1526–1539

The English Bible: Tyndale, Coverdale and the Great Bible (1526–1539)

Shelley: after Erasmus published the Greek New Testament (1516) with a call to translate Scripture into the languages of Europe, German, French and English versions appeared. The pioneer was William Tyndale: he smuggled his New Testament into England from 1526, was seized and burned in 1536; then Coverdale published a complete Bible, the Matthew Bible appeared, and Henry VIII, at Cranmer’s request, approved the Great Bible.

Key points

• Shelley: the Church did not object to approved orthodox vernacular versions, but translations from Hebrew and Greek insulted Rome, which built doctrine on Latin. In 1516 Erasmus published the Greek New Testament and urged translating Scripture into the common languages as soon as possible
• William Tyndale: he told a priest that a plowboy would know Scripture better than he; he fled to the Continent and printed the New Testament
• William Tyndale: seized in 1536, after nearly two years in prison he was burned praying: “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!”
• From Coverdale to the Great Bible: Coverdale published a complete translation based on Tyndale; then Rogers’s Matthew Bible appeared
• From Coverdale to the Great Bible: Henry VIII approved the Great Bible but then limited reading to the wealthy; greater freedom was a matter of time

People

• William Tyndale
• Miles Coverdale
• Henry VIII
• Thomas Cranmer
• Erasmus of Rotterdam

Place

England, continental Europe