Cross+Way: Jewel's Apology

This year (2012) is the 450th anniversary of the publication of the Apology for the Church of England by John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury. Strictly speaking, that statement is inaccurate! What he published was Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae. He wrote in Latin because this was the universal, scholarly language, and he wanted to explain to the whole of Europe exactly where the Church of England stood. Two years later it was translated into English – interestingly enough by Lady Ann Bacon, the mother of Francis Bacon, the playwright – with a preface by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Keep reading.