01355383 Varieties of English and Cultures of English Native Speakers 04 | Page 11

Since the Bible was in Latin, the
language that only priests and
scholars could understand, an
ordinary man had to rely on the
Church to be the mediator between
him and God. But John Wycliffe
(1330-1383) [ pronounced ‘Wik-
Cliff’ ] wanted to change that.
Believing that people should break free from the corrupt
Catholic Church, he translated the scripture into Middle
English and distributed its copies. English was used here
as a means to fight for spiritual freedom and
independence.