William Tyndale’s Travels
From Gloucestershire to exile, translation, and martyrdom. Follow 21 moments in Tyndale’s life, c. 1494–1536, and explore what the evidence does—and does not—tell us.
Confidence describes the location or episode, not every date or street address. Date ranges overlap; visits and events within a longer residence are numbered separately.
Select a number to read its story. Hover or focus for a label. On small screens, swipe the map sideways; selecting a stop brings it into view.
Reading the map: numbered callouts point to approximate locations. Lines show chronological connections, not verified travel routes; dashed lines involve uncertain stops. Repeat visits share an anchor. The illustrated base map is schematic.
The chronological itinerary
Follow the numbered stops, or select any heading to locate it on the map.
-
01Western Gloucestershire
Birthplace: a region, not an identified house
Tyndale was born in western Gloucestershire, near the Welsh border. Mozley regards 1494 as the most probable year and connects the family with the Stinchcombe district, but the precise birthplace is unknown.
Evidence & uncertainty. North Nibley and Slimbridge are traditional candidates. Hunt’s Court entered the family after his probable birth; residence of his father at Hurst Farm is unproved. This marker represents the region.
Sources: Mozley.
-
02Oxford · Magdalen Hall
University education and biblical study
Tyndale studied the liberal arts, languages, and Scripture at Magdalen Hall. He received his B.A. on July 4, 1512, and his M.A. on July 2, 1515. Foxe reports that he privately instructed students in Scripture.
Evidence & uncertainty. The degrees are recorded; the arrival and departure years are approximate. Mozley suggests admission as early as 1506; the normal seven-year arts course suggests about 1508.
-
03Cambridge
Further study, according to Foxe
Foxe says that Tyndale moved from Oxford to Cambridge and remained for “a certain space,” becoming more deeply grounded in Scripture.
Evidence & uncertainty. No surviving Cambridge record identifies him. Mozley allows roughly 1516–1522; Daniell cautiously allows 1517–1521. Participation in the White Horse Inn meetings is not established.
-
04Little Sodbury
Tutor in Sir John Walsh’s household
Tyndale taught the Walsh children, studied, preached, and debated visiting clergy. His conviction that ordinary English people needed Scripture in their own language took shape during this Gloucestershire period.
Evidence & uncertainty. Demaus dates this residence to 1521–1523. Mozley prefers 1522–1523, placing his arrival no later than midsummer 1522.
-
05Bristol · St. Austin’s Green
Preaching visits from Little Sodbury
While living with the Walsh family, Tyndale preached in and around Bristol, especially at St. Austin’s Green, now College Green. These were visits, not a separate settled residence.
Evidence & uncertainty. Foxe is the principal source for the preaching visits. Mozley notes that Bristol was about fifteen miles from Little Sodbury.
-
06London
Seeking support for an English New Testament
Tyndale sought the patronage of Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London. When Tunstall declined, the merchant Humphrey Monmouth supported him. Tyndale lived in Monmouth’s house for about six months, studying and preaching.
Evidence & uncertainty. Daniell judges that he probably left England in April 1524. He never returned.
Sources: Daniell.
-
07Hamburg · first possible stay
A possible first stop in Germany
Mozley reconstructs a brief stay in Hamburg, probably through connections with the von Emersen family, before Tyndale traveled farther into Germany.
Evidence & uncertainty. Daniell regards the itinerary immediately after departure from England as unknown. This early Hamburg stay is probable, not securely documented.
-
08Wittenberg
A plausible but unproved period of translation
Mozley argues for a stay of nine or ten months, work on the New Testament, and contact with Luther’s scholarly circle. More, Cochlaeus, and Foxe associate Tyndale with Wittenberg; William Roye matriculated there in June 1525.
Evidence & uncertainty. Daniell treats Mozley’s detailed itinerary as a reconstruction, not demonstrated fact. Tyndale denied being “confederate with Luther,” but did not explicitly deny visiting. A personal meeting with Luther is not established. Cologne is the next secure location.
-
09Hamburg · possible return
A tentative return to receive support
In Mozley’s reconstruction, Tyndale returned briefly from Wittenberg to Hamburg around April 1525, partly to receive money from England, before moving toward Cologne.
Evidence & uncertainty. This proposed visit depends on accepting the uncertain Wittenberg itinerary. Its sequence and timing remain tentative.
Sources: Mozley.
-
10Cologne
An interrupted printing and an escape
Tyndale and William Roye began printing the English New Testament at Peter Quentell’s press. Work had reached partway through Matthew when Johann Cochlaeus discovered the project and alerted the authorities. They escaped with the sheets and traveled up the Rhine to Worms.
Evidence & uncertainty. This is one of the best-attested episodes of Tyndale’s continental life.
Sources: Daniell.
-
11Worms
The first complete English New Testament
Tyndale completed the printing of his English New Testament, probably with Peter Schoeffer. Copies were shipped secretly to England and were circulating there by spring 1526.
Evidence & uncertainty. Demaus extends the Worms period to 1527. Daniell is more cautious: Tyndale’s movements after publication remain uncertain until Antwerp in 1528.
-
12Frankfurt am Main
Merchant contacts at the fairs
Tyndale appears to have visited the Frankfurt fairs to meet English and Antwerp merchants involved in distributing his books. This was probably a recurring rendezvous rather than a settled residence.
Evidence & uncertainty. Demaus describes the practice. Hostile correspondence in 1528 reports that Tyndale and his associates had been seen at Frankfurt but were absent by that year’s Lent/Easter fairs. Individual visit dates are uncertain.
Sources: Demaus.
-
13Antwerp
A base for writing and distribution
Tyndale was connected with Antwerp by The Parable of the Wicked Mammon (May 8, 1528), followed by The Obedience of a Christian Man (October 2, 1528). English merchants, printers, and shipping links supported the production and distribution of his books.
Evidence & uncertainty. Daniell suggests that the English House may have been a base as early as 1526; continuous residence that early cannot be established.
Sources: Daniell.
-
14Marburg
A false imprint, not proof of residence
Demaus placed Tyndale in Marburg, and older accounts linked The Wicked Mammon and The Obedience with that city.
Evidence & uncertainty. Daniell identifies the “Hans Luft at Marburg” imprints as concealment: the books were actually printed by Johannes Hoochstraten in Antwerp. A visit is possible, but a Marburg residence is not established. Its position here reflects the older proposed chronology, not a confirmed journey from Antwerp.
-
15Dutch coast · North Sea passage
The reported shipwreck
Foxe reports that Tyndale was shipwrecked off the Dutch coast while sailing toward Hamburg, losing his books, money, manuscripts, and work on Deuteronomy.
Evidence & uncertainty. Only Foxe reports the wreck; Tyndale does not mention it. Daniell considers it plausible. The marker indicates a general coastal region; neither the wreck site nor the precise route is known.
-
16Hamburg · work with Coverdale
Translating the Pentateuch
Tyndale worked with Miles Coverdale on the Pentateuch, reportedly in Margaret von Emmerson’s house. Foxe places their work from Easter until December 1529; later evidence strongly supports Tyndale’s presence in Hamburg.
Evidence & uncertainty. Daniell allows an earlier return to Antwerp: Genesis was already emerging from an Antwerp press on January 17, 1530. The residence is supported more securely than the exact dates or lodging.
-
17Antwerp · principal base
Translation, controversy, and revision
The Pentateuch appeared in 1530. Tyndale wrote The Practice of Prelates and An Answer unto Sir Thomas More, continued Old Testament translation, and produced his major 1534 New Testament revision.
Evidence & uncertainty. Daniell regards Antwerp as his base for roughly the last four and a half years of freedom, while allowing occasional travel. The English House is the probable lodging. Stops 18 and 19 are episodes within this residence.
Sources: Daniell.
-
18Outside Antwerp’s gates
Secret meetings with Stephen Vaughan
Tyndale met Henry VIII’s emissary, Stephen Vaughan, at least three times. The first documented meeting was in a field outside Antwerp; Vaughan reported further conversations in May and June.
Evidence & uncertainty. Tyndale would not return without assurance of Scripture in English. He offered to cease writing if the king would authorize it. The precise field is unknown; the marker represents the outskirts.
Sources: Daniell.
-
19Antwerp · Thomas Poyntz’s household
Final months of freedom and betrayal
Tyndale lived among the English merchants in close association with Thomas Poyntz, John Rogers, and Miles Coverdale. Henry Phillips gained his confidence and arranged his arrest. Officers seized him as he left Poyntz’s house and confiscated his books and possessions.
Evidence & uncertainty. The arrest is dated on or about May 21, 1535. The city marker does not claim to locate the doorway or house precisely.
-
20Vilvoorde Castle · near Brussels
Imprisonment and condemnation
Tyndale spent roughly sixteen months in the imperial fortress as heresy proceedings advanced. He was formally condemned and degraded from the priesthood in August 1536.
Evidence & uncertainty. Financial records describe maintenance of “William Tintalus, Lutheran” for a year and 135 days, independently supporting the long imprisonment. The map marks the town approximately.
Sources: Daniell.
-
21Vilvoorde · execution outside the town
Martyrdom; the exact day is uncertain
Tyndale was strangled at the stake and then burned. Foxe records his final prayer: “Lord! open the king of England’s eyes.”
Evidence & uncertainty. The execution at Vilvoorde is certain; October 6 is traditional, not securely documented. Daniell concludes only that it occurred early in the morning during one of the first days of October. The marker does not identify a verified execution site.
Sources
Biographical accounts differ about Tyndale’s movements, especially during his early years in exile. Each entry identifies the accounts behind its reconstruction. Approximate dates and proposed visits should not be read as a continuous, fully documented itinerary.
- David Daniell, William Tyndale: A Biography. The principal caution against treating reconstructed continental movements as established fact; also distinguishes early October 1536 from the traditional October 6 date.
- J. F. Mozley, William Tyndale. Family and university evidence; the reconstruction of the early Hamburg and Wittenberg stays.
- Robert Demaus, William Tyndale: A Biography. An older reconstruction, including Little Sodbury, Worms, Frankfurt, and a Marburg residence. Its conclusions are identified where later scholarship differs.
- John Foxe, Acts and Monuments, account of William Tyndale. Early testimony about Cambridge, preaching, the reported shipwreck, work with Coverdale, and Tyndale’s final prayer; not every detail is independently corroborated.