John Wycliffe

[VirginiaHuguenot]

On this date, John Wycliffe ("the Morning Star of the Reformation" and translator of the Scriptures into English) died -- December 31, 1384.

His bones were later exhumed and burnt into ashes which were thrown into the River Swift when his doctrine was condemned by the Council of Constance in 1415.

See: http://www.britannia.com/bios/jwycliffe.html

http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps013.shtml

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/john-wycliffe.html

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

John Wycliffe

 

[Plimoth Thom]

Wycliffe's ashes being thrown into the River Swift, a tributary of the Avon, inspired this verse:

The Avon to the Severn runs,
The Severn to the sea,
And Wycliff's dust shall spread abroad,
Wide as the waters be.

Which in turn inspired the title of Benson Bobrick's book "Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired" which is a good brief history of the English Reformation and the history of the English Bible. I first read it several years ago and it inspired me to begin to study this period of history. I found the story of Wycliffe and the Lollards to be particularly interesting.