Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles ( – 20 January 1569), was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher, hymnist and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the first printed translation of the full Bible into Early Modern English, completing the translations of William Tyndale.
His theological development is a paradigm of the progress of the English Reformation from 1530 to 1552. By the time of his death, he had transitioned into an early Puritan, affiliated to Calvin, and a friend of John Knox.
Life to end of 1528 Regarding his probable birth county, Daniell cites John Bale, author of a sixteenth-century scriptorium, giving it as Yorkshire.According to a bronze plaque on the wall of the former York Minster library, he was believed to have been born in York circa 1488. However, the exact birth location of York does not appear to be corroborated. An older source (Berkshire History – based on Article of 1903) even suggests his birthplace as Coverdale, a hamlet in North Yorkshire, but neither is this elsewhere substantiated. Daniell says that no details are known of his parentage or early education, so simply Yorkshire is the safest conclusion. His birth date is generally regarded as 1488.
Coverdale studied philosophy and theology at Cambridge, becoming bachelor of canon law in 1513.Daniell states "BCL according to Cooper, BTh according to Foxe." At the time, such students had to gain proficiency in both subjects. In 1514 John Underwood, a suffragan bishop and archdeacon of Norfolk, ordained him priest in Norwich. He entered the house of the Augustinian friars in Cambridge, where Robert Barnes had returned from Louvain to become its prior. This is thought to have been about 1520–1525. According to Trueman, Barnes returned to Cambridge in the early to mid-1520s.But Trueman also says that Barnes was incorporated BTh in Cambridge university in 1522-3, followed in 1523 by the award of a DTh., so Barnes' return from Louvain was probably in about 1522. At Louvain Barnes had studied under Erasmus and had developed humanist sympathies. In Cambridge, he read aloud to his students from St. Paul's epistles in translation and taught from classical authors. This undoubtedly influenced them towards Reform. In February 1526, Coverdale was part of a group of friars that travelled from Cambridge to London to present the defence of their superior, after Barnes was summoned before Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Barnes had been arrested as a heretic after being accused of preaching Lutheran views in the church of St Edward King and Martyr, Cambridge on Christmas Eve. Coverdale is said to have acted as Barnes' secretary during the trial. By the standards of the time, Barnes received relatively lenient treatment, being made to do public penance by carrying a faggot to St Paul's Cross. However on 10 June 1539, Parliament passed the Act of Six Articles, marking a turning point in the progress of radical protestantism. Barnes was burned at the stake on 30 July 1540, at Smithfield, along with two other reformers. Also executed that day were three Roman Catholics, who were hanged, drawn and quartered.
Coverdale probably met Thomas Cromwell some time before 1527. A letter survives showing that later, in 1531, he wrote to Cromwell, requesting his guidance on his behaviour and preaching; also stating his need for books. By Lent 1528, he had left the Augustinians and, wearing simple garments, was preaching in Essex against transubstantiation, the veneration of sacred images, and Confession to a Priest. At that date, such views were very dangerous, for the future course of the religious revolution that began during the reign of Henry VIII was as yet very uncertain. Reforms, both of the forms proposed by Lollardy, and those preached by Luther, were being pursued by a vigorous campaign against heresy. Consequently, towards the end of 1528, Coverdale fled from England to the Continent.
First exile, 1528 From 1528 to 1535, Coverdale spent most of his time in continental Europe, mainly in Antwerp. Celia Hughes believes that upon arriving there, he rendered considerable assistance to William Tyndale in his revisions and partial completion of his English versions of the Bible.Hughes cites four twentieth-century authors in support of this view, having said that some older biographers discount the suggestion. Daniell states firmly that Coverdale and Rodgers were with Tyndale in Antwerp in 1534, whilst discounting the account of Foxe (1563) that Coverdale travelled to Hamburg to assist Tyndale in planned printing work.
In 1531, Tyndale spoke to Stephen Vaughan of his poverty and the hardships of exile, although he was relatively safe in the English House in Antwerp, where the inhabitants supposedly enjoyed diplomatic immunity. However, in the spring of 1535 a "debauched and villainous young Englishman wanting money" named Henry Phillips insinuated himself into Tyndale's trust. Phillips had gambled away money from his father and had fled abroad. He promised the authorities of the Holy Roman Emperor that he would betray Tyndale for cash. On the morning of 21 May 1535, having arranged for the imperial officers to be ready, Phillips tricked Tyndale into leaving the English House, whereupon he was immediately seized. Tyndale languished in prison throughout the remainder of 1535 and despite attempts to have him released, organised by Cromwell through Thomas Poyntz at the English House, Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake in October 1536.
Meanwhile, Coverdale continued his work alone to produce what became the first complete English Bible in print, namely the Coverdale Bible. Not proficient in Hebrew or Greek, he used Latin, English and German sources plus the translations of Tyndale himself.
Coverdale's translation of the Bible, 1535 In 1534 Canterbury Convocation petitioned Henry VIII that the whole Bible might be translated into English. Consequently, in 1535, Coverdale dedicated this complete Bible to the King. After much scholarly debate, it is now considered very probable that the place of printing of the Coverdale Bible was Antwerp. The printing was financed by Jacobus van Meteren. The printing of the first edition was finished on 4 October 1535.The colophon of the bible itself states this exact date.
Coverdale based the text in part on 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. Other Old Testament books he translated from the German of Luther and others. In his dedication to King Henry, Coverdale explains that he has ‘with a clear conscience purely and faithfully translated this out of five sundry interpreters’. Daniell explains that this means Tyndale, Luther, the Vulgate, the Zürich Bible, and Pagninus's Latin translation of the Hebrew.
Based on Coverdale's translation of the Book of Psalms in his 1535 Bible, his later Psalter has remained in use in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer to the present day, and is retained with various minor corrections in the 1926 Irish Book of Common Prayer, the 1928 US Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, and the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer, etc.The following is Guido Latré's citation for: ... it was Coverdale's glory to produce the first printed English Bible, and to leave to posterity a permanent memorial of his genius in that most musical version of the Psalter which passed into the Book of Common Prayer, and has endeared itself to generations of Englishmen. Darlow, T.H. & Moule, H.F., Historical Catalogue of the printed Editions of Holy Scripture in the Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 2 vols., London and New York, 1963 (1st ed. 1903) p.6
Further translations, 1537–1539 In 1537 the Matthew Bible was printed, also in Antwerp, at the expense of Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch who issued it in London. It comprised Tyndale's Pentateuch; a version of Joshua 2 and Chronicles translated from the Hebrew, probably by Tyndale and not previously published; the remainder of the Old Testament from Coverdale; Tyndale's New Testament from 1535. It was dedicated to Henry VIII who licensed it for general reading. "Thomas Matthew", the supposed editor, was an alias for John Rogers.
The Matthew Bible was theologically controversial. Furthermore it bore evidence of its origin from Tyndale. If Henry VIII had become aware of this, the position of Cromwell and Cranmer would have been precarious. Consequently in 1538 Coverdale was sent to Paris by Cromwell to superintend the printing of the planned "Great Bible".The description ‘Great Bible’ is justified, since it measured . François Regnault, who had supplied all English service books from 1519 to 1534, was selected as the printer because his typography was more sumptuous than that available in England. According to Kenyon, the assent of the French king was obtained. In May 1538 printing began. Nevertheless, a coalition of English bishops together with French theologians at the Sorbonne interfered with the operations and the Pope issued an edict that the English Bibles should be burned and the presses stopped. Some completed sheets were seized, but Coverdale rescued others, together with the type, transferring them to London.A further detail, possibly apocryphal, is that additional sheets were re-purchased as waste paper from a tradesman to whom they had been sold. Foxe (1563) wrote that they had been proffered as hat linings Ultimately, the work was completed in London by Grafton and Whitchurch.A special copy on vellum, with illuminations, was prepared for Cromwell himself, and is now in the library of St. John’s College, Cambridge.
Also in 1538, editions were published, both in Paris and in London, of a diglot (dual-language) New Testament. In this, Coverdale compared the Latin Vulgate text with his own English translation, in parallel columns on each page.General Note (by Bodleian Library): English and Latin in parallel columns; the calendar is printed partly in red; this edition repudiated by Coverdale on account of the faulty printing.
An injunction was issued by Cromwell in September 1538, strengthening an earlier one that had been issued but widely ignored in 1536. This second injunction firmly declared opposition to "pilgrimages, feigned relics, or images, or any such superstitions" whilst correspondingly placing heavy emphasis on scripture as "the very lively word of God". Coverdale’s Great Bible was now almost ready for circulation and the injunction called for the use of "one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume" in every English church.Rex, Richard, "The Crisis of Obedience: God’s Word and Henry’s Reformation", The Historical Journal, V. 39, no. 4, December 1996, pp. 893–4. However at the time insufficient Great Bibles were actually printed in London so an edition of the Matthew Bible that had been re-edited by Coverdale started to be used.Rychard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch finally printed the London large folio edition of the Great Bible in 1539. Coverdale compiled it, based largely on the 1537 Matthew’s Bible, which had been printed in Antwerp from translations by Tyndale and Coverdale. The laity were also intended to learn other core items of worship in English, including the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments.
In February 1539, Coverdale was in Newbury communicating with Thomas Cromwell. The printing of the London edition of the Great Bible was in progress. It was finally published in April of the same year. John Winchcombe, son of "Jack O'Newbury", a famous clothier, served as a confidential messenger to Coverdale who was performing an ecclesiastical visitation. Coverdale commended Winchcombe for his true heart towards the King's Highness and in 1540, Henry VIII granted to Winchcombe the manor of Bucklebury, a former demesne of Reading Abbey.