Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-07T22:57:38.450Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 4 - Bible Translation and Controversy in Late Medieval England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2020

Get access

Summary

The Two Versions of the Middle English Bible

It was not until the latter part of the fourteenth century that the whole Bible was translated into English, first in a very literal form (the Early Version), which was then revised into more fluent prose (the Later Version). Following the lead of the editors of the 1850 edition, Josiah Forshall and Frederic Madden, the combined result is sometimes referred to as the “Wyclif(fe) Bible,” or the “Lollard Bible,” or, most frequently, the “Wycliffite Bible.” Sometimes, however, it goes by the neutral designation of “Middle English Bible,” which I follow, since I do not think that the case for Wycliffite content, origin, or reception has been made. Not a single word or phrase in either version has been identified as having heterodox import. Furthermore, although both Wyclif and two of his followers, Nicholas Hereford and John Purvey, used to be confidently considered to be among the translators, that is no longer the case. Finally, the texts were widely copied and used in impeccably orthodox circumstances, and, contrary to frequent assertions, neither version was prohibited by the Canterbury constitutions formulated at Oxford in 1407. These matters will be discussed below.

The Earlier Version of the Middle English Bible seems have been done at Oxford in the 1370s or so, with the Later Version revision probably occurring sometime in the 1380s. Both forms, but especially the Later Version, became very popular, surviving in many manuscripts. A number of theories have been put forth as to why the work of translation was done in stages. One is that the Early Version was originally designed to help the parish clergy that came to Oxford for a few years of study, in order to increase their understanding of the Latin Bible. Another is that it was done to ensure that the exact meaning of the Latin Scripture was being transferred into English before it was modified into less awkward idioms. Sven Fristedt has suggested that the revision was due to a change in translation philosophy, from grammatical and literal fidelity to a more elastic conception of meaning.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×