TYNDALE, WILLIAM (1494?–1536), Bible translator and Reformation scholar. William Tyndale came from a well-established family in Gloucestershire in the west of England. After an excellent education at a local Grammar School, he was for ten years at the University of Oxford. In 1516 Tyndale's life took a decisive turn when the New Testament was for the first time printed in Greek, its original language, in an edition made by Desiderius Erasmus in Basle, Switzerland. Along with scholars throughout Europe, and particularly Martin Luther in Germany, Tyndale recognized the importance of a readily available Greek New Testament, and the need for a printed translation which could reach English readers and hearers at any level.

After spending perhaps a year in Cambridge (where Erasmus had been teaching Greek), Tyndale returned to Gloucestershire to begin work on an English New Testament. Such an enterprise was forbidden by the Church, for whom...