Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles (c. 1488 – 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.
Regarding his probable birth county, Daniell cites John Bale, author of a sixteenth-century scriptorium, giving it as Yorkshire. His birth date is generally regarded as 1488.
Coverdale studied philosophy and theology at Cambridge, becoming bachelor of canon law in 1513. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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". 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. Ultimately, the work was completed in London by Grafton and Whitchurch.
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.