Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

hem on suche myȝtty & riche men & ydel, & ellis, for traueile, cost & enemyte & dispisynge þat þei schullen suffre & on þe toþer side for drede of conscience, hem is betre to forsake al þan to holde it forþ. ¶ Also eche good day comynly þes smale curatis schullen haue letteris fro here ordynaries to summone [page 207] & to curse pore men for nouȝt but for coueitise of anticristis clerkis; & but ȝif þei somonen & cursen hem, þouȝ þei knowe no cause whi anemtis god & his lawe, þei ben hurlid & somnyd fro day to day, fro fer place to ferþere, or cursed 1or lese here benefices or profitis1 [1_1 omitted AA.] þer-of; for elles as prelatis feynen þei [þer AA.] bi here rebelte schulden soone distroie prelatis iurisdiction, power & wynnynge. ¶ Also whanne pore prestis first holy of lif & deuout in here preieris ben benefised, but ȝif þei ben worldly & bisy aboute þe world to make grete festis to riche personys & vikeris & riche men & costy & gaily arraied, as [& X.] here staat axiþ bi fals dom of þe world, þei schullen be hatid & hayned doune as houndis, & eche man redi to peiere hem in name & worldly goodis. & so many cursed disceitis haþ anti|crist brouȝt vp bi his worldly clerkis to make curatis to [omitted X.] myspende pore mennus goodis & not don [omitted X.] trewely here office, or ellis to forsaken al & late anticristis clerkis, as lordis of þis world, ȝe more cruely þan oþere tirauntis, robbe þe pore peple bi feyned sensures & teche þe fendis lore boþe bi open prechynge & ensaumple of here cursid lif. ¶ Also ȝif siche curatis ben stired to gone lerne goddis lawe & teche here parischenys þe gospel, comynly þei schullen gete no leue of bischopis but for gold; & whanne þei schullen most profite in here lernynge þan schulle þei be clepid hom at þe prelatis wille, & ȝif þei schullen haue ony heiȝe sacramentis or poyntis of þe heiȝe prelatis, comynly þei schulle bie hem wiþ pore mennus goodis wiþ hook or wiþ crok; & so þere is ful gret peril of euyl spendynge of þos goodis, boþe aȝenst heiȝe prelatis, anemtis riche men of contre, as patrones, persones & oþere gettouris of contre, & here owene kyn for fame of þe
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 250
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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