Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.

grete costis. & summe lordis, seme þei neuere so holy & deuout in here preieres, wolen to meyntene name of here lordischipe beten men of contre, & meyntenen oþere mysdoeris þer-to, þouȝ men pursuen riȝt & reson in good manere, & þis is for falsnesse of a liere & coueitise & worldly pride. & clerkis striuen for holy writt & seyn þat it is most trewe & best to reule cristene mennus soulis bi, but ypocritis seyn þat holy writt is fals, & newe lawis maad of worldly clerkis ben betre for cristene men þan holy writt, & þerfore þei studien mannus lawis & techen hem to coloure bi here pride & coueitise; & leuen þe gospel & goddis lawe, for it dampneþ pride & coueitise of clerkis, & techiþ mekenesse & wilful pouerte & bisynesse in preiere & gostly occupacion. trewe clerkis seyn þat þat religion & ordre þat crist, god & man, maade is most perfit, most liȝt & most siker for myȝt, wisdom & charite of þe lord; but ypocritis seyn þat newe religion, founden of synful men & gadrid of many errouris, of foolis & worldly, proude & coueitise wrecchis, is best; & þerfore þei leuen cristis religion in his owene fredom, & bynden [byndem X.] hem bi singuler profession to synful foolis. & ȝit crist & his apostlis tauten neuere ne vseden siche profession. & herfore many children ben brouȝt to siche newe religion for loue of worldly pride & welfare of body more þan for holy lif to serue god in penaunce & clennesse of soule, & sum ben stolen þefly fro here frendis, & summe bi false lesyngis & false bihestis brouȝt þer-to, & for-þinke it after, & be not suffred to turne to cristis clene religion, þouȝ þei ben vnable to þis newe religions maade of synful mennus [page 197] ordynaunce; & so in summe manere þei ben nedid to be dampnyd for ypocrisie & grucchynge of conscience, & leuynge of betre þing & holdynge forþ of þe worse wyttyngly. ¶ Trewe clerkis seyn also þat cristis lyuynge & his apostlis in wilful pouert, wiþ|outen fals & nedeles beggyng & whiþ-outen worldly lordischipis, is most perfit in itself & best for alle clerkis, siþ crist god & man chees þis [omitted X.] lif for þe beste; & he myȝtte not erre neiþer in
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 235
Publication
London,: Pub. for the Early English text society, by Trübner & co.,
1880.

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"The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/aeh6713.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 21, 2025.
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