Biography
Hugh Latimer was born around 1485 in Thurcaston, Leicestershire, England. His father was a yeoman farmer who gave his son an education. He sent Hugh to Cambridge at the age of fourteen. He studied at Clare Hall and became a fellow of the college. In his early years, he was a strong defender of the old religion and a critic of the new learning. In 1524 he gave a lecture against the Reformation and the teachings of Philip Melanchthon. The talk was heard by a man named Thomas Bilney, who was moved by it. He asked to make a private confession to Latimer. In that confession, Bilney told him of how he had found peace in the Scriptures. Latimer was deeply moved and was converted to the reformed faith.
He began to preach in a new way, with plain and direct speech and with an appeal to the Bible. He drew large crowds, and he was a master of the pulpit. He preached against the abuses of the clergy and against idolatry. In 1530 he was appointed a royal chaplain to King Henry VIII, and he preached at court. He was a bold man, and he wrote a letter to the king, urging him to allow the Bible to be read in English. In 1535 he was made Bishop of Worcester. He held the office for four years and was a faithful pastor. He visited his diocese and urged the clergy to preach and to teach.
In 1539, he resigned his bishopric rather than support the Six Articles, a law which reasserted the traditional doctrines. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for a time. After the death of Henry VIII in 1547, the young King Edward VI came to the throne, and the reformed faith advanced. Latimer was released and became a preacher at court. He gave sermons to the king and to the people. His most famous was the Sermon of the Plough, preached at St. Paul's Cross in 1548. In it he compared the work of a preacher to that of a plowman, and urged that the church had many prelates who did not preach. He used humor and stories, and his language was homely and strong.
He was known for his concern for the poor. He preached against greed and the exploitation of tenants, and he called on the rich to give. He also made a point of speaking to the king without fear. He was in his sixties and a man of broad popular appeal.
When Mary Tudor became queen in 1553, she set out to restore Catholicism. Latimer was arrested and put in the Tower, and later was sent to Oxford with Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer to take part in a disputation. He was condemned as a heretic. On October 16, 1555, he and Ridley were burned at the stake in front of Balliol College. It is said that as the fire was lit, Latimer encouraged his fellow, telling him to be of good cheer and that they would light such a candle in England that would never be put out. He was about seventy years old.
He was not a perfect man. In his early years, he was a persecutor of reformers. He also supported the use of force in some cases. He lived through a time of great violence, and he was a man of his age. But his courage at the end is remembered. His life shows that a man can be changed by the truth, and that a faithful witness can light a fire that does not go out.