Simon Fish was an English Protestant reformer, pamphleteer, and propagandist active during the early stages of the English Reformation. He is historically recognized for his efforts in distributing William Tyndale's English translation of the New Testament, an act that challenged the religious authorities of his day and helped lay the groundwork for Protestantism in England.\n\nFish's most influential contribution to the religious debates of the sixteenth century was his vehemently anti-clerical pamphlet, Supplication for the Beggars (A Supplycacion for the Beggars). Written as an address to King Henry VIII, the tract fiercely criticized the wealth, corruption, and power of the Roman Catholic clergy, arguing that their greed deprived the genuine poor of charity. The Roman Catholic Church officially condemned the work as heretical on May 24, 1530.\n\nDue to his subversive writings and reformist activities, Fish was eventually arrested in London on charges of heresy. However, he contracted the bubonic plague and died in 1531 before he could stand trial. Following his death, his widow married James Bainham, another prominent reformer who was subsequently executed at the stake for heresy in 1532. Fish's writings remain a significant precursor to the structural and theological shifts of the English Reformation.
