Tractatus de apostasia

VJ
INTRODUCTION.
gratefullv acknowledge the kind and assiduous help supplied to me
by Mr. F. D. Matthew, whose great knowledge of all that concerns
the Doctor Evangelicus has been invaluable, at the same time that
his unwearying patience with an inexperienced editor was very en-
couraging. I do not know if it is possible to be more indebted to
anyone than I have been to him; and the work finished, my most
what I owe
hearty thanks are due to him principally: not forgetting
to Dr. Furnivall, the Founder of the Wyclif Society, and in general
to all those who have contributed to the editing of this work.
II.
De Apostasia is the eleventh of a series of theological works
called by Wyclif Summa Theologica; but this series bears no re-
semblance either in scope or in plan to the great masterpiece of
Aquinas. They are merely an exposition of such of his theological
opinions as differed from the views generally held,
set forth with a
great deal of polemical vigour, and (in some cases at least) without
any attempt at a regular plan. They are besides coloured to a very
great extent by the writer's personal feelings at the time, so that,
for instance, the tone of De Apostasia is moderation itself when
compared with De Blasphemia, that seems to have followed it shortly
after; and they usually contain some allusions to contemporary circumstances
that enable us to fix the date of the work with more or
less precision. Thus, in the case of the present work, Wyclif alludes
to a certain cruciatum langnndum infinitum. A crusade, he says, was
going on at the time, but in a very languishing manner. Now from
these words we may gather, as exactly as
possible, the date of u
composition which must have cost many months' work,
even to a
man of Wyclif's facility and exuberance of thought", for in the year
i 383, Bishop Spenser preached a crusade throughout England, to be
undertaken in Flanders on behalf of Urban VI against the antipope
Robert of Geneva. It lasted from May to October; it was hailed with
much enthusiasm and began with 60,000 volunteers; but it soon met
with difficulties. When the first bad news reached England, towards
the beginning of August, Wyclif was writing his De Fundacione
Sectarum (see W's Pol. Works, p. 7). The disaster was only known
in October. Here we may note his extraordinary activity. As we see,