Humphrey Monmouth: Commerce Allied to Piety

A ship glided gently to its spot on the wharf in London.  The tall white sails of the vessel snapped in the breeze.  The waves turned the surface of the Thames into a thousand glittering mirrors.  The eyes of a merchant squinted in the reflected sunlight as he looked at the ship from the window of his large and spacious home, a smile of deep satisfaction brightening his face as he watched the unloading of the ship.

But as he watched the unloading of the cargo, the merchant was not thinking of the gold and wealth that he would get from this shipment.  He was seeing with his mind’s eye the secret contents of the crates, barrels, and boxes that were being carried down the gangplank.  The sailors that carried the cargo did not even know the priceless treasure that they were carrying.  But the merchant knew, and he watched the progress of the unloading with great delight.  

Humphrey Monmouth was one of London’s most successful cloth merchants.  He was well respected throughout the London community and had many friends.  He was known for his abundant generosity.  The poor loved him as much as the wealthy respected him.  Humphrey Monmouth was well traveled.  Ships laden with his cloth left London bound for markets in all the ports of Europe, including Antwerp, Hamburg, Paris, Naples, and Rome.  His library was the envy of many, and his shelves were stocked with the best works in print.  The famous merchant had even visited Rome itself and had enjoyed an audience with the pope, who had given him certain expensive Roman curiosities as well as indulgences which would secure his way to heaven.

However, in 1515, this merchant had heard the faithful preaching of the Gospel by an early English Reformer named Colet at St. Paul’s.  The grace of God had transformed Humphrey Monmouth’s heart.  He abandoned his trust in indulgences for a simple trust in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Since that day, he had made himself a warm friend of the cause of reform, and had financed books, projects, and preachers.  He had befriended a man named Hugh Latimer and often invited the preacher to dine in his home.

Monmouth’s greatest and most lasting contribution was his generous support of a young English scholar named William Tyndale.  He had met Tyndale in 1523 when Tyndale had come to London to ask permission for an ambitious and monumental undertaking, the translation of the Word of God from the original Greek into English.  Such a work had never been done before, and the idea was a novel one that was highly offensive to the established church.  The selfish clergy sought to retain their own control over the Book of God.  Tyndale had expressed his purpose to make the “boy that driveth the plow” to know more of the Scriptures than the proud clergymen.

Tyndale had hoped to find support from Bishop Tunstall of London.  But Tunstall refused to give any support or even permission to undertake the project of translation.  When Monmouth heard about Tyndale’s work, he warmly welcomed him into his own home, gave him a private room, and promised to meet all his needs so that the scholar could devote himself to his work.  For six important months, William Tyndale lived with Humphrey Monmouth, eating his food, resting in his protection, and enjoying the earnest support of Monmouth as Tyndale labored over his Greek manuscripts.  When the work was in danger of discovery, Monmouth used his connections in the ship yards to convey Tyndale and his manuscripts safely to Europe where he could continue and finish the work.  At the Thames River, Monmouth and Tyndale had a warm farewell.  The two men knew that they might never meet again, and they never did.  Before the parting, Monmouth gave Tyndale a generous gift of cash to support him in his necessary exile.

Monmouth knew that it would be hazardous to the entire enterprise to undertake the work alone.  So he gathered a group of other merchants to assist in the work.  They provided money to Tyndale as he continued his translation work on the continent.  By 1525, the New Testament was finished and precious volumes of the Word of God in English were ready for smuggling from the continent back across the Channel into England.  In barrels of flour, in boxes of cloth, in sacks of wheat, the Bible was brought into England by merchants and ship captains.  Soon it was in the hands of the plowboys of England.  The cargo that Monmouth was so eagerly watching as it was unloaded at the wharf was the most valuable commodity in the world, the Book of God. 

Tyndale would soon be martyred for his devotion to this Book.  His name is now forever connected with the English Bible, and generation after generation has given thanks to God for his noble sacrifice.  But what of his generous benefactor?  History remembers Tyndale, but we tend to forget the man whose generosity made the work possible.  Just as Lydia supported the ministry of the Apostle Paul, so Humphrey Monmouth supported William Tyndale.  Throughout Christian history, God has always raised up able men to fund the work of the Gospel.  Missionaries have been sent, Bibles have been translated, churches have been built, and qualified men have been educated for the ministry by the generous gifts of noble merchants, farmers, and tradesmen like Humphrey Monmouth.

Monmouth also put his life at risk for the Word of God.  On May 14, 1529, Monmouth was summoned from his place of business to stand before the privy council.  Having no shame in the Gospel, he followed willingly.  The merchant was accused of smuggling into England the tracts of Martin Luther, of aiding William Tyndale in his illegal activity, and of possessing forbidden books.  The council sent a posse to his house to search his library, and Humphrey Monmouth was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Sir Thomas More, the famous English statesman and ardent Roman Catholic, set himself against the pious and humble merchant.  But Humphrey Monmouth appealed to Cardinal Wolsey.  Although Wolsey was a Romanist, the Cardinal recognized the dire consequences that would come upon England for executing a world-renowned cloth merchant.  Wolsey also saw that to kill Monmouth would be to kill one of the best taxpayers in London.  Knowing that England depended upon merchants like Monmouth, Cardinal Wolsey, a great enemy of reform, released him from the Tower.

Monmouth supported the cause of the Reformation for the rest of his life.  He died peacefully in his bed in 1536, less than a year after Tyndale was burned at the stake.  Before another decade had passed, plowboys in England were able to read the Scriptures in their own language.  In his final years on earth, Monmouth served as alderman and then eventually as the Sheriff of London.  In his last will and testament, he left a large sum of money to support the distribution of the Scriptures throughout England.  D’Aubigne, the great historian of the Reformation, closes the record of his life by giving this simple compliment to the generous merchant, “He was faithful unto death, proving that great activity in commerce might be allied to great piety.”

Bibliography

Gospel Patrons: People Whose Generosity Changed the World by John Rinehart
The History of the Reformation by J. H. Merle D’Aubigne