English Reformation was not, by itself, a Reformation. However, the political break with Rome was inseparable from the success of Protestantism. English Catholicism was strong and popular in the early 1500s, and while there were those who held Protestant sympathies, they would have remained a religious minority if political events had not intervened. An earlier reform movement that anticipated some Protestant teachings but remained outside the religious mainstream was Lollardy. Derived from the writings of John Wycliffe, a 14th-century theologian and Bible translator, Lollardy stressed the primacy of Scripture and emphasised the preaching of the word over the sacrament of the altar,
Wycliffe College, Toronto college's building and then to the college itself. To ensure its long-term viability, Wycliffe College began considering various forms of union with the University of Toronto towards the end of the 19th century. Wycliffe College became affiliated with the University of Toronto in 1885 and federated in 1889. Wycliffe College had a close association with the Anglican Church of the Epiphany in Parkdale. The church's founding rector, the Rev. Bernard Bryan, had been one of the nine men who constituted the first class at Wycliffe in 1877. This connection continued in 1959 when the Church of the Epiphany's rector, the