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Monday, May 28, 2012

Development of the English Bible - The Era of Henry VIII



To say that the translation of the English Bible was not a political thing is incorrect.  It occurred during a time when there was a surge in biblical interest, but also became a tool of exploitation.  Henry VIII was the third child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.  Henry was the youngest of six siblings, but only 3 survived infancy.  His older brother Arthur died at the age of 15, after only 20 weeks of marriage to Catherine of Aragon. As a result, Henry was appointed Prince of Wales at only 10 yrs old.  His father, Henry VII renewed his efforts to seal a marital alliance between England and Spain, by offering his second son in marriage to Arthur's widow, Catherine of Aragon. She was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. However, for the new Prince of Wales to marry his brother's widow, a “dispensation” from the Pope was normally required to overrule the impediment of affinity because, as told in the Book of Leviticus, "If a brother is to marry the wife of a brother they will remain childless." The English and Spanish parties agreed that an additional papal dispensation of affinity would be prudent to remove all doubt regarding the legitimacy of the marriage.  Fourteen months after Arthur’s death, she was betrothed to Henry.  On 18 February 1516 Queen Catherine bore Henry his first child to survive infancy, Princess Mary. (A son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall, had been born in 1511 but lived only a few weeks.)  Henry became impatient at her seeming inability to produce a male heir. By 1525, as Henry grew more impatient, he became enamored of a charismatic young woman in the Queen's entourage, Anne Boleyn.  Anne at first resisted his attempts to seduce her, and refused to become his mistress. However, Anne saw her opportunity in Henry's infatuation and determined she would only yield to his embraces as his acknowledged queen.  It then became the King's absorbing desire to annul his marriage to Catherine and thus he petitioned Rome and the Pope of the Catholic Church for permission to divorce her.  This permission was not granted.  It was this quarrel that set things in motion for the religious separation of England from the Catholic Church and authority of the Catholic Church.

After the death of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in England, Catherine was banished from court and her rooms were given to Anne. On 28 May 1533, Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Anne to be valid, Catherine was stripped of her title as Queen and Catherine’s daughter Mary by Henry declared illegitimate. This would be the first of six women that would become Henry’s wives, and some of them to die by his own instigation.

What does all of this have to do with the translation of the Bible into English?  It was not that King Henry VIII had a change of conscience regarding respect of or the publishing the Bible in English. His motives were more sinister.  King Henry responded by marrying his mistress anyway had thumbed his nose  the authority of Roman Catholicism, took England out from under Rome’s religious control, and declaring himself as the reigning head of State to also be the new head of the Church now in England.  This new branch neither Roman Catholic nor truly Protestant, became known as the Anglican Church or the Church of England.  King Henry acted essentially as its “Pope”. His first act was to further defy Rome by funding the printing of the scriptures in English… the first legal “authorized” English Bible… just for spite. Miles Coverdale produced this and it was called the "Great Bible" because of its size measuring over 14 inches tall. It was distributed to every church, chained to the pulpit, and a reader was even provided so that the illiterate could hear the Word of God in plain English.  Henry grew increasingly concerned though about the social and political consequences of allowing the lower orders to read the Bible. He then attempted to stymie further translations as well as updates, but his attempts to limit access were ineffectual and the proverbial cat was out of the bag. His attempts cast him in disfavor with many, especially when he attempted to dissolve the monastical system in England. “Church based” authority did not give up without a fight and neither did Henry.  The Bibles were published, but not without depictions of Henry on the throne beneath Christ ruling in the heavens. In the front of the bibles chained to the pulpits were the “Admonitions” or rules for use of the Bible.  There was great “pomp” in having people understand that the English Bible has been provided by the good graces of the king. 

Jim

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