Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/563

Rh of battle between the dukes of Hereford and Norfolk, which was interrupted by Richard II., and formed such an import ant episode in the tragic history of the time. During the Wars of the Roses the citizens adhered to the Lancastrian party, and were consequently rewarded by Henry VI., whose charter, constituting the city and certain adjacent villages a separate county, continued in force till 184:2. In the course of the 15th century several Parlia ments were held in the town ; and in 1569 it afforded for a short time a prison-house to Mary, Queen of Scots. Daring the troubles of the commonwealth the citizens espoused the cause of the Parliament ; and on the restoration of Charles II. their fortifications were dismantled as a penalty for their disloyalty. To the student of English literature Coventry has a special interest on account of its mystery-plays, full details in regard to which will be found in Thomas Sharp s Dissertation, 1825. Various explana tions of the popular phrase &quot; to send to Coventy &quot; have been suggested, none of them particularly satisfactory. Sae Reader s History of Coventry, 1810 ; B. Poole s History of Coventry, 1869 ; and Sharp s Antiquities of Coventry, el. by Fretton, 1871.  COVERDALE, (1488-1569), the celebrated translator of the first complete English Bible, was born in Yorkshire in 1488. He was educated at Cambridge in the house of the Augustine friars, and, after having been ad mitted into that order, was ordained priest at Norwich in 1514. On the promulgation of the Reformed opinions at Cambridge, Coverdale was amongst the first to abandon his allegiance to the Church of Rome ; and probably finding it unsafe to remain in England, he went abroad, and according to Foxe assisted Tyndale in translating the Bible. There seems, however, to be some reason to doubt Foxe s statement, which is entir.ely unsupported by corroborative evidence. Coverdale remained in total obscurity until 1535, when he published his own translation, with a dedication to Henry VIII., who had now come to an irreparable breach with the Pope. This was the earliest translation of ths whole Bible in the English language, and the Psalms in it are those which are now used in the Book of Common Prayer. Although it is not an immediate version of the original (the title bearing that it is &quot; truly translated oub of Douche and Latyn &quot;), it has many merits. Much of the rhythmical flow and finely-balanced cadence of the author ized version may be traced back to Coverdale. With the sanction of the king, Coverdale went to Paris in 1538 to superintend the publication of a new edition ; but a decree of tho Inquisition broke up the printing-establishment, and consigned the sheets already finished to the flames. A few copies, however, having been sold as waste-paper, were preserved ; and these, with the presses which were trans ported to England, were used in printing Cranmer s or the Great Bible, under the superintendence of Coverdale, which was published in 1539. After 1540 Coverdale seems to hive again resided for some time abroad. He returned to England after the death of Henry (1547), and was appointed almoner to the queen dowager, Catherine Parr. In 1551 Coverdale was appointed to the sea of Exeter ; and in consideration of his poverty the customary payment of first-fruits was remitted to him. On the accession of Mary he was thrown into prison, and released only on con dition of leaving his native country. He received the grace of exile instead of execution through the urgent intercession of tha king of Denmark, whose chaplain Mac Alpine was his brother-in-law. On the invitation of the latter, he repaired for a time to the court of Denmark, but afterwards retired to Geneva, where he was associated with other English exiles in executing the Geneva translation. On his return to England, after the death of Mary, he was not reinstated in his bishopric ; and in 1563 he declined the see of Llandaff. He held for some time the rectory of St Magnus, London Bridge, but resigned it in 1566. The rest of his life was spent in translating from the works of the Continental Reformers, and in the publication of tracts for the spread of the Reformation. The date of Coverdale s death is uncertain, but he was buried in the chancel of the church of St Bartholomew, February 19, 1509. The third centenary of the publication of Coverdale s Bible was held, October 4, 1835, when a medal was struck to commemorate the occasion. Coverdale s remains now lie in the church of St Magnus, to which they were removed when St Bartholomew s Church was taken down in 1840.

1em  COVILHA, a town of Portugal, in the province of Beira- baixa, on the south-eastern slope of the highest part of the Serra da Estrella, where it descends to the upper valley of the River Zezere, 30 miles north of Castello-Branco, to which district it belongs. The town, which is perched on the declivity in the form of an amphitheatre, has been compared to a collection of swallows nests, and is 2180 feet above the sea. It has several churches and convents. Population (1864), 9022. The people are chiefly employed in the manufacture of the brown cloth called saragoc s a, which is worn throughout Portugal. At the village of Unhacs-da- Serra, five miles W.S.W., there are noted sulphurous baths.  COVINGTON, a of the, in, , on , at its confluence with the , and directly opposite (see ,  of .). Its principal are the, the  , the , the ' , the  of , the   of 's, and the   of ; and its  establishments comprise numerous  and  , and several , , ,  , &c. Covington, as well as the contiguous of Newport, is practically a  of, with which they have  by a  and. Since it has been supplied with  by  on the  system. Covington was founded in, and received as a  in  In  its  was 2026; in , 16,471; and in , 24,505. A considerable proportion of the are. There is a   about 4 s from the  under  management  COWELL, (1554-1611), jurist, was born at Ernsborough, Devonshire. He was educated at King s College, Cambridge, and ultimately became professor of civil law in that university, and master of Trinity Hall. In 1607 he compiled a law dictionary, in which he exalted the king s prerogative so much that he was prosecuted before the House of Commons by Sir Edward Coke, and saved from imprisonment only by the interposition of James I. Cowell also wrote a work entitled Institutiones Juris Anglicani.  COWES, and, two towns of England, in the county of Hants, on the estuary of the Medina, on the north coast of the Isle of Wight, directly opposite to the mouth of Southampton Water. The port between them is the chief one of the island, and is the head quarters of the Royal Yacht Squadron (founded in 1815); it is in constant steam communication with Ryde, and with Portsmouth and Southampton, each eleven miles distant. A steam ferry across the Medina, here 600 yards broad, unites the towns. Behind the harbour the houses rise 