Some 150 years earlier, despite church opposition, the Bible had been translated from Latin into English by John Wycliffe, who also trained itinerant preachers known as Lollards.a These carried handwritten portions of Scripture, which they read to the people. As a result, Parliament tried to stop that activity. In 1401, it passed a statute giving bishops the power to imprison and torture heretics and burn them at the stake.

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John Wycliffe sent out itinerant preachers known as Lollards

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From the book The Church of England: A History for the People, 1905, Vol. II