Latimer, Hugh
LATIMER, HUGH
Bishop of Worcester and most influential preacher of the early English Reformation; b. Thurcaston, Leicestershire, date uncertain but perhaps 1492; d. Oxford, Oct. 16, 1555. He came of yeoman stock, and was educated at Cambridge, elected Fellow of Clare Hall (1510), and awarded the master of arts degree in 1514. The following year he was ordained. He remained at the university for more than 20 years and came to occupy a position of prominence and influence there, being appointed a university preacher and chaplain (1522). His disputation for the bachelor of divinity degree in 1524 was an attack on Melanchthon's teachings. Soon thereafter, however, he became a leader of the group of Cambridge reformers who had come under the influence of Erasmus and Martin Luther. He preached on behalf of an authorized English translation of the Bible and took a leading part in supporting Henry VIII against papal claims in the matter of the King's marriage. He likewise preached in defense of the royal supremacy.
In 1535 Latimer was made bishop of Worcester. As a Member of Parliament he voted for the suppression of the lesser monasteries. He also gave strong support to the government's destruction of the shrines. In 1539 he resigned his see, believing that this was the King's wish. In the changing religious scenes of this period, Latimer experienced varying fortunes. He had been charged with heresy in the reign of Henry VIII and had been forced to recant. He had served as the King's chaplain and shortly after had been imprisoned and forbidden to preach. In 1548 he formally rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation. As court preacher under Edward VI he exercised a great influence on the formation of Protestant thinking in England. When Queen Mary Tudor came to the throne he was charged with heresy, brought to trial, condemned, and burned at the stake with Nicholas ridley.
Bibliography: Works, ed. g. e. corrie, 2 v. (Cambridge, Eng. 1844–45). a. g. chester, Hugh Latimer, Apostle to the English (Philadelphia 1954). m. schmidt, Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart 3 4:238–239.
[d. j. gunderson]