Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER m. 1324—1367. Birth of Wiclif—Wiclif admitted at Queen's College, Oxford- Removes to Merton College—Acquires the title of Evangelic Doctor—His mastery in the scholastic learning—His Tract on the Last Age of the Church, occasioned by the Plague of 1348—He commences his attacks on the Mendicant Orders—Notice of the first institution of the Mendicants—Their efficacy on theirfirst Establishment—Their enormous increase—"Their rapacity and turbulence—Their introduction into England in 1221—Its bad effects—Richard Fitzralph's opposition to them, followed up by Widif—The sum of Wiclif's objection to them contained in a Tract of his, published twenty years later—Letters of fraternity Oxford Statute in restraint of the Mendicants—Interference of Parliament—Wiclif presented to the Rectory of Pillingham, which he exchanges afterwards for that of Lutgershall—Promoted to the Wardenship of Baliol College, which he resigns for the Headship of Canterbury Hall, founded by Archbishop Islep— vindicated against the suspicion ofbfin, to hostilities against the Papacy—The 1 Homage and tribute from England—Edward III. lays mana before Parliament, who resolve that it ought to be resisted— W%c$if .challenged to defend the Resolution of Parliament—Hia r.eply to the challenge. About six miles from the town of Richmond, in Yorkshire, is the small village of "Viclif, which, from the Conquest to the end of the sixteenth century, was the residence of a family of the same name, who were lords of the manor, and patrons of the rectory. In this village, or its immediate vicinity, J324. there is good reason to believe that John Birtil f wicliC Wiclif was horn, about the year 1324. It is, further, probable, that he was a member of the family who were possessors of the property. Some do...