Here is a timeline outlining the introduction of Metrical Psalmody
into England in the 16th century as well as some events following
that period and up to the time of Isaac Watts.
1492 - Columbus sails to the New World
1495 - William Tyndale
is born.
1509 - Death of Henry VII - Henry
VIII becomes King of England at the age of 17.
1509 - Henry marries Katherine
of Aragon.
1509 -
John Calvin is born.
1516 - Queen Mary I "Bloody Mary" born in Greenwich.
1517 - John
Foxe is born.
1519 - Martin
Luther nails 95 Theses to the door of the Church at Wittenburg
in Germany.
1525 - William
Tyndale publishes an English translation of the New Testament
(printed in Worms, Germany)
1527 - Henry VIII appeals to the Pope for permission to divorce
Catherine of Aragon.
1530 - William
Tyndale publishes his English translation of the Pentateuch,
the first five books of the Old Testament.
1533 - Henry VIII
secretly divorces Katherine and marries Anne
Boleyn.
1533 - Elizabeth
I is born
1533 - Pope Clement VII excommunicates Henry
VIII.
1534 - Parliament passes the Act
of Supremacy which breaks England from Rome and makes Henry
head of the Church of
England.
1534 - Ignatius
Loyola, Spanish ecclesiastic, founds the Society
of Jesus (the Jesuits) in Paris with the aim of defending
Catholicism against heresy.
1535 - Miles
Coverdale prints the 1st complete English
Bible (translated from Dutch and Latin) and dedicated to
Henry VIII.
1536 - Anne Boleyn
beheaded after dropping her handkerchief in Greenwich (a sign of
infidelity).
1536 - Henry marries Jane
Seymour.
1536 - Act
of Union between England & Wales.
1536 - William
Tyndale, the English translator of the New Testament, is
strangled and burned at the stake for heresy at Vilvorde, France
.
1537 - Edward VI is born.
1537 - Jane Seymour
dies.
1537 - The first Catholic hymnal is published.
1539 - John
Calvin publishes 30 Psalm settings by Clement
Marot.
1539 - Henry VIII
meets Anne of Cleves
at a Blackheath pageant.
1540 - Henry marries Anne
of Cleves - divorced 6 months later.
1540 - Henry marries Catherine
Howard.
1541 - John
Knox, a Scottish theologian and historian, leads the Calvinist
Reformation in Scotland.
1542 - Catherine Howard
put to death for treason.
1543 - Henry marries Catherine
Parr.
1543- Protestants are burned at the stake for the first time in
the Spanish Inquisition. Pope Paul III issues an index of
prohibited books
1544 - Clement Marot
dies.
1545 - The Council
of Trent is convened and lasts until 1564.
1546 - Martin
Luther dies.
1547 - Henry VIII
dies and Edward
VI becomes King.
1547 - French becomes the official language of France, displacing
Latin.
1549 - France declares war on England. England declares war on France.
1549 - Thomas Sternold publishes a metrical Psalter with
19 Psalms (the exact date is unknown).
1549 - Book of Common
Prayer is published.
1549 - Thomas Sternhold dies.
1549 - A second edition of Sternhold's Psalter with 19 metrical
Psalms is published.
1553 - Edward
VI dies and Mary
Tudor (Mary I) becomes Queen.
1553 - Persecution of Protestants in England. Many flee to Europe
and end up in Geneva.
1554 - England and the Pope reaches a reconciliation.
1554 - John Knox flees to Geneva where he meets John
Calvin.
1555 - Lutheranism is acknowledged by the Holy Roman Empire in the
Peace of Augsburg.
1556 - Thomas Cranmer
is burned at the stake.
1556-61 Various editions of an Anglo-Genevan Psalter appear
in print. This is an English translation of the Genevan Psalter
-- the first English language Psalter WITH TUNES to appear in print.
1557 - William Whittingham translates the Geneva Testament
into English. It was divided into verses and printed in Roman type.
1558 - Queen
Mary dies and Elizabeth
I becomes Queen of England.
1558 - The religious climate in England changes for the better and
Protestants begin returning home from Geneva and Zurich.
1559 - John
Knox returns home to Scotland from Geneva.
1560 - The Church of Scotland is founded. The Presbyterian
branch of Protestant Christianity is started by John
Knox.
1560 - The beginnings of Puritanism appear in England.
1562 - The Genevan Psalter is completed (150 Psalms together
with the 10 Commandments and the Nunc Dimittis).
1562 - John Hopkins finishes the work begun by Thomas
Sternhold and publishes the first complete English Psalter (also
known as the Sternhold & Hopkins Psalter and the Old Version).
1562 - John Day publishes the first melody-only edition of
the English Psalter (Day's Psalter). Most melodies in CMD.
1562 - The Council of Trent (1545-1563) demanded that clarity
replace embellishment and display in church music.
1563 - A harmonized version of Day's Psalter is published.
1563 - Foxe's Book
of Martyrs is published.
1564 - William
Shakespear is born.
1564 - First Scottish Psalter
with 104 tunes (melodies only).
1564 - John
Calvin dies.
1564 - The Council
of Trent ends.
1566 - King James I (d.1625 at 59), son of Mary Queen of
Scots, is born.
1567 - Mary, Queen of Scotts (a Catholic) is forced to abdicate
her throne. She moves to London where she makes everyone "uncomfortable,"
particularly Queen
Elizabeth.
1567 - Matthew Parker's Psalter (one of the many music editions
of the English Psalter)is published. Matthew Parker (1504-1575)
was Archbishop of Canturbury under Elizabeth
I.
1567 - The Catholic Church outlaws the outright sale of indulgences.
1568 - Archbishop Matthew Parker supervises the Bishop's
Bible, which was published in opposition to the popular Geneva
(Calvinistic) Bible.
1570 - The Turks declare war on Venice.
1575 - Thomas Tallis and William. Byrd, English organists
and composers, publish their Cantiones, a collection of 34
motets, after being granted a royal license to print and sell music.
1579 - Damon's Psalter (one of the many music editions of
the English Psalter).
1580 - Francis Drake returns to England at the end of his voyage
to circumnavigate the globe.
1582 - The Julian calendar is corrected. The old Julian Calendar
had an error rate of one day in every 128 years. This was corrected
in the Gregorian Calendar of Pope Gregory XIII, but Protestant countries
did not accept the change till 1700 and later.
1586 - Plots by Catholics to kill Elizabeth
I and seize the throne. 1587 - Mary, Queen of Scotts is
executed. 1592 - Este's Psalter (one of the many music editions
of the English Psalter).
1587 - Elizabeth
I has Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded.
1588 - The Spanish Armada is destroyed.
1588 - The Bible is translated into Welsh by Bishop William
Morgan.
1598 - The first opera is performed in Florence, Italy.
1599 - Oliver Cromwell is born.
1599 - The first recorded performance at the Globe Theater in London.
1603 - Elizabeth
I dies.
1603 - A final version of the Genevan
Psalter is published by Claude Goudimel which contained
harmonized settings of tunes by Louis Bourgeois.
1618 -1648 Thirty Years War in Europe, particularly Germany.
1621 - Ravenscroft's Psalter (one of the many music editions
of the English Psalter).
1623 - George Wither publishes Hymns and Songs of the Church.
1625 - King James I dies.
1628 - John Bunyan is born.
1633 - George
Herbert puslishes The Temple (a book of poems, many
of which are hymns of private devotion).
1640 - Bay Psalm Book (first
American Psalter and first book of any kind printed in British North
America).
1650 - The Scottish Psalter
is approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
1653 - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector in England.
1684 - John Bunyan's, Pilgrim's Progress is published.
1696 - Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady publish the New
Version -- texts only, no tunes.
1707 - Isaac Watts
publishes Hymns and Spiritual Songs.
1708 - Supplement to the New Version containing tunes is
published.
1719 - Isaac Watts
publishes The Psalms of David Imitated. . .
1760 - Paul Revere first engraves music in America.
LEGACY OF BRITISH METRICAL PSALMODY
Texts
Tunes
Texts still used today: (H = Episcopal Hymnal, 1982; MH
=United Methodist Hymnal, 1989)
Sternhold and Hopkins : None
Tate and Brady:
- As pants the hart for cooling streams (H 82, 658)
- The "Supplement" (1708) contained the paraphrase of
"While Shepherds watched" (MH 236)
Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1559)
- All people that on earth do dwell (MH 75)
Scottish Psalter (165)
- The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want (MH 136)
Tunes still in use today:
TALLIS CANON (Matthew Parker's Psalter, 1567) - MH 682
DUNDEE (Ravenscroft's Psalter, 1621) - H82, 126
LONDON NEW (Scottish Psalter, 1635) - H82, 50
ST. ANNE (1708 Supplement to New Version) - MH 117
HANOVER (1708 Supplement to New Version) - MH 181
ST. MATTHEW (1708 Supplement to New Version) - H82, 567