Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

visitacion. ¶But ȝit summe men þat ben out of charite sclaundren pore prestis wiþ þis errour, þat seruauntis or tenauntis may lawefully wiþholde rentis & seruyce [servyces AA.] fro here lordis whanne lordis ben opynly wickid in here lyuynge. & þei maken þis false [page 192] lesyngis vpon pore prestis to make lordis to hate hem, & not to meyntene treuþe of goddis lawe þat þei techen opynly for worschipe of god & profit of [on X.] þe reume and stablynge of þe kyngis pouer & [in X.] distroynge of synne. for þes pore prestis distroien most bi goddis lawe rebelte of seruauntis aȝenst lordis, & charge seruauntis to be suget þouȝ lordis bi tirauntis, for seynt petir techiþ þus: "Be ye ser|uauntis [1 Peter ii. [18.]] suget to lordis in alle manere of [omitted AA.] drede, not only to goode lordis & bonere, [honoure X.] but also to tirauntis, or siche þat drawen fro goddis scole." for, as seynt poul seiþ, eche [Romans xiii. [1.]] man owiþ to be suget to heiȝere potestatis, þat is to men of heiȝe power, for þer is no power but of god; & so he þat aȝenstondiþ power, stondiþ aȝenst þe ordynaunce of god; but þei þat aȝenstonden geten to hem self dampnacion. & þerfore poul biddiþ þat we be suget to princes bi nede, & not only for wraþþe but also for conscience; & þerfore we paien tributis to princis, for þei ben mynystris of god; & poul biddiþ vs paie dettis to alle men, tribut to hym þat we owen tribut, & so of taliage for þingis boren aboute in lond, & so drede & also worschipe or honour. & þus seruauntis schulden trewely & wilfully seruen lordis & here maistris, & lyue in reste, pees & charite, & stire lordis, þouȝ þei weren heþene lordis, to good cristene feiþ & holy lif bi here pacience & opyn trewe lif & meke. & þis is a feyned word of anticristis clerkis þat, ȝif sugetis may leffully wiþdrawe tiþes & offryngis fro curatis þat openly lyuen in lecherie or grete oþere synnes & don not here office, þan seruauntis & tenauntis may wiþ|drawe here seruyce & rentis fro here lordis þat lyuen opynly a cursed lif. for to þe first sugetis han þe auctorite of goddis lawe & mannus lawe also, but not to wiþdrawe
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 229
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 22, 2025.
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