William Tyndale
He was the first Englishman to translate the Bible from its original languages. Tyndale’s translation would provide the basis of all subsequent English Bibles.
Tyndale, like Wycliffe before him, believed that the Bible, not the church hierarchy, was the instrument of salvation.
In 1523 he travelled to London to get permission from Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall to translate the Bible into English. Tunstall refused permission and Tyndale left for the continent the following spring. His work in Europe was subsidised by a layman friend, Humphrey Monmouth, and some other London merchants.
By August 1523 Tyndale and his assistant, William Roye, had finished translating Erasmus’ Greek New Testament into English. However they were forced to flee Cologne and they took the work with them.
In early 1524 Tyndale succeeded in publishing the complete New Testament and began sending copies to England He believed in the authority of Scripture. As such he was committed to the idea that all English people must be able to read and hear Scripture in English. Many of those copies were burned in 1526 after Bishop Tunstall had purchased many for the sole purpose of destroying them.
By 1529 Tyndale had mastered Hebrew and subsequently produced an outstanding translation of the Pentateuch. He completed nine other Old Testament books but did not live long enough to seem them published.
Tyndale met his death by strangulation of 6th October 1536 and his body was then burned at the stake. His parting words were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” This prayer proved to be ironic as Henry VIII’s eyes were indeed open as he had already given permission, if not his blessing, for a complete translation of the Bible to be circulated around England. That Bible was the Coverdale version.