II. _The Mediæval Versions._—Not many translations were made during the Dark Ages. 1. _Cædmon_, a monk (died 680), translated the Bible stories into rude Anglo-Saxon verse. 2. _Aldhelm_ (died 709), a bishop, translated the Psalms into verse. 3. _Bede_ (died 735), “the venerable,” translated the gospel of John into Anglo-Saxon, completing the work on the day of his death. 4. _King Alfred_ (died 901), best of the kings of England, translated certain portions, as the laws of his kingdom, called “Alfred’s Dooms.” 5. _Wiclif_ (died 1384), “Morning Star of the Reformation,” a great scholar and enemy of Rome, translated the New Testament into English in 1380, and, aided by friends, the Old Testament in 1384. This great work was in manuscript only, as printing was not yet invented. III. _The Modern Versions._—The Reformation brought forth the Bible from neglect and called out numberless versions, of which we notice only a few of the greatest in English history. 1. _William Tyndale._—One of the early reformers made the best translation ever wrought by any one man. This New Testament was issued in 1525; the Old Testament not until after his martyrdom in 1536. 2. _Miles Coverdale_, a friend of Tyndale, made the first English version by the consent of King Henry VIII., issued in 1535; made not from Greek text, but from Luther’s German Bible and the Vulgate; hence, less literal than Tyndale’s. 3. _The Great Bible_ (1539), made by command of Henry VIII., by the influence of Thomas Cromwell; the first edition a revision of Coverdale and Tyndale; second edition 1540, under direction of Archbishop Cranmer, hence known as “Cranmer’s Bible;” a book of great size, chained to the reading desk in the parish churches. 4. _The Geneva Bible_ (1560), made at Geneva, Switzerland, by a number of Puritan exiles from England. Its principal translators were Whittingham, Gilby, Coverdale (above named), and perhaps John Knox; a convenient quarto; the best translation of the time; very popular with the Puritan element in the English Church. 5. _The Bishop’s Bible_ (1568), under direction of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Elizabeth; mainly a revision of the Great Bible; prepared as a rival to the Geneva version, but never as popular among the people, though used among the clergy. 6. _The Douay Bible_, a Roman Catholic version, made not from the original, but from the Vulgate; the New Testament published at Rheims in 1582, the Old Testament at Douay in 1609; the version in use among Romanists, having many notes setting forth their views. 7. _The Authorized Version_ (1611), the translation now in general use, made by forty-seven scholars under direction of King James I.; begun in 1607, published in 1611. 8. _The Revised Version_ (1881), prepared by a company of English and American scholars; in the main, much more exact than the authorized version, and deserving of general adoption. SUNDAY-SCHOOL SECTION.