[Mr Rogers]

No offense taken, but the Catholic Church at the time was quite clear that they objected to commoners reading vernacular translations.

http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc02/htm/iv.v.lxi.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=3D0UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA640&lpg=PA640&dq=Synod+of+Toulouse+in+1229+bible&source=bl&ots=do_-xZ4s-a&sig=PD8RRWJD3MyAZisSjIV7KeTo_LI&hl=en&ei=zdXITbXVFoG8sAO1g62SAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCEQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=Synod%20of%20Toulouse%20in%201229%20bible&f=false

[Natural Law]

"No offense taken, but the Catholic Church at the time was quite clear that they objected to commoners reading vernacular translations."

When we deal in partial truths it is important that it is not done with an intent to deceive. While it is indeed true that some vernacular translations were banned to all but the clergy it was not a blanket prohibition. The Church, with its teaching authority mandate, had a duty to ensure that all vernacular translations were accurate and were published without the heretical margin notes that were supporting many heretical movements of the day. Compounding this was the very real situation where there were no written languages for the many, many languages and dialects spoken across Europe and no one literate in them to benefit from a vernacular language had there been a suitable vernacular Bible available.

Lastly, the notion that vernacular Bibles were a Protestant invention or a product of the Reformation is preposterous. Only the presumption that anyone or everyone can assume the authority to accurately interpret and translate the Bible is.

Peace be with you