William Tyndale

William Tyndale or William Tindal (circa 1492-1536), English biblical translator, religious reformer, and writer. Born in Gloucestershire, Tyndale received his master's degree from the University of Oxford. He was ordained in 1515 and then went to the University of Cambridge. There he determined to translate the Bible from the Greek into English in order to combat corruption in the English church and extend scriptural knowledge among the common people of England. Receiving no support from the bishop of London, however, he traveled to Germany, where he met Martin Luther, espoused Reformation principles, and, in Cologne, began (1525) the printing of his English version of the New Testament; it was completed in Worms. He published his annotated translation of the Pentateuch in 1530.

Tyndale's unorthodox translations were vigorously opposed by ecclesiastical authorities in England. Nonetheless, his version of the Bible, together with the earlier translations of the English theologian and religious reformer John Wycliffe, formed the foundation of the Authorized (King James) Version of 1611. Tyndale was the author of a number of tracts upholding the English Reformation, and he was engaged in acrimonious controversy with the English statesman and humanist writer Sir Thomas More. He was taken into custody by imperial representatives in Antwerp and, after 16 months of imprisonment, was tried; on October 6, 1536, Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake.