jurisdiction ; (5) that the church should hold no property ; (6) that excommunication is of no effect unless justified by the sin of him against whom it is directed ; and (7) that in no case should it be pro nounced for any offence connected with temporal affairs. These views are expounded in Wycliffe s several treatises De Dominio, which were written some time before 1377 and probably not long after 1370, though their precise date has not yet been established. 2 Plainly such a writer was likely to be useful to the court, where John of Gaunt was now supreme, especially since Wycliffe enjoyed the reputation of an unmatched proficiency in the scholastic learning of his day. On" the 7th April 1374 he was presented by the crown to the rectory of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, which he held until his death ; and on the following July 26th he was 1 Archbishop FitzRalph had been a fellow of Balliol College, and was vice-chancellor of the university in or about 1333 (A. a Wood, Fasti Oxon., p. 21, ed. Gutch, 1790). His work, on which Wyclifl e mainly based his theory, is entitled De Pauperie Salvatoris, and exists only in manuscript ; but Mr R. L. Poole is preparing "the greater part of it for publication. An old legend makes Wycliffe take part in the archbishop s controversy with the friars so early as 1360. It was suspected by Robert Vaughan, aiid then denied by Shirley. The further researches of Dr Lechler have placed the late date at which Wycliffe began his opposition to the friars on a sure foundation ; and the fact has been confirmed decisively by the publication of the St Albans Chronicon Angliw, by Mr E. M. Thompson, in 1874 (see pp. 116, 118), and more recently by that of the reformer s earlier Latin works. 2 It is uniformly asserted that Wycliffe fell into heresy after his admission to the degree of doctor (Fasc. Ziz., p. 2). The process about Canterbury Hall makes the warden B.D. in 1367 or 1368 (Lyte, p. 252, n. y), so that if he be the reformer we havo au approximate terminus a quo for his inception. nominated one of the royal ambassadors to proceed to Bruges to confer with the papal representatives on the long-vexed question of " provisions." The rank he took is shown by the facts that his name stands second, next after that of the bishop of Bangor, on the commission, and that he received pay at the princely rate of twenty shillings per diem. The commission itself was appointed in con sequence of urgent and repeated complaints on the part of the Commons, but the negotiations were practically fruitless ; the king had an interest in keeping up the system of papal provisions and reservations, and it could hardly be expected that any concessions that might be gained by his commissioners would imply more than a temporary compromise or an illusory advantage. Yet it is possible that the real result of the negotiations is to be found, not in the formal stipulations, but in certain articles not then committed to writing which were laid before the English parliament in February 1377. Some time after his return Wycliffe was given the pre bend of Aust in the collegiate church of Westbury-on- Trim, which he held but a short time, the confirmation of his appointment (November 6, 1375) being followed within a fortnight by the grant of the benefice to another person. Henceforth he lived mainly at Lutterworth and Oxford, making, however, frequent and, as it seems, prolonged visits to London from time to time. He assumed the position of a popular preacher there, and delighted an audience already sufficiently disaffected towards the rich and powerful clergy. He was also closely allied with John of Gaunt, who welcomed him as an instrument towards his design of humbling the church. Wycliffe indeed expressly refused to affirm that it was in such a condition as to deserve spoliation ; but when to this he added that the decision was the affair of statesmen, " politicorum qui intendunt praxi et statui regnorum " (De Civili Dominio, i. 37, p. 269), it is plain that his theory might readily commend itself to the duke, while the proviso could only increase the hostility towards him of the endowed clergy. For some years he was suffered to spread his doctrines without hindrance. The archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, had no mind to proceed against him until at length the pressure of the bishops compelled him to summon the dangerous preacher to appear before the bishop of London and answer certain charges laid against him. The nature of these accusations is not stated, but their purport can hardly be doubtful. On the 19th February 1377 Wycliffe made his appearance at St Paul s. He was accompanied by the duke of Lancaster, by Lord Percy the marshal of England, and by four doctors of the four mendicant orders. The trial, however, came to nothing; for, before Wycliffe could open his mouth, the court was broken up by a rude brawl between his protectors and Bishop Courtenay, ending in a general riot of the citizens of London, who were so much enraged by the insult, to their bishop in his own cathedral church coming as this did at the same time as a serious attempt at an invasion by the duke in parliament of their civic liberties (Chron. AnyL, p. 120) that they would have sacked his palace of the Savoy had not Courtenay himself intervened. Wycliffe had escaped for the time, but his enemies did not rely solely on their own weapons. Probably before this they had set their case before the pope; and towards the end of May five bulls were issued by Gregory XL, who had just returned to Rome from Avignon, condemning eighteen (or in other copies nineteen) " conclusions " drawn from Wycliffe s writings. All the articles but one are taken from his first book De Civili Dominio, the recent publication of which shows the charges to be honestly
made and the quotations to be entirely free from any