John Wycliffe - Last Days

Last Days

He returned to Lutterworth, and sent out tracts against the monks and Urban VI, since the latter, contrary to the hopes of Wycliffe, had not turned out to be a reforming pope. The crusade in Flanders aroused the Reformer's biting scorn, while his sermons became fuller-voiced and dealt with what he saw as the imperfections of the Church. The literary achievements of Wycliffe's last days, such as the Trialogus, stand at the peak of the knowledge of his day. His last work, the Opus evangelicum, the last part of which he named in characteristic fashion "Of Antichrist", remained uncompleted. While he was saying Roman Catholic Mass in the parish church on Holy Innocents' Day, 28 December 1384, he suffered a stroke, and died on the last day of the month. Shortly after his death, the great Hussite movement arose and spread through Middle Europe.