Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

of curatis in worldly office, lettynge hem fro here gostly cure, ben þre degrees of traiterie aȝenst god & his peple. ¶ Þe friste is in prelatis & lordis þat þus holden curatis in here worldly office; for þei han here heiȝe statis in þe chirche & lordischipis for to purueie treue curatis to þe peple, & to meyntene hem in goddis lawe & ponyschen hem ȝif þei failen in here gostly cure, & bi þis þei holden here lordischipis of god. Þan ȝif þei maken euyl curatis & holden hem in here worldly office, & letten hem to lede goddis peple þe riȝtful weie to heuene, but helpen hem & constreynen hem to lede þe peple to helle ward bi wiþ-drawynge of goddis word & bi euyl ensaumple ȝeuynge, þei ben weiward traitours to god & his peple, & vikeris & procuratours of sathanas. Ȝit more traiterie is in false curatis þat ȝeuen mede [page 205] or hire to comen in-to siche worldly offices, for to spare here muk & leie it in tresor, & to gete lordischipe & mauntenaunce aȝenst ordynaries, þat þei doren not clepen hem to residence & saue here soulis, but couchen in lordis courtis, in [& X.] lustis & aise of here flech for to gete moo fatte benefices, & purposen not spedly to do here gostly office. woo is to þo lordis þat ben leed wiþ suche cursed heretikis & [omitted X.] anticristis, traitours of god & his peple, & namely traitours to lordis hem self. where lordis myȝtten not fynde in alle here lordischipe trewe worldly men to reule here houshold & worldly offices, but ȝif þei taken þer-to curatis þat ben opynly false traitours to god & his peple? where lordis ben so blyndid [byndid AA.] þat þei perceyuen not þat siche traitours, þat opynly ben false to god, þat þei wolen moche more ben false to hem? but þe most traiterie is in fals confessouris, þat schulden bi here office warne prelatis & lordis of þis grete peril, & clerkis also, þat þei holden none siche curatis in here worldly offices; for þei don not þis last þei losen lordischipe & frendischipe & ȝiftis & welfare of here stynkynge bely; & so þei sillen cristene soulis to sathanas for to haue lykyngis of here stynkynge bely, & maken prelatis &
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 247
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 14, 2025.
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