When John Wycliffe gained support for his vision of the Latin Bible translated into the common language of English, he led a handful of Oxford scholars in the Bible's translation and copied the methods of St. Francis and the Friars. From Oxford Wycliffe sent out "poor priests" into the byways and village greens, sometimes even to churches, to win the souls of the neglected. Clad in russet robes of undressed wool, without sandals, purse, or scrip, a long staff in their hand, dependent for food and shelter on the good will of their neighbors, Wycliffe's "poor priests" soon became a power in the land. Their enemies dubbed them Lollards, meaning "mumblers". They carried a few pages of the reformer's Bible and his tracts and sermons as they went throughout the countryside preaching the Word of God. Wycliffe's followers were hunted down, were expelled from Oxford, or forced to renounce their

Educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and possibly later at Cambridge. He became tutor to the family of Sir John Walsh. While living in Walsh's household, Tyndale saw at first hand the ignorance of the local clergy. The bishops had banned the English Bible since 1408 because they feared the Lollards, who had their own translation (the Wycliffe Bible). Because this translation had been made only from the Latin Vulgate and was inaccurate, Tyndale set out to make a translation from the Hebrew and the Greek. He hoped to win the support of the learned bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall. But the bishops were more concerned with preventing the spread of Lutheran ideas than promoting the study of Scripture. In due course Tyndale obtained financial support from a number of London merchants, especially Humphrey Monmouth.

Because England was no safe place to translate the Bible, Tyndale left for the Continent,