Bibles
The Vulgate
In the manuscript era, individual scribes, often situated in a monastery, would copy each line of a text by hand in order to create a new copy. This was slow, painstaking, and expensive work, making the Bible, especially a large, illustrated bible, an object of prestige. Even if someone could afford to commission or purchase one, he still may not have been able to read it, for the standard version in use by the Catholic Church was the Latin Vulgate.
The term vulgate essentially means "prepared for the common people," which was somewhat ironic since, in the sixteenth century, few were literate in Latin (if they were literate at all). Rather, if people were reading the Bible they were likely doing so with truly "vulgar" copies—those printed in their own language. These vernacular bibles were sometimes translated and distributed by laypersons who could read Latin and wanted to make the Scriptures available to others for their own spiritual growth. However, this practice was not necessarily common, and certainly not uncontested, as some authorities believed that the Bible was too complex and controversial for the minds of the masses. This attitude carried into the age of print, and Latin remained the language of the Catholic Church and its Bible even as the Protestant Reformation made the vernacular bible more available than ever before.
In the manuscript era, individual scribes, often situated in a monastery, would copy each line of a text by hand in order to create a new copy. This was slow, painstaking, and expensive work, making the Bible, especially a large, illustrated bible, an object of prestige. Even if someone could afford to commission or purchase one, he still may not have been able to read it, for the standard version in use by the Catholic Church was the Latin Vulgate.
The term vulgate essentially means "prepared for the common people," which was somewhat ironic since, in the sixteenth century, few were literate in Latin (if they were literate at all). Rather, if people were reading the Bible they were likely doing so with truly "vulgar" copies—those printed in their own language. These vernacular bibles were sometimes translated and distributed by laypersons who could read Latin and wanted to make the Scriptures available to others for their own spiritual growth. However, this practice was not necessarily common, and certainly not uncontested, as some authorities believed that the Bible was too complex and controversial for the minds of the masses. This attitude carried into the age of print, and Latin remained the language of the Catholic Church and its Bible even as the Protestant Reformation made the vernacular bible more available than ever before.
The Vernacular Bible
Saint Jerome also translated the Bible into his mother tongue. Why may not we also?—William Tyndale, The Obedience of a Christian Man
The first vernacular bible was printed in
Despite the longstanding tradition and popularity of the Vulgate, the renewed interest in the ancient languages brought about by humanist studies revealed transcription errors, fueling the desire for an improved translation.
The translation of the Scriptures into the languages of the people was both a distinctly Protestant and distinctly humanist endeavor. It not only emphasized the importance parishioners being able to understand and interact with the Bible for themselves, but it also required dedicated scholarship into the ancient languages to be able to do so. The reformers who translated these vernacular Bibles did so, when possible, from Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, and this practice was highlighted throughout the resulting texts.
Despite the longstanding tradition and popularity of the Vulgate, the renewed interest in the ancient languages brought about by humanist studies revealed transcription errors, fueling the desire for an improved translation.
The translation of the Scriptures into the languages of the people was both a distinctly Protestant and distinctly humanist endeavor. It not only emphasized the importance parishioners being able to understand and interact with the Bible for themselves, but it also required dedicated scholarship into the ancient languages to be able to do so. The reformers who translated these vernacular Bibles did so, when possible, from Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, and this practice was highlighted throughout the resulting texts.
1518-1559: Throughout the entire Reformation period, as defined by this exhibit (excluding the last two months of 1517), ending with the Elizabethan religious settlement, 114,328 editions were printed. Only 3,452 of this total were Bibles, a mere three percent.
Vulgate. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/vulgate (accessed January 14, 2016).
Corbellini, Sabrina. “Instructing the Soul, Feeling the Spirit and Awakening the Passion: Holy Writ and Lay Readers in Medieval Europe.” InShaping the Bible in the Reformation: Books, Scholars and Their Readers in the Sixteenth Century, 20:15–40. Library of the Written Word. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
Vulgate. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/vulgate (accessed January 14, 2016).
Corbellini, Sabrina. “Instructing the Soul, Feeling the Spirit and Awakening the Passion: Holy Writ and Lay Readers in Medieval Europe.” InShaping the Bible in the Reformation: Books, Scholars and Their Readers in the Sixteenth Century, 20:15–40. Library of the Written Word. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
Brennan, Gillian. “Patriotism, Language and Power: English Translations of the Bible, 1520-1580.” History Workshop, no. 27 (1989): 18–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4288885.
“Universal Short Title Catalogue.” Accessed March 18, 2016.http://ustc.ac.uk
George, Timothy. Reading Scripture with the Reformers . Downers Grove, Ill. : IVP Academic, 2011.
Josef Eskhult. “Latin Bible Translations in the Protestant Reformation.” In Shaping the Bible in the Reformation: Books, Scholars, and Their Readers in the Sixteenth Century, 20:167–86. Library of the Written Word. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2012.