John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe was the first to translate, or inspire, the Bible being translated into English.
He, with his associates, John Purvey and Nicholas Hereford, set about the task between 1381-1384. At the time it was regarded as heresy. The Roman Catholic church in the UK did not want it translated into the common vernacular so that the general public could read it - it would have meant the church losing some of its power and influence.
John Wycliffe escaped being burnt at the stake during his life time but in 1428 his body was disinterred and burned.
I have included most of the article from Visionmedia - it covers all I wanted to write.
I found on Utube that there are useful clips to use about his life under the title Church History in 3 minutes.
There is also a lot of information on Wikipedia