BATTLE OF THE BIBLES

Chapter Three

Tyndale the Brave

William Tyndale, the great Oxford and Cambridge scholar of the early sixteenth century, had a natural bent for languages. It is claimed that he could speak as naturally in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish and French as in his native English.

His knowledge of New Testament Greek had been finely honed by Holland's intellectual giant, Desiderius Erasmus, who had graced the halls of Cambridge as a teacher from 1510-1514. Erasmus's extensive research into the history of the Greek New Testament caused him to divide the manuscripts into two classes; those which agreed substantially with what we now call the Received Text (Textus Receptus) as used by the Waldenses and the Byzantine church, and those which agreed with the Vaticanus manuscript, the treasure of the Roman Catholic Church (Nolan, "The Integrity of the Greek Vulgate", pp 413, 414).

Both of these men stood out as intellectual towers in an age that was noted for its superb scholarship. History has shown that Tyndale not only left his mould on English thinking for generations to come, but he actually provided a solid base for the development of the English language which at that time was emerging as a fine vehicle of expression.

But it was not academic training alone which fitted Tyndale for his dynamic role in shaping the social and religious affairs of an emerging Reformationist England as a mighty bastion of Protestantism. He was a committed Christian who determined that no obstacle should prevent the attainment of his ambition to make available to the common people the pure Word of God.

One day, while arguing with some priests and exhorting them to study the Scriptures instead of blindly accepting the pronouncement of the pope as authority, Tyndale gave voice to his ambition:

It was this commitment which was later to lead to his martyrdom - a price which he was quite prepared to pay in the achievement of his goal.

His great opportunity came when his mentor, Erasmus, published his printed translation of the New Testament in Greek. At once, like the German monk, Martin Luther, Tyndale recognised Erasmus's translation as God's immortal gift to man. Here was a work which rejected the text of the Catholic Vulgate in favour of those manuscripts which were not only in the vast majority, but had an outstanding history of Syrian, Greek and Waldensian usage. The Vulgate could boast no such pedigree. It had been consistently used in areas where Rome had exercised political and religious control and because of early corruptions in Alexandria and Rome, it had come to be distinguished, as were its antecedents, as the Alexandrian and Western lines of Bibles.

With Erasmus's translation, Tyndale knew that he now had a tool which had not been available to his predecessor, John Wycliffe, who some one and a half centuries earlier had questioned the infallibility of the pope and given to the English a Bible in their own language. Being a bald translation of the Roman Catholic Vulgate, it contained most of the errors of the Alexandrian line. His Bible preceded the invention of printing, so, being very expensive, it could only be read by a privileged few.

Although Wycliffe has been justly called "The Morning Star of the Reformation", the world only caught a glimmer of the daybreak as his translation from a text favoured by the papal hierarchy was not able fully to penetrate the all-pervading fog of the Dark Ages.

Tyndale knew that his cherished task would not be easy. England was still Roman Catholic. The reigning monarch, Henry VIII, was a Catholic and a staunch defender of ritualism. The pope had conferred on him the title, "Defender of the Faith" which the British sovereigns carry to this day. He had no time for Protestantism. Yet even he had been influenced by criticisms of the papacy by Colet and Erasmus

When he eventually quarreled with the Roman hierarchy, it was more over political differences than religious ones. He was quite happy to maintain the ritualism and pomp of Catholic worship, but he refused the notion of papal authority over both church and state. Later, in 1534, the English parliament abrogated papal supremacy in favour of the King.

The High Church of England even to this day reflects Henry's attitudes in that it is content to retain many Roman practices and beliefs, yet it does not acknowledge, at least outwardly, the authority of the pope.

Henry VIII had done nothing to hinder the church's hostility to Wycliffe's English Bible and made no secret of his aversion to reformers like Luther. Tyndale realised that Henry would give him no support in a likely confrontation with the Catholic clergy.

But in Germany, things were different. The invention of printing in Mainz in 1440 enabled cheap and wide distribution of ideas. Already Luther's pronouncements and writings against the papal system were bearing much fruit. In 1522, Luther had been successful in bringing out his German-language New Testament. Tyndale determined to enhance his chances of producing an English Bible by exiling himself in Germany. In 1524 he left his beloved homeland and settled down in Hamburg to the work of translation.

But the tentacles of Rome were long and strong. No sooner had Tyndale arranged to have his Bible printed in Cologne than he was forced to hurriedly gather up his precious manuscripts and flee with them to Worms. There, in 1525, he was successful in having the New Testament printed, but he still the problem of getting the Bibles into England where Catholic bishops had been influential in obtaining a blockade what was regarded as dangerous merchandise. And so it was- and remains to this day - in the eyes of popery.

In order to circumvent the blockade, Tyndale's helpers were forced to invent ways to secrete the Bibles among items of merchandise. In this way, most of the Bibles eluded seizure and the consequent sacrilege of a public burning. Indeed, one such burning took place in 1530 when the Bishop of Long supervised an auto da fe' type of ceremony in the church yard of St Paul's Cathedral. By 1534 Tyndale had not only produced an amended edition of his New Testament, but had translated much of the Old Testament. ("Auto da fe" is a Spanish term meaning "Act of faith", the name given by Rome to the ceremony of the public burning of heretics.)

In spite of continuing hostility, thousands were soon eagerly devouring the precious Words of Life. But the very success of "Operation People's Bible" ensured swift papal revenge. Tyndale had foreseen his fate when he made the remark: "If they burn me also [a reference to the burning of his Testament] they shall do no other than I look for".

Sure enough, the papal emissaries hunted him down incarcerated him in a dungeon in Flanders. On October 1536, he was chained to the stake. Mercifully, he was strangled before the flames of papal intolerance and revenge were applied to the faggots, but not before he was able to utter a prayer his beloved country: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." He was fifty-three years of age, a hero of the cross, a martyr and a pioneer Reformer. Did he realise that he was responsible for setting England on a collision course with Rome and that his Bible, along with Luther's, was the opening salvo of a broadside of truth that would release Europe from the iron grip of the Vatican?

Three years later, Catholicism received another blast when French received their Olivetan Bible. All of these translations substantially agreed with the New Testament text of Erasmus, and recognising their strong apostolic tradition, Rome correctly branded them as "Waldensian Bibles". (see Comba, "The Waldenses of Italy", p 192)

Tyndale's dying prayer for England was partially answered within three years. His Bible quickly won many friends, one of whom was Thomas Cranmer. Like the king, Archbishop Cranmer was a Roman Catholic; hence he saw no reason as a cleric to shun politics. He was very close to Henry VIII - so close that he is reported to have facilitated the King's two divorces.

Cranmer seized his advantage with the King and sought to win him over to Tyndale's New Testament, but Henry had no time whatever for Tyndale whom he considered of the same mould as his mentor, Erasmus, who had well and truly outraged the church with his satirical criticism of the priesthood. Hence he found it politically expedient to spurn Tyndale's translation.

In 1535 there appeared in England the first complete printed Bible, by Miles Coverdale. His New Testament was a slight revision of Tyndale's. This was closely followed by the Matthews Bible (1537), so named for the pen-name used by John Rogers. Tyndale had turned over to Rogers his translation material for the Old Testament at the time of his imprisonment.

Although these Bibles were in agreement with Tyndale's, they were more acceptable to Henry, not only because they bore the names of other translators, but they no longer contained Tyndale's comments and notes.

Coverdale was soon commissioned to prepare another version, based on the Matthews Bible. This came out in 1539 and was called the Great Bible because of its size – 16 ½ x 11 inches. This Bible obtained the approval of King Henry and he ordered a copy to be placed in every church.

Little by little, Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, was surely becoming a Protestant Reformer. Did he realise that his course and the influence he was having on the King would lead him to the same fate as befell Tyndale?

As King Henry's court was still virtually Roman Catholic, Cranmer often experienced the emotional pangs common to the lone Reformer. But with the death of Henry in 1547, Cranmer was to gain a staunch ally in his heir, King Edward VI. Born of Jane Seymour, the third of Henry's wives, he became an ardent Reformer and between them he and Cranmer were able to greatly advance the cause of Protestantism. Reforming preachers seemed to burst forth as plants released from winter's icy grip reach up and absorb the life-giving warmth of the sun. Only this time, England's clergy were experiencing the spiritual growth that comes from the "Sun of Righteousness". Such names as Ridley, Latimer, Rogers, Hooper, Bradford and Saunders soon became famous Protestant identities.

But this euphoric time of emergence from popery was to be short-lived. In 1553 King Edward went to a premature grave, but the effect which he had in nurturing the seedlings of Protestantism was vital and long-lasting. When Archbishop Cranmer sorrowfully conducted his king's funeral service, could he have possibly realised that this would be his last official duty?

And so it was! Edward's half-sister Mary, daughter of the Spanish Catherine of Aragon, and, like her mother, fiercely Catholic, next ascended the throne of England, but only after solemnly swearing that she would allow freedom of religion. But no sooner had she been crowned than she discarded her pretence and proceeded to displace Protestant leaders. She ordered Cranmer to be confined to his house and put a Roman Catholic in his place.

Within a few weeks, Coverdale, the Bible translator, together with other Reformers, found himself in gaol. Grafton and Whitchurch, who had printed Coverdale's Bible, fell from grace. It was soon evident that Mary was determined to return England to Catholicism. Protestant ministers were speedily replaced by ignorant priests whose mass and liturgy were performed in Latin. They had absolutely no use for a Bible in the vernacular, let alone a Protestant one.

Queen Mary's piety for the faith of her Spanish mother did not go unnoticed in the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Charles V, ruler of Spain and the greater part of Western Europe, had acquired much of his empire through the fashionable expedient of inter-marriage with European royalty. As his father had been honoured with the title of "Most Catholic King", and had acquired vast wealth from the spices, silver and gold from the Indies and the Americas, few potentates felt in a position to ignore his advances. If he could arrange the marriage of his only son Philip to Queen Mary, he would not only bring England within his own political orbit but would enlist her as an ally in subjugating his troublous neighbour, France. Thus he would secure a sizeable block of Europe against the enemies of Spain and the Holy Catholic Church. Furthermore, if the marriage were to produce a son, he would automatically become the rightful heir to the English throne, and another peaceful Spanish conquest would eventuate.

It so happened that at the age of twenty-seven, Philip was very eligible. The fact that Mary was eleven years his senior was quite irrelevant to the cause. Philip, ever the dutiful son and a lackey of the pope, was willing. Could Mary be persuaded to lay aside her spinster-driven thoughts of marital martyrdom to secure the future of a papal empire? Most certainly she would!

For the English, such a match did not hold popular appeal. The possibility of an heir born to a Spanish king and a half-Spanish queen was fraught with danger to England's sovereignty. A poorly-prepared insurrection led by Sir Thomas Wyatt, whose battle cry was "No Spanish match! No Inquisition!", was a failure and resulted in the loss of his head with others of his supporters also being executed.

On June 25, 1554, the royal pair were married in Winchester Cathedral as equals in rank, for Philip's father, the Emperor Charles, had kept his part of the bargain by announcing his intention of abdicating the throne so that Mary could marry a king.

Before the year was out, the royal couple were to bask in the sunshine of the pope's blessing by his appointment of Cardinal Pole as Papal Legate to England. Thus was a wayward England reconciled to Rome and accepted into the bosom of the church.

Mary lost no time in vindicating the pope's faith in Catholic England. To the yoke of Rome she would now add the sword of Spain! There was that troublesome Vicar, John Rogers, who recently had flouted the laws of priestly celibacy by taking himself a wife and then having the temerity to get up at St Paul's Cross and condemn popery. Mary's henchmen had been keeping a watchful eye on this heretic who had shown his true colours back in the days of her brother's reign when he collaborated with Tyndale and Coverdale to produce those "wretched" Protestant Bibles. Not satisfied with that, he had gone on to produce an updated version of his own under the pseudonym of "Matthew's" Bible. So in 1555, amidst the protest of a great crowd of her subjects, she had Rogers burnt at the stake in Smithfield.

Having unwittingly immortalised Rogers as the first of her many martyrs, there seemed to be no limit to the manifestations of Mary's papal zeal. Her Catholic court instructed justices in each of England's counties to appoint secret informers to spy on her subjects and report on those who did not attend Mass and who generally failed to conduct themselves in the manner of good Catholics.

A popish triumvirate consisting of Bishop Bonner of London, Bishop Gardiner of Winchester and Cardinal Pole, was invested with the powers of deciding who should have freedom or imprisonment, life or death. As a consequence, England's gaols began receiving a seemingly endless stream of "stubborn" clerics and hapless citizens. Fires of vengeance flared in Gloucester, Coventry, Hadleigh and other parts of Suffolk, Carmarthen in Wales, Canterbury and Oxford.

Among those who perished for their faith were such prominent friends of the open Bible as Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer, the latter having been associated with the production of "The Great Bible". These names are immortalised in British Protestant history and their martyrdom commemorated even in the antipodes, where in the splendid city of Christchurch, New Zealand, is a magnificent Anglican cathedral set amidst three civic squares, each proudly bearing one of the illustrious martyrs' names.

It would be remiss not to mention that laymen and women also were prepared to witness to their Protestant faith. We shall here mention the case of William Hunter, a mere youth of eighteen years, yet in possession of a maturity of Christian experience that enabled him to be faithful unto death--even the death of the fiery stake. His experience is especially pertinent to the purpose of this book in that it underlines the intense hatred of Rome for the Protestant Bible and demonstrates the importance which Rome attaches to the open Bible in relation to the part it played in the Reformation.

One day in 1554, an officer of the bishop's court reprimanded William for reading the Bible. "Why meddlest thou with the Bible?.... Canst thou expound Scripture?" William replied: "I presume not to expound Scripture: ... I read for my comfort and edification. " He was reported to a neighbouring priest who inquired of him as to who had given him permission to read the Bible. After giving the priest a similar answer to that given to the officer, William was branded a heretic and marked for future attention.

That attention consisted of numerous opportunities to reaffirm his rejection of transubstantiation and the priestly confessional as he was passed along the hierarchical chain that inevitably led to free boarding arrangements in one of Her Majesty's prisons. There he was kept in irons for nine months, save for periodic visits to the bishop's inquisition which usually ended in cajoling, threats and damnations.

On March 27, 1555, at the tender age of nineteen, he was led to the stake and kneeling down on "a wet brown faggot" he took comfort by reading aloud the fifty-first Psalm.

And now we see an example of the almost unbelievable hatred which the Romanists harboured against the Protestant Bible and those who trusted in it. Coming to verse seventeen, William read; "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not despise ".

"Thou liest, heretic! Thou readest false!" came the rejoinder, 'for the words are an humble spirit! The translation saith 'a contrite heart"' replied William. "Yes," said his tormentor, "the translation is false; you translate books as you please yourselves, like heretics" (Source - "Foxe's Book of Martyrs", p 235).

According to Foxe's account, William Hunter claimed there was no great difference between the words "humble" and "contrite", which all reasonable persons could go along with. But Bonner's bullies were not reasonable people and here we have a striking insight into the way in which Rome translates and then interprets Scripture to suit the occasion.

The Scriptures of the Received Text do not employ the word "humble" which was exactly what Rome's threats of torture were all about - humbling a man by forcing him to obey man. Whereas the word "contrite" not only encompasses "humbleness" but has the added spiritual connotation of "being broken-hearted for sin" (Collins). In the circumstances, what must have appeared to young William as puerile semantics and hair splitting, can be seen in retrospect as Rome's deadly serious abuse of Scripture. Here is an example of the superiority of the Received Text in transmitting God's Word to man.

And so, with this manifestation of hatred towards God's Word and those who treasured it, a young "contrite heart" went to his terrible death with a vision of popish bigotry and hatred seared upon his mind, only to be erased by the consuming flames.

Mercifully, Queen Mary had a short life and even shorter reign, dying on November 17, 1558, at the age of forty-two. Although her reign lasted only five years, it was long enough for her to have justly earned the title of "Bloody Mary".

From the martyrdom of Vicar Rogers until just two days prior to her decease when five victims of her misplaced zeal were burned at Canterbury, it is estimated by Lord Burleigh that no fewer than two hundred and eighty-eight persons were burned at the stake. Innumerable others perished by imprisonment, torture, sickness and starvation. (Close, "Defeat of the Spanish Armada", p 23).

Providentially, Mary had no children to Philip, thereby denying him the satisfaction of turning England into a Spanish dependency; a providential happening which is probably responsible for the fact that this book is written in English - or even written at all!

Within a few hours of Bloody Mary's passing the papal legate, Cardinal Pole, breathed his last. As the news of the dual deaths spread around England, a majority of the people saw it as a double cause for rejoicing. Church steeples peeled out the joy of the citizens and evening bonfires lit up the sky, while parties of excited citizens danced, ate and made merry in the streets. At once it was apparent that the recently enforced Catholicism had fooled no one. The spontaneous jubilation was an expression of relief from people who, for the vast majority, had experienced the reign of both Protestant and Roman Catholic monarchs and had suffered under the latter. "God save Queen Elizabeth" was the popular chorus reverberating throughout the land, for it was spread abroad that Elizabeth, half-sister to the late queen, was a committed Protestant.

And so she proved to be! But this did not prevent the wily Philip of Spain from making her a proposal of marriage. Her reply curtly informed him that she "had espoused her kingdom" ("Foxe's Book of Martyrs", p 329).

Elizabeth had to proceed with what she saw as her life's mission with the utmost sagacity and caution. Mary's legacy to England was a realm infested with papal plotters and Catholic preachers who instituted a campaign to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Elizabeth's birth and hence her succession.

During her half-sister's reign, the pulpits had been "cleansed" of Protestant clergymen who had either fled the country or been liquidated by her consent or command. In order to bring the churches back under Protestant control, Elizabeth invited the exiled Reformers to return. As they re-entered their homeland and resumed their ministry, they did so with renewed vigour and zeal, for while mixing with the Reformers of Europe, their love of truth had been strengthened and their spirits revived. With them they brought their Protestant Bibles from which they derived their strength.

One of Elizabeth's first moves against Catholicism's liturgy was to command that the Litany and the Gospels be read in English, and that the sacrifice of the Mass be discontinued.

It is worthy of notice, and to the credit of Elizabeth and the Protestant cause, that as the Catholic priests were replaced with Protestants, they were not arrested and punished as had been the case when Mary was queen. In contrast, and in keeping with the teaching of the true Head of Christianity, the displaced clergy were permitted to retire with dignity on a state pension. Where the Romanists erected the stake as their sign of authority, the Protestants set up the English Bible as their rule of faith. (See Close, "Defeat of the Spanish Armada", pp 25, 26).

Another compelling reason for caution was the fact that Scotland and France had forged a papal-inspired alliance. The heiress to the throne of Scotland, Mary Stuart, was the wife of France's Catholic King, Francis II. With the pope's blessing, he had assumed the title and arms of England and proclaimed his intention of using Scotland as a springboard for invading England with the aim of dethroning Elizabeth. With his wife Mary then enthroned in her place, England would once more be returned to the arms of a grateful pope.

But this threat was to be unexpectedly removed when on May 2, 1559, one of Scotland's exiled Reformers suddenly arrived in Edinburgh. He was John Knox, already well known throughout Scotland, and his arrival caused consternation among Queen Mary's Council. Within a few days he was declared an outlaw by royal proclamation. This only served to broadcast the news of his return, which brought great joy and renewed hope to the beleaguered Reformers.

Their numbers had been steadily increasing as the news and influence of the German Reformers reached Scotland, and translations of the Scriptures were extensively circulated. (Warner and Marten, "The Groundwork of British History", p 299)

John Knox, although a religious man and a Reformer, was also a highly political person who believed in action. He travelled about Scotland holding rallies, generally lifting the depressed spirits of the Reformers. At one such meeting in Perth, he preached a sermon denouncing idolatry. His audience was so convicted that they rushed off and attacked and destroyed monasteries and other religious houses. "Burn the nests and the rooks will fly, " cried Knox (ibid p 302).

When eventually he went the way of all flesh and rested beneath his epitaph, all would agree with the truth written there "Here lies one who never feared the face of man".

The tide of opinion quickly turned against the popish -controlled government, a circumstance which soon neutralised any threat to England and resulted in imprisonment for the Scottish Queen. With both England and Scotland now well on the way to becoming Protestant countries, they, for the first time had a common bond which would eventually bring about that political union which we know today as Great Britain.

But, just as importantly, with this union there arose a Protestant alliance which was to flourish throughout the British Empire. When the Empire lost its colonies in North America, the Protestant bond not only remained, but strengthened. Within this alliance, there arose the great Bible Societies which propelled the Protestant Bibles to the uttermost parts of the world.

We have noted the great influence which the Reformation in Europe was having on England and Scotland in particular; and it was to Protestant areas of Europe that many a persecuted Reformer fled for safety and succour.

At the time of John Knox's return to Scotland, Geneva had become a busy centre for Bible translation. Calvin, a relative of the Waldensian, Olivetan, who translated the New Testament into the French language, had edited a second edition of his Bible. This Waldensian Bible then became the basis of an English-language Bible which came to be known as the Geneva Bible because it was translated in Geneva. For the first time, a complete English Bible was divided into verses.

By 1560, this Geneva Bible was being enthusiastically adopted by Protestant England and Scotland where it was to remain the leading version until it was finally superseded by the King James Version of 1611.

It was this line of Bibles which came to be known as the Received Text. This line, preserved during the Dark Ages by the churches of the wilderness, inspired the Reformation and resulted in catastrophe for Roman Catholicism.

Rome could not let the use of the Protestant Bible, with its religious and political consequences, go unchallenged. In 1545 the Vatican assembled a council of war against the Reformation. Known as the Council of Trent, it was prolonged until the year 1563.

Very early in its deliberations, the Council was seen to give recognition to, and allow itself to be dominated by, a recently-formed sect of the Roman Catholic Church known as the Society of Jesus, whose members are commonly referred to as Jesuits. Their principal founder, Ignatius Lyola, is described in Collin's Dictionary as "a crafty person, an intriguer (an opprobrious use of the word)" while Jesuitism is defined as: "the principles and practices of the Jesuits; cunning deceit; deceptive practices to effect a purpose". The perceived aim of the Society is to protect Roman Catholicism by destroying Protestantism.

When we consider Protestantism's forceful and consistent denunciations of Romanism in those times, its gross immorality, its intrigue and false religion, it would be expected that meeting these charges would be high on the Council's list of priorities. But this was not the case.

Instead, the very first subject to be discussed at the Council was the Scriptures and the supremacy of the Vulgate's Latin text. Here is cogent testimony to Rome's acknowledgment of the prime-mover of the Reformation - the Waldensian Bibles. The members of the Council were particularly obsessed with Luther, his Bible and his Bible-based propositions derived there from, and so they listed four of his propositions and condemned them outright as works of rank heresy. Below are Luther's four propositions:

Condemnation 1.

"That the Holy Scriptures contained all things necessary to salvation, and that it was impious to place apostolic tradition on a level with Scripture".

Condemnation 2.

"That certain books accepted as canonical in the Vulgate were apocryphal and not canonical".

Condemnation 3.

"That Scripture must be studied in the original languages, and that there were errors in the Vulgate".

Condemnation 4.

"That the meaning of Scripture is plain, and that it can be understood without commentary with the help of Christ's Spirit" (See Froude, "Council of Trent", pp 174, 175).

By these condemnations the Council of Trent decreed that:

1. Church authority was of equal authority with Scripture.

2. That the Apocryphal books were as inspired as the canonical ones.

3. That the Vulgate did not contain error and required no correcting.

4. That the Scriptures needed to be, and could only be, interpreted by the Catholic Church.

Even as the Council was deliberating, news of Knox's return to Scotland (1559) stung the Council into renewed vigour in planning their counter-attack on the Reformation. The Isles across the Channel came to be increasingly seen as the main threat to Roman Catholicism as the leadership of the Reformation appeared to be passing from Germany to England. Therefore England must become the focus of the counter-Reformation. Subsequent events have shown how a broadly based three-fold plan of action was immediately initiated:

1. Destroy the Reformation's spiritual base by bringing about a loss of confidence in its Bible and replace it with the Vulgate.

2. Infiltrate Protestant pulpits, schools and public institutions and fill the country with spies, preferably English ones.

3. Remove the Protestant government by intrigue, murder and, if necessary, by armed conquest.

In 1562, the year before the Council of Trent ended, the "most Catholic" of king's son, Philip II of Spain, opened a college at Douay, in his realm of the Netherlands.

This seminary was ostensibly established for the purpose of providing training for English Catholic students who either found themselves unwelcome at Oxford and Cambridge or whose religious scruples prevented them attending such colleges. J.G. Carleton, D.D. tells us that the originator of the project was really none other than an English clergyman named William Allen, who, at Elizabeth's succession, found it convenient to quit his position as Canon of York and Principal of St Mary's College, Oxford. He became the first president of a similar college at Rheims. ("Rheims and the English Bible", p 13).

Allen was typical of a growing number of English traitors whose loyalty to the pope and his earthly aspirations overshadowed any notion of allegiance to the crown of England. He is described by Carleton as one "best known as an active participator in the political intrigues of his day" (ibid).

But such a description gives little indication of the extent of Allen's seditious activities. The real purpose of the seminary and its Jesuit-run subsidiary college, was to train English priests who would return to England as spies and counter Reformationists. He was also responsible for later setting up another English college in Rome. Between them, these three colleges would orchestrate a well-planned, double-pronged attack on England and Protestantism. The first prong would consist of the translation of their Vulgate Bible into English and the second would consist of the training and supervising of subversive activities in the religious and political life of England. The ultimate goal was the installation of a papal-friendly government.

The task of translating the New Testament was given to the Jesuits at Rheims. The fact that it took some two decades to complete is indicative of the patience and perseverance that characterises Rome's far-sightedness.

But the work of infiltration and intrigue began almost immediately. In 1567, two Jesuit priests, Saunders and Parsons, both Englishmen, were discovered itinerating in England, with authority from the pope to absolve all who would return to the Roman fold. Pope Pius sought to encourage any wavering Catholics when in May, 1570 he openly declared papal warfare against England by issuing a Bull excommunicating Queen Elizabeth. Especially would this encourage the support of the numerous Roman Catholics and their political supporters who now found their Romish aspiration disadvantaged under a Protestant regime.

Not the least of these were the deposed Roman clergy whom Elizabeth had magnanimously allowed to live on in a civilised state of retirement - an act which no doubt the pope saw as a fortuitous oversight which could be turned to his advantage.

Soon England was crawling with spies. Numerous plots to murder the Queen were uncovered. Weapons such as stilettos and exotic poisons supplemented the formal clerical tools like catechisms, rosaries and holy water. (See Close, "The Defeat of the Spanish Armada", p 32).

The English Parliament reacted by issuing edicts making it a treasonable offence to brand the Queen as a heretic and a usurper of the throne, and another, prohibited the publication of any Bull or absolution from the pope.

It was not long before Campion, an Oxonian who had been trained by the Jesuits, put the Government edict to the test. He was arrested while disguised as a soldier, along with three of his accomplices, all of whom were executed for high treason. Historian Albert Close makes this comment on such traitors:

Close then continues:

"Not a year passed after the arrival of the Jesuits, Campion and Parsons, without an insurrection or plot in some part of the Queen's dominions. The prisons of London contained numerous `massing priests, sowers of sedition', charged with destroying the public peace and preaching disaffection to the Queen's Government and person" ("The Defeat of the Spanish Armada", p 33).

King Philip II of Spain had been watching events in Elizabeth's realm with a suspicious eye. Ever since she had rebuffed his offer of marriage he had been inclined to let events take their natural course, meaning, letting Allen's men and the Jesuits attend to England. It was entirely feasible that these conspirators could very well succeed in placing Mary on the throne. Even after Mary had been imprisoned, Elizabeth had shown that she was loath to take her cousin's life. While there was life, there was hope.

Ever the artful diplomat, Elizabeth had repeatedly assured Philip of her country's friendship with Spain. But some of her government's actions had sorely tested his sense of honour. There was England's increasing support for the rebellious Reformers in the Netherlands. This part of the Spanish empire had long been held in the grip of Catholicism. With the advent of the Reformation, instigated by Luther and his Bible, a papal Inquisition had been set up which King Philip was later constrained to describe as being more pitiless than in Spain (Grierson, "King of Two Worlds", p 86).

Back in 1568, Philip had negotiated a large loan with Genoese bankers for the support of his satrap in the Netherlands, the Duke of Alva. Alva was having trouble collecting sufficient taxes to support his war against the Protestant rebels. While the treasure was being transported to Alva in a convoy of Spanish ships, it drew the attention of some pirates. The convoy artfully dodged the pirates by seeking refuge in some of the Channel ports around Plymouth whereupon the English Government promptly impounded the ships and removed the treasure.

But Queen Elizabeth was not wanting for an explanation to the justifiably outraged Philip. Her government had acted with "the utmost propriety". She said, "As the treasure had not yet been delivered, it was technically still the property of the bankers in Genoa. It was in everyone's interests that England had removed the treasure on shore to save it from almost certain seizure by the French pirates ".

The Duke of Alva responded with alacrity and seized all English ships and merchandise in the Netherlands ports; so Elizabeth did not feel bound to release the confiscated treasure. As it was worth infinitely more than that seized by Alva, she was able to laugh all the way to the treasury!

Pope Gregory XIII was not slow to read Philip's mind. Over recent years he had been urging him to forcibly bring England into the Spanish domain and thus back into the fold of the Holy Catholic Church. But Philip was not inclined to respond to the pope's leading, for there was always that nagging thought that the troublesome French might take advantage of a Spain that was busily engaged in a major invasion.

Then there was the problem of neighbouring Portugal. Increasingly Spain's "brothers in the faith" and co-inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, were challenging the supremacy of the sea lanes to Asia and the newly-acquired Americas. In 1580, after failing to achieve a peaceful settlement, Philip assembled an army under the command of the Duke of Alva, whom he had recalled from the Netherlands, and assembled it near the frontier with Portugal. When this intimidatory manoeuvre failed, it had to be war. Accordingly, early in 1581, Philip's army and navy converged on Lisbon. After only a token resistance the fighting ended and Philip found himself king of Portugal.

This was the apogee of Philip's reign. In one bold stroke he had acquired the vast empire of Portugal stretching from the Cape of Good Hope around the coast of Africa, across the Arabian Sea to India, the isles and archipelagos of the Indies and even through Indo-China to China itself. To his huge empire in the Americas, Philip had added that vast territory in South America known as Brazil - so vast that the Amazon basin alone covered a land mass approximate in size to that great western bulge in Africa which encompasses the Sahara Desert. And, very importantly, he had virtually doubled the size of Spain's navy. Truly, Philip had brought Spain to the zenith of her power! Only England stood in his way to challenge his mastery of the seas.

Philip realised that England must be subdued. He had high hopes for the success of the subversive actions planned by Allen through the training at his college in Douay and those in Rheims and Rome. And then there was the long-awaited assault on the English Bible with the translation of the Vulgate into English at Rheims. If this Bible could capture the hearts of the English and return them to their former faith, it should be comparatively easy to topple the heretical government of Elizabeth by having her removed from power. It would not then be necessary to mount an outright invasion of England.

Even so, Philip, ever the cautious King, was determined to be prepared for all eventualities. Now that he had the Portuguese fleet at his disposal, an invasion of England had become a much more feasible proposition. He would proceed to secretly build the world's greatest armada, just in case!

Bible Battle TOC