Reformation Anglicanism recently featured an article from the King James Bible Trust which explained the evolution of the Bible in English and other languages specific to the British Isles.

Most of us, even those with a cursory knowledge of Church history, are aware that owning or reading a Bible in a language other than Latin incurred severe penalties in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The Church — accurately, as it turned out — feared that Scripture in the vernacular might lead to groups of people meeting up to discuss what the Word says against the Church’s interpretation as delivered from the pulpit. Certainly, the Church wished to guard against heresy, always a danger from the time of the Apostles to the present day. And, yes, there was no doubt always some opposition to a dominant, powerful Church. However, apprehension also focused on possible political unrest should people start to read Scripture themselves.  Would people discuss their ultimate authority: the Church along with city states and kingdoms or God? How would this play out amongst ordinary men? Surely, they reasoned, the status quo — ecclesiastical and monarchic — could be turned on its head.

Yet, as the feudal age drew to a close, travel and the transmission of ideas increased.  With the Church playing such a huge part in the lives of Europeans, it comes as no surprise that those who could read wished to examine the Bible in a tongue they could understand.

What follows is the story of the British Isles, with the King James Bible Trust article, ‘Taking Liberties — The struggle for freedoms and rights’, as a basis, supplemented by other sources given below.  Incidentally, you might be surprised at one of the facts about Henry VIII.  Now read on:

1376: John Wycliffe (Wyclif), an Oxford theologian (pictured at left), criticises the Church’s wealth and the supremacy the Pope had over kings.  He believed that Scripture was a Christian’s sole authority and began work on an English translation of the Bible.

1380: Wycliffe completes his translation of the New Testament into English.

1381: The University of Oxford expels Wycliffe for his doctrine of the Eucharist and his calls for Church reform.

1384: Wycliffe, in collaboration with Nicholas de Hereford among others, finishes translating the Old Testament into English verbatim from Latin.  The Church condemns the translations, 30 of which still survive today.  Wycliffe dies in the same year.

Late 1300s – 1415: Lollardy, a decentralised Christian movement condemned as heresy, sweeps through parts of Europe from France to Scotland.  Wycliffe’s writings and translations greatly influence English Lollards.

1401: The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Arundel advises Henry IV to outlaw translations of the Bible in the vernacular and to declare heresy a capital crime.  The De Heretico Comburendo becomes law.

1415: The Council of Constance posthumously declares Wycliffe a heretic.

1428: Pope Martin V orders that Wycliffe’s remains be exhumed and burned. His ashes are scattered in the River Swift at Lutterworth (England).

1521: Henry VIII condemns Martin Luther’s teachings on the Sacraments. Henry VIII maintains there are seven, not two.  Pope Leo X rewards him with the title ‘Defender of the Faith’.  Public burning of Luther’s books takes place in London.

1526: Exiled in Germany, William Tyndale publishes an English translation of the New Testament.  Some copies find their way to Britain, although many are burned.

1534: After disputing with the Church since 1526 over a requested annulment from Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII, with the approval of Parliament, declares himself head of the Church of England through the Act of Supremacy.

1536: William Tyndale, in the process of translating the Old Testament, is burned at the stake.  His last words are, ‘Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes!’

1539: Henry VIII approves a draft translation of the Bible by Myles Coverdale (pictured at right) — one of Tyndale’s translators.

1540: Coverdale completes his translation, which becomes known as the Great Bible and is authorised for use in the Church of England.

1588: William Morgan’s translation of the Great Bible into Welsh is published.

1603: A Gaelic translation of the New Testament appears in Ireland.

1611: The King James Bible is published.  It will become the most printed English language book in the world.

1685: A Gaelic translation of the Old Testament is published in Ireland.

1690: The Irish Gaelic translations are adapted for use by Scottish Highlanders.  Further translations are published in 1767 (New) and 1801 (Old).

1772: The Bible in Manx (language of the Isle of Man) appears.

2004: A translation of the New Testament into Cornish is published.  Before this, only parts of the Bible had been translated.

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