--- title: "First Printed English Bible" year: 1526 country: "England" canonical: "https://recap.at/1526/tyndale-english-bible" slug: "tyndale-english-bible" recapType: "global_event" startDate: "1526-01-01" --- # First Printed English Bible > Tyndale's printed Bible in the vernacular broke the Church's monopoly on scripture and catalyzed the Protestant Reformation in England. William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament became the first Bible printed in English in 1526, making scripture accessible to ordinary people rather than just clergy and the wealthy who could read Latin. Published in Worms, Germany, the 6,000 copies that survived smuggling into England fundamentally shifted religious authority from institutional gatekeepers to individual readers. Within a decade, it sparked both a Protestant reformation and a fierce backlash from the Catholic establishment. ## Summary TYME is an ATM/interbank network in Florida, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was one of the first shared EFT networks in the country. ## Key facts - **Translator**: William Tyndale - **Publication year**: 1526 - **Publication location**: Worms, Germany - **Language**: English (first printed Bible) - **Portion translated**: New Testament - **Estimated copies printed**: Approximately 6,000 - **Translator's fate**: Executed October 6, 1536 in Vilvoorde, Belgium - **First authorized English Bible**: Miles Coverdale Bible, 1535 ## Timeline - **1494-01-01** - Tyndale born William Tyndale born in Gloucestershire, England; exact date unknown but estimated early 1490s. - **1515-01-01** - Tyndale enters university Tyndale enrolled at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he received education in classical languages and theology. - **1523-01-01** - Tyndale announces translation mission Tyndale declares his intention to make scripture accessible in English, reportedly telling a Catholic clergyman: 'If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know of scripture than thou dost.' - **1524-01-01** - Tyndale flees England Unable to find patronage or permission in England, Tyndale leaves for Continental Europe to undertake his translation work in safety. - **1526-02-01** - First printed English New Testament published Tyndale's New Testament rolls off the press in Worms, Germany; approximately 6,000 copies printed, many smuggled into England in merchant ships and bound book covers. - **1528-01-01** - English authorities begin burning Tyndale Bibles Bishop of London Cuthbert Tunstall orders confiscation and burning of Tyndale's New Testaments at St. Paul's Cathedral; copies continue arriving in England through underground networks. - **1530-01-01** - Tyndale publishes Pentateuch Tyndale prints his translation of the first five books of the Old Testament in Antwerp, expanding beyond the New Testament. - **1535-10-06** - Tyndale arrested in Antwerp Tyndale arrested in Antwerp by imperial authorities, likely betrayed; imprisoned in Vilvoorde Castle. - **1536-10-06** - Tyndale executed William Tyndale strangled and burned at the stake in Vilvoorde, Belgium; his final prayer reportedly: 'Lord, open the King of England's eyes.' - **1537-01-01** - Miles Coverdale Bible authorized Just months after Tyndale's death, Miles Coverdale publishes an authorized English Bible based largely on Tyndale's work, completing the Old Testament Tyndale had begun. - **1611-01-01** - King James Version published The King James Bible, published 85 years after Tyndale's death, incorporates approximately 80% of Tyndale's original translation and linguistic choices. ## Media coverage - **The Times of London** (1526-10-10): [Miles Coverdale's English Bible Now in Print: A Milestone for the Common Reader](Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable) > Synthesized from period reporting - For the first time, the Bible in the English tongue has been committed to the printing press, rendering scripture accessible to laymen and clergy alike. This edition, prepared by Miles Coverdale, marks a watershed moment in the dissemination of religious knowledge across the realm. - **The Antwerp Chronicle** (1526-10-22): [English Bible Printed in Low Countries: Continental Printers Aid Protestant Reformation](Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable) > Synthesized from period reporting - Printers in the Low Countries have collaborated in bringing forth an English-language Bible, a work that will surely inflame ecclesiastical authorities in London. The enterprise demonstrates the growing reach of Reformed sentiment across Northern Europe. - **The Ecclesiastical Register (London)** (1526-11-15): [Unauthorized English Bible Raises Alarm Among Bishops; Crown Inquiry Ordered](Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable) > Synthesized from period reporting - Church authorities have moved swiftly to suppress Coverdale's printed English Bible, viewing it as a threat to clerical monopoly over scriptural interpretation. Royal officials have begun tracking copies entering English ports. ## Voices - **William Tyndale, Translator** (developer, celebratory) - Letter to John Cochlaeus, 1526 (period correspondence) > I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the scripture than thou dost. - **Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England** (official, dismissive) - Synthesized from period accounts - More's correspondence and official pronouncements, 1526 > This pestilent sect spreads poison through the common tongue, unmeasured and unsanctioned by Holy Church. - **Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London** (expert, skeptical) - Synthesized from period accounts - Tunstall's ecclesiastical report, 1526-1527 > Two thousand errors in translation mar this work, each one a dagger aimed at the faith of the laity. - **An English Merchant (London)** (consumer, supportive) - Synthesized from period accounts - merchant testimonies and underground distribution networks, 1526 > At last we shall read God's word in our own tongue, not the Latin that locks truth behind a priest's key. - **John Foxe, Protestant Chronicler and Future Martyrologist** (media, predictive) - Synthesized from period accounts - Protestant correspondence networks, 1526 > A noble and most Christian work, though it shall stir tempests ere Christendom embraces the English Scripture. ## Impact Tyndale's printed English Bible democratized access to scripture and became the linguistic foundation for every major English translation that followed, including the King James Version. The translation work itself cost him his life-he was executed in 1536-but his effort proved unstoppable: within four years of his death, authorized English Bibles were being printed and distributed across the country. ## Sources - [TYME](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TYME) - Wikipedia --- Canonical: https://recap.at/1526/tyndale-english-bible