Translation and historiography : the role of translators writing the ‘true’ history of the Christian church in post-reformation London

In this paper I propose to discuss the early English translations of the key text of Christian ecclesiastical historiography, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, to highlight the contribution of their authors to the English language and to the writing of Church history in English. The paper will be three-fold: it will briefly explain the centrality of historiography in the wake of the Reformation; it will present selected evidence of the translators’ own description of the scope, purpose and significance of their activity; and it will exemplify the impact of their work on the English language.