May 6, 1536 - Great Bible Mandate Issued

On May 6, 1536, King Henry VIII mandated that a Bible be chained to every church in England so that church members could access them while present but they could not be removed. They were known as the Great Bibles (pictured). However, this was not fully indicative of Henry VIII’s character as a whole. Following his orders only six months later, William Tyndale, the man responsible for translating much of the Bible into English, was burned at the stake.