Why did the Textus Receptus influence the text of the King James Version?

The Textus Receptus (Latin for "received text") served as the foundational Greek text for the King James Version because it was the standard scholarly edition available to the translators in the early 17th century.1

The Textus Receptus originated from the work of the Dutch humanist Erasmus, who prepared the first printed Greek New Testament in 1516 using a limited number of manuscripts from the Byzantine tradition. Subsequent editions, particularly the 1550 version by the printer Robert Estienne, refined this text and established it as the dominant standard for New Testament studies for over 300 years.1

Because the translators of the King James Version relied on this specific lineage of manuscripts, the Textus Receptus became the basis for their work. Later textual criticism revealed that this text type was inferior to older, more reliable codices that were not yet known or available to the 1611 translators. Consequently, the reliance on the Textus Receptus is a primary reason why modern translations often differ from the King James Version.123