William Morgan (Bishop)

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William Morgan

William Morgan (* 1545 in Tŷ Mawr Wybrnan, Penmachno, Conwy ; † September 10, 1604 in St Asaph , Denbighshire ) was a Welsh scholar and Anglican Bishop of Llandaff (1595-1601) and St Asaph (1601-1604).

He was the first to translate the entire Bible from Greek and Hebrew into the Welsh language .

Life

Title page of Morgan's translation of the Bible
First page of the Book of Genesis in Morgan's Bible

Morgan was the son of John Morgan and his wife Lowry and the youngest of five siblings. Morgan's father rented the manor house at Gwydir Castle at Llanrwst near Betws-y-Coed in North Wales , where Morgan was likely raised with the Wynn family's children. He later attended St John's College in Cambridge , where he studied philosophy , mathematics and the Greek language and received his bachelor's degree in 1568 and his master's degree in 1571. During his seven-year postgraduate course in biblical studies , he studied the Bible in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic as well as works by the Church Fathers and contemporary Protestant theologians. In 1578 he received the Bachelor of Divinity (lat. Baccalaureus Divinitatis) and in 1583 he was appointed Doctor of Divinity (lat. Doctor Divinitatis). At Cambridge he was a contemporary of the Welsh poet Edmwnd Prys, who helped Morgan translate the Bible.

In addition to his academic activities, Morgan was a clergyman in the Church of England , ordained a priest in 1568 by the Bishop of Ely , Richard Cox . His first benefit was the parish Llanbadarn Fawr in the county of Ceredigion , which he received in 1572; In 1575 he moved to Welshpool and in 1578 became vicar of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant , where he made his translation of the Bible in the following years. In 1579 he was also rector of Llanfyllin.

Morgan was still in Cambridge when William Salesbury published his Welsh New Testament in 1567 . Morgan was pleased, but was certain that a Welsh translation of the Old Testament was also necessary. He began work on his own translation of the Old Testament in the early 1580s and published it along with a revision of Salesbury's New Testament in 1588: "Y Beibl cyssegr-lan sef Yr Hen Destament, a'r Newydd" (wal . "The Holy Bible - The Old Testament and the New").

After the publication of his Bible, Morgan worked on a revision of the Book of Common Prayer (English book of common prayer), an Agende of the Anglican Church; the work already translated by Salesbury appeared in its 1599 revision. He also began revising the 1588 Bible, which contained a number of typographical errors. This work was continued after Morgan's deaths by Bishops Richard Parry and John Davies, and the revised version of the Bible was published in 1620. This edition came to be known as William Morgan's Translation of the Bible. Morgan's Bible was considered the standard Welsh Bible well into the 20th century and is still used today. His achievement is seen as one of the most significant events in the history of the Welsh language, as it meant for the Welsh people to be able to read the Bible in their mother tongue at about the same time as their English neighbors.

Morgan was made Bishop of Llandaff (now a part of Cardiff ) on July 20, 1595 . On September 17, 1601, he took up his office as bishop in the diocese of St Asaph, which he held until his death in 1604.

Morgan was married twice: before studying in Cambridge, first marriage to Ellen Salesbury and second marriage to Catherine, daughter of George ap Richard ap John (ap = Welsh patronymic for son of ). Morgan had a son who later became vicar of his old parish in Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant . Lloyd 1894

Monuments

A slate in front of the portal of the parish church of St. Dogfan in Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant commemorates Morgan. In this church he made his historical translations. There is also a plaque in honor of Morgan in the chapel of St. John's College in Cambridge.

Next to a tombstone is the original of Morgan's Welsh Bible in St Asaph's Cathedral .

  • Translator Memorial, St Asaph

  • St Dogfan, Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant

  • Chapel of St John's College, Cambridge

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Morgan (bishop) . In: John Venn , John Archibald Venn (eds.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. 10 volumes, 1922-1958. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk ).
personal data
SURNAME Morgan, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Welsh Anglican bishop and Bible translator
DATE OF BIRTH 1545
PLACE OF BIRTH Tŷ Mawr Wybrnan, Penmachno, Conwy
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1604
Place of death St Asaph , Denbighshire