3 The Battle for the Language of the Bible

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I Bell chiming]
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[Indistinct conversations]
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[Mediaeval folk music playing]
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BRAGG:
In the last programme,
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we looked at the way in which
English had begun to oust French
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as the language
of law and government
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and how there was
a new confidence
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in English literature.
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MAN: Father, we are full fain
Your bidding to fulfil.
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Nine months past and plain
Since we were put to pain.
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BRAGG: But during
the 1 4th and 1 5th centuries,
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there began a movement
to return English
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to its central place in society.
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This fight
was often a violent one.
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It was as much a political story
as a linguistic one,
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and it starts right at the top,
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for late mediaeval Britain was,
above all, a religious society.
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The Catholic Church
controlled and pervaded
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all aspects of life,
and it was in the Church
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that this struggle for access
and power would be fought.
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English set out
to become the language of God.
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Subtitling made possible by
Acorn Media
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WOMAN: "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God,
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and the Word was God.
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And God created
the heavens and the earth."
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"Now the earth
was formless and empty."
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"And God said, 'Let there be
light, ' and there was light."
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WOMAN: "Through Him,
all things were made.
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Without Him, nothing was made
that has been made.
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In Him was life, and that life
was the light of men."
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Right, find number 1 2
in your hymnbook
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and then stand up
ready to really sing
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as well as you possibly can.
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# All over the world #
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# The spirit is moving #
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# All over the world #
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# As the prophet
said it would be #
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# All over the world #
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# There's a mighty revelation #
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# Of the glory of the Lord #
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In the beginning was the Word,
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but not if you lived
in 1 4th-century England
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and couldn't speak Latin.
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Power in words lay in the Bible.
There was no Bible in English.
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In formal terms, God spoke
to the people in Latin.
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Six centuries ago, the Bible
stories were commonly enjoyed,
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but not the Bible itself.
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To the vast majority,
it was a closed book.
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Bothe Osye and Isaye,
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Preued that a prins
withouten pere
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Shulde descende doune in a lady,
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To make mankynde clerly,
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To leche tham that are lorne.
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And in Bedlem hereby
Sall that same barne by borne.
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BRAGG:
These are the Mystery Plays,
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first performed in York
around 1 3 7 6
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and still being performed today.
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They tell the Christian story,
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from the mystery
of God's creation
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to the birth, death,
and resurrection of Christ.
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They are religious plays,
but they're not the Scriptures.
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They're a sort of
biblical soap opera,
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at the same kind of remove
from the original source
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as our nativity plays are today.
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If you wanted
to hear the real thing,
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you'd have to go in there,
in the minster,
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and hear it in Latin.
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[Women singing in Old English]
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Out here, you'll get
the strip-cartoon version
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in English.
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Only one play each year
is now performed
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in the original language...
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the language
of the time of Chaucer.
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Itt menes some meruayle
us emang,
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If fully you behete.
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[Laughs]
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What it shulde mene
that wate not yoee.
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For all yoe can gape and gone.
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I can synge itt
alls wele as they,
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And on asaie itt sall sone be
Proued or we passe.
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If yoe will helpe, halde on,
for thus it was.
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[Sings to "Tempus Adest
Floridum" in Old English]
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BRAGG: This year
it's the "Shepherds' Play,"
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the story of the three shepherds
seeing the angelic host
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coming and preparing
for the newly born Jesus.
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[Laughs]
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This was a mery note,
Be the dede that I sall dye,
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I have so crakid in my throte
That my lippis are nere drye.
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I trowe thou royse.
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An aungell brought vs
tythandes newe
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A babe in Bedlem
shulde be borne,
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Of whom than spake
oure prophicie trewe...
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And bad us mete hym thare
this morne.
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[Women singing in Latin]
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[Applause]
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BRAGG: That was
the language of the streets...
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immediate and direct.
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But in God's house, Latin ruled.
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MAN:
# Hallelujah #
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[Men vocalising]
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BRAGG:
Anybody who was brought up
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in the ways of
the Church of England, as I was,
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would find
a mediaeval church service
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linguistically
a strange and remote affair.
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When you went to church then...
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and everybody had to,
it was compulsory...
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there was
no familiar English Hymnal,
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Hymns Ancient and Modern,
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or even
the Book of Common Prayer.
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Everything was in Latin.
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And, at best, you'd only have
understood the odd word of it.
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[Men singing in Latin]
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Only the clergy were allowed
to read the Word of God,
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and they did even that silently.
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A bell was rung
to let the congregation know
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when the priest had reached
the important bits.
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[Singing continues]
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[Ringing]
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For the authority
of the Catholic Church,
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it was vital that a priest
and a language
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stood between
a believer and the Bible.
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[Singing continues]
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But all that was about to
change dramatically.
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In the 1 4th century,
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there was the beginnings
of a countermovement
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that was going to turn
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the English-speaking world
on its axis.
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It would eventually
tear the Church in two.
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It would mark
the end of the Middle Ages
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and would cost many, many lives.
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It was the battle
for the language of the Bible.
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The English... some of them...
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wanted access
to the kingdom of heaven
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in the language of the streets.
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They wanted a Bible
that belonged to them,
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and they were prepared
to fight for it.
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It was the boldest way
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for English to become
the language of real power.
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The prime mover
was John Wycliffe,
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who at the age of 1 7
was admitted here...
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to Merton College, Oxford.
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[Organ music playing]
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Wycliffe was a charismatic
scholar, fluent in Latin,
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and therefore familiar
with the Bible.
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He was a major philosopher
and theologian
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who believed passionately
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that his knowledge
should be shared by everyone.
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And he was fiercely opposed
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to the power and wealth
of the Church.
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"When men speak of the Church,"
he said,
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"they usually mean priests,
monks, canons, and friars.
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But it should not be so.
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Were there 1 00 popes," he wrote,
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"and all the friars
turned to cardinals,
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their opinions
in matters of faith
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should not be accepted
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except insofar
as they're founded
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on the scripture itself."
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The Church in Wycliffe's time
was often lazy and corrupt.
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Bible reading,
even among the clergy,
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was surprisingly rare, for often
they didn't have the Latin.
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When the Bishop of Gloucester
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surveyed 3 1 1 deacons,
archdeacons,
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and priests of the diocese,
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he discovered that 1 68
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were unable to repeat
the 1 0 Commandments,
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3 1 didn't know where
those Commandments came from,
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and 40 couldn't repeat
the Lord's Prayer.
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Wycliffe railed
at the corruption
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00:10:17,403 --> 00:10:19,132
and complacency of the Church.
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His overriding thought
was summed up
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in his passionate belief in
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00:10:22,875 --> 00:10:26,174
the right of every man,
whether cleric or layman,
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to examine the Bible
for himself.
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This meant a full English Bible.
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But it wasn't an easy task.
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It was unauthorised
by the Church
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and so potentially heretical,
even seditious.
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It had to be done in secrecy,
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00:10:40,059 --> 00:10:44,860
for its aim was to overthrow
the powerful with words.
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We know that
by the beginning of 1 380,
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Wycliffe had organised
the translation from the Latin
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of the first English Bible.
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The work took place here
in Oxford,
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probably with
a number of translators.
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And it wasn't only
the mammoth task
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of translation that faced them.
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Their Bible
had to be disseminated, too.
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Once a translation was done,
the new Bible was reproduced.
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Hundreds were copied
in scriptoria,
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production lines
turning out handwritten copies.
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00:11:26,605 --> 00:11:29,540
1 7 0 of these Bibles survived...
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a huge number
for a 600-year-old manuscript...
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which tells us there must have
been armies of people
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secretly transcribing it,
copying it, and passing it on.
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And here it is,
the first English Bible,
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laboriously copied out
in perfect script.
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Look at it.
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The first thing that strikes me
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00:11:58,804 --> 00:12:00,897
is how like
the Lindisfarne Gospels is.
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The tradition went on.
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Of this book, you can fairly say
it literally changed the world.
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00:12:05,377 --> 00:12:07,004
And later,
for the sake of this book,
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00:12:07,113 --> 00:12:10,241
hundreds would be martyred,
dying the most horrible deaths.
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00:12:10,349 --> 00:12:12,681
But this was the most radical
cause of its day,
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one, some thought, worth dying
for... God's Word in English.
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00:12:21,794 --> 00:12:24,388
Here it is in modern speech.
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00:12:26,332 --> 00:12:31,235
"In the beginning, God made of
naught heaven and earth.
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Forsooth, the earth
was idle and void,
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00:12:35,107 --> 00:12:38,042
and darkness
were on the face of depth,
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00:12:38,144 --> 00:12:42,274
and the spirit of God
was borne on the waters.
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00:12:42,381 --> 00:12:48,718
And God said, 'Light be made, '
and light was made.
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00:12:48,821 --> 00:12:51,847
And God saw the light,
that it was good,
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00:12:51,957 --> 00:12:55,552
and he departed the light
through darkness.
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00:12:55,661 --> 00:13:00,894
And he kept the light day
and the darkness night.
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00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:06,666
And the eventide and morrowtide
was made one day.
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00:13:09,275 --> 00:13:11,266
There was a problem
with Wycliffe's Bible.
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00:13:11,377 --> 00:13:13,072
It wasn't an easy translation.
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00:13:13,179 --> 00:13:16,342
Many familiar phrases
do have their origin here...
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00:13:16,448 --> 00:13:18,973
"woe is me,"
"an eye for an eye,"
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00:13:19,084 --> 00:13:22,053
and words such as
"barbarian," "birthday,"
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00:13:22,154 --> 00:13:24,679
"canopy," "childbearing,"
"cockcrow,"
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00:13:24,790 --> 00:13:26,587
"communication," "crime,"
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00:13:26,692 --> 00:13:29,320
"dishonour," "envy,"
"frying pan,"
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00:13:29,428 --> 00:13:31,919
"godly," "graven," "humanity,"
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00:13:32,031 --> 00:13:34,795
"injury," "jubilee," "lecher,"
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00:13:34,900 --> 00:13:37,869
"madness," "menstruate,"
"middleman," "mountainous,"
228
00:13:37,970 --> 00:13:39,665
"novelty," "oppressor,"
"philistine,"
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00:13:39,772 --> 00:13:42,036
"pollute," "puberty,"
"rampart," "schism,"
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00:13:42,141 --> 00:13:44,541
"tramp," "unfaithful,"
"visitor," and "zeal."
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00:13:44,643 --> 00:13:47,168
You read them first
in Wycliffe's Bible
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from the 1 380s, onwards.
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00:13:49,481 --> 00:13:51,346
But on the whole,
Wycliffe and his team
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00:13:51,450 --> 00:13:54,647
were so in awe of the sacred
nature of the Latin Scriptures
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00:13:54,753 --> 00:13:57,347
that they did a translation
word for word,
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00:13:57,456 --> 00:13:59,151
even keeping
the Latin word order.
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So it contains phrases like,
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00:14:00,993 --> 00:14:03,427
"Lord, go from me,
for I am a man sinner,"
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00:14:03,529 --> 00:14:07,124
and, "l, forsooth, am the Lord
Thy God, strong jealous."
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00:14:07,233 --> 00:14:10,293
These were people still nervous
with their own language,
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00:14:10,402 --> 00:14:13,735
anxious that it could carry
the weight of God's Word.
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00:14:13,839 --> 00:14:17,536
One result was that there are
over a thousand Latin words
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00:14:17,643 --> 00:14:19,611
that turn up
for the first time in English,
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00:14:19,712 --> 00:14:21,805
whose use in English
is first recorded
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00:14:21,914 --> 00:14:23,279
in Wycliffe's translation...
246
00:14:23,382 --> 00:14:25,850
quite ordinary ones
like "emperor," "justice,"
247
00:14:25,951 --> 00:14:29,250
"profession," "city," "cradle,"
"suddenly," "angel,"
248
00:14:29,355 --> 00:14:33,792
"multitude," and "glorie"...
a good word for this Bible.
249
00:14:35,027 --> 00:14:36,790
This was still
a difficult language
250
00:14:36,895 --> 00:14:39,693
to Wycliffe's contemporaries,
but at least it wasn't Latin.
251
00:14:43,435 --> 00:14:46,802
By the standards of the day,
it was the best seller.
252
00:14:46,905 --> 00:14:48,805
The Church condemned him for it,
253
00:14:48,907 --> 00:14:51,432
maintaining that he had made
the Scriptures
254
00:14:51,543 --> 00:14:54,239
"more open to the readings
of laymen and women.
255
00:14:54,346 --> 00:14:56,143
Thus, the jewel of the clerics
256
00:14:56,248 --> 00:14:58,182
is turned
to the sport of the laity,
257
00:14:58,284 --> 00:15:00,946
and the pearl of the gospel
is scattered abroad
258
00:15:01,053 --> 00:15:04,250
and trodden underfoot by swine."
259
00:15:21,006 --> 00:15:23,975
Wycliffe had begun to organise
and train what amounted to
260
00:15:24,076 --> 00:15:26,169
a new religious order
of itinerant preachers,
261
00:15:26,278 --> 00:15:28,542
whom he dispatched
around England.
262
00:15:31,817 --> 00:15:36,151
Their purpose was to spread
the Word, literally, in English.
263
00:15:36,255 --> 00:15:38,246
It was like
a guerrilla campaign.
264
00:15:38,357 --> 00:15:41,383
They were determined to win
the battle for God.
265
00:15:44,096 --> 00:15:45,825
In the highways, byways,
266
00:15:45,931 --> 00:15:48,024
taverns, inns,
and village greens,
267
00:15:48,133 --> 00:15:50,192
they preached
against Church corruption
268
00:15:50,302 --> 00:15:53,169
and proclaimed
Wycliffe's anticlerical ideas.
269
00:15:53,272 --> 00:15:55,103
They read
from his English Bible,
270
00:15:55,207 --> 00:15:57,539
and they became known
as Lollards.
271
00:15:57,643 --> 00:16:00,510
The name might be derived
from "lolia," meaning "weeds,"
272
00:16:00,612 --> 00:16:04,776
or from "lollen"...
"to whisper, murmur, or hum."
273
00:16:07,486 --> 00:16:10,387
They were a secret
but influential movement
274
00:16:10,489 --> 00:16:12,957
and hated
by the Catholic establishment.
275
00:16:13,058 --> 00:16:15,492
They went straight to the source
of God's teaching
276
00:16:15,594 --> 00:16:17,357
and cut out the priests.
277
00:16:19,531 --> 00:16:22,557
"Blessed be poor men in spirit,
278
00:16:22,668 --> 00:16:25,728
for the kingdom of heaven
is theirs.
279
00:16:25,838 --> 00:16:30,468
Blessed be mild men, for they
shall wield the earth.
280
00:16:30,576 --> 00:16:34,478
Blessed be they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
281
00:16:34,580 --> 00:16:37,344
Blessed be they that hunger
and thirst rightwise,
282
00:16:37,449 --> 00:16:40,316
for they shall be fulfilled.
283
00:16:41,253 --> 00:16:43,483
Blessed be merciful men...
284
00:16:44,523 --> 00:16:46,423
...for they shall get mercy.
285
00:16:47,493 --> 00:16:50,587
Blessed be they
that be of clean heart...
286
00:16:51,630 --> 00:16:53,723
...for they shall see God.
287
00:16:55,501 --> 00:17:00,495
Blessed be they that suffer
persecution for rightfulness,
288
00:17:00,606 --> 00:17:03,439
for the kingdom of heaven
is theirs.
289
00:17:05,411 --> 00:17:08,471
So shine your light before men,
290
00:17:08,580 --> 00:17:09,945
that they see your good works
291
00:17:10,048 --> 00:17:14,485
and glorify your Father
that is in heaven."
292
00:17:18,023 --> 00:17:20,048
BRAGG: The Church
wasn't going to stand for this.
293
00:17:20,159 --> 00:17:21,786
It cut at its very authority.
294
00:17:22,361 --> 00:17:24,420
On this spot...
Blackfriars in London...
295
00:17:24,496 --> 00:17:26,691
on May 1 7, 1 382,
296
00:17:26,799 --> 00:17:29,290
a special synod
made up of eight bishops,
297
00:17:29,401 --> 00:17:33,167
various masters of theology,
doctors of canon and civil law,
298
00:17:33,272 --> 00:17:37,538
and 45 friars met to examine
Wycliffe's works.
299
00:17:37,643 --> 00:17:38,701
It was a show trial.
300
00:17:38,811 --> 00:17:40,802
Their conclusion
was preordained.
301
00:17:40,913 --> 00:17:43,507
And two days into their meeting,
they drafted a statement
302
00:17:43,615 --> 00:17:45,344
condemning
Wycliffe's pronouncements
303
00:17:45,451 --> 00:17:47,783
as outright heresies.
304
00:17:51,757 --> 00:17:55,488
The synod also condemned
Wycliffe's associates.
305
00:17:55,594 --> 00:17:57,494
It ordered
the arrest and prosecution
306
00:17:57,596 --> 00:17:59,496
of itinerant preachers
throughout the land.
307
00:17:59,598 --> 00:18:02,226
Eventually it secured
a parliamentary ban
308
00:18:02,334 --> 00:18:05,303
on all English-language Bibles.
309
00:18:07,506 --> 00:18:09,303
On the 30th of May that year,
310
00:18:09,408 --> 00:18:13,208
the synod instructed every
diocese to publish the verdict.
311
00:18:15,013 --> 00:18:16,412
Wycliffe became ill.
312
00:18:16,515 --> 00:18:20,474
The stress defeated him, and he
was paralysed by a stroke.
313
00:18:26,825 --> 00:18:29,316
Two years later, he died.
314
00:18:36,935 --> 00:18:39,665
Wycliffe's death didn't signal
the end of the movement,
315
00:18:39,771 --> 00:18:43,207
though afterwards Lollards were
at constant risk of their lives.
316
00:18:43,308 --> 00:18:44,605
They met in hidden places,
317
00:18:44,710 --> 00:18:46,337
especially in Hereford
and Monmouthshire.
318
00:18:46,445 --> 00:18:48,675
They managed to elude
the agents of the Church
319
00:18:48,780 --> 00:18:50,475
and keep their faith alive.
320
00:18:50,582 --> 00:18:51,879
One contemporary chronicler
321
00:18:51,984 --> 00:18:54,179
said that every second man
he met was a Lollard
322
00:18:54,286 --> 00:18:55,878
and they went all over England,
323
00:18:55,988 --> 00:18:58,889
luring great nobles and lords
to their fold.
324
00:18:58,991 --> 00:19:01,323
It's most unlikely
that they were that numerous,
325
00:19:01,426 --> 00:19:04,884
but nevertheless this was
a national political movement,
326
00:19:04,997 --> 00:19:08,626
and its cause
was the English language.
327
00:19:10,402 --> 00:19:13,633
MAN: In a somer sesun,
whon softe was the sonne,
328
00:19:13,739 --> 00:19:17,505
I schop me into a shroud,
as I a scheep were;
329
00:19:17,609 --> 00:19:20,442
Bote in a Mayes morwnynge
on Malverne hulles
330
00:19:20,546 --> 00:19:24,710
Me bifel a ferly, of fairie,
me-thoughte.
331
00:19:26,752 --> 00:19:28,515
BRAGG: This is
the West Midlands dialect
332
00:19:28,620 --> 00:19:31,180
of William Langland's
"Piers Plowman."
333
00:19:32,991 --> 00:19:37,360
It's a religious poem, the most
popular poem of its day.
334
00:19:40,899 --> 00:19:42,423
It's the first time we know of
335
00:19:42,534 --> 00:19:44,263
that the English language
was used
336
00:19:44,369 --> 00:19:47,463
to express a personal,
Christian, spiritual vision,
337
00:19:47,573 --> 00:19:49,541
and it's evidence
of a native tradition
338
00:19:49,641 --> 00:19:51,836
that's a real
and growing alternative
339
00:19:51,944 --> 00:19:54,435
to the established
religious culture.
340
00:19:56,081 --> 00:19:58,549
It came to Langland
in a series of dreams,
341
00:19:58,650 --> 00:20:01,141
the first
here on the Malvern Hills.
342
00:20:01,253 --> 00:20:03,346
It's written
in alliterative verse,
343
00:20:03,455 --> 00:20:06,947
itself a form which harks back
to the Old English of "Beowulf,"
344
00:20:07,059 --> 00:20:09,152
and it's an allegory
of the Christian life
345
00:20:09,261 --> 00:20:10,853
and of
the contemporary corruption
346
00:20:10,963 --> 00:20:13,056
of the Christian Church.
347
00:20:13,165 --> 00:20:17,499
MAN: And as I beheold into
the est an heigh to the sonne,
348
00:20:17,603 --> 00:20:21,664
I sauh a tour on a toft,
tryelyche i-maket;
349
00:20:21,773 --> 00:20:25,539
A deop dale bineothe,
a dungun ther-inne,
350
00:20:25,644 --> 00:20:28,841
With deop dich
and derk and dredful of sighte.
351
00:20:28,947 --> 00:20:33,043
A feir feld full of folk
fond I ther bitwene,
352
00:20:33,151 --> 00:20:36,985
Worchinge and wandringe
as the world asketh.
353
00:20:37,089 --> 00:20:40,820
Summe putten hem to the plough,
pleiden ful seldene,
354
00:20:40,926 --> 00:20:44,953
In settynge and in sowynge
swonken ful harde,
355
00:20:45,063 --> 00:20:48,931
I fond there freres,
all the foure ordres,
356
00:20:49,034 --> 00:20:52,128
Prechinge the peple for profyt
of heore wombes,
357
00:20:52,237 --> 00:20:55,365
Glosynge the Gospel
as hem good liketh,
358
00:20:55,474 --> 00:20:59,376
For the parisshe preest and
the pardoner parten the silver
359
00:20:59,478 --> 00:21:04,677
That the povere of the parisshe
sholde have if they ne were.
360
00:21:06,985 --> 00:21:08,646
BRAGG:
English here is being used
361
00:21:08,754 --> 00:21:10,483
to form
not just a literary language,
362
00:21:10,589 --> 00:21:13,752
but one which is an alternative
to the received authority
363
00:21:13,859 --> 00:21:16,419
passed down
either through French or Latin.
364
00:21:16,528 --> 00:21:19,691
This is plain speaking
for plain folk, it seems to say.
365
00:21:19,798 --> 00:21:21,197
This is real experience.
366
00:21:21,299 --> 00:21:22,323
This is the language
367
00:21:22,434 --> 00:21:24,868
of an individual relationship
with God.
368
00:21:24,970 --> 00:21:27,438
It prefigures books
like "Pilgrim's Progress"
369
00:21:27,539 --> 00:21:28,904
and "Paradise Lost."
370
00:21:29,007 --> 00:21:32,101
It would bestir the pilgrim
fathers and, in good time,
371
00:21:32,210 --> 00:21:35,839
become the Protestant language
of the English Reformation.
372
00:21:41,219 --> 00:21:43,483
But meanwhile,
the Church was not satisfied
373
00:21:43,588 --> 00:21:44,714
with Wycliffe's death.
374
00:21:44,823 --> 00:21:47,587
It continued to burn Bibles,
it burned people,
375
00:21:47,693 --> 00:21:51,129
and it ordered Wycliffe
to be posthumously burned.
376
00:21:51,229 --> 00:21:54,027
In 1 4 1 4
the most imposing Council
377
00:21:54,132 --> 00:21:55,861
ever called
by the Catholic Church
378
00:21:55,967 --> 00:21:57,867
condemned Wycliffe as a heretic
379
00:21:57,969 --> 00:22:01,871
and in the spring of 1 428
ordered his bones to be exhumed
380
00:22:01,973 --> 00:22:04,168
and removed
from consecrated ground.
381
00:22:04,276 --> 00:22:06,267
With the Primate of England
looking on,
382
00:22:06,378 --> 00:22:08,346
Wycliffe's remains
were disinterred
383
00:22:08,447 --> 00:22:11,883
and burned by a little bridge
that spanned the River Swift,
384
00:22:11,983 --> 00:22:13,917
a tributary of the Avon.
385
00:22:16,021 --> 00:22:19,081
His ashes were scattered
into the stream.
386
00:22:28,633 --> 00:22:31,693
So, officially,
the Bible remained in Latin,
387
00:22:31,803 --> 00:22:34,567
but there was a Lollard prophecy
of the time which ran,
388
00:22:34,673 --> 00:22:39,508
"The Avon to the Severn runs,
the Severn to the sea,
389
00:22:39,611 --> 00:22:42,102
and Wycliffe's dust
shall spread abroad,
390
00:22:42,214 --> 00:22:44,580
wide as the waters be."
391
00:22:46,651 --> 00:22:48,209
The prophecy was right.
392
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,845
English would eventually
have its Bible.
393
00:22:50,956 --> 00:22:52,446
But the Church
would not give way
394
00:22:52,557 --> 00:22:53,854
before the new force of English
395
00:22:53,959 --> 00:22:57,122
until the state
had buckled first.
396
00:23:01,366 --> 00:23:02,856
The battle for an English Bible
397
00:23:02,968 --> 00:23:05,528
was a battle, literally,
for the soul of England.
398
00:23:05,637 --> 00:23:07,036
But before it could be won,
399
00:23:07,139 --> 00:23:08,697
the heart and mind
of the country
400
00:23:08,807 --> 00:23:10,331
had to be persuaded, too.
401
00:23:10,442 --> 00:23:15,971
And that process began here
in 1 4 1 7 in France, with Henry V.
402
00:23:29,094 --> 00:23:31,289
MAN: Right trusty
and well-beloved brother,
403
00:23:31,396 --> 00:23:35,389
right worshipful fathers in God
and trusty and well-beloved,
404
00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:37,934
for as much as we know well
your desire
405
00:23:38,036 --> 00:23:40,903
were to hear joyful tidings
of our good speed,
406
00:23:41,006 --> 00:23:46,535
we signify unto
you that of our
labour has sent good conclusion.
407
00:23:48,013 --> 00:23:49,480
BRAGG:
In the early 1 5th century,
408
00:23:49,581 --> 00:23:51,640
Henry was campaigning
around northern France,
409
00:23:51,750 --> 00:23:53,684
winning French territory
and famous battles,
410
00:23:53,785 --> 00:23:55,844
especially at Agincourt.
411
00:23:55,954 --> 00:23:57,512
It seems a small thing,
412
00:23:57,622 --> 00:23:59,817
but it was of
quite extraordinary significance
413
00:23:59,925 --> 00:24:01,222
that, after his victory,
414
00:24:01,326 --> 00:24:04,625
Henry V broke with 350 years
of royal tradition
415
00:24:04,729 --> 00:24:06,993
and wrote his dispatches home
in English.
416
00:24:07,098 --> 00:24:08,690
This was an astute move.
417
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:10,927
English kings
had begun to speak English
418
00:24:11,036 --> 00:24:13,903
under his father, Henry IV,
but all court documents
419
00:24:14,005 --> 00:24:15,666
had hitherto
been written in French,
420
00:24:15,774 --> 00:24:18,038
as they had been
since the Norman conquest.
421
00:24:18,143 --> 00:24:21,601
Henry's English letters are
deliberate pieces of propaganda,
422
00:24:21,713 --> 00:24:23,943
to be spread
throughout the land.
423
00:24:24,049 --> 00:24:26,779
Here's his letter
announcing peace.
424
00:24:27,953 --> 00:24:30,421
MAN: "Upon Monday,
the 20th day of May,
425
00:24:30,522 --> 00:24:32,820
we arrived in this town, Troyes,
426
00:24:32,924 --> 00:24:35,586
and the accord
of the peace perpetual
427
00:24:35,694 --> 00:24:38,185
was here sworn
by the Duke of Burgundy
428
00:24:38,296 --> 00:24:40,890
and semblably by us
in our own name.
429
00:24:40,999 --> 00:24:43,399
[Bells chiming]
430
00:24:44,736 --> 00:24:47,534
The letters forthwith sealed
under the great seal,
431
00:24:47,639 --> 00:24:48,936
copies of which we send
432
00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,270
to be proclaimed
in our City of London
433
00:24:51,376 --> 00:24:52,843
and through all our realm
434
00:24:52,944 --> 00:24:55,071
that our people may have
knowledge thereof
435
00:24:55,180 --> 00:24:57,205
for their consolation."
436
00:24:57,315 --> 00:25:02,150
Signed, "Henry, by the grace
of God, King of England."
437
00:25:05,290 --> 00:25:07,121
Henry's motives may have been
438
00:25:07,225 --> 00:25:09,284
the exploitation
of anti-French fervour,
439
00:25:09,394 --> 00:25:11,259
but once he returned
from the campaigns,
440
00:25:11,363 --> 00:25:13,092
he continued to write
in English.
441
00:25:13,198 --> 00:25:15,860
And in doing so,
he made the first major step
442
00:25:15,967 --> 00:25:17,127
towards the creation
443
00:25:17,235 --> 00:25:18,964
of an official,
standardised English
444
00:25:19,070 --> 00:25:20,628
that that everybody could read.
445
00:25:20,739 --> 00:25:22,900
The Houses of Parliament,
where I am now,
446
00:25:23,008 --> 00:25:25,203
are also called
the Palace of Westminster.
447
00:25:25,310 --> 00:25:27,210
That's a reminder
that on this site
448
00:25:27,312 --> 00:25:28,506
the kings of England once had
449
00:25:28,613 --> 00:25:30,342
their principal
London residence.
450
00:25:30,448 --> 00:25:33,144
This hall is all that survived
the Great Fire,
451
00:25:33,251 --> 00:25:36,186
and somewhere 'round here,
when the king was in residence,
452
00:25:36,288 --> 00:25:39,519
would have been the first circle
of his government.
453
00:25:43,361 --> 00:25:46,694
This was called
the Signet Office.
454
00:25:46,798 --> 00:25:49,289
It wrote personal letters
on behalf of the monarch,
455
00:25:49,401 --> 00:25:50,663
which carried the royal seal,
456
00:25:50,769 --> 00:25:52,862
and, in ways
familiar to us today,
457
00:25:52,971 --> 00:25:54,199
once Henry decreed
458
00:25:54,306 --> 00:25:56,137
that the Signet Office
should use English,
459
00:25:56,241 --> 00:25:58,641
it was inevitable
that the rest of the country
460
00:25:58,743 --> 00:26:01,211
would come to do the same.
461
00:26:01,313 --> 00:26:03,304
The problem was, which English?
462
00:26:03,415 --> 00:26:05,406
Across the country,
people still spoke
463
00:26:05,517 --> 00:26:07,144
a mass of different dialects
464
00:26:07,252 --> 00:26:09,447
and would have had trouble
understanding one another.
465
00:26:09,554 --> 00:26:13,149
For instance the word "stiene"
or "stane" in the north
466
00:26:13,258 --> 00:26:15,055
was "stone" in the south.
467
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:17,185
The "-ing" participle,
as in "running,"
468
00:26:17,295 --> 00:26:20,696
was said as "-and" in the North,
"-end" in the East Midlands,
469
00:26:20,799 --> 00:26:22,232
and "-ind" in the West Midlands.
470
00:26:22,334 --> 00:26:24,461
So "running" could also be said
471
00:26:24,569 --> 00:26:27,902
as "runnand," "runnind,"
and "runnend."
472
00:26:28,006 --> 00:26:31,498
But that was nothing compared to
the variety of spellings in use.
473
00:26:31,609 --> 00:26:33,702
Because England had
traditionally used French
474
00:26:33,812 --> 00:26:35,439
or Latin
as its written languages,
475
00:26:35,547 --> 00:26:36,844
there had never been any need
476
00:26:36,948 --> 00:26:38,848
to agree on
a common linguistic standard
477
00:26:38,950 --> 00:26:41,214
or even how to spell
particular words.
478
00:26:41,319 --> 00:26:43,685
But now there was.
479
00:26:43,788 --> 00:26:45,813
Take the word "church,"
for instance...
480
00:26:45,924 --> 00:26:48,358
one of the most common
and important in the language.
481
00:26:48,460 --> 00:26:51,190
In the north of England,
it was commonly called a "kirk,"
482
00:26:51,296 --> 00:26:53,230
while the south used "church."
483
00:26:53,331 --> 00:26:55,663
However "kirk"
could be spelt...
484
00:27:06,478 --> 00:27:08,469
"Church" was variously...
485
00:27:26,464 --> 00:27:28,432
Fortunately, from the language's
point of view,
486
00:27:28,533 --> 00:27:30,057
there was a big engine of state
487
00:27:30,168 --> 00:27:31,965
that could deal with
this unruly tongue...
488
00:27:32,070 --> 00:27:33,594
it was the Chancellery,
489
00:27:33,705 --> 00:27:35,900
reduced to "Chancery,"
the civil service of the day...
490
00:27:36,007 --> 00:27:38,805
because it was crucial that
a document produced in London
491
00:27:38,910 --> 00:27:40,400
could be read in Carlisle.
492
00:27:40,512 --> 00:27:43,709
We needed
a common written language.
493
00:27:48,553 --> 00:27:51,420
This is
the Public Records Office,
494
00:27:51,523 --> 00:27:56,222
where the official documents
of the 1 5th century are kept.
495
00:27:59,364 --> 00:28:01,855
As Chancery began to use
the English language,
496
00:28:01,966 --> 00:28:03,729
it had to make
hundreds of decisions
497
00:28:03,835 --> 00:28:06,929
about which form of a word
and which spelling to adopt.
498
00:28:07,038 --> 00:28:09,097
We don't know
how those choices were made,
499
00:28:09,207 --> 00:28:11,175
but we do know that they stuck.
500
00:28:11,276 --> 00:28:14,177
Thousands of documents
were painstakingly written out
501
00:28:14,279 --> 00:28:16,577
and sent
all over the country.
502
00:28:17,816 --> 00:28:19,374
Many had legal status,
503
00:28:19,484 --> 00:28:23,147
so they had to be exact
and consistent.
504
00:28:24,022 --> 00:28:26,081
And under the influence
of Chancery,
505
00:28:26,191 --> 00:28:30,287
the language starts to look
more modern and more even.
506
00:28:31,629 --> 00:28:34,325
Words like "any," "but," "many,"
507
00:28:34,432 --> 00:28:37,424
"not," "such," "ought,"
and even "l"...
508
00:28:37,535 --> 00:28:40,095
previously "Iche"
had also been allowed...
509
00:28:40,205 --> 00:28:44,005
find their modern forms
at Chancery.
510
00:28:44,109 --> 00:28:46,134
"Lond" becomes "land."
511
00:28:46,244 --> 00:28:49,907
And "chirche," "kirk," and all
the others become "church."
512
00:28:51,416 --> 00:28:55,375
During the decade 1 469-1 4 79
alone, for instance,
513
00:28:55,487 --> 00:28:58,979
the modern word "shall"
starts as "xal," then "schal,"
514
00:28:59,090 --> 00:29:02,082
and finally settles
into its modern form, "shall."
515
00:29:03,027 --> 00:29:04,927
The word "rithe"
becomes "right."
516
00:29:05,029 --> 00:29:08,863
"Hath" and "doth"
become "has" and "does."
517
00:29:08,967 --> 00:29:11,731
By 1 500, under the influence
of Chancery,
518
00:29:11,836 --> 00:29:15,966
the language
is becoming recognisable to us.
519
00:29:17,575 --> 00:29:20,942
WOMAN: Is there anything else
in common with the plurals?
520
00:29:21,045 --> 00:29:23,104
Some end in "-s."
Some end in "-es."
521
00:29:23,214 --> 00:29:26,012
Some end in "-ies."
522
00:29:26,117 --> 00:29:27,778
Anyone know why?
523
00:29:31,322 --> 00:29:34,314
Is there a reason why they all
end in different endings?
524
00:29:34,425 --> 00:29:37,019
CHILD: Is it because it's
just the English language?
525
00:29:37,128 --> 00:29:39,062
"It's just
the English language."
526
00:29:39,164 --> 00:29:40,893
That's a very good answer.
Okay.
527
00:29:40,999 --> 00:29:43,729
But just because everyone
began to spell the same way,
528
00:29:43,835 --> 00:29:45,996
it didn't mean the language
became any more logical.
529
00:29:46,104 --> 00:29:47,901
Look at this.
"Why English is so hard.
530
00:29:48,006 --> 00:29:50,531
"We'll begin with a box,
and the plural is boxes.
531
00:29:50,642 --> 00:29:53,509
But the plural of ox is oxen,
not oxes.
532
00:29:53,611 --> 00:29:55,841
Then one fowl is goose,
but two are called geese.
533
00:29:55,947 --> 00:30:01,214
Yet the plural of moose
should never be meese.
534
00:30:01,319 --> 00:30:04,413
You may find a lone mouse
or a whole lot of mice.
535
00:30:04,522 --> 00:30:07,286
But the plural of house
is houses, not hice.
536
00:30:07,392 --> 00:30:08,518
If the plural of man...
537
00:30:08,626 --> 00:30:10,594
...is always called men,
538
00:30:10,695 --> 00:30:12,925
Why shouldn't the plural of pan
be called pen?"
539
00:30:13,031 --> 00:30:16,159
And it goes on and it goes on
and it goes on.
540
00:30:16,267 --> 00:30:18,132
WOMAN: What's the poet
trying to tell us?
541
00:30:18,236 --> 00:30:19,703
English is confusing.
542
00:30:19,804 --> 00:30:23,240
That English is confusing.
Hands up if you agree.
543
00:30:23,341 --> 00:30:25,104
Okay.
Hands down.
544
00:30:25,677 --> 00:30:27,474
Ask any foreigner...
in fact, ask any pupil...
545
00:30:27,545 --> 00:30:30,480
about mastering English spelling
and its inconsistencies,
546
00:30:30,582 --> 00:30:33,415
and they'll say, "What have
we done to deserve this?"
547
00:30:33,518 --> 00:30:36,544
A lot of it is just to do with
the mongrel nature of English,
548
00:30:36,654 --> 00:30:39,088
and a lot of it is to do
with accidents of usage
549
00:30:39,190 --> 00:30:40,680
from centuries ago.
550
00:30:40,792 --> 00:30:43,124
But some of it was deliberate!
551
00:30:43,228 --> 00:30:44,559
WOMAN: Hands up
if you think that English
552
00:30:44,662 --> 00:30:45,629
is so hard to learn.
553
00:30:45,730 --> 00:30:46,924
BRAGG:
Around the time English
554
00:30:47,031 --> 00:30:48,726
was being standardised
by Chancery,
555
00:30:48,833 --> 00:30:52,064
there was much debate about
the best way to spell things.
556
00:30:52,170 --> 00:30:54,604
Broadly, there were reformers
who wanted to spell words
557
00:30:54,706 --> 00:30:56,674
according to the way
they were pronounced
558
00:30:56,774 --> 00:30:58,605
and traditionalists
who wanted to spell them
559
00:30:58,710 --> 00:31:00,974
in one of the ways
they'd always been.
560
00:31:01,079 --> 00:31:03,013
When it's something
like "anchor,"
561
00:31:03,114 --> 00:31:07,414
you don't know
if it's an "h" or a "k."
562
00:31:07,518 --> 00:31:09,782
BRAGG:
The traditionalists won.
563
00:31:09,887 --> 00:31:11,980
It is confusing.
How are you going to know?
564
00:31:12,090 --> 00:31:14,684
Because a silent letter
is silent.
565
00:31:14,792 --> 00:31:17,352
They couldn't help tampering,
though.
566
00:31:17,462 --> 00:31:20,260
In a desire to make the roots
of the language more evident,
567
00:31:20,365 --> 00:31:22,697
words that had entered English
from French, for instance,
568
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:24,131
were given a Latin look.
569
00:31:24,235 --> 00:31:27,830
The letter "b" was inserted
into "debt" and "doubt,"
570
00:31:27,939 --> 00:31:30,203
the letter "c" into "victuals."
571
00:31:30,308 --> 00:31:32,242
Words that were
thought to be of Greek origin
572
00:31:32,343 --> 00:31:34,174
sometimes had
their spelling adjusted,
573
00:31:34,279 --> 00:31:38,045
so that "throne" and "theatre"
acquired their "h."
574
00:31:38,149 --> 00:31:40,310
"Rhyme," on the other hand,
was given an "h"
575
00:31:40,418 --> 00:31:41,817
just because "rhythm" had one,
576
00:31:41,919 --> 00:31:44,114
even though
it's etymologically absurd.
577
00:31:44,222 --> 00:31:45,587
On a similar principle,
578
00:31:45,690 --> 00:31:48,989
an "l" was inserted in "could"
because it had become silent,
579
00:31:49,093 --> 00:31:51,061
but it was still present
in "should" and "would."
580
00:31:51,162 --> 00:31:53,960
The same with "h" in words like
"whole," "where," and "whelk."
581
00:31:54,065 --> 00:31:56,693
And like anybody who tries
to rationalise English,
582
00:31:56,801 --> 00:31:59,031
they really messed it up.
583
00:31:59,137 --> 00:32:01,401
You feel confused.
And who do you blame?
584
00:32:01,506 --> 00:32:02,996
- You.
- Me. Okay.
585
00:32:03,107 --> 00:32:04,074
Let's carry on.
586
00:32:04,175 --> 00:32:07,338
Let's have a look
at the second verse, okay?
587
00:32:07,445 --> 00:32:13,213
"The cow in a plural
may be cows or kine,
588
00:32:13,318 --> 00:32:18,779
but the plural of vow is vows,
not vine.
589
00:32:18,890 --> 00:32:24,726
And I speak of foot,
and you show me your feet,
590
00:32:24,829 --> 00:32:30,358
But I give you a boot,
would a pair be called beet?"
591
00:32:30,468 --> 00:32:32,800
Stay here to be on television,
I'd advise you to keep quiet.
592
00:32:32,904 --> 00:32:34,235
Okay? Right.
593
00:32:34,339 --> 00:32:35,931
MAN:
You can all stand there.
594
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:37,598
They've got the point.
Let's go.
595
00:32:37,709 --> 00:32:40,610
Hi! [Laughs]
596
00:32:41,913 --> 00:32:43,141
As if to prove the folly
597
00:32:43,247 --> 00:32:45,238
of trying to bring reason
into the language,
598
00:32:45,350 --> 00:32:46,681
the English promptly decided
599
00:32:46,784 --> 00:32:48,843
to pronounce everything
differently anyway.
600
00:32:48,953 --> 00:32:51,251
Around this time,
and nobody really knows why,
601
00:32:51,356 --> 00:32:54,257
a sea change took place
in the way English sounds.
602
00:32:54,359 --> 00:32:56,827
This is called
the Great Vowel Shift,
603
00:32:56,928 --> 00:32:58,452
and it happened
comparatively quickly,
604
00:32:58,563 --> 00:33:00,428
we think
over a generation or two.
605
00:33:00,531 --> 00:33:02,556
Before it,
English was pronounced in a way
606
00:33:02,667 --> 00:33:04,066
that sounds foreign to us now.
607
00:33:04,168 --> 00:33:06,830
"Might" used to sound
rather like today's "meet,"
608
00:33:06,938 --> 00:33:09,372
which in turn was said
something like "mit."
609
00:33:09,474 --> 00:33:12,500
So the sentence
"I might go and buy some meat"
610
00:33:12,610 --> 00:33:17,070
once sounded like
"I meet goe and boy some mit."
611
00:33:17,181 --> 00:33:18,910
That was the Great Vowel Shift.
612
00:33:19,016 --> 00:33:22,474
It made 1 5th-century English
recognisable to the modern ear.
613
00:33:22,587 --> 00:33:24,680
But it didn't change
the spelling.
614
00:33:26,557 --> 00:33:28,889
What really gives all languages
their uniformity
615
00:33:28,993 --> 00:33:30,085
is, of course, writing,
616
00:33:30,194 --> 00:33:32,526
and what gives writing
its huge modern power
617
00:33:32,630 --> 00:33:35,098
is the invention and spread
of printing.
618
00:33:36,367 --> 00:33:38,767
Printing was invented
in Mainz, Germany,
619
00:33:38,870 --> 00:33:40,565
around 1 435.
620
00:33:40,671 --> 00:33:44,107
It's often regarded as the most
seismic technological change
621
00:33:44,208 --> 00:33:46,369
Western culture
has gone through.
622
00:33:46,477 --> 00:33:50,811
Printing marks the beginning
of the information age.
623
00:34:15,406 --> 00:34:18,534
It's extraordinary, looking at
this simple piece of technology,
624
00:34:18,643 --> 00:34:20,838
to think of what a revolution
it brought about.
625
00:34:20,945 --> 00:34:24,904
This isn't 1 5th century, but it
works in exactly the same way.
626
00:34:25,016 --> 00:34:26,483
And because this device
627
00:34:26,584 --> 00:34:29,849
made it easy to manufacture
books in large numbers,
628
00:34:29,954 --> 00:34:33,617
it became very hard indeed
to control the spread of ideas.
629
00:34:33,724 --> 00:34:35,919
And print favoured
the language of the people.
630
00:34:36,027 --> 00:34:39,258
English was "pressed"
into service.
631
00:34:41,499 --> 00:34:43,558
And although Latin
was still the language
632
00:34:43,668 --> 00:34:45,226
of religion and scholarship...
633
00:34:46,404 --> 00:34:48,872
...when Caxton introduced
printing to England,
634
00:34:48,973 --> 00:34:51,373
he got straight on
with making books in English.
635
00:34:51,476 --> 00:34:54,968
Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and
Malory's "Tales of King Arthur"
636
00:34:55,079 --> 00:34:56,740
were his best sellers.
637
00:34:59,617 --> 00:35:00,675
But English was still
638
00:35:00,785 --> 00:35:03,151
a fluid and regionally difficult
monster,
639
00:35:03,254 --> 00:35:06,189
and Caxton worried about how
to achieve a common standard
640
00:35:06,290 --> 00:35:09,487
that would be understood
and read by all.
641
00:35:10,495 --> 00:35:14,158
MAN: Certaynly it is harde
to playse every man
642
00:35:14,265 --> 00:35:18,031
by cause of dyversite
and chaunge of langage.
643
00:35:18,135 --> 00:35:19,602
For in these days,
644
00:35:19,704 --> 00:35:24,437
every man wyll utter his
commynycacyon in suche termes
645
00:35:24,542 --> 00:35:27,409
that fewe man
shall understonde theym.
646
00:35:27,512 --> 00:35:29,002
But in my judgemente,
647
00:35:29,113 --> 00:35:31,638
the comyn terms
that be dayli used
648
00:35:31,749 --> 00:35:33,774
ben lighter to be understonde
649
00:35:33,885 --> 00:35:36,945
than the olde
and auncyent englysshe.
650
00:35:37,889 --> 00:35:40,949
Caxton tells us
that he is translating Virgil
651
00:35:41,058 --> 00:35:42,286
from a French version,
652
00:35:42,393 --> 00:35:45,556
but he doesn't know which
English word to use for "eggs."
653
00:35:45,663 --> 00:35:48,154
He tells a story of some
merchants from Northumberland
654
00:35:48,266 --> 00:35:51,599
who are away from home and visit
a house in Kent to buy food.
655
00:35:51,702 --> 00:35:53,897
One asks the woman for "eggys."
656
00:35:54,005 --> 00:35:56,269
She tells him
she doesn't speak French.
657
00:35:56,374 --> 00:35:57,932
Another asks for the same thing
658
00:35:58,042 --> 00:36:00,101
with a different plural,
"eyren,"
659
00:36:00,211 --> 00:36:02,111
which means "eggs"
in the dialect of Kent,
660
00:36:02,213 --> 00:36:03,703
and he gets them.
661
00:36:03,814 --> 00:36:06,806
So which word should Caxton
choose for his translation?
662
00:36:06,918 --> 00:36:10,854
He settles for "eggys,"
and so now do we.
663
00:36:16,827 --> 00:36:19,489
So it's printers, as much
as teachers and writers,
664
00:36:19,597 --> 00:36:22,225
who decide on a lot of words
and their spellings.
665
00:36:22,333 --> 00:36:24,631
And although it was writers
like Chaucer and Wycliffe
666
00:36:24,735 --> 00:36:26,532
who had established
a dominant dialect,
667
00:36:26,637 --> 00:36:30,505
it was Caxton's publications
that consolidated the gains...
668
00:36:30,608 --> 00:36:32,906
gains which would
eventually be made permanent
669
00:36:33,010 --> 00:36:34,102
by the English Bible,
670
00:36:34,211 --> 00:36:36,076
which in Tudor times,
thanks to printing,
671
00:36:36,180 --> 00:36:38,648
reached everyone who could read.
672
00:36:38,749 --> 00:36:40,683
The scene was set
for the creation
673
00:36:40,785 --> 00:36:42,776
of probably
the most influential book
674
00:36:42,887 --> 00:36:44,718
there's ever been
in the history of language...
675
00:36:44,822 --> 00:36:47,290
English or any other.
676
00:37:07,445 --> 00:37:09,174
Early in the reign
of Henry Vlll,
677
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:11,077
the new king
was still promising the pope
678
00:37:11,182 --> 00:37:13,412
to burn
any "untrue translations."
679
00:37:13,517 --> 00:37:15,144
He meant Wycliffe's Bible,
680
00:37:15,252 --> 00:37:18,050
relentlessly circulating
in hand-copied editions,
681
00:37:18,155 --> 00:37:20,419
and he set his Lord Chancellor,
Cardinal Wolsey,
682
00:37:20,524 --> 00:37:23,823
to hunt down and burn
all heretical books.
683
00:37:23,928 --> 00:37:26,021
On the 1 2th of May 1 52 1,
684
00:37:26,130 --> 00:37:29,099
a huge bonfire
of confiscated heretical works
685
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,725
was made outside the original
St. Paul's Cathedral.
686
00:37:31,836 --> 00:37:35,772
It was said that the flames
burned for two days.
687
00:37:37,041 --> 00:37:38,565
That same year, a young man
688
00:37:38,676 --> 00:37:41,509
who was Oxford-educated
and an ordained priest
689
00:37:41,612 --> 00:37:43,671
became tutor
to a large household
690
00:37:43,781 --> 00:37:45,339
in Little Sodbury,
Gloucestershire,
691
00:37:45,449 --> 00:37:46,814
where he started to preach
692
00:37:46,917 --> 00:37:49,647
"in the common place
called St. Austin's Green"
693
00:37:49,754 --> 00:37:51,619
in front of the church.
694
00:37:55,059 --> 00:37:56,890
His name was William Tyndale,
695
00:37:56,994 --> 00:37:59,360
and his Bible was to bring about
a radical change
696
00:37:59,463 --> 00:38:03,297
both in the English language
and in English society.
697
00:38:05,169 --> 00:38:07,262
He's had more influence
on the way we speak
698
00:38:07,371 --> 00:38:09,066
than anyone except Shakespeare,
699
00:38:09,173 --> 00:38:11,471
and he had to leave the country
to do it.
700
00:38:15,379 --> 00:38:18,610
Tyndale was in the mould
of Wycliffe, 1 00 years on.
701
00:38:18,716 --> 00:38:21,412
To a cleric
who challenged him he answered,
702
00:38:21,519 --> 00:38:24,886
"Ere many years I will cause
a boy that driveth a plough
703
00:38:24,989 --> 00:38:28,220
to know more of the
Scriptures than thou dost."
704
00:38:29,994 --> 00:38:33,054
You may say he finished
Wycliffe's business.
705
00:38:34,999 --> 00:38:38,332
He believed passionately
in an English Bible.
706
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:47,878
In 1 524, aged 29,
Tyndale left
England never to return.
707
00:38:47,978 --> 00:38:50,071
He settled in Cologne
and began the work
708
00:38:50,181 --> 00:38:52,445
of translating the New Testament
into English...
709
00:38:52,550 --> 00:38:56,179
not from Latin, but from
the original Hebrew and Greek.
710
00:38:56,287 --> 00:39:00,485
By 1 526, 6,000 copies
had been printed abroad
711
00:39:00,591 --> 00:39:03,583
and were about to be smuggled
into England.
712
00:39:04,295 --> 00:39:06,354
Henry Vlll
and Cardinal Wolsey...
713
00:39:06,464 --> 00:39:08,022
whose spies had alerted them...
714
00:39:08,132 --> 00:39:10,532
were terrified
of this perceived threat,
715
00:39:10,634 --> 00:39:13,899
and the whole country
was put on alert.
716
00:39:14,004 --> 00:39:16,598
Naval ships patrolled
the coastal waters,
717
00:39:16,707 --> 00:39:18,607
boats were stopped and searched,
718
00:39:18,709 --> 00:39:21,109
and a great many of the Bibles
were intercepted.
719
00:39:21,212 --> 00:39:23,373
For the state,
this was a serious struggle.
720
00:39:23,481 --> 00:39:25,915
Latin was the language
not only of God,
721
00:39:26,016 --> 00:39:28,644
but the state's authority
rested on it, too.
722
00:39:28,753 --> 00:39:30,414
The enemy
had to be beaten off...
723
00:39:30,521 --> 00:39:33,388
an enemy that would eventually
give the English language
724
00:39:33,491 --> 00:39:36,483
so magnificently
to the English people.
725
00:39:36,594 --> 00:39:39,563
But first, tens and then
hundreds of these Bibles
726
00:39:39,663 --> 00:39:40,823
began to get through.
727
00:39:40,931 --> 00:39:42,762
The Bishop of London
tried another tack.
728
00:39:42,867 --> 00:39:45,267
He sought to buy
the entire print run
729
00:39:45,369 --> 00:39:47,030
through an intermediary.
730
00:39:49,073 --> 00:39:50,472
"O he will burn them,"
731
00:39:50,574 --> 00:39:52,599
Tyndale is supposed to have said
when he heard this.
732
00:39:52,710 --> 00:39:54,007
"Well, I am the gladder,
733
00:39:54,111 --> 00:39:56,136
for I shall get the money of him
for these books
734
00:39:56,247 --> 00:39:57,737
and the whole world
shall cry out
735
00:39:57,848 --> 00:40:00,043
upon the burning of God's Word."
736
00:40:00,851 --> 00:40:01,909
And that's what happened...
737
00:40:02,019 --> 00:40:04,351
the Bishop bought
and burnt his books,
738
00:40:04,455 --> 00:40:05,820
and Tyndale used the money
739
00:40:05,923 --> 00:40:08,949
to prepare and print a better
version... at Church expense.
740
00:40:09,059 --> 00:40:11,050
And this is what
the conflict was about...
741
00:40:11,162 --> 00:40:14,962
a Bible for the people
in their spoken language.
742
00:40:15,866 --> 00:40:18,630
MAN: "Blessed are
the poor in spirit,
743
00:40:18,736 --> 00:40:22,433
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
744
00:40:22,540 --> 00:40:26,499
Blessed be they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
745
00:40:26,610 --> 00:40:30,137
Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth.
746
00:40:30,247 --> 00:40:33,410
Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst for righteousness,
747
00:40:33,517 --> 00:40:35,144
for they shall be filled.
748
00:40:35,252 --> 00:40:38,881
Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.
749
00:40:38,989 --> 00:40:43,426
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
750
00:40:43,527 --> 00:40:45,586
Blessed are the peacemakers,
751
00:40:45,696 --> 00:40:49,132
for they shall be called
the children of God.
752
00:40:49,233 --> 00:40:52,464
Blessed are they
which suffer persecution
753
00:40:52,570 --> 00:40:54,401
for righteousness' sake,
754
00:40:54,505 --> 00:40:57,440
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
755
00:40:57,541 --> 00:41:01,068
Ye are the salt of the earth."
756
00:41:01,178 --> 00:41:02,645
It's hard... it's impossible...
757
00:41:02,746 --> 00:41:05,408
to overpraise the quality
of Tyndale's writing.
758
00:41:05,516 --> 00:41:08,451
Its rhythmical beauty,
its simplicity of phrase,
759
00:41:08,552 --> 00:41:10,679
has penetrated deep
into the bedrock of English
760
00:41:10,788 --> 00:41:12,551
as we still know it today.
761
00:41:12,656 --> 00:41:16,558
Tyndale's work formed 85% of
the later King James Bible...
762
00:41:16,660 --> 00:41:17,922
the one we all know...
763
00:41:18,028 --> 00:41:20,189
and we all use
his phrases still...
764
00:41:20,297 --> 00:41:22,322
"scapegoat,"
"let there be light,"
765
00:41:22,433 --> 00:41:23,422
"the powers that be,"
766
00:41:23,534 --> 00:41:25,434
"my brother's keeper,"
"filthy lucre,"
767
00:41:25,536 --> 00:41:27,595
"fight the good fight,"
"sick unto death,"
768
00:41:27,705 --> 00:41:30,105
"flowing with milk and honey,"
"the apple of mine eye,"
769
00:41:30,207 --> 00:41:31,265
"a man after my own heart,"
770
00:41:31,375 --> 00:41:33,275
"the spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak,"
771
00:41:33,377 --> 00:41:35,538
"sign of the times,"
"ye of little faith,"
772
00:41:35,646 --> 00:41:36,908
"eat, drink, and be merry,"
773
00:41:37,014 --> 00:41:40,609
"brokenhearted," "clear-eyed,"
and hundreds and hundreds more.
774
00:41:40,718 --> 00:41:42,982
Words like, "beautiful,"
"fisherman," "landlady,"
775
00:41:43,087 --> 00:41:45,487
"seashore," "stumbling block,"
"taskmaster," "two-edged,"
776
00:41:45,589 --> 00:41:46,749
"viper," "zealous,"
777
00:41:46,857 --> 00:41:48,688
and even "Jehovah"
and "Passover"
778
00:41:48,792 --> 00:41:50,851
come to us from Tyndale.
779
00:41:50,961 --> 00:41:53,020
By this stage
in the adventure of English,
780
00:41:53,130 --> 00:41:55,496
we are coming across words
that carry our ideas
781
00:41:55,599 --> 00:41:57,760
and emotions and feelings
even today,
782
00:41:57,868 --> 00:41:59,335
words that not only tell us
783
00:41:59,436 --> 00:42:01,097
about the external world
we live in,
784
00:42:01,205 --> 00:42:04,572
but about the inner nature
of our condition.
785
00:42:05,576 --> 00:42:08,545
"Then God said,
'Let there be light. '
786
00:42:08,646 --> 00:42:12,377
And God saw the light
and that it was good,
787
00:42:12,483 --> 00:42:14,747
and He divided the light
from the darkness,
788
00:42:14,852 --> 00:42:19,312
and called the light day
and the darkness night.
789
00:42:19,423 --> 00:42:25,953
And so of the evening and
morning was made the first day."
790
00:42:30,401 --> 00:42:32,494
BRAGG: Before long,
there were thousands of copies
791
00:42:32,603 --> 00:42:33,968
of Tyndale's Bible in England.
792
00:42:34,071 --> 00:42:35,504
In his happy phrase,
793
00:42:35,606 --> 00:42:38,336
"The noise of the new Bible
echoed throughout the country."
794
00:42:38,442 --> 00:42:41,036
Produced in a small,
pocket-sized edition
795
00:42:41,145 --> 00:42:42,476
that was easily concealed,
796
00:42:42,579 --> 00:42:44,774
it passed through the cities
and universities
797
00:42:44,882 --> 00:42:48,215
into the hands of
even the humblest men and women.
798
00:42:48,319 --> 00:42:51,117
The authorities...
especially Thomas More...
799
00:42:51,221 --> 00:42:52,381
still railed against him
800
00:42:52,489 --> 00:42:54,354
for "putting the fire
of scripture
801
00:42:54,458 --> 00:42:56,517
into the language
of ploughboys,"
802
00:42:56,627 --> 00:42:58,094
but the damage was done.
803
00:42:59,296 --> 00:43:03,198
The English had their
English Bible, legal or not.
804
00:43:06,470 --> 00:43:09,166
The hunt for Tyndale continued,
however.
805
00:43:09,273 --> 00:43:13,209
In 1 535, two hired assassins
entrapped him in Antwerp
806
00:43:13,310 --> 00:43:16,211
and smuggled
him out of the city
to Vilvorde Castle,
807
00:43:16,313 --> 00:43:18,907
where he was imprisoned.
808
00:43:19,016 --> 00:43:22,645
In his last letter,
Tyndale asked that he might have
809
00:43:22,753 --> 00:43:26,689
"a warmer cap, for I suffer
greatly from the cold,
810
00:43:26,790 --> 00:43:29,987
a warmer coat also,
for what I have is very thin,
811
00:43:30,094 --> 00:43:33,495
a piece of cloth
with which to patch my leggings.
812
00:43:33,597 --> 00:43:36,327
And I ask to be allowed to have
a lamp in the evening,
813
00:43:36,433 --> 00:43:39,891
for it is wearisome
to sit alone in the dark.
814
00:43:40,004 --> 00:43:42,837
But most of all
I beg and beseech your clemency
815
00:43:42,940 --> 00:43:44,931
that the commissary
will kindly permit me
816
00:43:45,042 --> 00:43:47,977
to have my Hebrew Bible,
grammar, and dictionary,
817
00:43:48,078 --> 00:43:50,672
that I may continue
with my work."
818
00:44:07,931 --> 00:44:10,297
And continue his work he did.
819
00:44:10,401 --> 00:44:14,462
Phrases like "a prophet has
no honour in his own country,"
820
00:44:14,571 --> 00:44:17,165
"a stranger in a strange land,"
821
00:44:17,274 --> 00:44:19,435
"a law unto themselves,"
822
00:44:19,543 --> 00:44:21,841
"we live and move
and have our being,"
823
00:44:21,945 --> 00:44:26,780
and "let my people go"
all come from Tyndale's pen.
824
00:44:31,088 --> 00:44:34,956
In August 1 536, Tyndale was
found guilty of heresy
825
00:44:35,059 --> 00:44:36,788
by a court in the Netherlands.
826
00:44:37,628 --> 00:44:40,597
And on October the 6th,
he was strangled,
827
00:44:40,697 --> 00:44:42,562
then burned at the stake.
828
00:44:42,666 --> 00:44:47,603
His last words were, "Lord, open
the King of England's eyes!"
829
00:44:52,342 --> 00:44:55,743
In fact, events had already
opened the king's eyes.
830
00:44:55,846 --> 00:44:58,610
Henry Vlll had tried to divorce
Catherine of Aragon,
831
00:44:58,715 --> 00:45:00,910
and that had brought him into
confrontation with the pope.
832
00:45:01,018 --> 00:45:04,181
Now he too was opposed
to papal supremacy.
833
00:45:04,288 --> 00:45:06,119
Henry's mood had changed,
834
00:45:06,223 --> 00:45:08,919
and Scripture
was suddenly more important
835
00:45:09,026 --> 00:45:10,857
than Church authority.
836
00:45:13,263 --> 00:45:14,992
Thomas More had been executed
837
00:45:15,099 --> 00:45:18,432
for refusing to see things
the king's way,
838
00:45:18,535 --> 00:45:19,695
and his new advisors,
839
00:45:19,803 --> 00:45:21,862
Thomas Cromwell
and Thomas Cranmer,
840
00:45:21,972 --> 00:45:26,102
keen to keep their heads,
moved on ecclesiastical reform.
841
00:45:28,879 --> 00:45:31,712
And that reform came
with the split from Rome
842
00:45:31,815 --> 00:45:33,248
and the English Reformation.
843
00:45:33,350 --> 00:45:35,181
Now England needed
the Scriptures
844
00:45:35,285 --> 00:45:37,150
to be available
in its own tongue.
845
00:45:37,254 --> 00:45:40,485
English was to become at last
the language of power.
846
00:45:40,591 --> 00:45:43,458
Henry's change of mind
came too late to save Tyndale,
847
00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:46,324
even supposing he gave his fate
any thought at all.
848
00:45:46,430 --> 00:45:48,489
But by the time
of Tyndale's martyrdom,
849
00:45:48,599 --> 00:45:50,499
Henry had
already authorised this...
850
00:45:50,601 --> 00:45:51,863
Coverdale's Bible...
851
00:45:51,969 --> 00:45:53,334
which was translated
from the German
852
00:45:53,437 --> 00:45:55,428
and was the first legal Bible
in England.
853
00:45:55,539 --> 00:45:57,200
That was in 1 535.
854
00:45:57,307 --> 00:45:59,673
In 1 53 7, Matthew's Bible...
855
00:45:59,776 --> 00:46:01,767
an amalgam of Coverdale's
and Tyndale's...
856
00:46:01,879 --> 00:46:03,506
was allowed to be printed
in England.
857
00:46:03,614 --> 00:46:06,310
In 1 539, we have
the Great Bible,
858
00:46:06,416 --> 00:46:08,043
designed to be
the official version
859
00:46:08,152 --> 00:46:09,619
for newly Protestant England
860
00:46:09,720 --> 00:46:12,245
and to be placed in every
parish church in the land.
861
00:46:12,356 --> 00:46:14,290
After centuries of suppression,
862
00:46:14,391 --> 00:46:18,157
three Bibles are approved
and published inside six years.
863
00:46:18,262 --> 00:46:20,492
And it goes on...
the Geneva Bible,
864
00:46:20,597 --> 00:46:23,498
the Bishops' Bible,
the Rheims Bible.
865
00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:25,966
The English language
has suddenly flowered.
866
00:46:26,069 --> 00:46:28,663
It's already returned to the
palaces of court and state,
867
00:46:28,772 --> 00:46:30,433
like this one,
Lambeth Palace in London.
868
00:46:30,541 --> 00:46:32,168
It's again become the language
869
00:46:32,276 --> 00:46:34,403
of a vivid and vigourous
national literature,
870
00:46:34,511 --> 00:46:36,604
and now,
with the split from Rome,
871
00:46:36,713 --> 00:46:40,809
it's conquered the last and
highest bastion... the Church.
872
00:46:42,653 --> 00:46:44,678
It was the spirit
of Protestantism
873
00:46:44,788 --> 00:46:47,154
that the Bible be available
to everyone.
874
00:46:47,257 --> 00:46:49,817
In 1 530, Thomas More had ranted
875
00:46:49,927 --> 00:46:52,794
about the shame of it being read
by ploughboys.
876
00:46:52,896 --> 00:46:54,796
But The Great Bible of 1 540
877
00:46:54,898 --> 00:46:57,560
came with a preface
by More's successor, Cranmer,
878
00:46:57,668 --> 00:47:00,262
which commended it to all.
879
00:47:01,338 --> 00:47:03,863
MAN: "Here may men, women;
young, old;
880
00:47:03,974 --> 00:47:06,568
learned, unlearned;
rich, poor;
881
00:47:06,677 --> 00:47:08,804
priests, laymen;
lords, ladies;
882
00:47:08,912 --> 00:47:12,575
officers, tenants, and mean men;
virgins, wives;
883
00:47:12,683 --> 00:47:16,346
widows, lawyers, merchants,
artificers, husbands,
884
00:47:16,453 --> 00:47:17,647
and all manner of persons,
885
00:47:17,754 --> 00:47:20,245
of what estate or condition
soever they be,
886
00:47:20,357 --> 00:47:22,416
learn all things,
887
00:47:22,526 --> 00:47:25,552
what they ought to believe,
what they ought to do,
888
00:47:25,662 --> 00:47:28,631
as well as concerning
Almighty God
889
00:47:28,732 --> 00:47:31,826
as themselves and all others."
890
00:47:31,935 --> 00:47:34,768
And so we have come full circle.
891
00:47:34,871 --> 00:47:36,429
Where the mediaeval
Catholic Church
892
00:47:36,540 --> 00:47:39,475
kept the Bible from the people,
Henry's new Church set out
893
00:47:39,576 --> 00:47:42,101
to get the Bible
to as many as possible.
894
00:47:42,212 --> 00:47:44,112
It's had
an extraordinary influence
895
00:47:44,214 --> 00:47:45,613
on the spread of our language.
896
00:47:45,716 --> 00:47:47,445
By the end of the 1 6th century,
897
00:47:47,551 --> 00:47:49,746
there were
so many competing versions
898
00:47:49,853 --> 00:47:52,788
that King James I ordered
a standardised version,
899
00:47:52,889 --> 00:47:56,222
which we now know as
the King James Bible of 1 61 1.
900
00:47:56,326 --> 00:47:58,294
The writers drew on
all the previous versions,
901
00:47:58,395 --> 00:48:01,193
but mostly on Tyndale's.
902
00:48:01,298 --> 00:48:04,426
Interestingly, they made no
attempt to update the language,
903
00:48:04,534 --> 00:48:06,331
that was now 80 years old.
904
00:48:06,436 --> 00:48:08,461
So even though by 1 61 1
905
00:48:08,572 --> 00:48:10,938
English had undergone
further revolution,
906
00:48:11,041 --> 00:48:12,440
the King James translators
907
00:48:12,542
--> 00:48:15,067
would still use "ye"
sometimes for "you"...
908
00:48:15,178 --> 00:48:18,079
as in "Ye cannot serve God
and mammon"...
909
00:48:18,181 --> 00:48:21,116
even though nobody said "ye"
in common speech anymore.
910
00:48:21,218 --> 00:48:24,847
They used "thou" for "you,"
"gat" for "got,"
911
00:48:24,955 --> 00:48:26,889
"spake" for "spoke," and so on.
912
00:48:31,428 --> 00:48:33,259
In other words,
the King James version
913
00:48:33,363 --> 00:48:35,763
was deliberately archaic
even then,
914
00:48:35,866 --> 00:48:37,891
and that's part
of its extraordinary power.
915
00:48:38,001 --> 00:48:39,696
It was designed to feel
916
00:48:39,803 --> 00:48:41,771
as if it had the authority
and resonance
917
00:48:41,872 --> 00:48:43,464
of speech from the past.
918
00:48:43,573 --> 00:48:45,973
It was meant to sound
ancient, antique,
919
00:48:46,076 --> 00:48:48,476
like the very words of God.
920
00:48:58,088 --> 00:49:00,886
And above all,
the men who made this version
921
00:49:00,991 --> 00:49:03,960
listened to their final drafts
being read aloud,
922
00:49:04,061 --> 00:49:07,326
over and over again,
and altered them accordingly
923
00:49:07,431 --> 00:49:10,229
so that they had
the right rhythm and balance.
924
00:49:10,334 --> 00:49:13,030
This makes
the authorised English Bible
925
00:49:13,136 --> 00:49:15,627
par excellence
a preacher's Bible.
926
00:49:15,739 --> 00:49:19,573
It was written to be spoken,
to be heard, to be understood.
927
00:49:20,944 --> 00:49:24,141
It was written
to spread the Word.
928
00:49:24,247 --> 00:49:26,977
English at last
had God on its side.
929
00:49:27,084 --> 00:49:30,918
The language was authorised
by the Almighty himself.
930
00:49:31,688 --> 00:49:36,785
"In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
931
00:49:36,893 --> 00:49:39,293
and the Word was God.
932
00:49:39,396 --> 00:49:43,025
The same was in the beginning
with God.
933
00:49:43,133 --> 00:49:45,693
All things were made by Him,
934
00:49:45,802 --> 00:49:50,637
and without Him was not
anything made that was made.
935
00:49:50,741 --> 00:49:55,041
In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men.
936
00:49:55,145 --> 00:49:57,306
And the light shineth
in darkness,
937
00:49:57,414 --> 00:50:00,781
and the darkness
comprehended it not.
938
00:50:00,884 --> 00:50:05,321
And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us."
939
00:50:05,422 --> 00:50:08,391
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