John Cheke - English Purist Version?

[hammondjones]

About 1550, John Cheke, who did not like the use of foreign (latinate) words, translated the Gospel of Matthew into English using only Anglo-Saxon words (more or less).
Admittedly, "The English Language" is kind of a moving target, but nevertheless I found it interesting.

I am of this opinion that our own tung shold be written cleane and pure, vnmixt and vnmangeled with borowing of other tunges, wherin if we take not heed bi tijm, euer borowing and neuer payeng, she shall be fain to keep her house as bankrupt.

The Gospel according to Saint Matthew, and part of the first chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Mark. Translated into English from the Greek, with original ...

Table of comparisons:

 

[iainduguid]

Was John Cheke from Newcastle by any chance? When I read this, it sounds like a Geordie accent to me. Or possibly everyone spoke like Geordies in those days.

 

[hammondjones]

Was John Cheke from Newcastle by any chance?

The internet says Cambridge.

It could be everyone spoke more like that. There are videos on YouTube of "Original Pronunciation" Shakespeare, which would be roughly contemporaneous. That accent is said to have aspects of many regional accents across the English speaking world.