John Wycliffe.—­Wycliffe (1324-1384) was born at Hipswell, near Richmond, in the northern part of Yorkshire.  He became a doctor of divinity and a master of one of the colleges at Oxford.  Afterward he was installed vicar of Lutterworth in Leicestershire, where he died.  In history he is principally known as the first great figure in the English Reformation.  He preceded the other reformers by more than a century.  In literature he is best known for the first complete translation of the Bible,—­a work that exerted great influence on English prose.  All the translation was not made by him personally, but all was done under his direction.  The translation of most of the New Testament is thought to be his own special work.  He is the most important prose writer of the fourteenth century.  His prose had an influence as wide as the circulation of the Bible.  The fact that it was forced to circulate in manuscript, because printing had not then been invented, limited his readers; but his translation was, nevertheless, read by many.  To help the cause of the Reformation, he wrote argumentative religious pamphlets, which are excellent specimens of energetic fourteenth-century prose.

Of his place in literature, Ten Brink says:  “Wycliffe’s literary importance lies in the fact that he extended the domain of English prose and enhanced its powers of expression.  He accustomed it to terse reasoning, and perfected it as an instrument for expressing rigorous logical thought and argument; he brought it into the service of great ideas and questions of the day, and made it the medium of polemics and satire.  And above all, he raised it to the dignity of the national language of the Bible.”

The following is a specimen verse of Wycliffe’s translation.  We may note that the strong old English word “againrising” had not then been displaced by the Latin “resurrection.”

  “Jhesu seith to hir, I am agenrisyng and lyf; he that bileueth in
  me, he, if he schal be deed, schall lyue.”

Piers Plowman.—­The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman, popularly called Piers Plowman, from its most important character, is the name of an allegorical poem, the first draft ("A” text) of which was probably composed about 1362.  Later in the century two other versions, known as texts “B” and “C” appeared.  Authorities differ in regard to whether these are the work of the same man. The Vision is the first and the most interesting part of a much longer work, known as Liber de Petro Plowman (The Book of Piers the Plowman).

The authorship of the poem is not certainly known, but it has long been ascribed to William Langland, born about 1322 at Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire.  The author of Piers Plowman seems to have performed certain functions connected with the church, such as singing at funerals.

Piers Plowman opens on a pleasant May morning amid rural scenery.  The poet falls asleep by the side of a brook and dreams.  In his dream he has a vision of the world passing before his eyes, like a drama.  The poem tells what he saw.  Its opening lines are:—­