Historical Scholar Profile
Lancelot Andrewes
Dean of Westminster & Director of KJV First Westminster Company
1555 – 1626•English
"He is not a preacher that cannot speak to all sorts of people; he is not a scholar that cannot read all sorts of books."
Curatorial Biography & Life
Lancelot Andrewes was Bishop of Winchester and one of the supreme minds of the Jacobean Church. When King James I sanctioned a new translation of the Bible at Hampton Court in 1604, Andrewes was appointed to direct the First Westminster Company, responsible for the Old Testament from Genesis to Second Kings.
Renowned for his mastery of Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and Syriac, Andrewes and his committee met regularly in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey, reading every translated verse aloud to ensure that its cadences were magnificent when spoken in church.
Martyrdom & Enduring Legacy
Master of fifteen languages, renowned as one of the most brilliant scholars and eloquent preachers of the Jacobean era. Directed the translation of Genesis through 2 Kings for the 1611 KJV.