Myles Coverdale

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Myles Coverdale (also Miles Coverdale) (c. 1488 – 20 January 1569) was a 16th-century Bible translator who produced the first complete printed translation of the Bible into English.

Life

He was born probably in the district known as Cover-dale, in that district of the North Riding of Yorkshire called Richmondshire, England, in or around 1488. He studied at Cambridge (bachelor of canon law 1531), became priest at Norwich in 1514 and entered the convent of Austin friars at Cambridge, where Robert Barnes was prior in 1523 and probably influenced him in favor of Reform. When Barnes was tried for heresy in 1526, Coverdale assisted in his defence and shortly afterward left the convent and gave himself entirely to preaching.

Bible translator

From 1528 to 1535, he appears to have spent most of his time on the Continent. In 1535 he published the first complete English Bible in print, the so-called Coverdale Bible. As Coverdale was not proficient in Hebrew or Greek, he used 'five soundry interpreters' in Latin, English and 'Douche' (German) as source text. He made use of Tyndale's translation of the New Testament (following Tyndale's November 1534 Antwerp edition) and of those books which were translated by Tyndale: the Pentateuch, and the book of Jonah. The publication appeared in Antwerp and was partly financed by Jacobus van Meteren. In 1537, his translations were included in the Matthew Bible. In 1538, he was in Paris, superintending the printing of the "Great Bible," and the same year were published, both in London and Paris, editions of a Latin and an English New Testament, the latter being by Coverdale. That 1538 Bible was a diglot (dual-language) Bible, in which he compared the Latin Vulgate with his own English translation. He also edited the Great Bible (1540). Henry VIII had a Coverdale Bible put into every English Church, chained to a bookstand, so that every citizen would have access to a Bible. <ref> Rex, Richard, “the Crisis of Obedience: God’s Word and Henry’s Reformation,” The Historical Journal, V. 39, no. 4, Dec. 1996, p. 893-4.</ref>

Later years

He returned to England in 1539, living briefing in Newbury, but on the execution of Thomas Cromwell (who had been his friend and protector since 1527) in 1540, he was compelled again to go into exile and lived for a time at Tübingen, and, between 1543 and 1547, was a pastor and schoolmaster at Bergzabern (now Bad Bergzabern) in the Palatinate, and very poor.

In March, 1548, he went back to England, was well received at the court of the new monarch, Edward VI, and was made king's chaplain and almoner to the queen dowager, Catherine Parr. In 1551, he became Bishop of Exeter, but was deprived in 1553 after the succession of Mary. He went to Denmark (where his brother-in-law was chaplain to the king), then to Wesel, and finally back to Bergzabern. In 1559, he was again in England, but was not reinstated in his bishopric, perhaps because of Puritanical scruples about vestments. From 1564 to 1566, he was rector of St. Magnus's, near London Bridge. On 20 January 1569, Coverdale died in London and was buried in St. Bartholomew's Church.

Legacy

His translation of the Psalter is used in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, and is the most familiar translation of the psalms for many Anglicans all over the world. As a consequence, many musical settings of the psalms make use of the Coverdale translation. His translation of the Roman Canon is still used in some Anglican and Anglican Use Roman Catholic churches.

References

• Paul Arblaster, Gergely Juhasz, Guido Latré (eds) Tyndale's Testament hardback ISBN 2-503-51411-1 Brepols 2002
• Guido Latre, "The 1535 Coverdale Bible an its Antwerp Origins", in The Bible as Book: The Reformation, ed. by O'Sullivan, Orlaith (The British Library & Oak Knoll Press in association with The Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquities London & New Castle, Delaware 2000), pp. 89-102. ISBN 9781584560258 ; 1584560258

External links

• Coverdale Bible online
• Find-A-Grave profile for Myles Coverdale
• Royal Berkshire History: Miles Coverdale (1488-1569)