Word of the Day: Douay Bible

DOUAY BIBLE. The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English translation of the Bible, begun at the English College, Douai, Flanders. The college was later moved to Reims, where the New Testament was completed and published. The Old Testament translation was issued some years later, when the college returned to Douai. The translation, which sought for accuracy rather than literary style, was made from the Latin Vulgate, carefully compared with the original Hebrew and Greek. It was mainly the work of Gregory Martin (d. 1582). In the eighteenth century it was considerably revised by Bishop Challoner (1691-1781) and until the mid-twentieth century was commonly used by Catholics in English-speaking countries. (And is still used by many of us, including the Old Curmudgeon!)