Translating Ecclesiastical Historiography in Tudor England

This paper discusses the earliest English translations of the key text of Christian ecclesiastical historiography, the ecclesiastical History by Eusebius of Caesarea and it highlights the linguistic and cultural contribution of authors working at the interface between translation and historiography. The discussion is three-fold. It begins by situating the reception of Eusebius’ work in Tudor England in the wake of the Reformation, a period of intense intellectual activity, religious and linguistic debate. It then presents the English translations of Eusebius’ work and focusses on the evidence of the authors’ own perception of their activity: did they consciously place their work in an editorial tradition? Did they establish a dialogue with any predecessors, or show any desire to establish new ground for the future? In the final section, the discussion centres on the translators’ editorial policies and linguistic views, and it gives examples of the impact of their work on the English language.