This analysis of Cambridge University Library, MS Mm.2.15 indicates some ways in which the English Bible may have been read by social elites during the mid-Tudor period. The presence of the Cambridge manuscript within the royal collection followed a precedent set by several of Edward VI's predecessors, who owned manuscript copies of the Wycliffite Bible. The exclusive status of the Middle English scriptural text changed after printed English bibles became more available, beginning with William Tyndale's New Testament edition in 1526. Despite this proliferation of printed versions of the Bible in English, however, the Cambridge manuscript indicates that privileged readers showed a readiness to adapt older manuscript copies of the text for their use.

medieval Wycliffite Bible, English biblical translation, Middle English scriptural manuscript, Tudor court, courtly reading
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© 2017 by Duke University Press
2017
Issue Section:
Case studies: Manuscript markings in biblical artifacts
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