Introduction

This essay focuses on Dutch vernacular Bibles of the early 1500s. The translation and production of these is marked by the survival of a mediaeval tradition, by the production of New Testaments and complete Bibles in short succession in Antwerp, and by a doctrinal eclecticism where an ostensibly sound Catholic Bible translation would avail itself of Luther's works. The Dutch-speaking Low Countries today encompass the Netherlands, the Dutch-speaking northwestern half of Belgium, and a sliver of northern France. Political divisions between these parts would not emerge until the 17th century.

I am interested in comparing two ideologies of translation: a ‘Catholic’ one, where the end result of the translation is functional, a means to an end; and a ‘Protestant’ one, where the end result of the translation replaces the received source text and becomes the main mediator of religious truth and redemption. I examine whether these ideologies, and the competing sources of the Latin Vulgate and Luther's vernacular translations, have differing effects on the translation of exotic zoonyms in the Old Testament. I am aware that this dichotomy simplifies matters and does not distinguish, on the Catholic side, between loyalty to the Vulgate and humanist striving towards a better source text. But as a way to approach the various Bible translations of the 1520s and the principles underlying these, I nonetheless believe it adequate.