Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
The Black Death peaked in 1346-53. John Wycliffe began translating the Bible in the 1370s; he died in 1384. The first English translations of the Bible were available in the 1380s. Each Bible took about 6 months to copy by hand. The English Bible encouraged believers to think for themselves. They were called Lollards, and they were persecuted. Wycliffe's body was exhumed to be burned and his ashes were scattered. [Secrets of the Dead: Battle for the Bible produced by PBS] "He was an influential dissident within the Roman Catholic priesthood during the 14th century. Wycliffe attacked the privileged status of the clergy, which was central to their powerful role in England. . . . Beginning in the 16th century, the Lollard movement was regarded as the precursor to the Protestant Reformation. . . . Wycliffe's writings in Latin greatly influenced the philosophy and teaching of Czech reformer Jan Hus, whose execution in 1415 sparked a revolt and led to the Hussite Wars." [Wikipedia] "He condemned indulgences as a 'manifold blasphemy,' since promising sinners that their punishment would be revoked gave Christ's saving power to the pope." [Bauer: Renaissance World, p. 613-4]