Hugh Latimer

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The English Protestant bishop Hugh Latimer (ca. 1492-1555) was an influential preacher of the first generation of English reformers. For a time bishop of Worcester, he was martyred as an arch-heretic.

Hugh Latimer was born at Thurscaston in Leicestershire, the son of a prosperous farmer. Educated at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, and elected a fellow there before obtaining his master of arts degree in 1514, Latimer was ordained priest in July 1515. He remained active in the university and received the degree of bachelor of divinity in 1524.

Latimer, until 1524, had been a vigorous opponent of the young Lutheran scholars at Cambridge. However, he gradually came under their influence. Notable elements in his conversion were the rejection of the works of the Fathers and the Schoolmen, an acceptance of the Bible as the solely sufficient authority in matters of faith, and the agreement with Martin Luther's principle that men are justified by faith alone. By 1529 his campaign for an English Bible brought him an examination and a caution from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey himself. Undeterred, however, Latimer continued to preach at Cambridge, and fierce controversies arose over his assertions. In addition, Latimer worked hard and successfully to get a majority of opinion at the university to support the annulment of King Henry VIII's marriage with Catherine of Aragon. Royal favor followed in the shape of an invitation to preach before the King and of an appointment to the parish of West Kington in Wiltshire as rector. It culminated in his nomination to the bishopric of Worcester in 1535.

By 1539, however, the King was dissatisfied with the rapid development of reforming views and approved the conservative Act of Six Articles as fundamental expressions of Church doctrine; in consequence Thomas Cromwell prompted Latimer's resignation, the cessation of his preaching, and the restricting of his liberty.

During the subsequent reign of King Edward VI, who acceded to the throne in January 1547, Protestantism rose in favor. Latimer became the most famous preacher of the day, speaking not merely on theological subjects but also on social and economic reforms. His humorous and homely style ensured wide appreciation, and Latimer did much to spread the idea of the Reformation.

The accession of Mary I in 1553 reinstated Catholicism, and Latimer was discredited and arrested immediately. Throughout his imprisonment and heresy trial in 1554, the aged preacher stoutly maintained his Protestant convictions, even when he was about to be burned alive. Hugh Latimer died on Oct. 16, 1555, a martyr to his beliefs.

Further Reading

George E. Corrie edited The Works of Hugh Latimer (2 vols., 1844-1845). An attractive introduction to the work of the reforming bishop is provided in Allan G. Chester's edition of Selected Sermons of Hugh Latimer (1960). Two recent biographies are Harold S. Darby, Hugh Latimer (1953), and Allan G. Chester, Hugh Latimer: Apostle to the English (1954).

Additional Sources

Chester, Allan Griffith, Hugh Latimer, apostle to the English, New York: Octagon Books, 1978, 1954.

Stuart, Clara H., Latimer, apostle to the English, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Books, 1986.

Wood, Douglas C., Such a candle: the story of Hugh Latimer, Welwyn: Evangelical Press, 1980.

Latimer, Hugh (c.1485-1555). Bishop. One of the ‘Oxford martyrs’, Latimer was also one of the most celebrated and effective preachers of the Tudor church in the early years of the Reformation. The son of a Leicestershire yeoman, he was educated at Cambridge, ordained priest, and in 1522 licensed as one of the university's preachers. In 1535, after the break with Rome, he was appointed bishop of Worcester. As bishop he demonstrated the concern for the poor. He resigned his see in 1539 in protest against the Act of Six Articles and was twice imprisoned in the 1540s. On Edward VI's accession he was released, resuming his career of energetic and fashionable preaching. On Mary I's accession he was summoned to London, declining opportunities to escape into exile. He confronted catholic spokesmen in the Oxford disputation of April 1554; after two examinations for heresy in 1555, he was burned at Oxford on 16 October 1555, alongside the former bishop of London, Nicholas Ridley.

Quotes:

"Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

Hugh Latimer

Hugh Latimer (c. 1485 – 16 October 1555) was the bishop of Worcester, and by his death he became a famous martyr among Protestants and the Church of England.

Contents 1 Life 2 Death 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

Life

Latimer was born into a family of farmers in Thurcaston, Leicestershire. From around 14 years of age he started to attend Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was known as a good student. After receiving his academic degrees and being ordained, he developed a reputation as a very zealous Roman Catholic. At first he opposed the Lutheran opinion of his day, but his views changed after meeting the clergyman Thomas Bilney.

Latimer preaching to a crowd, including Edward VI, in Westminster, from John Foxe's book (1563)

In 1510, he was elected a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and in 1522 became university preacher. He became noted for his reformist teachings, which attracted the attention of the authorities. He became a noted preacher more widely. In 1535, he was appointed Bishop of Worcester, in succession to an Italian absentee, and promoted reformed teachings in his diocese. In 1539, he opposed Henry VIII's Six Articles, with the result that he was forced to resign his bishopric and imprisoned in the Tower of London (where he was again in 1546).

"Latimer before the Council", from an 1887 edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs, illustrated by Kronheim.

During the reign of Henry's son Edward VI, he was restored to favour as the English church moved in a more Protestant direction, becoming court preacher until 1550. He then served as chaplain to Katherine Duchess of Suffolk. However, when Edward VI's sister Mary I came to the throne, he was tried for his beliefs and teachings in Oxford and imprisoned. In October 1555 he was burned at the stake outside Balliol College, Oxford.

Death

Burning of Latimer and Ridley, from John Foxe's book (1563)

Latimer was executed beside Nicholas Ridley. He is quoted as having said to Ridley:

Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.^[1]

The deaths of Latimer, Ridley and later Cranmer — now known as the Oxford Martyrs — are commemorated in Oxford by the Victorian Martyrs' Memorial which is located near the actual execution site. The Latimer room in Clare College, Cambridge is named after him.

Hugh Latimer said, "It may come in my days, old as I am, or in my children's days, the saints shall be taken up to meet Christ in the air, and so shall come down with Him again" (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4).

See also

Anglicanism portal

• John Foxe
• John Knox
• Marian Persecutions

Notes

1. ^ This is quoted in Actes and Monuments by John Foxe, but not in the first edition, in which he says that what Ridley and Latimer said to each other, "I can learn from no man." Tom Freeman posits that someone reported these words to Foxe, who seized upon them with alacrity. "Text, Lies and Microfilm," Sixteenth Century Journal XXX [1999], 44.

References

• This entry includes public domain text originally from the 1890 Pronouncing Edition of the Holy Bible (Biographical Sketches of the Translators and Reformers and other eminent biblical scholars).
• Susan Wabuda, ‘Latimer, Hugh (c.1485–1555)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [1], accessed 28 March 2008.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hugh Latimer

• Hugh Latimer - Protestant Martyr
• Works by Hugh Latimer at Project Gutenberg
• Foxe, John: Bishop Latimer in The Book of Martyrs on Wikisource
•  “Latimer, Hugh,” Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900.

Church of England titles
Preceded by Girolamo Ghinucci	Bishop of Worcester 1535–1539	Succeeded by John Bell

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