CHAPTER IV

WILLIAM TINDALE-HIS LIFE

1. A century of preparation.

2. Tindale's early days at

Little Sodbury. 3. Visit to London.

4. Exile. 5. First printed English New Testaments. 6. Their reception in England. 7. Further work of translation. 8. Tindale's last days and death.

§ 1. A Century of Preparation. A period of a hundred years intervenes between John Wycliffe and our next great Bible-translator; but during it two things happened, both of which had an important bearing upon the future history of the Bible in England.

The first of these was the discovery of printing. Up to this time the multiplication of copies of the Holy Scriptures had been by the slow and laborious process of copying; but about the middle of the fifteenth century, Fust, a goldsmith of Mainz, perfecting Gutenberg's experiments, issued from the press the first printed Latin Bible, generally known as the Mazarin Bible, from a copy found in the library of Cardinal Mazarin. It is believed indeed to have been the earliest book printed from movable type, and hence Hallam can speak of "this venerable and splendid volume leading up the crowded myriads of its followers, and imploring, as it were, a blessing on the new art, by dedicating its firstfruits to the service of Heaven."1 The discovery soon

1 Introd. to Lit. of Europe, vol. i. p. 157. In our own country the first printed book in which any portion of the Scriptures appeared was The Golden Legend, a large collection of Romish legends from Latin and French originals, but with which the translator and

spread, and of the Latin Bible alone ninety-one editions had been issued before the close of the century.

The other point was the revival of learning. "Greece," in the striking language of an English scholar, "had risen from the grave with the New Testament in her hand," and though England did not at first welcome the "new learning," towards the close of the fifteenth century a noble band of scholars had congregated at Oxford, including such men as William Latimer, Thomas More, and John Colet. To these in 1497 came to be added no less a person than the great Erasmus.

Twelve years later Erasmus accepted a professorship of divinity at Cambridge, where, in addition to his other work, he diligently prosecuted those studies which in 1516 resulted in his issuing at Basle the first Greek New Testament. The importance of this book, especially in its later and amended editions, in the history of Bibletranslation can hardly be over-estimated. Instead of being dependent any longer on a Latin translation, scholars had now before them in an accessible and wonderfully correct form the original Greek text; while as aids to its study various grammars and lexicons had begun to appear.

Nor meanwhile was the Old Testament forgotten. The entire Hebrew Bible was first printed at Soncino, near Cremona, in 1488; and in 1520 there appeared the great Complutensian Polyglot, which contained not only the original texts of Scripture, but Greek and Hebrew grammars, and a Hebrew vocabulary. Never before had such facilities been offered for an accurate rendering of the Bible into the English tongue, and it falls to us now to sketch the life of the man who was to accomplish this, and "to whom it has been allowed more than to any other man to give its characteristic shape to our English Bible." 1

§ 2. Tindale's early days at Little Sodbury.

printer, William Caxton, incorporated many Bible stories. The first edition appeared in 1483.

1 Westcott, History of the English Bible (2nd edit.), p. 24.

-William Tindale1 was born on the borders of Wales, probably at Slymbridge in Gloucestershire, about the year 1484. More precise than this we cannot be ; while as regards his early years we have only the testimony of Foxe that he was "brought up even of a child in the University of Oxford, being always of most upright manners and pure life." From Oxford he went to Cambridge, attracted in all probability by the fame of Erasmus's Lectures, and about the end of 1521 returned to his native county as chaplain and tutor in the family of Sir John Walsh of Little Sodbury. There he was in the habit of getting into disputation with "divers doctors and learned men," who frequented the house, confirming his opinions by " open and manifest Scripture," until "those great beneficed doctors waxed weary, and bare a secret grudge in their hearts against Master Tyndale.” 2 About that time, too, he translated into English a book by Erasmus entitled The Manual of a Christian Soldier, which, when his master and lady had read, "those great prelates were no more so often called to the house, nor when they came had the cheer nor countenance as they were wont to have." At their instigation accordingly suspicions of heresy began to be raised against Tindale, and he was summoned to appear before the bishop's chancellor. No one could however be found to lay a definite charge against him, and the case was dismissed. Shortly afterwards, it is said, Tindale happening to be in the company of a learned man, pressed him so sorely in argument that the learned man said: "We were better be without God's law than the Pope's." "I defy the Pope and all his laws," exclaimed Tindale in righteous wrath, and then added: "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough

1 Like Wycliffe's, Tindale's name is found spelt in many different ways. For purposes of safety the translator also passed at times under the assumed name of William Hychyns.

2 From Foxe's first account (1563) of Tindale, which is singularly graphic, and appears to have been supplied to the martyrologist by one who had it from Tindale's own lips. Both it and the later account (1570) will be found in the valuable Preface to Arber's Facsimile of the First Printed New Testament, pp. 8-12.

shall know more of the Scripture than thou doest."1 And to the same effect, looking back on this period ten years later, he writes-and the words should be carefully noted, as showing how thus early he had clearly set before him what was to be the work of his life -"A thousand books had they (the priests) lever [rather] to be put forth against their abominable doings and doctrine, than that the Scripture should come to light. . . . Which thing only moved me to translate the New Testament. Because I had perceived by experience, how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scriptures were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue.'

§ 3. Visit to London.-This was a task, however, which Tindale quickly perceived that he could not accomplish at Sodbury. "I was so turmoiled," he tells us, "in the country where I was.” And he bethought him of Tunstal, Bishop of London, whom he had heard Erasmus praise for his great learning. He repaired accordingly to London, but only to find that Tunstal was not inclined to do anything for him. "His house was

full, he had more than he could well find; and advised me to seek in London, where he said I could not lack a service." The prediction was fulfilled, for Tindale, while officiating as preacher in St. Dunstan's-in-the West, had made the acquaintance of one Humphrey Monmouth, a wealthy cloth merchant, who now took him into his house. And there for a year he remained, living, according to Monmouth's testimony, "like a good priest as methought. He studied most part of the day and of the night at his book; and he would eat but sodden meat by his good will, nor drink but small single beer.' Gradually, however, the conviction forced itself upon the solitary worker "not only that there was

1 The form of this determination may have been suggested by some words of his old teacher Erasmus in his Exhortation: "I wish that the husbandman may sing parts of them (the Scriptures) at his plough, that the weaver may warble them at his shuttle, that the traveller may with their narratives beguile the weariness of the way."

no room in my Lord of London's palace to translate the New Testament, but also that there was no place to do it in all England."

§ 4. Exile.-Voluntarily therefore Tindale determined to exile himself in prosecution of his selfappointed task, and in May 1524 left England—never to return. His movements for a time are very uncertain ; but it is generally believed that he went first to Hamburg, where shortly afterwards he issued translations of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark separately. Either, too, in this year or the following, he seems to have visited Wittenberg, where he would doubtless see much of Luther, though we cannot accept the close confederacy of the two men in the work of translation which is sometimes alleged.

press.

In any case, there can be no doubt that Tindale was in Cologne in 1525 with the view of seeing a complete edition of the New Testament in quarto through the Little progress had however been made with the work, when an unfortunate interruption took place. A certain priest, John Cochlæus, managed to extract from the Cologne printers while heated with wine the secret that 3000 copies of an English New Testament were in the press, and that it was the intention of the English merchants, by whom the expenses were being borne, to disperse the work, when finished, widely through all England. Cochlæus lost no time in communicating his discovery to the authorities, and Tindale and his assistant Roye1 had barely time to seize the precious sheets and make their escape by the Rhine to Worms, then known for its favour to the reformed doctrines.

§ 5. First printed English New Testaments.

1 Of this Roye, Tindale in his Parable of the Wicked Mammon gives no very favourable account. He was "a man somewhat crafty when he cometh unto new acquaintance, and before he be thorough known. Nevertheless, I suffered all things till that was ended, which I could not do alone without one both to write and to help me to compare the texts together. When that was ended I took my leave, and bade him farewell for our two lives, and, as men say, a day longer."