The Bales That Made England Weep

In the autumn of 1526, bales of cloth arrived at the London docks from Antwerp. Tucked inside the fabric were copies of William Tyndale's English New Testament — the first Scripture most English commoners would ever hear in their own language. For generations, the Bible had existed only in Latin, locked behind cathedral walls and clerical privilege. Ploughboys, weavers, and merchants had never once heard God speak in the words they used at their own kitchen tables.…