William Tyndale (c.1494 - 1536)

• "Tyndale's Messiah" • How Tyndale's work underpins Handel's masterpiece.

• Tyndale's Life
• The Tyndale Society
• Books on Tyndale
• Relics and Memorials
• Other items

Tyndale's Life

The Tyndales were also known by the surname 'Hychyns'. It was as William Hychyns that Tyndale went to Magdalen Hall, Oxford, now part of Hertford College. He was admitted to the Degree of Bachelor of Arts on 4 July 1512 and to Master of Arts on 2 July 1515.

Fluent in at least 7 languages, he translated much of the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew sources. (Earlier, John Wycliffe had worked from Jerome's Latin 'Vulgate'.) In doing so he gave the English language many of its best known phrases. Much of his work appears, unchanged but unacknowledged in the 'Authorized' (or 'King James') version of the Bible.

At that time, translating the Bible was considered heretical. Tyndale fled to Germany in 1524, later to Belgium. He continued his work, translating the New Testament in 1526 and again in 1534. Eventually, he was betrayed to the authorities. He was strangled, and his dead body was burnt, on 6 October 1536.

Other articles:

• Foxe's Book of Martyrs • Logos Christian Resource Pages
• Church of the Brethren Network • Including examples of a passage passing through several versions of the Bible.

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The Tyndale Society

For more information follow the link.

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Books on Tyndale

Prof. David Daniell (Editor): Tyndale's New Testament. William Tyndale's 1534 translation, in modern spelling. Yale University Press, 1989. Sometimes cited as 1526 version.

Prof. David Daniell (Editor): Tyndale's Old Testament. William Tyndale's 1531 translation of Genesis to 2 Kings, in modern spelling. Yale University Press, 1992.

Prof. David Daniell: William Tyndale: A Biography.Yale University Press, 1994. (Reviewed by Romuald I. Lakowski/Early Modern Literature Studies)

R Demaus: William Tindale, a biography: being a contribution to the early history of the English Bible. Religious Tract Society, 1871. Revised by Richard Lovett, Cokesbury Press, 1927.

Brian H Edwards: God's outlaw. Evangelical Press, 1976.

J F Mozley: William Tyndale. 1937. Reprinted by Greenwood Press, 1971.

Louise A Vernon: Bible Smuggler. Herald Press, 1996.

Don't forget...

• ... that the British Library - at least in theory - has a copy of every book printed in the UK. Being a frame'd site the link is to the top page. For a non-frames version try OPAC.
• The Library of Congress has a similar facility.

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Relics and memorials

Relics

• Little Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, UK • St Adeline's Church - built from the ruined chapel at the Manor where Tyndale taught.
• London, UK • The 1526 New Testament at the British Library. (There seem to be several sites, with alternative at Minos and Portico.) I think it's been at the Dome for 2000.
• Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, UK • Old Hurst Farm, and a possible birth place, was owned by Tyndale's brother. The house was rebuilt in the 17th Century.
• Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire, UK • Melksham Court - family headquarters, and another possible birthplace. The family records used to be held in St Cyr's church, but I assume they've gone.
• Stuttgart, Germany • Another surviving 1526 New Testament at Württembergische Landesbibliothek. (Previous link went '404' - if it fails try their home page.)

Memorials

• Bristol, UK • Sculpture: Tyndale sits with his Bible in the new square, above the new underground car park, near the Exploratory and Wildscreen. I'll have to re-check the biography, but I wonder if, in labelling him 'an eminent Bristolian', they've confused him with a Mr Tyndall, as in 's Park Road?
• Hertford College, Oxford, UK • Stained glass window (erected 1994)
• Nibley Knoll, Gloucestershire, UK • Monument designed by S S Toulon. It had been thought that Tyndale was born in the village, possibly at Hunt's Court. Unfortunately, we find William Tyndale of North Nibley named in legal documents several years after our man's execution. This doesn't of itself mean that he wasn't born there...
• Slimbridge Church, Gloucestershire, UK • Screen (erected 1914)
• St Dunstan in the West Church, London, UK • Bust of Tyndale in the porch. I think the church only opens on Tuesdays.
• Victoria Embankment Gardens, London, UK • Statue (erected early this, i.e. 20th! Century).
• Vilvoorde, Belgium • Tyndale Museum, Lange Molenstraat 48. Also Tyndale Park and monument marking the site of his execution.
• Various chapels and schools

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Other items

• Fire for the Ploughman • a one man play written by Jack Caulfield
• God’s Truth: The Plain and Simple Word • promoting a revised translation - I'm not sure whether that's paper or electronic - with some of the old words updated ('Yea' to 'Yes' etc.).  Among other things, there are facilities to compare Tyndale and Authorized versions.

Other commemorations

• A Time of Fire - Lyric drama by Francis Alan Jackson (1967). Commissioned by Broadland Singers, and premiered by them in Wymondham Abbey, Norfolk, UK, I think as part of the Norwich triennial festival. (Hard to check - the Library burned-down in 1994.)
• Poem(s) by U A Fanthorpe - which, now I see it/them mentioned in an old Quincentenary Trust Newsletter, does ring a bell! Investigating...
• Captain of Heretics - Play by Anthony Read for BBC Radio 4.
• God's Outlaw - Film/Video (1987). Possibly linked to book above, nothing else known: reviewed by Christian Spotlight.
• Open the King of England's Eyes! - Short play by John Coutts. Old newsletter again.
• Death of A Martyr - Cantata by Christopher Boodle (1994). Commissioned by Tyndale Choral Society, and premiered by us in Dursley Church. Subsequent performances in Hertford College chapel, Oxford, and in Gloucester Cathedral, all UK.
• The Ploughboy's Story - Play by John Barnett (1994). Performed by the St Martin's Players in the gardens of Hunt's Court, North Nibley, Gloucestershire, UK.

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