Church, he differed from the Reformers of the sixteenth century. Translation 17. The great glory of Wickliffe was this, that he gave to the people the pure word of God. Before his time, the Scriptures were little known, and the people had no entire version of them in their own language. Anglo-Saxon translations of, and paraphrases upon, parts of the Bible were in existence; but after the Norman conquest these would be imperfectly understood, in consequence of the change in the language of the country. Wickliffe, however, assisted by Dr. Nicholas Hereford and others, wrote a translation of the whole Bible* from the Latin Vulgate, which was first put forth in 1380+ About four years after its appearance an attempt was made to suppress it by Act of Parliament, which failed, John of Gaunt declaring "that all other nations had the Bible in their own language, and the English should not be the dregs of all men." In the year 1408, it was condemned by the influence of Archbishop Arundel in convocation, and by Parliament in 1418. This A.D. 1380. It is a reproach upon the divines and philologists of Eng land that of this translation the New Testament only has ever been printed. t Printing was not yet in use, and copies could only be multiplied at a great cost by means of amanuenses. In 1429, the price of a copy was £2 16s. 8d., equal to ten or twelve times that amount in the present day. An assembly of the bishops and other clergy of the Church, to consult on matters ecclesiastical. The ground of objeetion to Wickliffe's translation in convocation was, that it was wrong for unauthorized persons to put out a version of the Bible. 17. What was the state of the translation of the Bible before Wickliffe's time? When, and by whom, was the whole Bible first translated into English? How was the translation received? What was the feeling of the people concerning it? translation awakened among the people an eager desire for Scriptural knowledge. They purchased a few favourite chapters, according to their means, and read them at night with barred doors or in the solitude of the woods, in order to escape severe penalties for the possession of perverted translations and heretical writings. 18. Wickliffe's principles, as we have seen, John Huss.} had already spread in Bohemia, when his opposition to papal Rome began, by means of a Waldensian colony, and they were strengthened and extended by Oxford students, who came over with the Bohemian queen of Richard II., upon their return home. The information thus received from England sank deep into the heart of John Huss, who maintained them with wonderful zeal in the University of Prague, in which he was a teacher, and soon laid the foundation of a party extending through every gradation of society. This new and vigorous attack upon their tenets became a principal object of attention with the Divines assembled at the council of Constance, before whom Huss appeared. He was condemned as a heretic, and burnt alive in 1418, contrary to a safe-conduct granted to him by the Emperor Sigismund, which the council said it was not necessary to keep with a heretic. His friend and associate, Jerome of Prague, shared the same fate. Schism of the 19. Papal supremacy received a grievous blow from "The Schism of the Popes." Philip the Fair, king of France, harassed 18. Who was John Huss? Before what council did he appear? What was his fate? 19. Give an account of "The Schism of the Popes," and of Wickliffe's tract upon it. by contentions with the Roman see, contrived to obtain the election of a Frenchman to the popedom, and to fix his residence at Avignon, in France. During seventy years Rome was deprived of her bishop's presence; but the Roman citizens at length intimidated the cardinals, most of whom were Frenchmen, into the election of an Italian pope, Urban VI., a morose prelate, who soon gave universal disgust. This feeling induced the cardinals to elect another pope, Clement VII, under the plea that their former suffrages had not been free. It was, however, found impossible to dislodge Urban from Rome, and Clement, after the defeat of his party in a pitched battle, was obliged to reside at Avignon. England, Germany, and Italy adhered to Urban; and France, Spain, and Scotland supported Clement. The two pretenders to the papal chair were no sooner established in their respective abodes, than each of them laboured by every art to extinguish his opponent's power: intrigues and outrages, excited by men who called themselves vicars of the Prince of Peace, rapidly succeeded each other, and the disgraceful contest was kept up for more than thirty years. At one time the Roman Church, the boasted model of unity, was exhibited to the world, like the fabled Cerberus, as a monster with three heads, for a third party arose, which would not be content without a pope of its own. At last the Constantine fathers delivered their Church from the reproach of this inconsistency, by lopping off all these unseemly excrescences, and electing Martin V. to the pontificate in the year 1417. This dispute gave rise to Wickliffe's spirited tract, The Schism of the Popes, in which he declared that Christ had "cloven the head of antichrist, and made the one part to fight against the other." It was argued by the Wickliffites, that even if the Church ever had been confided to the governance of a chief pastor, his office was evidently then in abeyance. Burning of A.D. 1400. 20. It was a common thing in other parts of Europe to punish heresy with death, for nearly two centuries before a similar persecuting spirit showed itself in England. But Henry IV. ascended the throne with a defective title, and found it convenient to strengthen his position by conciliating the clergy. Accordingly, he encouraged the persecution of the Lollards, or Wickliffites, whose numbers had greatly increased; and in the year 1400 passed a law forbidding any one to teach anything contrary to the Sacraments or the authority of the Church, under the penalty of being burnt before the people, the diocesan being appointed sole judge. The first victim of the law for burning heretics, and the first martyr in the cause of the Reformation, was William Sautre, or Sawtrey, rector of St. Osyth's, London, formerly of Lynn, Norfolk. He was convened before Archbishop Arundel, and having refused to worship the cross of Christ, and denied the doctrine of transubstantia→ tion, he was condemned as a heretic, and delivered over to the civil power for execution. The fatal notoriety of Smithfield commenced with the burning of Sautre, on the 26th of February, 1401. Thomas Badby, a tailor, A.D. 1401. was the second victim. He was burnt in Smithfield for refusing to abjure the Lollard opinion of the Eucharist, and denying the authority of the priesthood. This statute survived the Reformation nearly 150 years, 20. How long was the punishment of heresy by death practised on the continent before it was practised in England? What was the conduct of Henry IV. upon ascending the throne? When was the law for burning heretics first passed? Mention some of its early victims. When was it repealed? 2 and was not repealed till the year 1677, in the reign of Charles II. Lord Cobham. 21. Among the principal supporters of the Lollards were John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and Lord Percy, the Earl Marshall, who had befriended Wickliffe when he appeared before Sudbury and Courtney at St. Paul's. In the reign of Henry V. Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, was regarded A.D. 1413. as their leader. In the year 1413 he was complained of in convocation as having maintained in his house persons who had been convicted or suspected of heresy, and sent them about to preach. The king, who regarded him with friendship on account of his military achievements, having tried and failed to convert him, Arundel proceeded against him. Cobham defied the authority of the ecclesiastic; upon which he was seized and committed to the Tower, from whence he was brought before the primate and several bishops. In reply to an offer of absolution if he would conform to the doctrine of the Church, he put in a written paper, in which he denied the necessity of a belief in transubstantiation, penance, confession, image-worship, and pilgrimages. He was convicted of heresy, and sent back to the Tower to await his execution by the secular arm. But he effected his escape into Wales, where he remained four years, and was taken at length after a desperate resistance in December, 1417. He was burnt in St. Giles' fields, on a low gallows, on which his body was fastened horizontally with chains. Numbers A.D. 1417. What was 21. Give a brief account of the principal supporters of the Lollards. State some particnlars concerning Lord Cobham. What was his fate? the condition of the Lullards about this time? |