The Tyndale Bible
At Schöffer in Worms, The Newe Testament, the first complete English translation of the New Testament by William Tyndale was printed in 1526.
This edition became the basis for the Bible translation of the Anglican Church up to today and for modern English. In this sense, Tyndale can be compared to Luther.
In 1523, the 33-year-old chaplain William Tyndale asked for permission from Bishop Tunstall to translate the Bible into English. Since the ban on Wyclif’s translation of 1408, translations without permission were regarded as heresy.
Turnstall had taken part in the Worms Imperial Diet of 1521 and denied Tyndale permission. However, he obtained support from the London mercantile community.
Through contacts, he organised a trip to Germany in 1524 and came to Peter Schöffer the Younger in Worms. In 1526, The Newe Testament appeared and was shipped on to England from here. An example of this impression can be found in the State Library of Württemberg in Stuttgart and a facsimile in Worms.
Tyndale remained in Worms until 1527 and then went on to Antwerp. There he had his translation of the Pentateuch (The Five Books of Moses) printed and, in the same year, the paper critical to the pope The Practice of Prelates.
The English court tried to sway the influential critic and, when this was not successful, offered a bounty on his head. In 1535, Tyndale was apprehended and strangled in Vilvorde near Brussels. His corpse was burnt.