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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] William Tyndale Biography TYNDALE, tĭn'dal, William (?–1536). An English translator of the Bible. He was born on the borders of Wales, between 1490 and 1495, and was educated at Oxford and Cambridge. After leaving Cambridge (about 1522) he became tutor and chaplain in the home of Sir John Walsh, a knight of Gloucestershire. He preached frequently and, his opinions differing from those of the clergy of the neighborhood, he became involved in religious dispute, and an accusation was made against him before William of Malvern, chancellor of the diocese, who censured him for his boldness and indiscretion. As a result of his experience, Tyndale became determined to translate the New Testament into English. He went to London in 1523, but, failing to obtain help, he retired to Germany the following year. The New Testament was printed at Worms in 1525 and carried to England, and, though denounced by the government, several reprints were produced within the next few years. Tyndale remained on the Continent writing tracts in advocacy of the reformed doctrines. His chief original work, The Obedience of a Christian Man and How Christian Rulers Ought to Govern, appeared in 1528. In 1530 he published a translation of the Pentateuch, and in 1531 one of the Prophet Jonah. During this period Tyndale associated with Luther, John Frith, Patrick Hamilton, John Rogers (qq.v.), and other leading reformers. He adopted the Zwinglian doctrine of the Lord's Supper, and separated himself from the other English reformers by opposing the divorce of Henry VIII from Catharine of Aragon. He was the subject of much annoyance from the authorities and changed his abode from time to time. In 1535 he was treacherously arrested at Antwerp, and, after a confinement of sixteen months in the Castle of Vilvorde, near Brussels, the State prison of the Low Countries, he was publicly strangled and burned as a heretic Aug. 6, 1536. Tyndale was a man of both learning and talent; his translations were made directly from the Hebrew and Greek, and furnished the basis for the authorized version. His New Testament has been frequently reprinted (in facsimile by Francis Fry, London, 1862); his Pentateuch was edited by Mombert (New York, 1884); and his miscellaneous writings were published by the Parker Society (London, 1848–50). The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XXII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 604. |