1. William Tyndale was an English Biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his execution.
34 Facts About William Tyndale
1. 2.
William Tyndale translated much of the Bible into English, and was influenced by the works of prominent Protestant Reformers such as Martin Luther.
3.
The work of William Tyndale continued to play a key role in spreading Reformation ideas across the English-speaking world.
4.
In 1530, William Tyndale wrote The Practice of Prelates, opposing Henry's plan to seek the annulment of his marriage on the grounds that it contravened Scripture.
5.
In 1535 William Tyndale was arrested, and jailed in the castle of Vilvoorde outside Brussels for over a year.
6.
In 2002, William Tyndale was placed 26th in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
7.
William Tyndale was a gifted linguist and became fluent over the years in French, Greek, Hebrew, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish, in addition to English.
8.
William Tyndale became chaplain at the home of Sir John Walsh at Little Sodbury in Gloucestershire and tutor to his children around 1521.
9.
William Tyndale's opinions proved controversial to fellow clergymen, and the next year he was summoned before John Bell, the Chancellor of the Diocese of Worcester, although no formal charges were laid at the time.
10.
William Tyndale left for London in 1523 to seek sponsorship and permission to translate the Bible into English.
11.
William Tyndale preached and studied "at his book" in London for some time, relying on the help of cloth merchant Humphrey Monmouth.
12.
William Tyndale left England for continental Europe, perhaps at Hamburg, in the spring of 1524, possibly traveling on to Wittenberg.
13.
William Tyndale began translating the New Testament at this time, possibly in Wittenberg, completing it in 1525 with assistance from Observant Friar William Roy.
14.
The colophon to William Tyndale's translation of Genesis and the title pages of several pamphlets from this time purported to have been printed by Hans Lufft at Marburg, but this is a false address.
15.
In 1531 he asked Stephen Vaughan to persuade William Tyndale to retract his heretical opinions and return to England.
16.
Vaughan tried to persuade William Tyndale, and forwarded copies of his books, but this did not satisfy the king.
17.
William Tyndale developed his case in An Answer unto Sir Thomas More's Dialogue.
18.
William Tyndale was seized in Antwerp in 1535, and held in the castle of Vilvoorde near Brussels.
19.
Latomus' three books were subsequently published as one volume: in these it can be seen that the discussion on heresy revolves around the contents of three other books William Tyndale had written on topics like justification by faith, free will, the denial of the soul, and so on.
20.
Latomus makes no mention of Bible translation; indeed, it seems that in prison, William Tyndale was allowed to continue making translations from the Hebrew.
21.
William Tyndale was found guilty by his own admission and condemned to be executed.
22.
William Tyndale "was strangled to death while tied at the stake, and then his dead body was burned".
23.
William Tyndale was conjectured by Donald Smeeton to have come out of the Lollard tradition, which Smeeton argued was strong in Gloucestershire, but later scholars have cast doubt on these claims.
24.
William Tyndale rejected the view that the scriptures could be interpreted only by approved clergy.
25.
William Tyndale was very much interested in what has become known as covenant theology, and took what has come to be thought of as a Calvinist stance on many issues, including the atonement.
26.
The William Tyndale Monument was built in 1866 on a hill above his supposed birthplace, North Nibley, Gloucestershire.
27.
William Tyndale was at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, which became Hertford College in 1874.
28.
An American Christian publishing house, called William Tyndale House, was named after William Tyndale.
29.
William Tyndale is honored in the Calendar of saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as a translator and martyr the same day.
30.
William Tyndale fought with another reformer George Joye who wrote in 1535: "Let every man be ware how he medle with Tin[dale]," finding him disdainful, conceited, hypocritical and unwilling to have his Bible translations corrected.
31.
The first biographical film about Tyndale, titled William Tindale, was released in 1937.
32.
The film God's Outlaw: The Story of William Tyndale, was released in 1986.
33.
William Tyndale has appeared as a character in two plays dealing with the King James Bible, Howard Brenton's Anne Boleyn and David Edgar's Written on the Heart.
34.
William Tyndale was writing at the beginning of the Early Modern English period.