Dr. Eyal Poleg (Queen Mary University of London)

Room 147

The 350 years between the mass-produced Bibles of the early thirteenth century and the reign of the child-king Edward VI saw major transformations to Church and book culture. The Reformation and the introduction of moveable type print have altered the nature of Bibles, their texts, and the way they have been put to use. Print and Reformation are often seen as watersheds in the history of the Bible. However, the materiality of biblical manuscripts and early prints — their layout, addenda, size and readers annotations — presents a more complex picture. This lecture will trace the long history of Latin in English Bibles. It will reveal a unique merging of linguistic sphere in late medieval England, one that does not easily fit within the link between English Scriptures and Lollard heresy. It will also trace the perseverance of Latin in the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, demonstrating a hesitant and uncertain course of change, encoded in medieval and early modern English Bibles.