The 1500s were a very different time. Most of England’s population lived in villages and made their living from farming. In 1512, tennis became illegal, along with a number of other games. For a brief time during the plague of 1569, it also became illegal to sell fresh fruit (presumably possession of the stuff was a lesser crime). What is perhaps even more surprising, however, is that it was illegal to translate the Bible into the modern English of the day.
So why are we talking about the 1500s? you ask. It’s because of this dapper-looking chap. He is in fact none other than William Tyndale (pronounced ‘tindle’). It’s the anniversary of his death, and if you’ve never heard of him, you’re in for a treat.
Tyndale is one of our heroes here at Wycliffe Bible Translators. Like us, he believed that people (specifically, the English) should be able to read the Bible for themselves, in their own language. The difference is, in his time – the early 1500s – this was considered a very dangerous idea. Even the Church of England was against it.
Even though the Bible had been translated into an earlier form of English (Middle English) before, by John Wycliffe, translating the Bible into modern English was strictly forbidden. Tyndale went ahead and did it anyway.
Tyndale started his work in London, and later relocated to Germany for safety reasons. Three years after he started his work, copies of Tyndale’s English New Testament were being smuggled into England.
Tyndale ended up being arrested for heresy, imprisoned, and eventually strangled and burned at the stake for his crime – but not before several thousand copies of his New Testament had been printed.
Want more? Read about our history as an organisation!
Tyndale completed his work for his countrymen hundreds of years ago. But there’s plenty of work still to do: there are over 1.5 billion people worldwide who don’t have access to the Bible in their language. Why not connect with a Bible translation project that’s happening right now!