ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -John Wycliffe is widely considered one of the medieval forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. His criticism of the practices and beliefs of the church foreshadowed those of later reformers. Wycliffe also directed a translation of the Bible into English.

Detailed explanation-2: -Wycliffe believed that the Bible, not the church, was the supreme source of religious authority. Against church tradition, he had the Bible translated from Latin into English so that common people could read it. The pope accused Wycliffe of heresy, or opinions that contradict church doctrine (teachings).

Detailed explanation-3: -Wycliffe was born at some point in the mid-1320s, probably in the village of Wycliffe in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He went to Oxford in around 1350 and was ordained a priest in 1351. He seems to have spent most of the 1360s in Oxford because in 1361 he was elected the head of Balliol College.