William Tyndale

William Tyndale was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his execution. He is well known as a translator of most of the Bible into English, and was influenced by the works of prominent Protestant Reformers such as Martin Luther.

Tyndale's translation was the first English Bible to draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts to some extent, the first English translation to take advantage of the printing press, the first of the new English Bibles of the Reformation, and the first English translation to use Jehovah as God's name as preferred by English Protestant Reformers. It was taken to be a direct challenge to the hegemony of the Catholic Church and of those laws of England maintaining the church's position. The work of Tyndale continued to play a key role in spreading Reformation ideas across the English-speaking world.