routledge+history+of+literature+in+english

86 The Renaissance 1485–1660
Renaissance scholarship, however, had a decisive impact on sixteenthcentury
biblical translations into English. William Tyndale, in the 1520s and
1530s, used a Greek text established by Erasmus for a translation of the New
Testament, and a Hebrew text for translations from the Old Testament. Tyndale
was regarded as a religious subversive and, mainly on account of these
translations, was burnt at the stake near Brussels. Nevertheless, his work
formed the basis of future versions of the Bible in English. Once Henry VIII
had broken with Rome in 1534, the Anglican church ordered an English
version of the Bible to be made in 1539. This did not appear until 1560 when
it was presented to Elizabeth I by Miles Coverdale, who had spent much of
the intervening period in Geneva working on a translation based on Tyndale’s
version. Coverdale’s version became known as the Geneva Bible and it is
this text which was familiar to most readers, including Shakespeare, until
well into the seventeenth century. Meanwhile, in 1568, a rival version appeared
known as the Bishop’s Bible. This was a return to translating from the Latin
Vulgate and published as a counterbalance to the Calvinist Geneva Bible.
The King James Version, which was the product of fifty-four scholars, was
largely based on the Bishop’s and Geneva Bibles. Before the end of the
seventeenth century it had effectively replaced the Geneva Bible in popularity.
The King James Version, which can be seen as the affirmation of Protestant
England and a celebration of its freedom from Rome, is arguably the single
most influential work in the English language. It is a repository rich in poetry
as well as parable, so that its cadences have not only been heard in church
confirming the religious direction of the nation; but its language has contributed
immensely to English cultural identity through the innumerable writers who
for almost four centuries have echoed its phrasing.
LANGUAGE NOTE
The language of the Bible
The Bible has been one of the major shaping influences in the
development of the English language. However, the history of the
relationship between the Bible and the English language has been a long
and at times controversial one. For example, in 1382 John Wycliff translated
the Vulgate edition of the Bible, published in Latin, into Middle English
but caused controversy because many people believed that English was