Editing Matthew Parker (section)

==Scholarship==
Parker's historical research was exemplified in his ''De antiquitate Britannicæ ecclesiae'', and his editions of [[Asser]], [[Matthew Paris]] (1571), [[Thomas Walsingham]], and the compiler known as [[Matthew of Westminster]] (1571). ''De antiquitate Britannicæ ecclesiæ'' was probably printed at Lambeth in 1572, where the archbishop is said to have had an establishment of printers, engravers, and illuminators.{{sfn|Gilman|Peck|Colby|1905}}

Parker gave the English people the ''[[Bishops' Bible]]'', which was undertaken at his request, prepared under his supervision, and published at his expense in 1572. Much of his time and labour from 1563 to 1568 was given to this work. He had also the principal share in drawing up the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'', for which his skill in ancient liturgies peculiarly fitted him. His liturgical skill was also shown in his version of the [[Psalms|psalter]].{{sfn|Gilman|Peck|Colby|1905}} It was under his presidency that the [[Thirty-nine Articles]] were finally reviewed and subscribed by the clergy (1562).

Parker published in 1567 an old ''Saxon Homily on the Sacrament'', by Ælfric of Eynsham. He published ''A Testimonie of Antiquitie Showing the Ancient Fayth in the Church of England Touching the Sacrament of the Body and Bloude of the Lord'' to prove that [[transubstantiation]] was not the doctrine of the ancient English Church.{{sfn|Gilman|Peck|Colby|1905}} Parker collaborated with his secretary [[John Joscelyn]] in his manuscript studies.

===Manuscript collection===

[[File:Chertsey Breviary - St. Erkenwald.jpg|thumb|Information about figures such as the Saxon St Erkenwald would be wholly lost without the protection given to them by Matthew Parker]]
Parker left a priceless collection of [[manuscripts]], largely collected from former [[Monasteries|monastic]] libraries, to his college at Cambridge. Bevill has documented the manuscript transcriptions conducted under Parker.<ref>Beveill, Robert Scott, “Old English Manuscripts in the Early Age of Print: Matthew Parker and his Scribes,” PhD dissertation, University of Tennessee, 2016.</ref>

The [[Parker Library, Corpus Christi College|Parker Library]] at Corpus Christi bears his name and houses most of his collection, with some volumes in the [[Cambridge University Library]].<ref>McMahon, Madeline (2023). "Ancient Letters and Old Paper: How Matthew Parker (1504-1576) Understood Medieval Books." ''Book History'' 26 (Fall):237-273.</ref>

The collection includes the important collection of early materials concerning [[St Erkenwald]], the ''Miracula Sanct Erkenwaldi,'' preserved as a 12th-century manuscript in the Matthew Parker collection (Parker 161).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gollancz |first=Sir Israel |title=Selected Early English Poems IV St Erkenwald |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1923}}</ref>

The [[Parker Library on the Web]] project has made digital images of all of these manuscripts available online.