General Prologue of the Wycliffe Bible and finished before January or February 1397. The "General Prologue" and the later version of the New Testament portion of the Wycliffe Bible, done after 1395, are attributed to Purvey as the main translator and editor/writer. The earlier version of the Wycliffe Bible, done around 1382, is attributed to John Wycliffe as the main translator and editor/writer. There are 250 Wycliffe Bibles that survive today in various degrees of completeness. It is estimated that about twenty-one contain or might have had the complete Wycliffe Bible (also known as the English Wycliffite Bible or the Lollard Bible). There are 89 Wycliffe
John Wycliffe irritated by this encounter, and attacks upon Wycliffe began. The second and third books of his work dealing with civil government carry a sharp polemic. On 22 May 1377 Pope Gregory XI sent five copies of a bull against Wycliffe, dispatching one to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the others to the Bishop of London, King Edward III, the Chancellor, and the university; among the enclosures were 18 theses of his, which were denounced as erroneous and dangerous to Church and State. Stephen Lahey suggests that Gregory's action against Wycliffe was an attempt to put pressure on King Edward to