Hugh Latimer

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), Reformer. In 1522 he was licensed by the University of Cambridge to preach anywhere in England, but his extreme Protestant teaching led to his censure by Convocation in 1532. When Henry VIII formally broke with the Papacy in 1534, Latimer became a royal chaplain, and in 1535 he was appointed Bp. of Worcester. He supported the King in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1539 he opposed the Act of the Six Articles and resigned his see. In 1546 he was confined in the Tower, but was released under Edward VI. In 1548 he preached his famous sermon ‘Of the Plough’. On Mary's accession he was taken, with T. Cranmer and N. Ridley, to Oxford to dispute with Catholic theologians. He refused to accept Catholic Eucharistic teaching, was excommunicated and, with Ridley, burnt. Feast day in CW, (with Ridley), in the American BCP (1979), (with Cranmer and Ridley), 16 Oct.

Hugh Latimer , 1485?–1555, English bishop and Protestant martyr. Latimer was educated at Cambridge, entered the church, and came under the influence of the Reformation. He first became prominent by defending Henry VIII's divorce from Katharine of Aragón and in 1535 was made bishop of Worcester. His strong Protestant convictions led him to resign his see after the passage of Henry VIII's Six Articles (1539). He was kept in close confinement until the accession of Edward VI (1547), when he resumed preaching against the abuses of church and clergy in eloquent and vivid sermons. When the Roman Catholic Mary I came to the throne he declined to evade trial, refused to recant his Protestantism, and with Nicholas Ridley was burned at the stake as a martyr.

Bibliography: See A. G. Chester, Hugh Latimer, Apostle to the English (1954).

Latimer, Hugh (c.1485–1555). Bishop of Worcester and Reformer. Ordained priest in 1524, he was influenced by the conversion of Thomas Bilney and gradually became a zealous exponent of the reformed faith. In 1535 he was made bishop of Worcester, but in 1539 his convinced Protestantism caused him to oppose Henry's Act of Six Articles. He was imprisoned in the Tower in 1546, but on the accession of Edward (1547) was released, becoming an increasingly popular preacher. Early in Mary's reign he was reimprisoned, excommunicated, and burnt along with Ridley on 16 Oct. 1555.

Latimer, Hugh (1485–1555) English clergyman and Protestant martyr. He defended King Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. In 1535 he was made Bishop of Worcester, but resigned his see in 1539 as a protest against the temporary reaction in favour of Catholicism. With the accession of Edward VI (1547), he resumed preaching. When the Roman Catholic Mary I came to the throne in 1553, he was charged with heresy and, refusing to recant, was burned at the stake.

Latimer, Hugh (c.1485–1555) English Protestant prelate and martyr. He became one of Henry VIII's chief advisers when the king formally broke with the papacy in 1534, and was made bishop of Worcester in 1535. Latimer's opposition to Henry's moves to restrict the spread of Reformation doctrines and practices led to his resignation in 1539. Under Mary I he was imprisoned for heresy and burnt at the stake with Nicholas Ridley at Oxford.