Editing Myles Coverdale (section)

==Life to end of 1528==
Regarding his probable birth county, Daniell cites [[John Bale]], author of a sixteenth-century scriptorium, giving it as [[Yorkshire]].<ref name="ONDB">{{cite ODNB
 | first = David | last = Daniell | title = Coverdale, Miles (1488–1569) | year = 2004 | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/6486 | url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6486?docPos=1 | access-date = 17 February 2015 }}</ref><ref group=note>According to a bronze plaque on the wall of the former [[York Minster]] library, he was believed to have been born in York circa 1488. {{cite web | last = Anon. | title = Bronze commemorative plaque on wall of former York Minster Library. | date = 4 September 2014 | url = https://www.flickr.com/photos/16349984@N07/15138422091/ | access-date = 15 February 2015 }} However, the exact birth location of York does not appear to be corroborated. An older source (Berkshire History – based on Article of 1903) even suggests his birthplace as [[Coverdale (dale)|Coverdale]], a hamlet in North Yorkshire, but neither is this elsewhere substantiated. Daniell says that no details are known of his parentage or early education, so simply ''Yorkshire'' is the safest conclusion.</ref> His birth date is generally regarded as 1488.

Coverdale studied philosophy and theology at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], becoming bachelor of [[canon law]] in 1513.<ref name="ONDB"/><ref group=note>Daniell states "BCL according to Cooper, BTh according to Foxe." At the time, such students had to gain proficiency in both subjects.</ref> In 1514 John Underwood, a suffragan bishop and archdeacon of [[Norfolk]], ordained him priest in [[Norwich]]. He entered the house of the [[Order of St Augustine|Augustinian friar]]s in Cambridge, where [[Robert Barnes (martyr)|Robert Barnes]] had returned from [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Louvain]] to become its prior.  This is thought to have been about 1520–1525.<ref name="ONDB"/>
According to Trueman,<ref name="ONDBBarnes">{{cite ODNB|last1=Trueman|first1=Carl R.|title=Barnes, Robert (c.1495–1540)|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1472|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/1472|access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref> Barnes returned to Cambridge in the early to mid-1520s.<ref group=note>But Trueman also says that Barnes was incorporated BTh in Cambridge university in 1522-3, followed in 1523 by the award of a DTh., so Barnes' return from Louvain was probably in about 1522.</ref> At Louvain Barnes had studied under [[Erasmus]] and had developed [[Christian humanism|humanist]] sympathies. In Cambridge, he read aloud to his students from St. Paul's epistles in translation and taught from classical authors.<ref name="ONDB"/> This undoubtedly influenced them towards [[English Reformation|Reform]]. In February 1526, Coverdale was part of a group of friars that travelled from Cambridge to London to present the defence of their superior, after Barnes was summoned before [[Cardinal Wolsey]].<ref name="ONDB"/><ref name="ONDBBarnes"/> Barnes had been arrested as a heretic after being accused of preaching Lutheran views in the church of [[St Edward King and Martyr, Cambridge]] on Christmas Eve. Coverdale is said to have acted as Barnes' secretary during the trial.<ref name=VictCoHistAustinFriars>{{cite web|editor-last1=Salzman|editor-first1=L.F.|title='Friaries: Austin friars, Cambridge.' A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 2 pp287-290|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol2/pp287-290.|website=British History online|publisher=London: Victoria County History, 1948.|access-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> By the standards of the time, Barnes received relatively lenient treatment, being made to do public penance by carrying a [[Faggot (unit)#Background|faggot]] to [[St Paul's Cross]].<ref name="ONDBBarnes"/> However on 10 June 1539, Parliament passed the [[Thirty-nine Articles#Six Articles (1539)|Act of Six Articles]], marking a turning point in the progress of radical protestantism.<ref name="Duffy 1992">{{cite book
 | last1 = Duffy | first1 = Eamon. | title = The Stripping of the Altars | url = https://archive.org/details/strippingofaltar00duff | url-access = registration | location = New Haven & London | publisher = Yale University Press | year= 1992 | isbn = 0-300-05342-8}}
</ref>{{rp|423–424}}
Barnes was burned at the stake on 30 July 1540, at [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]], along with two other reformers. Also executed that day were three Roman Catholics, who were hanged, drawn and quartered.<ref name="ONDBBarnes"/>

Coverdale probably met [[Thomas Cromwell]] some time before 1527.  A letter survives showing that later, in 1531, he wrote to Cromwell, requesting his guidance on his behaviour and preaching; also stating his need for books.<ref name="ONDB"/> By Lent 1528, he had left the Augustinians and, wearing simple garments, was preaching in [[Essex]] against [[transubstantiation]], the [[Second Council of Nicaea|veneration of sacred images]], and [[Confession (Catholic Church)|Confession]] to a Priest. At that date, such views were very dangerous, for the future course of the religious revolution that began during the reign of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] was as yet very uncertain.  Reforms, both of the forms proposed by [[Lollardy]], and those preached by [[Martin Luther|Luther]], were being pursued by a vigorous campaign against heresy.<ref name="Duffy 1992"/>{{rp|379–380}} Consequently, towards the end of 1528, Coverdale fled from England to the Continent.<ref name="ONDB"/>