Power and Belief: The Reformation at 500

For some reformers, including Martin Luther, pursuit of their cause led to a break from existing church institutions. The Reformation brought greater religious diversity to the Continent than had previously been experienced and transformed the religious landscape across Europe and the wider world.

Luther used music, images and text to communicate his message. Two editions of this early collection of Lutheran hymns were published in 1524 by rival Erfurt printers, Johannes Loersfeld and Matthes Maler. This is the only known surviving copy of the Maler edition.

This polemic text by the Czech reformer Jan Hus includes a preface by Martin Luther. The tract was in the possession of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury [as marked at the top of the title page] revealing links between reform movements in Bohemia, Saxony, and England.

As government persecution of Lutheran heresy increased, English Protestant reformer Coverdale moved to the continent where he met William Tyndale. Following Tyndale's execution in 1536, Coverdale completed Tyndale's translation of the Old Testament. Coverdale's work was printed as the Matthew Bible and formed the basis for the Great Bible of 1539.

Gaining Thomas Cromwell's approval, Coverdale was instructed to revise his initial translation. Printed in 1539, Cromwell ordered that a copy of the Great Bible be set up in every parish church in English. For many people the Great Bible was their first encounter with Scripture in their own mother tongue.   

William Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore, realised the importance of communicating Protestantism in the Irish language. His translation of the Old Testament was completed by 1640. Before it could be published, the Irish Rebellion of 1641 had broken out. Bedell was imprisoned during the revolt, and died in 1642. With the assistance of the scientist Robert Boyle, the work was finally published in 1685.