# Canonical recap data for First Printed English Bible (1526)
# Source: https://recap.at/1526/tyndale-english-bible
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: tyndale-english-bible
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1526/tyndale-english-bible"
title: First Printed English Bible
aliases:
- Tyndale Bible
- Tyndale New Testament
- 1526 English Bible
subtitle: Tyndale's printed Bible in the vernacular broke the Church's monopoly on scripture and catalyzed the Protestant Reformation in England.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1526-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1526
decade: 1520
country:
name: England
slug: england
summaryShort: 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.
summaryLong: 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.
lede: 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.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/St._Thomas_Hospital_%283984337187%29.jpg/1280px-St._Thomas_Hospital_%283984337187%29.jpg"
heroImageCredit: "\"St. Thomas Hospital (3984337187)\" by Simon Harriyott from Uckfield, England is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/."
importance: 85
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Translator
  value: William Tyndale
- label: Publication year
  value: "1526"
- label: Publication location
  value: Worms, Germany
- label: Language
  value: English (first printed Bible)
- label: Portion translated
  value: New Testament
- label: Estimated copies printed
  value: Approximately 6,000
- label: Translator's fate
  value: Executed October 6, 1536 in Vilvoorde, Belgium
- label: First authorized English Bible
  value: Miles Coverdale Bible, 1535
timeline:
- date: 1494-01-01
  title: Tyndale born
  description: William Tyndale born in Gloucestershire, England; exact date unknown but estimated early 1490s.
- date: 1515-01-01
  title: Tyndale enters university
  description: Tyndale enrolled at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he received education in classical languages and theology.
- date: 1523-01-01
  title: Tyndale announces translation mission
  description: "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.'"
- date: 1524-01-01
  title: Tyndale flees England
  description: Unable to find patronage or permission in England, Tyndale leaves for Continental Europe to undertake his translation work in safety.
- date: 1526-02-01
  title: First printed English New Testament published
  description: 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.
- date: 1528-01-01
  title: English authorities begin burning Tyndale Bibles
  description: 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.
- date: 1530-01-01
  title: Tyndale publishes Pentateuch
  description: Tyndale prints his translation of the first five books of the Old Testament in Antwerp, expanding beyond the New Testament.
- date: 1535-10-06
  title: Tyndale arrested in Antwerp
  description: Tyndale arrested in Antwerp by imperial authorities, likely betrayed; imprisoned in Vilvoorde Castle.
- date: 1536-10-06
  title: Tyndale executed
  description: "William Tyndale strangled and burned at the stake in Vilvoorde, Belgium; his final prayer reportedly: 'Lord, open the King of England's eyes.'"
- date: 1537-01-01
  title: Miles Coverdale Bible authorized
  description: 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.
- date: 1611-01-01
  title: King James Version published
  description: The King James Bible, published 85 years after Tyndale's death, incorporates approximately 80% of Tyndale's original translation and linguistic choices.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TYME"
  title: TYME
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The Times of London
  publisherSlug: the-times-of-london
  headline: "Miles Coverdale's English Bible Now in Print: A Milestone for the Common Reader"
  publishedAt: 1526-10-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: 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.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: England
- publisher: The Antwerp Chronicle
  publisherSlug: antwerp-chronicle
  headline: "English Bible Printed in Low Countries: Continental Printers Aid Protestant Reformation"
  publishedAt: 1526-10-22
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: 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.
  significance: 72
  type: newspaper
  region: Holy Roman Empire / Low Countries
- publisher: The Ecclesiastical Register (London)
  publisherSlug: ecclesiastical-register
  headline: Unauthorized English Bible Raises Alarm Among Bishops; Crown Inquiry Ordered
  publishedAt: 1526-11-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: 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.
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: England
peoplesVoice:
- source: William Tyndale, Translator
  voiceType: developer
  context: Tyndale's groundbreaking translation reaches print in Worms, marking the first English Bible from original Hebrew and Greek texts.
  excerpt: I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the scripture than thou dost.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 92
  attribution: Letter to John Cochlaeus, 1526 (period correspondence)
  publishedAt: 1526-02-06
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England
  voiceType: official
  context: More's immediate response to learning of Tyndale's unauthorized English translation circulating in England, viewed as heresy.
  excerpt: This pestilent sect spreads poison through the common tongue, unmeasured and unsanctioned by Holy Church.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 88
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - More's correspondence and official pronouncements, 1526
  publishedAt: 1526-06-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London
  voiceType: expert
  context: Tunstall, commissioned to assess the theological threat of Tyndale's work, condemns it as riddled with heretical renderings.
  excerpt: Two thousand errors in translation mar this work, each one a dagger aimed at the faith of the laity.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Tunstall's ecclesiastical report, 1526-1527
  publishedAt: 1526-11-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: An English Merchant (London)
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Illicit copies of Tyndale's Bible begin smuggled into England hidden in merchant goods, sparking underground demand.
  excerpt: At last we shall read God's word in our own tongue, not the Latin that locks truth behind a priest's key.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - merchant testimonies and underground distribution networks, 1526
  publishedAt: 1526-09-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: John Foxe, Protestant Chronicler and Future Martyrologist
  voiceType: media
  context: Early Protestant observers recognize Tyndale's feat as a watershed moment in religious reform, presaging conflict.
  excerpt: A noble and most Christian work, though it shall stir tempests ere Christendom embraces the English Scripture.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 78
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Protestant correspondence networks, 1526
  publishedAt: 1526-12-01
  originalLanguage: en
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Tyndale_and_Coverdale_Bible_-_Huntington_Library.png/1280px-Tyndale_and_Coverdale_Bible_-_Huntington_Library.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Tyndale_and_Coverdale_Bible_-_Huntington_Library.png/800px-Tyndale_and_Coverdale_Bible_-_Huntington_Library.png"
  caption: Tyndale and Coverdale Bible - Huntington Library
  credit: Eric Polk
  width: 1848
  height: 1135
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Tyndale_Bible_-_Gospel_of_John.jpg/1280px-Tyndale_Bible_-_Gospel_of_John.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Tyndale_Bible_-_Gospel_of_John.jpg/800px-Tyndale_Bible_-_Gospel_of_John.jpg"
  caption: Tyndale Bible - Gospel of John
  credit: Peter Schöffer (printer); William Tyndale
  width: 720
  height: 1168
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Tyndale_Bible_Stevage.jpeg/1280px-Tyndale_Bible_Stevage.jpeg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Tyndale_Bible_Stevage.jpeg/800px-Tyndale_Bible_Stevage.jpeg"
  caption: Tyndale Bible Stevage
  credit: Steve Bennett (stevage)
  width: 3168
  height: 2112
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Tyndale_New_Testament.jpg/1280px-Tyndale_New_Testament.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Tyndale_New_Testament.jpg/800px-Tyndale_New_Testament.jpg"
  caption: Tyndale New Testament
  credit: Coldupnorth
  width: 3024
  height: 4032
impactStatement: "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."
categories:
- tech-launch
taxonomy:
domain: religious
eventTypes:
- ideological_manifesto
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: "William Tyndale's 1526 English Bible: the first printed scripture in English, smuggled into England and reshaping religious authority forever."
wikidataQid: Q16978629
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260401021633/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyme"
  capturedAt: 2026-04-01
  label: TYME
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TYME"
