Hymn Story
Crown Him with Many Crowns
“Crown Him with Many Crowns” was written by Matthew Bridges, an Anglican clergyman who at age 48 converted to Roman Catholicism and at age 51 wrote this hymn. It is the one hymn written by Bridges to still be sung widely today.
Bridges wrote six verses, each celebrating some aspect of God, such as kingship, love, and peace. Some years later, Godfrey Thring, an Anglican clergyman, thought that the hymn needed a verse celebrating the resurrection, so he wrote the one that begins, “Crown him the Lord of life, who triumphed o’er the grave” — and he wrote additional verses as well. The hymn as found in most hymnals today includes verses by both Bridges and Thring.
Copyright 2007, Richard Niell Donovan