REGARDING M Burcher's letter, John Wycliffe has been credited with being the beginning of what is loosely termed The Reformation.

As a priest, he was vicar of Lutterworth, Leicestershire, where he died. But he spent most of his ministry at Oxford, holding scholastic posts, as priests do today.

M Burcher cannot understand why Wycliffe translated The Bible from Latin into English, when people could not read or write.

He did not. He started it, but two disciples, Nicholas of Hereford and John Purvey completed it.

People who cannot read or write develop extraordinary memory. Not understanding Latin, they could hear it in their mother tongue and remember what was read.

The Lollards were followers of Wycliffe. "Lollardy" was the name given to those who criticised the church. In its beginning it was academic.

Due to executions, members were eventually drawn from the lower classes. But to describe monks as uneducated is a gross error.

If Mr Phillpott (Phillpott File, September 23) has no objection, I must say it is doubtful if Wycliffe's bones were cremated and thrown into the River Swift.

The Council of Constance 1415 passed judgement on 267 errors in his works and ordered his writing to be burned and his bones dug up. The last injunction was not fulfilled until 1428.

What happened to his remains no one appears to know - so myths abound.

THE REV D G GRIFFIN,

Newland, Malvern.