The protestant movement is synonymous with Martin Luther. However, there were individuals whose thoughts, ideas and works contributed significantly to Luther’s significance. John Wycliffe and John Huss are the individuals whose work provided Luther with the material for most of his achievements. Thus, by looking through accounts of their lives, works, ideas and eventual demise, one gets an appreciation of the context for the protestant denominations.
John Wycliffe
Born in Yorkshire between 1320 and 1330, John Wycliffe came from a Saxon family and wore several hats during his lifetime with the most prominent being preacher, theologian, academic, and translator (Bald,2006). The first translation of the Bible from Latin to English is attributed to him. Moreover, he was critical of the papacy as well as the Catholic church’s clerical basis, which he argued had taken precedence over scripture. Arguably, these are the most prominent and significant works Wycliffe produced during his lifetime.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Wycliffe joined Oxford to study natural science, theology, and mathematics, though he was primarily preoccupied with theology. However, to appreciate the significance of his achievements, it would be remiss not to provide some context. The church was disorganized due to a longstanding leadership crisis as there were two centers of power. Moreover, the entire society observed poor moral conduct with the kind of severity that necessitated the introduction of distinctive attires for the clergy (Freedman, 2016). The outfits distinguished the clergy from the rest of society, drawing public attention was easier and that was meant to dissuade the clergy from engaging in either drinking or prostitution. The 14 th century was marked by the intermittent hundred-year war between England and France; outbreaks of the plague and other terminal diseases and several riots in England. Notably, the church did not offer much comfort during the 14 th century for it was its teachings were more not about the grace. It was on this basis that Wycliffe criticized the church.
Wycliffe’s prominence started while at Oxford, where he developed a keen understanding of the law. During his time at the Canterbury Hall, Wycliffe’s contribution was significant in convincing the Pope against taxing England. He argued that there was no basis for England to remit taxes to a foreign power; the Catholic church and the Pope based in Rome. Also, Wycliffe participated in the Bruges peace congress between the English and French, a process from which his stature as a politician grew (Graves, 2018). Though critical of the Catholic church from his academic days, his initial critiques were predominantly about the church’s philosophy. However, this position changed into direct criticism of the church’s authority and power. For example, he argued against Catholic clerics having significant secular power, citing both the high frequency with which said clerics engaged in immoral conduct and the lack of support in scripture for the mentioned clerics.
As a realist philosopher, Wycliffe criticized the doctrine of transubstantiation stating that it was both a form of idol worship and lacked basis in the scriptures. Thereafter, he argued that the church existed primarily to spread Christianity and teach the gospel through scripture. His belief in the scripture as the ultimate authority for Christianity led him to translate the Bible from Latin to English (Kuhns & Dickie,2017). This meant that the English could access the message of the scripture in their mother tongue and without involving the Catholic church. As his profile grew and his ideas found growing acceptance, Wycliffe became a London based preacher and his followers were identified as the Lollards. Also, he was able to write several books expressing his ideas and criticisms of the Catholic Church with Summa Theologiae as the most prominent of them.
His ideas and subsequent work were clearly anti-establishment and there were many who were threatened by Wycliffe. His works mainly attacked the Pope and church hierarchy and his work met resistance from the church as they unsuccessfully tried to destroy the English versions of the Bible. Using both his political and academic networks, he was able to prevent any major recriminations against himself, though attacks against his works continued until his death. Towards the end of 1384, Wycliffe died after suffering a stroke and was buried in Lutterworth (Roberts,2018). Unfortunately, approximately 20 years later the church declared him a heretic and ordered that his books be burnt while his bones were exhumed, crushed, burnt, and cast into the River Swift. However, such actions did not reduce the nature of his contribution to the future reformation of the church as such a reformation was characterized by the rejection of the papacy in favor of the Bible. Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible into English and criticism of the Catholic church changed both English and European thought.
John Huss
A native of the modern Czech Republic, Huss was born around Husinec approximately 1369 which was then under the Bohemian kingdom. There is little recorded with regards to his development as a child apart from his having peasant parents. However, he did attend school in his hometown and Prachaticz before proceeding to the imperial college of Prague. There, he was able to serve in several churches while singing to make a living (Bald,2006). His stay at the Charles University Prague began about 1393 and was marked with three degrees: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Divinity and Masters of Divinity in a span of approximately 6 years. About two years later, he became an examiner in the same university on his way to being the professor of theology. Though he was ordained around 1400, his intent was secure both respect and better living standards as he continued with his education.
His contributions both as a reformer and preacher began soon after his appointment to the Bethlehem church around 1402. As a preacher, Huss became with the scripture. Also, he was introduced to the works of John Wycliffe by Oxford students of Bohemian origin. The marriage between England’s King Richard II and Anne of Bohemia facilitated the exchange of books and ideas between the two kingdoms. Though banned, Huss read Wycliffe’s works, translating into Czech and distributing one of them, that is Trialogus (Freedman, 2016). Huss’s work grew in prominence with the appointment of Zbynek Zajic as Prague’s Archbishop and was given the platform to criticize errant clergy. Moreover, Huss enjoyed the protection of Zajic, a fact that enabled him to effect reforms without attracting the attention of the Pope.
Huss was forced to publicly denounce the works of Wycliffe after the Pope Gregory XIII learnt of his use of it in sermons. Moreover, King Wenceslaus ordered Wycliffe’s work be corrected. Huss encountered isolation in his reform efforts after Zajic abandoned him before one of the most trying times in Europe. The Catholic church experienced a leadership struggle between Gregory XII and Benedict XIII, which also affected the Bohemian academic community as it was majorly comprised of Germans (Graves, 2018). The Czech king ordered for neutrality, an order which the Czech academia supported but the Archbishop and the German academia rejected. In retaliation, the King revised the University charter, giving the Czech academia more power, a move which culminated in Huss being appointed Rector after the Germans left their positions. The papal power struggle was resolved around 1409 with the selection of Alexander V, both Huss and the king welcomed the appointment.
Zajic retaliated against Huss by influencing the Pope to issue a ban against Huss and fellow followers of Wycliffe, though the latter disregarded the order and continued preaching with the king’s support. However, his continued opposition of the catholic church hierarchy earned him both followers and enemies. His support grew to the point of followers burning Papal orders and openly criticized said orders, they paid with their lives as they were beheaded (Kuhns & Dickie,2017). Moreover, Huss refused to attend a trial organized by his detractors and was consequently excommunicated. Tension between his followers and the church forced him to leave Prague for Southern Bohemia, where he produced several works including De Ecclesia .
Huss died around 1414 after he was convinced that he would not be harmed by going to Constance at the invite of the holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund. However, upon arrival Huss was arrested and convicted of heresy despite his protestations (Graves, 2018). He was denied a church ceremony as he was burnt at the stake with his ashes scattered into the Rhine. Nevertheless, his death inspired several successful revolts in Bohemia against the Catholic church. Thus, Huss was able to influence Bohemian thought much like Wycliffe before him by opposing the Catholic hierarchy.
Conclusion
Both John Wycliffe and Huss were pioneers in the formation of the protestant movement and their works paved the way for Martin Luther and others like minded protestants. Wycliffe and Huss displayed unusual strength of conviction to go against the Catholic church at a point when the church was a government as it was collecting taxes and waging wars. Coincidentally, both were very good academics though Huss spent a longer time in academia than Wycliffe. Though they met resistance and death (for Huss) during their work, both changed the thoughts of Europe, paving the way for the protestants.
References
Bald, M. (2006). Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds . New York: InfoBase Pub.
Freedman, H. (2016). The murderous history of Bible translations: Power, conflict, and the quest for meaning . New York: Bloomsbury.
Graves, D. (2018). John Hus, reformer of Bohemia. Christian history institute. Retrieved from https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/hus .
Kuhns, O., & Dickie, R. (2017). Jan Hus: Reformation in Bohemia . Stornoway: Reformation Press.
Roberts, L. D. (2018). John Wycliffe and the dawn of the reformation. Christian history institute . Retrieved from https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/john-wycliffe-and-the-dawn-of-the-reformation .
