William Tyndale 1494 - 1536.

A name today that has little resonance for many, but to whom we all owe a great debt, especially if we love the English language. His devotion to translating the bible from the exclusive and elite Latin into his mother tongue so that the 'plough man' could understanding it was his life's commitment. This was a threat to the status quo as Latin was the underpinning that held both state and church together. After studying at Oxford he became a priest and went back to Gloucestershire to work. However he soon became noticed for his radical thoughts regarding the issue of an English bible and was forced to leave the country and live on the continent, mainly in Germany, where he started his work. Despite living a life on the run until he was captured and eventually sentenced to death by strangulation and burning, he did his distinguished translation from Greek into English. His bible is commonly regarded as providing 76% of the Old Testament and 84% of the New Testament for the King James Bible. It is now seen as a touchstone item of the English Reformation, and has influenced our language in the most profound way. All this was presented by that doyen of journalists on BBC 2 Melvyn Bragg in The Most Dangerous Man in Tudor England.