Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

neuer þe lesse malice of robrye & cause of malice in it sijlfe, for als miche as it is done by symylacion of holynes, þe whiche is double wickidnes. For þus lucifer robbid Adam [Gen. iii.] boþe of goodis of fortune, of kynde, and of grace. As þe clergi haþ robbid, and ȝit doþe, þe chirche of þes þre maner goodis; For riȝt as lucifer did þis harme to adam & eue, vndir coloure of loue & frendischip & helpynge of hem, so done nowȝ [page 45b] his awngelis, þes ypocritis, þat transfigure hem sijlf in-to awngellis of liȝt, and disseyuen þe pepill by fals by-heest of heuenly help, þat þai willen procure to hem for her goodis as þai sayen. And if a bischop and his colage, or an abbot and his couent, may not alien fro hem eny of þe temporalateis þat þai han, ne ȝeue to her founder eny of þo possessions þat he haþ ȝoue hem, what nede þat euer he haue, I-bounden oonly by a posityue lawe or a tradycion þat þai han hem sijlfe made; And if eny siche lordeschips be wiþ|drawe, Alienyd or take fro hem by rechelesnes of her pre|decessouris, þai owȝten on all wise, ȝhe, in-to þe deþe, labore to [gete] þo possessions in-to her hondis [page 46] aȝen, as þai saien; Hou myche more þan schuld not a seculere lorde or a layman aliene fro hym & his issue, or fro þe state of seculere lordis þe seculer lordeschippis þe whiche god haþ lymytid to þat state? Siþ he is bounden by þe lawe of kynde for to ordeyne for his children. And ouer þis he is bounden by goddis lawe to susteyne þe state of seculer lordis, þe whiche is autorisid in þe chirche bi criste and his apostelis. Of þis processe þen, if a man take hede, he schal perceyue þe falsnes of þis glose, whan oure clerkis and religious folke saien þat þai holden þes lordeschipis oonly by tytille of perpetual almes. For certis siþ þes tiþis & þis offryngis, þe whiche as I suppose cowntirvaylen þe seculer lordis rentis of þe rewme or [page 46b] ellis passen as it is full likly (For þouȝ þai be lesse in oo chirche, þai passen in an-oþer) and ben sufficient for alle þe prestis in cristendome, & þai wer euen delyd; þen it wer no nede to amortise seculer lordeschipis to þe state of þe clergi; þe whiche amortesynge is vndoynge of lordis & apostasie 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 392
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 18, 2025.
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