Parr’s “Psalms or Prayers taken out of Holy Scriptures”, was printed by the King’s printer on 25 April 1544. It was an anonymous translation of a Latin work by Bishop John Fisher (c. 1525) that had been reprinted on 18 April 1544. Fisher had been executed in 1535 for refusing to take the oath of supremacy, and his name does not appear on the title page. Parr paid for deluxe gift copies of the book which were printed on vellum and distributed at court, but a more standard edition on paper was widely distributed and became a bestseller.
Parr’s volume appeared as preparations for war were being finalised, and it served as a powerful piece of wartime propaganda designed to help Henry win the war against France and Scotland via the prayers of his people. (The fact that the war with Scotland continued until 1560, so the prayers of the English people were apparently unanswered.) The volume contains seventeen “Psalms”, focused largely on defeating enemies, and it concludes with “A Prayer for the King”, derived from a prayer for the Holy Roman Emperor by Georg Witzel, and “A Prayer for Men to Say Entering into Battle”, a translation of a prayer by Erasmus.
