SCHOLARS from around the world will gather in York this week to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

The event is being organised by the University of York's Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, and takes place from tomorrow until Saturday at King’s Manor.

The conference is entitled The Bible in the Seventeenth Century: The Authorised Version Quatercentenary (1611-2011).

Delegates will assess the significance of the scriptures to cultural, political, theological and philosophical history throughout the 17th century.

Dr Kevin Killeen, conference organiser, said: “The aim of the conference is to clarify the uses to which the Bible was put in the 17th Century, an era in which most biblical culture was vibrant and pervasive, both radical and conservative. The scriptures featured as a major resource in everything from the interpretation of politics and social revolutions to distinctive forms of philosophical and scientific thought.”