The 16th Century English Reformer That Nobody Knows: Myles Coverdale

Myles Coverdale is the 16th century English reformer that nobody knows. If you have ever appreciated reading or singing the Psalms in the 1662, 1928, or 1979 Books of Common Prayer, they are Coverdale's English translation! Coverdale's beautiful renderings of the Psalms are used in Handel's "Messiah," based on the Prayer Book Psalter rather than the King James Bible. Coverdale studied philosophy at Cambridge, was an Augustinian friar, and briefly the Bishop of Exeter (1551-1553). His journey from Roman Catholicism to Protestantism almost exactly parallels that of Thomas Cranmer - from Catholic to Lutheran to Reformed. His was the first completed printed translation of the Bible in English (1535), picking up where William Tyndale left off and also using Martin Luther's German translation. He contributed heavily to the very popular Geneva Bible (1560, written by English Protestants living in exile during Queen Mary's reign), and indirectly to the resoundingly unpopular King James Version (1611). Coverdale died at the age of 81 on January 20, 1569.