Do tune into Corinium Radio on Thursday October 4th to hear a play inspired by Gloucestershire martyr William Tyndale.
‘Death in Flanders ‘ is written by chair of Somewhere Else Writers Frank McMahon and was inspired by a stop at the Tyndale Monument near Wootton-Under-Edge.
“Suddenly I remembered Melvyn Bragg’s TV documentary and a wonderful play by David Edgar, Written on the Heart, which has some very powerful scenes involving Tyndale. I decided that I must find out more and discovered a very detailed and moving biography by Professor Daniell.
“It revealed not just a story of the turbulence of the Reformation, religious intolerance, his exile and courage. It showed both his prodigious scholarship and the way he used the English language to make his translation of the Bible accessible and memorable. His work has had a profound influence on our language. No Tyndale, no Shakespeare.”
Tyndale’s translation of the Bible into English fed the desire of ordinary people to improve their lives through reading and self-education. It is also argued that it fed the pressure for democracy and public discourse.
Tyndale was executed by strangulation and then burnt at the stake in 1536.
‘Death in Flanders’ will be broadcast at 6pm. If you miss the broadcast it will be available on Corinium Radio’s ‘Listen Again’ feature and in the ‘Broadcasts’ section of this website.
Somewhere Else Writers Group 