William Tyndale was an English priest, scholar, Biblical translator, and Christian martyr. He is perhaps best remembered for his translation of the New Testament.

He was born in England, near the Welsh border. He received his education and degrees from Magdalen College, Oxford. He also studied at Cambridge University. He was ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church in 1521 and expressed an interest in translating the Scriptures from the Greek to English. He devoted most of the rest of his life to that endeavor.

His goal was to make the scriptures available to every reader of English. He quickly discovered that King Henry VIII was not interested in an English Bible, and so fled to Germany. There, he visited with Martin Luther, who encouraged him in his work. He then began to travel from city to city, living the life of an impoverished exile. He continued to be persecuted and his life was often in danger.

During this time he began to write that, contrary to contemporary opinion, salvation was not achieved by works, but given as a gift from God. He completed his translation of the New Testament in 1525. It was soon smuggled into England. More than 18,000 copies were printed, but only two survive today.

Tyndale immediately began work on the second edition, which was published in 1534. That year he also began working on translating the Old Testament, but before he complete it he was captured and tried for heresy. He was given a sentence of death and burned at the stake, which was the common method of capital punishment for heretics. The executioner strangled him before lighting the fire. His last words were recorded as "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."

Following Tyndale's execution, Miles Coverdal continued his work, completing the Old Testament translation and then publishing the complete work. In 1537, the "Matthew Bible" -- which was basically the Tyndale-Coverdale Bible, published under the different name in order to save the government from embarrassment, was at last published in England, and with royal permission. All English translations of the Bible since are essentially based on the Tyndale-Coverdale work.