Since I’ve lived in the UK for over six
years now, I thought I ought to learn about British history. And when I was in
the library, I just happened to see “British History for Dummies” on the shelf,
so I grabbed it.
Interestingly – and not surprisingly –
translation comes up as an issue through British history. For example, Alfred
the Great, who lived in the ninth century, not only Beat the Vikings, but he
also created legal codes, commissioned the writing of the Anglo-Saxon
chronicle, and got many important Latin works translated into Anglo-Saxon.
Then, King Henry VIII, who drastically
re-shaped religion in England, also influenced translation, in particular of
the bible. He had William Tyndale put to death for translating the New
Testament into English, but then he distributed Miles Coverdale’s full
translation to all parishes just a few years later.
But, of course, it was really King James I
who got the bible translated into its best-known English format, which is
generally referred to as the King James bible.
Did you know British history was so
intertwined with translation?
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