William Tynedale

William Tyndale
Born	c. 1494 Gloucestershire, England
Died	c. 6 October 1536 near Vilvoorde, Duchy of Brabant, Seventeen Provinces
Cause of death	Executed by strangling, then burnt at the stake
Alma mater	Magdalen Hall, University of Oxford
Known for	Tyndale Bible

William Tyndale (/ˈtɪndəl/; sometimes spelled Tynsdale, Tindall, Tindill, Tyndall; c. 1494 – c. 6 October 1536) was an English scholar who became a leading figure in Protestant reform in the years leading up to his execution. He is well known for his translation of the Bible into English. He was influenced by the work of Desiderius Erasmus, who made the Greek New Testament available in Europe, and by Martin Luther. A number of partial translations had been made from the seventh century onward, but the spread of Wycliffe's Bible led to the death penalty for anyone found in unlicensed possession of Scripture in English—though translations were available in all other major European languages.

Tyndale's translation was the first English Bible to draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, the first English translation to place God's name [Jehovah] in its rightful place, the first English translation to take advantage of the printing press, and first of the new English Bibles of the Reformation. It was taken to be a direct challenge to the hegemony of both the Roman Catholic Church and the laws of England maintaining the church's position. In 1530, Tyndale also wrote The Practyse of Prelates, opposing Henry VIII's annulment of his own marriage on the grounds that it contravened Scripture.

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