John Wycliffe

Lived

c. 1328–1384

Era

Medieval

Where

Oxford, England

Tradition

Roman Catholic

Scripture in English, a century early

An Oxford philosopher and royal servant who came to argue that scripture is the sole authority, that the church should hold no property, and that transubstantiation was philosophically incoherent — and who set his followers to translating the Bible into English.

Why it matters

He died in his bed, protected by powerful patrons; his followers, the Lollards, were burned. The Council of Constance condemned him in 1415, ordered his books destroyed and his body exhumed and burned, which was done in 1428. His writings had already reached Bohemia through the marriage of Anne of Bohemia to Richard II, where Hus read them — which is the direct line from Oxford to Constance to the Hussite wars.

In the record

1. 1414–1418 AD Council

   Council of Constance

   Condemned by it thirty years dead; his body was exhumed and burned

All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.