Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

ordenance, For as myche as þe clergi was sufficiently ordeynyd by criste. For whi þis almes þat clerkis speken of here made many wrechis, And it was ȝoue to hem þat hadde no nede. And þus it is enpeyringe not oonly of oone estate of þe chirche, but of alle þre, of þe whiche I spoke of in þe bigynnynge. And so þis almes-ȝevynge haþ made alle owre rewme, ȝhe, & as I suppose, fulle nye all crestyndome, full pore and nedy and myscheuous ouer þat it schuld have be if þe clergy had holde hem payde wiþ cristis ordenance. But now þorou þis perpetual alamysse þat þe clerkis and religious folke callen almes, cristis ordenaunce is vndo in sum londis hooly, & in ynglonde for þe more party. [page 41b] And it is likly to be alle vndo in processe of tyme. For by amortesynge of lordeschipis þe lordis ben vndo in grete party. And þo þat ben lefte, by-cause þat hem lakkiþ her owne party þorow foly ȝifte of her auncetreris, ben ful nedi. Ferþirmore it may be vndirstonde of þis processe þat wiþdrawynge of þes lordeschipis from þe clergi, and restorynge of hem to þe statis þat god haþ assignyd hem to, schuld not be callid robbery of holy chirche, as oure clerkis sayen, but raþer riȝtwise restitucioun of goode wrongfully and þeuely wiþholde. And þerfore þer may noon oþe or a-vow bynde eny man to mayntene þis þefte and distryinge of goddis ordenance, and þis greete harmynge of cristis chirche, as þe vow of iepte [Judges xi.] schulde not have bounde [page 42] him to kille & to sacrifice his owne douȝter. Ne þe oþe of herode schuld not haue bounde hym [Mark vi. [26.]] to kill innocent Ion. But as Jepte schulde have broken his oþe or avow, and han offred an-oþer þinge þat had be plesynge to god and acordynge wiþ his lawe, as saynt awstyn saiþ vp-on þe same storie, so herode schuld have broke his oþe, and a-savyd innocent blode, and sore a|repentid hym for his vnavysid swerynge. And so schulden lordis nowe breke her oþis, þat þai han unavisely and wiþoute cowncel of holy scripture sworne to mayntene þis þefte; ȝhe, heresye and symonye, as it is proued bifore, þe whiche oure clerkis callen perpetual almes. And not þus sue
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 389
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 June 17, 2025.
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