Above, John Wycliffe preaching to a crowd in Oxford; below, the scattering of the ashes of John Wycliffe's bones after his body had been exhumed and his bones burnt 41 years after his death. Etching.

John Wycliffe (c.1330-1384). English theologian, philosopher, church reformer, and promoter of the first complete translation of the Bible into English. He was one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. Many of his works were condemned at the synod held at Blackfriars, London, in 1382, and at Oxford his followers capitulated, and all his writings were banned. That year, Wycliffe suffered his first stroke at Lutterworth; but he continued to write prolifically until he died from a further stroke in 1384