COVERDALE, MILES, the celebrated translator of the Bible, was born in Yorkshire in 1487. He was educated at Cambridge in the House of the Augustine Friars, and after having been admitted into that order, was ordained priest at Norwich in 1514. On the promulgation of the reformed opinions at Cambridge, Coverdale was amongst the first to abandon his allegiance to the Church of Rome; and probably finding it unsafe to remain in England, he went abroad, and assisted Tyndale in translating the Bible. In 1535 he published his own translation, with a dedication to Henry VIII., who had now come to an irreparable breach with the Pope. This was the earliest translation of the whole Bible in the English language, and the Psalms in it are those which are now used in the Book of Common Prayer. (See BIBLE, vol. iv. 702.) With the sanction of the king, Coverdale went to Paris to superintend the publication of a new edition; but a decree of the inquisition broke up the printing-establishment, and consigned the volumes already finished to the flames. A few copies, however, having been sold as waste-paper, were preserved; and the presses, which were transported to England, were used in printing Cranmer's, or the Great Bible, under the superintendence of Coverdale. In 1551, Coverdale was appointed to the see of Exeter; and in consideration of his poverty the customary payment of first fruits was remitted to him. On the accession of Mary he was thrown into prison, and released only on condition of leaving his native country.
Invited by his kinsman, the king's chaplain, he repaired for a time to the court of Denmark, but afterwards retired to Geneva, where he was associated with other English exiles in executing the Geneva translation. On his return to England after the death of Mary, he was not reinstated in his bishopric; and in 1563 he declined the see of Llandaff. He held for some time the rectory of St Magnus, London Bridge, but resigned it in 1566. The rest of his life was spent in translating from the works of the Continental reformers, and in the publication of tracts for the spread of the Reformation. The date of Coverdale's death is uncertain, but he was buried in the chancel of the church of St Bartholomew, Feb. 19, 1568. The third centenary of the publication of Coverdale's Bible was held Oct. 4, 1835.