Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

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298 WYCLIFFISM.
and State. They recognised 110 authority. " No
one could be master over another ; no one, while in
mortal sin, was either lawful " king, " bishop, or
priest "-1 " It was stated " in Parliament " that
many unlicensed persons were in the habit of itinerating
from place to place and preaching heresy, not
only in churches and churchyards, but also at
market d fi d pub P generally
The tendency of the discourses of these men was to
sow discord between the different estates of the
realm, and to cause disturbances among the people."
The Holy See did not lift up its voice till 1395,
although the name of Wycliffe had been long before
the Sovereign Pontiff. The schism told disastrously
on the movement by hampering the free action of
the Pope. It is certain that when Boniface IX. at
last spoke, the English clergy were prompt to obey.
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He wrote to the king C3 " that he has exhorted the
whole episcopate to stand up in the power of God
against this pestilent and contagious sect, and lively
to persecute the same under -the form of law ".
Richard was invited to strengthen the hand of
magistrates and justices of assize. 2
The young king's antecedents had not prepared
him to act energetically on this advice. He had l
come face to face with the Peasant Revolt, a produce
of Wyclimsm, before he was well seated on the
throne. Indeed, the question is, whether he ever
va s seated there. He had been a king as far as
1 Stevenson, p. 135 - Ibid., p. 137