William Tyndale 1526
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| Born | 1494 Stinchcombe |
| Died | 6 October 1536 | Age 42 Netherlands |
Tyndale’s New Testament was the first to be printed in English. Those discovered owning them were punished. At first only the books were destroyed, but soon heretics would be burned.
Although the Old Testament had first been written in Hebrew and the New Testament in a dialect of Greek the official language of the medieval Church was Latin - the language of the Roman Empire.
Christians were governed from Rome by the Pope during medieval times.
Church services were conducted in Latin throughout the Christian world, and translation of the Latin Bible into the vernacular, or local language anyone could understand, was actively discouraged because this eroded control.
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Translating the Bible into English made Tyndale very unpopular, he was forced into hiding in Europe. When he was eventually caught Tyndale was found guilty of heresy and executed by strangulation then burned at the stake. His last words were "Lord! Open the King of England's eyes". Born in Gloucestershire William Tyndale is remembered as an “Architect of the English Language”.
Links
British Library
