William Tyndale, who lived from 1494-1536, is most famous for his translation of the Bible from Latin into English. Eighty percent of his New Testament translation was preserved in the authorized King James version that appeared in 1611, not to mention in the "Tyndale Bible" finally authorized two years after his death.
Tyndale employed a plain style of writing. In both translating and in other writings, he used, according to the eNote reference linked to below, "precise, clear, simple language," aiming for a prose style understandable to the common person. His "lively, unadorned" writing has influenced many other writers. Peter Auksi notes that in other authors “the literary historian can find a studied plainness in diction, syntax, and appeal or an equally artful richness in rhythm and evangelical similitude that echo Tyndale insistently.”
This plain style has political undertones. First, translating the Bible into English was illegal (Tyndale would be executed for heresy) as the monarchy and clergy were afraid of losing control of Biblical interpretation if people could read it for themselves (most people couldn't understand Latin and so were dependent on the clergy to interpret for them). By translating the Bible into the simplest or plainest English possible, Tyndale was offering as many people as he could the opportunity of interpreting the Bible for themselves, a radical move at that time.
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