prayers of his people. 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. Parr paid for deluxe gift copies of the book which were distributed at court, and the "Ninth Psalm" was set to pre-existing music by Thomas Tallis and was likely performed as part of special wartime ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral on 22 May 1544. Parr's "A Prayer for the King" had an important afterlife. In 1559, it was edited and inserted into the Book of Common Prayer, probably by Elizabeth who was then Supreme Governor of the Church of England. This prayer remains in the Book of Common Prayer and is still used to pray for the British monarch by Anglican communities around the globe. Henry went on his last campaign to France from July to September 1544, leaving Catherine as his regent. Because her regency council was composed of sympathetic members, including her uncle Thomas Cranmer (the Archbishop of Canterbury) and Lord Hertford, Catherine obtained effective control and was able to rule as she saw fit. She handled provision, finances, and musters for Henry's French campaign, signed five royal proclamations, and maintained constant contact with her lieutenant in the northern Marches, Lord Shrewsbury, over the complex and unstable situation with Scotland. It is thought that her actions as regent, together with her strength of character and noted dignity, and later religious convictions, greatly influenced her stepdaughter Lady Elizabeth (the future Elizabeth I of England). Parr's second publication, Prayers or Meditations, appeared in June 1545, and, like her first book, it was a bestseller. In this case, Parr's compositional method was a complex one as she reworked the third book of Thomas à Kempis's Imitatio Christi to produce a monologue spoken by a generic Christian speaker. The volume also circulated in manuscript and deluxe print copies. Princess Elizabeth translated the work into Latin, Italian and French as a New Year's gift for Henry VIII in December 1545 and presented the manuscript in a beautiful hand-embroidered cover. The volume has been digitised by the British Library. The queen's religious views were viewed with suspicion by anti-Protestant officials such as Stephen Gardiner (the Bishop of Winchester) and Lord Wriothesley (the