“Tyndale was pursued by agents probably paid for by the British government, and most probably at the behest of More, who hated Tyndale. There is conjecture there, since no one has established with certainty who paid.”
Wow. St. Thomas More must be one really powerful saint. He was able to have folks killed after he died and was in Heaven.
Some biographical material from wiki:
“Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535),...”
“In 1532 he asked the king again to relieve him of his office, claiming that he was ill and suffering from sharp chest pains. This time Henry granted his request.”
Some more biographical material from wiki:
“William Tyndale (sometimes spelled Tindall or Tyndall; (c. 1494 – 1536)”
It appears that Mr. Tyndale died AFTER St. Thomas More died.
More to the point, it appears that Mr. Tyndale died roughly FOUR YEARS AFTER St. Thomas More fell from any office of any power in Britain.
sitetest
More to the point, it appears that Mr. Tyndale died roughly FOUR YEARS AFTER St. Thomas More fell from any office of any power in Britain.
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That would have made it a bit more difficult.
The question is the pursuit and arrest, and how much More was involved. He continued to have power and influence after leaving public office, and his initial arrest allowed him quite a bit of communication.
Phillips received his money and instructions sometime in late 1534, since he was in the Low Countries by December 1534. More’s close arrest began after that point, although he was in prison from April 1534. There are other candidates, but no concrete proof for any of them.
Was it More? I don’t know. He undoubtedly hated Tyndale, but if he actually played a role or not I do not know. I’m told there is a book that makes a case against him, but my Amazon.com budget is way overdrawn for October. As I said in my post, “There is conjecture there, since no one has established with certainty who paid.”
Tyndale had a surprisingly long imprisonment and trial, and it seems to have been a remarkably fair one by the standards of the day. He died well after More, but the crucial point would have been when Phillips received money and instructions.