Editing William Tyndale (section)

===At Oxford===
After schooling at [[Katharine Lady Berkeley's School]], [[Wotton-under-Edge]] in Gloucestershire Tyndale began a Bachelor of Arts degree at Magdalen Hall (later [[Hertford College, Oxford|Hertford College]]) of Oxford University in 1506 and received his B.A. in 1512, the same year becoming a [[subdeacon]]. He was made [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|Master of Arts]] in July 1515 and was held to be a man of virtuous disposition, leading an unblemished life.{{Sfn |Moynahan |2003 |p=11}} The M.A. allowed him to start studying [[theology]], but the official course did not include the systematic study of scripture. As Tyndale later complained:<ref>{{cite book |last=Tyndale |first=William |title=Expositions and Notes on Sundry Portions of the Holy Scriptures, Together with the Practice of Prelates |date=1849 |editor-first=Henry |editor-last=Walter |publisher= The [[Parker Society]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1gJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA291}}</ref>

{{Blockquote |They have ordained that no man shall look on the Scripture until he is modeled in heathen learning eight or nine years and armed with false principles, with which he is clean shut out of the understanding of the Scripture.}}

He was a gifted linguist and became fluent over the years in [[French language|French]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Biblical Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[German language|German]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Latin]], and [[Spanish language|Spanish]], in addition to English.{{Sfn |Daniell |1994 |p=18}} Between 1517 and 1521, he went to the University of Cambridge. Erasmus had been the leading teacher of Greek there from August 1511 to January 1512, but not during Tyndale's time at the university.{{Sfn |Daniell |2001 |pp=49–50}}

[[File:Cuthbert Tunstall (1474–1559), Bishop of Durham (Auckland Castle).jpg|thumb|Cuthbert Tunstall (1474–1559), Bishop of Durham]]

Tyndale became chaplain at the home of Sir John Walsh at [[Little Sodbury]] in [[Gloucestershire]] and tutor to his children around 1521. His opinions proved controversial to fellow clergymen, and the next year he was summoned before John Bell, the Chancellor of the [[Anglican Diocese of Worcester|Diocese of Worcester]], although no formal charges were laid at the time.{{Sfn |Moynahan |2003 |p=28}} After the meeting with Bell and other church leaders, Tyndale, according to [[John Foxe]], had an argument with a "learned but blasphemous clergyman", who allegedly asserted: "We had better be without God's laws than the Pope's", to which Tyndale responded: "I defy the Pope and all his laws; and if God spares my life, ere many years, I will cause the boy that [[Plowboy trope|driveth the plow]] to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost!"{{sfn|Wansbrough|2017|p=126|loc = Ch.7 Tyndale}}{{sfn|Foxe|1926|loc=Ch. XII}}

Tyndale left for London in 1523 to seek sponsorship and permission to translate the Bible into English. He asked to join the household of London Bishop [[Cuthbert Tunstall]], a well-known classicist who had worked with [[Erasmus]], his friend, on the second edition of his [[Novum Instrumentum omne#Second edition|Latin/Greek New Testament]]. The bishop, however, declined to extend his patronage, telling Tyndale that his household was already full with scholars.<ref>{{Citation |last=Tyndale |first=William |contribution=Preface |title=Five bokes of Moses |year=1530}}.</ref> Tyndale preached and studied "at his book" in London for some time, relying on the help of cloth merchant [[Humphrey Monmouth]]. During this time, he lectured widely, including at [[St Dunstan-in-the-West]] at [[Fleet Street]] in London.