back to Quotes and Comments
William Tindale
“I believe, right worshipful, that you are not
ignorant of what has been determined concerning me [by the Council of Brabent];
therefore I entreat your lordship and that by the Lord Jesus, that if I am to
remain here during the winter, you will request the Procureur to be kind enough
to send me from my goods which he has in his possession, a warmer cap, for I
suffer extremely from cold in the head, being afflicted with a perpetual
catarrh, which is considerably increased in this cell. A warmer coat also, for
that which I have is very thin: also a piece of cloth to patch my leggings: my
overcoat is worn out; my shirts are also worn out. He has a woolen shirt of
mine, if he will be kind enough to send it. I have also with him leggings of
thicker cloth for putting on above; he also has warmer caps for wearing at
night. I wish also to have his permission to have a lamp in the evening, for it
is wearisome to sit alone in the dark. But
above all, I entreat and beseech your clemency to be urgent with the Procureur
that he may kindly permit me to have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Grammar, and
Hebrew Dictionary, that I may spend my time with that study. And in return,
may you obtain your dearest wish, provided always it be consistent with the
salvation of your soul. But if, before the end of the winter, a different
decision be reached concerning me, I shall be patient abiding the will of God,
to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, whose Spirit, I pray, may
ever direct your heart. Amen. W. Tindale”
William Tindale (or Tyndale), the
English translator and reformer, said that when he sat imprisoned in the state
prison at castle Vilvorde in the long cheerless nights of the winter of 1535.
They strangled him and burned his body on (Foxe says) the 6th of
October the next year after a lengthy trial. Police raids on his printing work,
the treachery of people he trusted, the relentless hounding he endured from the
Archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas More, a long imprisonment and trial before
being strangled for heresy at a bit over forty years of age makes absorbing
reading. It’s a bit more than “absorbing”.
A reader invited me to comment on our whining and complaining
disposition despite our many comforts. I thought to do it here. Think instead
I’ll let the above letter speak for itself.
