COV'ERDALE, .11ILEs, an eminent English divine, was b. in Yorkshire in 1487. He was educated at Cambridge by the Augustin friars, and becoming an Augustin monk, was ordained at Norwich. lie appears, however, to have soon changed his religious opinions and to have devoted himself earnestly to the work of the reformation. Being abroad in 1532, he assisted Tyndale with his translation of the Scriptures, and three years afterwards appeared his own translation of the Bible, with a dedication, by himself to Henry VIII. This was the first English Bible sanctioned by royal authority, as, indeed, it was time first complete translation of the Bible printed in the English language.
The psalms of this translation are those still used in the book of common prayer. In 1538, C., with the consent of king Henry VIII., and with the permission of Francis I., went to Paris to superintend another English edition of the Scriptures, his reason for going to Paris being that paper and workmanship were there cheaper and better than in England. The inquisition, however, notwithstanding the royal license of Francis, inter fered, seized the whole impression, consisting of 2,300 copies, and condemned them to the flames. But through the cupidity of one of their executive officers, who sold a con siderable number of the heretical books to a haberdasher as waste paper, some copies were saved and brought to London along with the presses, types, etc., which had been employed in printing them. Several of the workmen also came over to London; and Grafton and Whitchurch, the noted printers of that clay, were thus enabled to bring out in 1539, under C.'s superintendence, the Great Bible, commonly called Cranmer's Bible,
on account of that prelate having written a preface to it. In 1551, C. was appointed to the see of Exeter, the duties of which high ecclesiastical office he discharged with great zeal, until the accession of Mary in 15.53, when he was ejected, and thrown into prison, from which he was only released after two years' confinement, on the earnest intercession of the king of Denmark, whose interest was evoked by his chaplain, C.'s brother-in-law, and on the condition that he should leave the country. C. went to Denmark, and sub sequently to Geneva, where he assisted in producing the Genera Translation of the Scriptures (1557-60). On the accession of Elizabeth, he returned to England, but cer tain notions concerning ecclesiastical ceremonies imbibed at Geneva operated against his preferment in the church; and it was not until 1i164 that he was collated to the rectory of St. Magnus, London. Owing to age and infirmities, he resigned this living in 1566. and died in about two years afterwards. C. was the author of several tracts designed to promote the reformation, and made various translations from the works of the conti nental reformers. The tricentenary of the issue of his Bible was celebrated throughout the English church, Oct. 4, 1635, and medals were struck in honor of the occasion.