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05 - History of the English Bible by John Brown · History of the English Bible

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Speaker 1: Chapter four of the History of the English Bible by
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Speaker 1: John Brown. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain,
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Speaker 1: read by Marianne. Chapter four Coverdale's and the Great Bible.
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Speaker 1: During the seventy five years between the last issue of
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Speaker 1: Tyndale's Testaments and the publication of the Authorized Version of
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Speaker 1: sixteen eleven, six different versions of the English Bible issued
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Speaker 1: from the press, And in saying this we are not
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Speaker 1: taking account of the Rheims Denow Bible, the Roman Catholic
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Speaker 1: English version dating between eighteen fifty two and sixteen ten.
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Speaker 1: These six versions were Coverdale's Bible of fifteen thirty five,
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Speaker 1: Matthew's Bible of fifteen thirty seven, Taverner's Bible of fifteen
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Speaker 1: thirty nine, the Great Bible also of fifteen thirty nine,
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Speaker 1: the Geneva Bible of fifteen sixty and the Bishop's Bible
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Speaker 1: of fifteen sixty eight. It will be in the memory
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Speaker 1: of our readers that when Coverdale appeared upon the scene,
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Speaker 1: Tyndale's bye but was far from complete. The New Testament
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Speaker 1: had been finished and several times revised. The Book of
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Speaker 1: Jonah had been translated separately, and the pentitog had been
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Speaker 1: issued in a revised second edition, probably also a translation
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Speaker 1: of the Old Testament from Joshua to Second Chronicles, had
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Speaker 1: been made by Tyndale and left in manuscript. This being
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Speaker 1: the extent to which his work had gone, it will
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Speaker 1: be seen at once that a large portion of scripture,
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Speaker 1: including the Psalter and the Prophetical Books, still remained untranslated.
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Speaker 1: It is here that Miles Coverdale's work comes in and
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Speaker 1: fills an important place. This man was a native of
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Speaker 1: the North Riding of Yorkshire, where he was born in
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Speaker 1: fourteen eighty eight, and we know of him further that
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Speaker 1: he was Bishop of Exeter in fifteen fifty one. Fox
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Speaker 1: tells us that Coverdale met Tyndale by appointment at Hamburg
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Speaker 1: in fifteen twenty nine, and from Easter till December in
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Speaker 1: that year helped him in translating the Five Books of Moses,
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Speaker 1: so that there was so far a close and friendly
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Speaker 1: relationship existing between them. It would seem that he set
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Speaker 1: about completing Tyndale's work, being urged there too, and commissioned
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Speaker 1: by others. These are his words to say the truth
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Speaker 1: before God. It was neither my labor nor desire to
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Speaker 1: have this work put in my hand. Nevertheless, it grieved
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Speaker 1: me that other nations should be more plenteously provided for
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Speaker 1: with the scriptures in their mother tongue than we. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: when I was instantly required, though I could not do
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Speaker 1: so well as I would, I thought it yet my
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Speaker 1: duty to do my best, and that with a good will.
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Speaker 1: Coverdale made no claim to be a direct translator from
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Speaker 1: the original Hebrew, but to have made his version from
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Speaker 1: German and Latin sources he translated. He says, out of
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Speaker 1: five interpreters, he had some knowledge of Hebrew to help
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Speaker 1: him to discriminate between various renderings, but in the main
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Speaker 1: his version is based on the Swiss German version of
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Speaker 1: Zwingli and Leo Judah fifteen forty two to fifteen forty
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Speaker 1: one nine, known as the Zurich Bible, and on the
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Speaker 1: Latin of Pagninus. So far as the Penttog is concerned,
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Speaker 1: his translation has been described as the Zurich Translation rendered
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Speaker 1: into English by the help of Tyndale, with constant reference
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Speaker 1: to Luther, Pagninus, and the Vulgate. It will be seen
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Speaker 1: that Tyndale was a great resource to him when we
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Speaker 1: find that in the whole Epistle of Saint James, containing
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Speaker 1: one hundred and eight verses, there is only a difference
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Speaker 1: of three words between them. Still, notwithstanding this dependence upon others,
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Speaker 1: the value of Coverdale's version will be felt at once
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Speaker 1: when we consider that for three fourths of the Old Testament,
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Speaker 1: this is the first printed English Bible, and as such
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Speaker 1: still stands alone inasmuch as it had great influence on
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Speaker 1: the shaping of the Authorized version of sixteen eleven. His
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Speaker 1: Bible is divided into six parts, the fifth part containing
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Speaker 1: the apocryphal works, arranged in the same order as that
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Speaker 1: of the Authorized version, and the sixth part art consisting
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Speaker 1: of the books of the New Testament, arranged in the
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Speaker 1: same order as in Luther and Tyndale's version. That is,
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Speaker 1: the epistles of Saint Peter and Saint John come in
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Speaker 1: before and not after the Epistle to the Hebrews. The
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Speaker 1: most characteristic portion of Coverdale's translation is that of the
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Speaker 1: psalter and this still remains in use as being the
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Speaker 1: one printed in the Book of Common Prayer. While in
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Speaker 1: the revision of this book in sixteen sixty two, the Gospels, epistles,
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Speaker 1: and other portions of scripture were taken from the authorized version.
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Speaker 1: The Psalms as translated by Coverdale were retained as being
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Speaker 1: smoother and more amenable to musical treatment in the authorized
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Speaker 1: version two. Many of the renderings most valued for their
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Speaker 1: beauty and tenderness are his, such as my heart and
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Speaker 1: flesh faileth. But God is the strength of my heart
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Speaker 1: and my portion forever. And turn not into judgment with
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Speaker 1: thy servant, For in thy sight shall no man living
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Speaker 1: be justified. Cast me not away from thy presence, and
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Speaker 1: take not thy Holy Spirit from me, for thy loving
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Speaker 1: kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise thee
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Speaker 1: Thou Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of
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Speaker 1: the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
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Speaker 1: They shall perish, but thou shalt endure. They shall all
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Speaker 1: wax old, as doth a garment, and as a vesture.
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Speaker 1: Shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But
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Speaker 1: Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
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Speaker 1: We feel there is a certain majesty about these passages,
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Speaker 1: entitling Coverdale to a high place in our literature. The
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Speaker 1: relation of this Bible of his to the civil power
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Speaker 1: seems fitful and uncertain. In fifteen thirty five it was
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Speaker 1: printed out of the country by Frouchever of Zurich, and
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Speaker 1: was dedicated to the King, but appeared without express license.
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Speaker 1: The following year it was printed at home by Nicholson
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Speaker 1: of Southwark, but again without royal license. Then again, in
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Speaker 1: fifteen thirty eight another edition was printed by Nicholson, and
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Speaker 1: this time the title page proclaims the fact that it
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Speaker 1: was set forth with the King's most gracious license. The
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Speaker 1: explanation of the difference is to be found in the
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Speaker 1: fact that during these years the rupture with Rome had
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Speaker 1: become an accomplished fact, Wolsey had fallen, and Thomas Cromwell
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Speaker 1: had become the King's vice regent in all causes ecclesiastical,
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Speaker 1: with precedence over all prelates and peers. In the issue
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Speaker 1: of the First Royal Injunctions of fifteen thirty six we
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Speaker 1: have the first act of pure supremacy on the part
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Speaker 1: of the King in the affairs of the Church, and
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Speaker 1: in them we find him urging the clergy to give
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Speaker 1: themselves to the study of Holy Scripture. But the changing
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Speaker 1: attitude of the Crown to the Bible is brought out
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Speaker 1: more clearly in the scene which took place at a
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Speaker 1: Council of Convocation held in fifteen thirty seven. Fox, making
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Speaker 1: use of a narrative given to him by Elysius or Hales,
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Speaker 1: has described it for us. As Cromwell entered, the bishops
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Speaker 1: and prelates rose up and did obscience to him as
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Speaker 1: their vicar general, he in turn saluting them, and then
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Speaker 1: seating himself in the highest place at the table. Presently,
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Speaker 1: he proceeded to address them, setting forth the purpose for
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Speaker 1: which they were met, and telling them that the King's
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Speaker 1: desire was that they would conclude all things by the
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Speaker 1: word of God. His Majesty, he said, would not suffer
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Speaker 1: the scriptures to be rested or defaced by any papalistic
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Speaker 1: laws or any authority of doctors or counsels, much less
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Speaker 1: would he admit any articles or doctrines not contained in
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Speaker 1: the scriptures. In reply, the bishops gave thanks unto the
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Speaker 1: King's Majesty for his zeal and his most godly exhortation.
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Speaker 1: But controversy arose at once when Stokesley, Bishop of London,
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Speaker 1: maintained the validity of the Seven Sacraments, the Archbishop of
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Speaker 1: Canterbury going one way with his followers, and the Archbishop
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Speaker 1: of York another with those who agreed with him, the
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Speaker 1: question was really one of final authority. Where does it
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Speaker 1: rest with the Church or the Bible. Fox, the Bishop
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Speaker 1: of Herford, contended for the Bible, for the light of
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Speaker 1: the Gospel hath put to flight all misty darkness, and
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Speaker 1: it will be supreme. Though we resist in vain, ever
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Speaker 1: so much in spite of opposition, that book was making
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Speaker 1: its way. He said, the lay people do now know
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Speaker 1: the Holy Scripture better than many of us, and the
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Speaker 1: Germans have made the text of the Bible so plain
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Speaker 1: and easy by the Hebrew and Greek tongues, that now
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Speaker 1: many things may be better understood without any glosses at all,
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Speaker 1: than by all the commentaries of the doctors. He urged
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Speaker 1: them not to deceive themselves by the hope that there
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Speaker 1: was nothing which the power and authority of the Pope
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Speaker 1: could not quench in process of time, but rather to
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Speaker 1: take the other view, that there is nothing so feeble
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Speaker 1: and weak so that it be true, but it shall
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Speaker 1: find place and be able to stand against all falsehood.
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Speaker 1: He concluded with these eloquent words, Truth is the daughter
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Speaker 1: of time, and time is the mother of truth. And
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Speaker 1: whatsoever is besieged of truth cannot long continue. And upon
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Speaker 1: whose side truth doth stand, that ought not to be
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Speaker 1: thought transitory, or that it will ever fall. All things
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Speaker 1: consist not in painted eloquence and strength or authority. For
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Speaker 1: the Truth is of so great power, strength, and efficacy
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Speaker 1: that it can neither be defended with words, nor be
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Speaker 1: overcome with any strength. But after she hath hid herself
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Speaker 1: long at length, she putteth up her head and appearth.
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Speaker 1: This noble utterance may well coincide with the appearance of
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Speaker 1: that first completed and printed English Bible, which Coverdale set forth,
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Speaker 1: and it may well stand as fitting watchword at the
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Speaker 1: opening of that new era in the history of that Bible,
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Speaker 1: which was even now at the doors. The year fifteen
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Speaker 1: thirty seven, which saw a new edition of Coverdale's Bible
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Speaker 1: overseen and corrected, saw also the issue of another Bible,
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Speaker 1: described as Matthew's, about which there is a certain air
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Speaker 1: of mystery. It was printed in black letter in double columns.
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Speaker 1: The title page sets forth that it was truly and
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Speaker 1: purely translated into English by Thomas Matthew, and at the
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Speaker 1: foot of that page it was said to be set
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Speaker 1: forth with the King's most gracious license. It seems to
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Speaker 1: be generally agreed that the name of Matthew was assumed
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Speaker 1: by John Rogers, an intimate friend of Tyndale, an earnest
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Speaker 1: Protestant and one of the martyrs of Mary's time. The
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Speaker 1: version bearing this name is of a composite character and
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Speaker 1: comprised a reprint of Tyndale's New Testament and his pentetog
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Speaker 1: from Ezra to the end of the Apocrypha, not excluding Jonah.
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Speaker 1: It is substantially Coverdale's version, but from Joshua to Chronicles.
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Speaker 1: The text differs so widely from Coverdale that it is
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Speaker 1: supposed to be from the translation left behind him by Tyndale.
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Speaker 1: It was furnished with a dedication to the King and Queen,
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Speaker 1: and the expense of the work, probably printed at Antwerp,
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Speaker 1: was defrayed by two London citizens, R. Grafton and E. Whitchurch.
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Speaker 1: The first news of its appearance in England is contained
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Speaker 1: in a letter from Kramner to Cromwell, my special good Lord.
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Speaker 1: He writes, these shall be to signify unto the same
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Speaker 1: that you shall receive by the bringer thereof a Bible
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Speaker 1: in English, both of a new translation and of a
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Speaker 1: new print, which in mine opinion, is very well done
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Speaker 1: and therefore I pray your lordship to read the same,
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Speaker 1: And as for the translation, so far as I have
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Speaker 1: read thereof, I like it better than any other translation
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Speaker 1: heretofore made. I pray you, my Lord, that you will
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Speaker 1: exhibit the book unto the King's Highness, and to obtain
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Speaker 1: of his grace, if you can, a license that the
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Speaker 1: same may be sold and read of every person, without
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Speaker 1: danger of any act, proclamation, or ordinance to the contrary,
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Speaker 1: until such time that we bishops shall set forth a
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Speaker 1: better translation, which I think will not be till the
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Speaker 1: day after Doomsday. Cromwell did as Cramner desired, and presently
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Speaker 1: informed him that he had not only shown the Bible
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Speaker 1: to the King, but had also obtained of his grace
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Speaker 1: that the same shall be allowed by his authority to
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Speaker 1: be bought and read within this nation. Doctor Westcott points
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Speaker 1: out the deep significance of what had thus been accomplished
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Speaker 1: by Kramner's petition, by Cromwell's influence, and by Henry's authority.
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Speaker 1: Without any formal ecclesiastical decision. The book was given to
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Speaker 1: the English people, which is the foundation of the text
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Speaker 1: of our present Bible. From Matthew's Bible itself. A combination
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Speaker 1: of the labors of Tyndale and Coverdale. All later revisions
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Speaker 1: have been successively formed. In that the general character and
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Speaker 1: mold of our whole version was definitely fixed. The labors
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Speaker 1: of the next seventy five years were devoted to improving
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Speaker 1: it in detail. It may now be mentioned in passing,
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Speaker 1: though the matter is of small importance, that the successful
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Speaker 1: sale of Matthew's Bible led in fifteen thirty nine to
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Speaker 1: the issuing of a rival edition as a private venture
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Speaker 1: by John Biddle for Thomas Barthlett, with Richard Taverner as editor.
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Speaker 1: From the name of the editor it is known as
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Speaker 1: Taverner's Bible. He was a Cambridgeman and was also for
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Speaker 1: a year and a half a student at Oxford. About
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Speaker 1: fifteen thirty he became a member of the Inner Temple.
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Speaker 1: He afterwards went to court, and, through Cromwell's influence, became
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Speaker 1: one of the clerks of the Signet. In fifteen thirty
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Speaker 1: nine his version of the Bible was printed at the
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Speaker 1: Sign of the Sun in Fleet Street, London, and was
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Speaker 1: allowed to be publicly read in churches. The influence of
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Speaker 1: the Vulgate is clearly traceable in what changes he made,
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Speaker 1: which were but small in the Old Testament, but more
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Speaker 1: numerous in the New. Those who have examined the book
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Speaker 1: report that it is evidently the work of a scholar,
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Speaker 1: but of a scholar of capricious and uncertain cast of mind.
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Speaker 1: His version was once afterwards reprinted in its entirety, but
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Speaker 1: had little influence in after years. We come now to
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Speaker 1: the important version known as the Great Bible, the Holy
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Speaker 1: Bible of the largest Volume, which came out in fifteen
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Speaker 1: thirty nine. This is the book referred to in the
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Speaker 1: Second Royal Injunctions of fifteen thirty eight, sent to Kramner
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Speaker 1: by Cromwell under date September thirtieth. In section two, the
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Speaker 1: following order was issued to the clergy. You shall provide
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Speaker 1: on this side the feast of Easter next coming one
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Speaker 1: book of the whole Bible, of the largest volume in English,
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Speaker 1: and the same set up in some convenient place within
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Speaker 1: the said church, that you have cure of, whereat your
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Speaker 1: parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it.
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Speaker 1: The charges of which book shall be ratably born between you,
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Speaker 1: the parson, and the parishioners. Aforesaid in section three, the
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Speaker 1: clergy are charged, you shall discourage no man privily or
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Speaker 1: appertly from the reading or hearing of the said Bible,
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Speaker 1: but shall expressly provoke, stir, and exhort every person to read,
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Speaker 1: the same as that which is the very lively Word
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Speaker 1: of God, that every Christ jim man is bound to embrace, believe,
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Speaker 1: and follow if he looked to be saved. The Bible, thus,
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Speaker 1: for the first time in English history, to be openly
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Speaker 1: placed in the churches for any man to read who could,
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Speaker 1: was practically a revision of Matthew's Bible, carried out by
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Speaker 1: Coverdale himself. About the same time that Coverdale's own Bible
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Speaker 1: of fifteen thirty five was going through the press, there
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Speaker 1: was being prepared a new Latin version of the Old Testament,
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Speaker 1: giving also the Hebrew text and a commentary, chiefly from
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Speaker 1: Hebrew sources, the work of Sebastian Munster of Basil. It
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Speaker 1: was of course not available at the time Coverdale was
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Speaker 1: at work, and he had to content himself with the
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Speaker 1: Zurich version. But when he came afterwards to compare the two,
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Speaker 1: he felt at once that Munster's version was greatly superior
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Speaker 1: as a text to work from. It was therefore adopted,
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Speaker 1: and the Great Bible is really the text of Matthew
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Speaker 1: taken as a basis and revised by the help of Munster.
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Speaker 1: This refers to the Old Testament only, but a revision
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Speaker 1: of the New Testament was carried out also on similar principles,
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Speaker 1: and what Minster's version as a text was for the
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Speaker 1: Old Testament, that of Erasmus was for the New But
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Speaker 1: next to Erasmus, the Complutensian edition was most largely made
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Speaker 1: use of in what changes were made in the revision.
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Speaker 1: The Great Bible, thus constituted, was arranged in the first instance,
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Speaker 1: to be printed in Paris, that city taken precedence at
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Speaker 1: the time in the matters of paper types and workmanship.
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Speaker 1: Through Cromwell's influence, a license was obtained from Francis the First,
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Speaker 1: the King of France, by which Coverdale and Grafton were
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Speaker 1: authorized to print and transmit to England the Latin or
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Speaker 1: English Bible, it being a condition that no private or
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Speaker 1: unlawful opinions should be introduced, and that all dues and
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Speaker 1: obligations should be properly discharged. So the execution of the
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Speaker 1: work was entrusted to Francis Reginald A Paris printer of
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Speaker 1: high reputation and commenced on a splendid scale, Coverdale and
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Speaker 1: Grafton going over to superintend By September. Cromwell was informed
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Speaker 1: by Coverdale that in about four months he hoped the
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Speaker 1: printing would be complete. Still, they were not without misgivings
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Speaker 1: as to possible interference, and in December their fears were verified,
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Speaker 1: for in that month an order came from the Inquisitor
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Speaker 1: General for France forbidding further progress and ordering the removal
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Speaker 1: of the sheets. Fortunately, some of the sheets had been
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Speaker 1: sent on to England and so were safe, and even
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Speaker 1: those that were seized by the authorities for a great
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Speaker 1: dry vatsful were afterwards repurchased from a haberdasher to whom
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Speaker 1: they had been sold as waste paper. And the work
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Speaker 1: was not really stopped, but only delayed. For Cromwell, a
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Speaker 1: man of executive ability, at once arranged that both types
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Speaker 1: and presses and printers should be brought over to England
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Speaker 1: and the work completed there. In this way, the Great Bible,
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Speaker 1: which Cromwell in the Injunctions of fifteen thirty eight had
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Speaker 1: ordered beforehand to be placed in the churches by Easter,
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Speaker 1: was really issued in all fifteen thirty nine. The title
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Speaker 1: page describes it as the Bible in English, that is
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Speaker 1: to say, the content of all the Holy Scripture of
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Speaker 1: both the Old and New Testaments, truly translated after the
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Speaker 1: verity of the Hebrew and Greek texts, by ye diligent
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Speaker 1: study of diverse, excellent learned men, expert in the foresaid tongues.
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Speaker 1: Printed by Richard Grafton and Edward Witchich fifteen thirty nine.
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Speaker 1: A fine copy printed on vellum and illuminated, which was
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Speaker 1: originally prepared for Thomas Cromwell himself as the great promoter
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Speaker 1: of the Enterprise, is preserved in the library of Saint
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Speaker 1: John's College, Cambridge. The Great Bible is sometimes called Krabner's Bible.
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Speaker 1: This is a mistake, however, as he seems to have
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Speaker 1: had no connection with the Enterprise till the appearance of
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Speaker 1: the second edition in April fifteen forty. For this he
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Speaker 1: wrote a prologue which appeared in subsequent editions. The first
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Speaker 1: title has these words, this is the Bible appointed to
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Speaker 1: the u s use of the churches of this edition.
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Speaker 1: The British Museum possesses a fine copy printed on vellum
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Speaker 1: and illuminated, which was presented to Hinder the eighth by
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Speaker 1: Anthony Marler of London Haberdasher, who is said to have
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Speaker 1: borne the expense of these editions. The third Great Bible
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Speaker 1: came out in July fifteen forty and the fourth in
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Speaker 1: November of the same year. In April fifteen forty one,
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Speaker 1: Anthony Marler received permission to sell copies of the Great
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Speaker 1: Bible unbound for ten shillings sterling, and bound being trimmed
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Speaker 1: with billions, for twelve shillings equivalent. It has been calculated
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Speaker 1: to about six pounds and seven pounds five shillings no
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Speaker 1: pence of present value. The following month appeared the fifth
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Speaker 1: Great Bible. In November the same year, the sixth, and
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Speaker 1: in December the seventh and lasts of the fifteen thirty
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Speaker 1: nine to forty one series, being the sixth with Kramner's prolog.
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Speaker 1: All these editions, though appointed to be read in churches,
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Speaker 1: unlike the authorized version of sixteen ath eleven, had no dedication.
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Speaker 1: The title page takes a pictorial form said to have
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Speaker 1: been designed by Hans Holbein, in the upper part of
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Speaker 1: which the Lord Christ is represented in the clouds of heaven.
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Speaker 1: Lower down, the King appears on his throne, handing the
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Speaker 1: Word of God to the bishops and clergy on the right,
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Speaker 1: and to Cromwell and others of the laity on his left.
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Speaker 1: There was no mere courtly flattery in thus representing the
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Speaker 1: Bible as being now accessible to the people, for copies
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Speaker 1: were now actually within reach in their churches. Even Bishop Bonner,
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Speaker 1: unhappily so prominent in the persecution of Bible reading men
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Speaker 1: in the days of Mary, actually set up six Bibles
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Speaker 1: in certain convenient places of Saint Paul's Church after the
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Speaker 1: proclamation of May fifteen forty, adding a pious admonition to
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Speaker 1: the readers to bring with them discretion, honest intent, charity,
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Speaker 1: reverence and quiet behavior. So far as the facts have
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Speaker 1: come down to us, it is clear that people were
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Speaker 1: not slow to take advantage of the opportunity she thus
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Speaker 1: afforded them. Stripe, the historian, making use of a manuscript
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Speaker 1: of Fox, tells us it was wonderful to see with
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Speaker 1: what joy the Book of God was received, not only
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Speaker 1: among the learneder's sort and those that were noted for
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Speaker 1: lovers of the Reformation, but generally all England over, among
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Speaker 1: all the vulgar and common people, and with what greediness
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Speaker 1: God's word was read, and what resort to places where
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Speaker 1: the reading of it was everybody that could bought the
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Speaker 1: book or busily read it, or got others to read
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Speaker 1: it to them if they could not themselves, and divers
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Speaker 1: more elderly people learned to read on purpose. Fox further
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Speaker 1: relates how at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth
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Speaker 1: he met a certain William Maldon, who could remember that
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Speaker 1: when the King had allowed the Bible to be set
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Speaker 1: forth to be read in all the churches, immediately several
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Speaker 1: poor men in the town of Chelmsford in Essex, where
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Speaker 1: his father lived and where he was born, bought the
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Speaker 1: New Testament, and on Sunday sat reading it in the
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Speaker 1: lower end of the church. Many would flock about them
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Speaker 1: to hear their reading, and he among the rest, being
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Speaker 1: then but fifteen years old, came every Sunday to hear
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Speaker 1: the glad tidings of the Gospel. It is strange to
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Speaker 1: find that this flood tide of interest in the scripture
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Speaker 1: should so soon have been followed by a time of
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Speaker 1: suspense and reaction, as we find it was. The explanation
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Speaker 1: is to be found in the political changes of the time.
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Speaker 1: After a period of masterful power, Thomas Cromwell had fallen
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Speaker 1: from the royal favor, as Cardinal Wolsey had fallen before him.
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Speaker 1: He was assailed by his opponents. An act of attainder
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Speaker 1: passed against him without a dissentient, and on the twenty
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Speaker 1: eighth of July fifteen forty he was beheaded on Tower Hill.
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Speaker 1: Those who had been in opposition before now came into
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Speaker 1: power and favor in the Council, with Gardiner at their head.
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Speaker 1: These were conservatives of the old Roman faith and hostile
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Speaker 1: to the Reformation. They were therefore not slow to take
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Speaker 1: advantage of the change. In fifteen forty three, an act
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Speaker 1: was passed prohibiting the use of Tyndale's translation, and ordering
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Speaker 1: that all notes and marginal commentaries in other copies should
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Speaker 1: be obliterated. It further provided that no woman, unless she
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Speaker 1: be a noble or gentlewoman, and that no artificer, journeyman, servant, husbandman,
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Speaker 1: or laborer under the degree of yeomen should read or
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Speaker 1: use any part of the Bible under pain of fines
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Speaker 1: and imprisonment. Further, in fifteen forty six, a proclamation was
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Speaker 1: issued by which Coverdale's version as well as Tyndale's was
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Speaker 1: expressly prohibited, the effect being that the Great Bible was
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Speaker 1: now the only translation not interdicted. On all sides the
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Speaker 1: Bibles prescribed were sought out and destroyed. Thus this time
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Speaker 1: of reaction brought sorrow to many, but it was not
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Speaker 1: to be for long. It came to an end with
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Speaker 1: the king's life and the year after his proclamation of prohibition.
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Speaker 1: On the twenty eighth of January fifteen forty seven, Henry
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Speaker 1: the Eighth passed out of this world, leaving other actors
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Speaker 1: to come on to the stage and other scenes to follow.
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Speaker 1: End of Chapter four