The King’s Psalms — or the Pope’s? Katherine Parr’s Psalms or Prayers, Scriptural Collage, and English Catholic Devotion

Abstract

ABSTRACT Scholars have long known that early modern Protestants adapted Catholic devotional texts for their own religious purposes, yet early modern Catholic uses of Protestant devotional material are rare. This article focuses on a surprising fact: that one of the most important English Catholic devotional texts, the Manual of Prayers (first ed., 1583), incorporates three psalms from Katherine Parr's Psalms or Prayers (first ed. 1544). Parr's text translates John Fisher's Psalmi seu Precationes (ca. 1525), a collection of collage psalms assembled from scripture; her translations are credited with an important role in shaping Protestant piety and popularizing collage psalms. But they were also easily assimilated to English Catholic devotion. The case of the Manual's use of Parr’s use of Fisher’s use of the Bible testifies to the popularity and flexibility of collage psalms across confessional lines, and to the importance of found language in early modern devotion.