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The use of the vernacular language for scriptural citation, a central issue for the followers of John Wyclif, aroused considerable academic interest, especially in Oxford. The matter was in some sense decided in 1409, when archiepiscopal legislation was passed to restrict the making and possession of new translations of the Bible. The four texts that are presented here derive from the academic debate which immediately preceded this decision. The Latin texts by William Butler and Thomas Palmer are wholly hostile to the idea of translation; the conclusions of another, by Richard Ullerston, run in the other direction. An anonymous English text draws on Ullerstons while adapting and augmenting it. Together, these texts preserve the most detailed discussions of translation and the theory of language that survive from late medieval England. This volume provides editions and modern translations of these four texts, together with a substantial introduction explaining their context and the implications of their arguments.--
Summary
This volume provides editions and modern translations of four biblical texts from between 1409 and 1530, together with a substantial introduction explaining their context and the implications of their arguments, and encouraging further exploration of the perceptions of the nature of language that are displayed there.
