§ 40. JOHN WYCLIF. 321
property be given to the upper classes, not to the poor.^ The principles, however, which he enunciated were germs which might easily spring up into open rebellion against oppression. Had he not written, " There is no moral obligation to pay tax or tithe to bad rulers either in Church or state. It is permitted to punish or depose them and to reclaim the wealth which the clergy have diverted from the poor " ? One hundred and fifty years after this time, Tyndale said, " They said it in Wyclif 's day, and the hypocrites say now, that God's Word arouseth insurrection." ^
Courtenay's elevation to theseanfjCajatexbury boded no good to the Reformer. In 1382, he convoked the synod which is known in English history as the Earthquake synad, from the shock felt during its meetings. The primate was supported by 9 bishops, and when the earth began to tremble, he showed admirable courage by interpreting it as a favorable omen. The earth, in trying to rid itself of its winds and humors, was manifesting its sympathy with the body ecclesiastic.^ Wvclif, wlio was not present, made another use^f the occurrence, and declared that the Lord sent the earthquake " because the friars had put heresy upon Christ in the matter of the sacrament, and the earth trembled as it did when Christ was damned to bodily death.^
The council condemned 24 articl^ ascribed to the Reformer, 10 of which were pronounced heretical, and the remainder to be against the decisions of the Church.^ The 4 main subjects condemned as heresy were that Christ is not corporally present in the sacrament, that oral confession is not necessary for a soul prepared to die, that after Urban VI. 's death the English Church should acknowledge no pope but, like the Greeks, govern itself, and that it is contrary to Scripture for ecclesiastics to hold temporal possessions. Courtenay followed up the synod's decisions by summoning Rygge, then chancellor
1 See Trevelyan, p. 199 ; Kriehn, pp. 254-286, 458-485.
2 Pref . to Expos, of St. John, p. 225, Parker Soc. ed.
8 Sicut in terrcB visceribus includuntur a'er et spiritus infecti et ingrediuntur in terrce motum, Fasc, p. 272.
* Select Engl. Works, III. 503. ^ Gee and Hardy, pp. 108-110.
322 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
of Oxford, to suppress the heretical teachings and teachers^ Ignoring the summons, Ry gge appointed Repyngdou, another of Wyclif's supporters, to preach, and when Peter Stokys, "a professor of the sacred page," armed with a letter from the archbishop, attempted to silence him, the students and tutors at Oxford threatened the Carmelite with their drawn swords.
But Courtenay would permit no trifling and, summoning Rygge and the proctors to Lambeth, made them promise on their knees to take the action indicated. ParUamentsupported tlie.primate. The new jireachjag-was-supprpssed^ but. Wyclif stood undaunted. He sent a Complaint_ol4 articles to the king andpaj-1^'-^"^^nt, in wlnnli liP plpadprl fnr thp. snpreinacy of Englisli law in mutters of ecclesiastical property, for the liBei'ty^r Jjic friur.s to ;tband"on3h"eniies a£ tlieir orders and follow tliR rule of Christ^^and for the YJf^ ^ha.f-. nn thft T.orH's table the reaL^read and wine are present, and not merely_the accidents. ^_
The court was no longer ready to support the Reformer,
and Richaj^d^2L_??^P®^'®"^P^HJ.2^^^®^^^^ Rygg^ to suppress the new teachings. Courtenay himself went to Oxford, and there is some authority for the view that Wyclif again met the prelate face to face at St. Frideswides. Rigid inquisition was made for copies of the condemned teacher's writings and those of Hereford. \^yclif was inhibitedjrom preaching, and retired to his rectory at Lutter^vorth. Hereford, Repyngdori^ Aston and Bedeman, his supporters, recanted. The whole party received a staggering blow and with it liberty of teaching at Oxford. 2
Confined to Lutterworth, Wyclif continued his labors on the translation of . the liLble,_aiid^§ent forth polemic tracts, including the Cruciata^ a vigorous condemnation of the crusade which the bishop of Norwich, Henry de Spenser, was preparing in support of Urban VI. against the Avignon pope, Clement VII. The warlike prelate had already shown his military gifts during the Peasants' Uprising. Urban had promised plenary
1 Select Engl. Writings, III. 607-523.
2 Fuse, pp. 272-333. See Shirley, p. xliv. 8 Latin Works, II. 677 sqq.