Philosophy and Politics in the Thought of John Wyclif [Hardcover]

A revisionist study of the political and ecclesiological theories of the fourteenth-century philosopher John Wyclif.John Wyclif was the fourteenth-century English thinker responsible for the first English Bible, and for the Lollard movement - persecuted widely for its attempts to reform the church through empowerment of the laity. Several of Wyclif's formal, Latin works proposed that the king ought to take control of all church property and power in the kingdom, a vision close to what Henry VIII was to realise 150 years later. This book argues that Wyclif's political programme was based on a coherent philosophical vision ultimately consistent with his earlier reformative ideas.John Wyclif was the fourteenth-century English thinker responsible for the first English Bible, and for the Lollard movement - persecuted widely for its attempts to reform the church through empowerment of the laity. Several of Wyclif's formal, Latin works proposed that the king ought to take control of all church property and power in the kingdom, a vision close to what Henry VIII was to realise 150 years later. This book argues that Wyclif's political programme was based on a coherent philosophical vision ultimately consistent with his earlier reformative ideas.John Wyclif was the fourteenth-century English thinker responsible for the first English Bible, and for the Lollard movement--persecuted widely for its attempts to reform the church through empowerment of the laity. This study argues that John Wyclif's political agenda was based on a coherent philosophical vision ultimately consistent with his earlier reformative ideas. Several of Wyclif's formal, Latin works proposed that the king should take control of all church property and power in the kingdom, a vision close to what Henry VIII was to realize 150 years later.1. The historiography of Wyclif's dominium theory; 2. Why dominium?; 3. Wyclif's realism and divine dominium; 4. Proprietas in Wyclif's theory of dominium; 5. Iurisdictio in l�