During 1378, John Wycliffe and a variaty of Oxford associates, challenged Church tradition by undertaking an English translation of the Vulgate, or Latin Bible. Wycliffe was one of the first people to translate the Bible into English, before this the bible was only written in Latin. It was believed that if just anyone could read the Bible the Preists would be of no use. It was illegal at that time to own a Bible, unless it was written in Latin and the Bible were only to be written and spoken in Latin. Those who translated or read from the Bible in English or any other language besides Latin were looked down upon and some were punished cruely and severly. The Midieavel Roman Catholic Church wanted to keep the Bible to it's self as a form of control. Thus if the Priests made a law it was considered God's law. Do to John Wycliffe and some others beliefe that everyone should be able to read and speak from the Bible, since then, the Bible has been translated into thousands of launguages. Thank you John Wycliffe.
