The future for which William Tyndale no doubt hoped at this time was a lifetime of study, translating, revising, writing, and preaching and this expectation might have been but for the arrival of the mysterious figure of Henry Phillips.

Foxe's account of the events associated with Henry Phillips makes clear that his sudden appearance was unexplained and, to a large extent, remained so when Foxe was collecting material for his book some twenty and more years later. This suggests that his source, Thomas Poyntz, was never able to make full sense of Phillips, although he probably had more opportunity than anybody to observe the man and his actions. That Phillips engineered the arrest of Tyndale, and later of Poyntz, is clear. On the other hand his motives and means, and whether he acted alone or with others, are matters which have yet to be explained.

In December 1534, this young Englishman is recorded as having matriculated at the University of Leuven, well known for attracting Englishmen of a religiously conservative disposition.

By now Tyndale was living with the Poyntz family and, if Foxe is correct, he brought Phillips to the house after having met him at the homes of various other merchants to which he had been invited to dine. As well as sharing some meals with the Poyntz family, it appears that on occasion he may have stayed overnight. He impressed Tyndale but not Poyntz.

In the spring of 1535, Phillips engineered the arrest of Tyndale from Poyntz's house and his incarceration in Vilvoorde Castle near Brussels. Despite the strenuous efforts of Thomas Poyntz, in particular, Tyndale languished in that prison until he was taken out, strangled and burned, in the autumn of 1536.

© Brian Buxton 2013