The Bible Revolution

Rod Liddle explores the hidden and often violent history of the English Bible through the dramatic lives and grisly ends of three religious revolutionaries: Oxford academic John Wycliffe, fugitive translator William Tyndale and archbishop Thomas Cranner. Featuring reconstructions, interviews with leading historians and Bible readings from Kenneth Branagh, the film charts the lasting impact of the trio’s struggle to bring the scriptures to the English people.

The struggle to translate the Bible into a language that everyone could understand was part of a challenge to the medieval Catholic Church, which conducted its rituals in Latin and invested huge authority in the Pope. Those who wanted to reform the church believed that each individual could relate directly to God, without the mediation of priests, but to do so they needed access to the scriptures.