History of the Church of England place of pilgrimage Canterbury was, in the 13th century, second only to Santiago de Compostela. John Wycliffe (about 1320 – 31 December 1384) was an English theologian and an early dissident against the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. He founded the Lollard movement, which opposed a number of practices of the Church. He was also against papal encroachments on secular power. Wycliffe was associated with statements indicating that the Church in Rome is not the head of all churches, nor did St Peter have any more powers given to him than other disciples. These statements were related to
John Wycliffe was long settled in Yorkshire. The family was quite large, covering considerable territory, principally centred on Wycliffe-on-Tees, about ten miles to the north of Hipswell. Wycliffe received his early education close to his home. It is not known when he first came to Oxford, with which he was so closely connected until the end of his life, but he is known to have been at Oxford around 1345. Thomas Bradwardine was the archbishop of Canterbury, and his book "On the Cause of God against the Pelagians", a bold recovery of the Pauline-Augustine doctrine of grace, would greatly shape young Wycliffe's