Thomas Cranmer: Jasper Ridley (#33): Formularies & the Bible (ch.8), 122ff.
BOOM! The "Thomas Matthews" Bible (Tyndale's, Rogers,' and Coverdale's) gets a royal and official thumbs-up for nationwide distribution, a turning point. Dr. Cranmer "enthuses" over this to Thomas Crumwell (sometimes spelled Cromwell) claiming this was a "better gift than 1000 pounds" and that Cromwell "would be greatly honored in the Final Judgment." Dr. Cranmer's hearty reaction and endorsement is no surprise. Dr. Cranmer had an energy on the Bible back to at least 1521. He may even have been a Wycliffian sympathesizer. Why not?
Miles Coverdale, formerly the Bishop of Exeter (someone's ancestral homestead back to 1603), is in Zurich with Heinrich Bullinger working on the prototype to the Matthews' Bible. The presses are rolling. Zurich and Wittenberg are ahead of the power curve, but Dr. Cranmer is only a bit behind and held back by other forces.
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