John Wyclif

by G. R. Evans

Overview

The name of John Wyclif is surrounded by mythology. The ideas associated with his name had a huge influence and their effects were felt in the sequence of events which eventually led to the Reformation. This major biography offers fresh insights into Wyclif the man, his preoccupations and his achievements. The author follows Wyclif through his childhood and university days at Oxford to his life as a writer, preacher and lecturer, and - in his later years - a campaigner against the abuse of power and privilege. She looks at what other people have said about Wyclif, his exile in his parish and the significant contributions he made towards the publication of the Bible in English and the road to Reformation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745957654
Publisher:	Lion Books
Publication date:	03/07/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

G.R. EVANS is Professor of Medieval Theology and Intellectual History in the University of Cambridge. Her books include works on Anselm, Augustine, Gregory the Great and Bernard of Clairvaux, as well as on the study of the Bible in the Middle Ages.

GR Evans lectures in history in the University of Cambridge. Her books include works on Anselm, Augustine, Gregory the Great and Bernard of Clairvaux.

Editorial Reviews

Major biography by a top historian of this 14th century reformer and controversialist

'A hero of the Reformation.' 'The translator of the first Bible in English.' 'A father of modern-day evangelicalism.' 'One of the greatest Englishmen who ever lived.' John Wyclif has been called all these things, yet how close are such claims to reality? In the first major biography of Wyclif to be published for almost a century, G. R. Evans seeks to bring the man out of the shadows and to assess clearly the mythology that has grown up around him. Fourteenth-century Oxford, where Wyclif spent most of his life, forms the backdrop to the story. The author recreates the world of this great medieval university town with clarity and detail, providing a comprehensive insight into what it was like to live, study and teach there. As Wyclif became embroiled in debate and controversy, he developed his ideas about Scripture, authority, the Eucharist and the abuse of power - ideas that eventually led to his condemnation by the Church. After his death in apparent failure and isolation, a movement emerged in his name, and Europe moved inexorably onwards to the tumult of the Protestant Reformation. John Wyclif goes to the heart of the mythology, separating fact from fiction and allowing a truer, more faithful image of Wyclif to emerge. For all those interested in English and European history, it is an absorbing read.

From the Publisher