The Return of English

From a linguistic standpoint, it was a dramatic reversal: having banned any translation of the Bible for nearly 140 years, the Church in England -- soon to be the Church of England -- in 1539 approved an English Bible, which Henry VIII ordered placed in every pulpit in the nation. To add irony, this translation -- though credited to Miles Coverdale -- was, in large part, identical to that made by William Tyndale a decade before. Tyndale was not on hand to celebrate this achievement, however, as he had been burned at the stake for heresy three years previous. He lives on, though as most of the Authorized version of 1611 preserved his language; it has been rightly observed that, with the possible exception of Shakespeare, Tyndale has had the greatest influence on the development of the English language of any one person.

The change did not come easily, nor did it prevail completely, at least until the reign of Elizabeth I. Throughout the 1520's and 30's, a relentless campaign against those in England who, following the example of Martin Luther, clamored for the scriptures in their own language, along with other tracts favorable to their cause (Tyndale's The Obedience of a Christian Man among them). Thomas More, Henry VIII's most influential chancellor and a champion of Renaissance humanism, was charged with maintaining a list of banned books, and doing everything he could to prevent their spread. Unfortunately for his task, the invention of the printing press enabled books to be printed faster than they could be burned -- and unfortunately for him, his involvement in the party of Anne Boleyn led to his own execution in the Tower of London in 1535. Via this link, you can see the license More had to possess heretical books, as well as the text of the Statutes of the Realm that attempted -- vainly -- to limit the reading and interpretation of the new English Bible.

Its immediate legacy was for a time dimmed; on the death of Henry VIII's son Edward, Mary rose to the throne, and plunged England back into Catholicism. For this reason, the compendious Book of Martyrs prepared by John Foxe does not end with Tyndale, but carries on for an additional five volumes, volumes that catalog those put to death under Mary's rule. Eventually, under Elizabeth I, the Church of England and its reforms were solidly and permanently put in place, and indeed remain to this day; though attendance has dropped off steadily at COE churches in England, the worldwide Anglican Communion has held fast. Anyone curious to see a traditional Anglican "high church" mass -- which still uses the exact language of Queen Elizabeth's Book of Common Prayer -- can visit the Sunday services at St. Stephen's here in Providence (they also use plainchant, which is something to hear!).