John Bale’s 'The Image of Both Churches'

503 Pages·2013·3.24 MB·English

by  Gretchen E. Minton (auth.)

Studies in Early Modern Religious Tradition,
Culture and Society
Gretchen E. Minton Editor
John Bale’s
The Image of
Both Churches
John Bale’s The Image of Both Churches
S TUDIES IN EARLY MODERN RELIGIOUS
TRADITION, CULTURE AND SOCIETY
VOLUME 6
Editor
Irena Backus, University of Geneva
Editorial Board
Maria Rosa Antognazza, King’s College, London, UK
Emidio Campi, University of Zürich, Switzerland
Luc Deitz, Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Carlos Eire, University of Yale, USA
Lucas Erne, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Mohammed M. Ghaly, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
Bruce Gordon, University of Yale, USA
Bradley Gregory, Notre Dame University, Indiana, USA
Howard Hotson, St. Anne’s College, Oxford, UK
Ralph Keen, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
Jill Kraye, The Warburg Institute, London, UK
Diarmaid MacCulloch, St. Cross College, Oxford, UK
Scott Mandelbrote, Cambridge University, UK
Maria-Cristina Pitassi, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Lyndal Roper, Balliol College, Oxford, UK
Herman J. Selderhuis, Theological University Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
Christoph Strohm, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Magda Teter, Wesleyan University, USA
John L. Thompson, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, USA
Alexandre Vanautgaerden, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Piotr Wilczek, University of Warsaw, Poland
Studies in Early Modern Religious Tradition, Culture and Society aims to publish
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For further volumes:
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Gretchen E. Minton
Editor
John Bale’s T he Image
of Both Churches
Editor
Gretchen E. Minton
Department of English
Montana State University
Bozeman , MT , USA
Images: All images are reproduced with the permission of the British Library Board
ISSN 1572-5596
ISBN 978-94-007-7295-3 ISBN 978-94-007-7296-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7296-0
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013957557
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For my mother

Acknowledgements
John Bale has been my sometime companion since 1994, when I gave my fi rst
c onference paper as a graduate student. I had no idea what a long relationship I
would have with this intriguing and sometimes diffi cult man, nor did I have any idea
that a critical edition of the Image of both Churches would take as long as it has. My
ability to sustain this project over these years owes a great deal to many people. First
of all, I would like to thank Mark Vessey for his unfailing support of my forays into
sixteenth-century Reformers at the earliest stages of my career. Irena Backus, the
general editor of Studies in Early Modern Religious Tradition, Culture and Society,
has been gracious, supportive, and patient with me since I fi rst proposed this book.
I also am deeply appreciative of Tony Dawson, who taught me to be an editor, and
to Paul B. Harvey, Jr., who has always been generous with answers to my queries.
I n the summer of 2007 I was privileged to be part of an NEH seminar in Antwerp
and Oxford entitled ‘The Reformation of the Book: 1450–1700.’ I am grateful to the
seminar leaders, John King and Jim Bracken, and to my fellow ‘seminarians,’ who
inspired me and taught me as I began focused work on this edition. This is still the
only group I have ever been part of whose members understand that when I refer to
‘the’ 40s,’ I mean the 1540s.
Numerous trips to research libraries have been made possible by generous grants
from Montana State University. The staff at the Folger Shakespeare Library deserves
special mention for their assistance during my multiple trips there. Funding from
Montana State has also given me the opportunity to employ research assistants at
various stages of this project. I thus owe a debt of gratitude to these industrious and
smart students. Elizabeth Christensen Paudel, Johanna Doty Sedell, Katie Davison,
and especially Nathan Phillips all worked very hard and helped this edition be much
more accurate than it could otherwise have been. Thanks also to Thomas Wells,
Parker Dunn, and Quentin Miller for their contributions.
I wish also to thank my parents, Frank Minton and Carolyn Nunn, for never
doubting my ability to persevere in whatever momentous task I decided to under-
take. The dedication of this book refl ects not just my mother’s support, but how
much I have appreciated her faith, which has neither the fear nor the accusation that
too often characterized John Bale and his time. Finally, thank you so much to Kevin
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viii Acknowledgements
Brustuen, who never questioned my need to make multiple trips to libraries, who
helped me calm down during the moments of extreme stress, and who reads every
word I ever write. Such unfailing support and love has made the book possible, and
having Kevin and Luke to come home to makes everything worthwhile.
Bozeman, MT, USA Gretchen E. Minton
June 2013
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
The Two Churches Model ............................................................................. 2
Paraphrase or Commentary? ......................................................................... 6
Princely Power and the Elect Nation ............................................................ 8
Apocalyptic Exegesis and History ................................................................ 9
Apocalyptic Sources ................................................................................. 10
The Antichrist ............................................................................................ 11
Numbers and the Pattern of History .......................................................... 12
The Millennium ........................................................................................ 15
The Place of the Image in Bale’s Oeuvre ...................................................... 17
Bale’s Language ............................................................................................ 20
Dating and Publication .................................................................................. 22
The Woodcuts ................................................................................................ 26
The Infl uence of the Image ........................................................................... 28
Note on the Text ............................................................................................ 31
Sample Textual Notes ............................................................................... 32
Conventions............................................................................................... 33
The Image of Both Churches .......................................................................... 35
A Preface Unto the Christian Reader ........................................................... 36
Part I
The First Chapter ........................................................................................... 51
The Text ........................................................................................................ 51
The Paraphrase .......................................................................................... 51
The Text ........................................................................................................ 52
The Paraphrase .......................................................................................... 53
The Text ........................................................................................................ 54
The Paraphrase .......................................................................................... 54
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