William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled
Tynsdale,
Tindall,
Tindill,
Tyndall; ) was an English scholar who became a leading figure in Protestant reform in the years leading up to his execution. He is well known for his translation of the
Bible into
English. He was influenced by the work of
Desiderius Erasmus, who made the
Greek New Testament available in Europe, and by
Martin Luther. While a
number of partial translations had been made from the seventh century onward, the spread of
Wycliffe's Bible resulted in a death sentence for any unlicensed possession of Scripture in English—even though translations in all other major European languages had been accomplished and made available. Tyndale's translation was the first English Bible to draw directly from
Hebrew and
Greek texts, the first English one to take advantage of the
printing press, and first of the new English Bibles of the Reformation. It was taken to be a direct challenge to the
hegemony of both the Church of England and the laws of
England to maintain the church's position. In 1530, Tyndale also wrote
The Practyse of Prelates, opposing Henry VIII's divorce from
Catherine of Aragon on the grounds that it contravened Scripture.