Word of the Week

This week's word: Wycliffite Bible

Wycliffite Bibles are translations of all or parts of the Scriptures into English.[1]

The texts derive their names from the theologian John Wycliffe (c. 1330-84). The original text was prepared by a group of academics associated with Wycliffe in the late fourteenth century.[2]

The use of English to translate the Latin Bible was controversial. In 1407-1409, Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible was outlawed by the archbishop of Canterbury. For the next 125 years it was illegal to produce or own a Wycliffite Bible; in theory anyone caught in possession of such a Bible could be tried with heresy and burned.

[1] Christopher De Hamel, The Book. A History of the Bible, (Phaidon Press Limited: New York, 2001), 168.
[2] De Hamel, 178.