Our story is about William Tyndale, a Protestant reformer who translated the Bible into English. His desire was for everyone in England to be able to read God’s word.

He had to do this in hiding, for the Catholic Church was against the Bible being translated into English.

He had to move from country to country and from town to town to avoid capture by the Catholic priests.

The story takes place in Cologne, Germany, in the 1500s, where Tyndale had gone to escape persecution. The Rhine River flows through Cologne.

In those days the streets were very narrow, with the upper floors of the houses extending over the street so that they were almost touching. At night, each home was supposed to hang a lantern so the path could be seen.

Around the city was a wall and there was a water gate on the Rhine that closed at nightfall. In our story, Tyndale is helped into the city by two young people who find him exhausted in a field outside the city.

Tyndale was in the city because there were printers in the city who could print the English Bible he was working on.

It was dangerous to print the Bible, because the Catholic Church considered doing so worthy of arrest, torture and death.

Soon, however, the dreaded Cochlaeus arrived in Cologne and overheard in one of the narrow streets that Tyndale was in the city. He vowed to find him and the printer of his heretical work. This placed Tyndale, as well as the young people and their families, in great danger. Our story picks up here.