Hugh Latimer

English church reformer

• Born: Between 1485 and 1492
• Birthplace: Thurcaston, Leicestershire, England
• Died: October 16, 1555
• Place of death: Oxford, England

With his powerful preaching, Latimer helped mobilize popular opinion to support the reformation of the English church.

Early Life

Hugh Latimer (LAHT-eh-mur) was born at Thurcaston, Leicestershire, England. His father, also named Hugh, was a yeoman farmer, and the son who rose to rank and influence in the Catholic Church never forgot his humble origins. Latimer’s preaching reflected a social and political concern for the well-being of a class that endured the enclosure of its pastures and the pressure of rising rent. In later years, preaching before Edward VI , he would vigorously champion the cause of the oppressed worker.

Latimer was born into a large family. His mother, whose name is unrecorded, had six daughters and several other sons. She also oversaw the milking and care of a large dairy herd. When the father served under Henry VII in putting down an uprising in Cornwall, young Hugh helped buckle on his father’s armor. The son also became an accomplished bowman.

Latimer was educated in the common schools and in 1506 went to Cambridge, where in 1510 he was elected a fellow at Clare Hall and in 1514 received a master of arts degree. Although Desiderius Erasmus came to Cambridge during Latimer’s fellowship, there is no indication that Latimer had any enthusiasm for his insights into the Greek text of the New Testament. Latimer never learned Greek, and like most of his compatriots, he shared in the apathy for the new learning of Erasmus that eventually drove the discouraged Dutch scholar back to the Continent. The date of Latimer’s ordination to the priesthood is unknown, but in 1522 he became one of twelve preachers licensed by Cambridge University to have the right to preach anywhere in England. A more important honor was his selection to be the cross-keeper to the university, a post that involved his serving as chaplain of New Chapel.

In his early years, Latimer seems to have held firmly to Roman Catholic orthodoxy. Although he grew up in an area strongly influenced by the Lollard tradition stemming from the heretical teaching of reformer John Wyclif (c. 1328-1384), there is no indication of its influence on Latimer. Since Lollardy especially appealed to the working classes and since Latimer closely identified with this group, it might be surmised that he had at least some acquaintance with the movement.

Latimer received a bachelor of divinity degree in 1524 and used the occasion to preach a vigorous sermon denouncing the Lutheran theologian Philipp Melanchthon . He had also ungraciously maligned George Stafford, a classmate who had deserted the traditions of the church fathers for the study of the New Testament. Latimer preached against Stafford to the people and warned his scholar friends not to hear him. It appeared that Latimer had been unaffected by either Lollardy, Martin Luther’s teaching, or the influence of Erasmus.

Latimer’s conversion to Protestant theology was in one sense a gradual movement. He was less of a theologian than a preacher, and he only reluctantly modified his views. The beginning of his drift toward Reformation theology began with an encounter with Thomas Bilney, whom Latimer affectionately called “little Bilney.” In Latimer’s own words, he had been, before his discussion with Bilney, “as obstinate a Papist as any was in England,” but after Bilney had brought him to “smell the word of God” he had abandoned the “school-doctors and such fooleries.” Bilney’s discussion with Latimer occurred on the very day in 1524 that Latimer had made his bachelor of divinity degree oration against Melanchthon.

Latimer suffered from toothache and other maladies much of his life. A portrait shows him as a sallow-faced and weary scholar with a huge nose shaped like a parrot’s beak. His large eyes look out with penetration but seem tired. Whatever his disabilities, Latimer was a tireless worker. He arose at two in the morning to begin his day’s routine. He was also a gifted orator. His messages were emotional appeals couched often in colorful but blunt language. In his famous Sermon of the Plough, Latimer condemned unpreaching prelates for “pampering of their paunches, . . . munching in their mangers, . . . loitering in their lordships.”

Life’s Work

Bishop West of Ely suspected Latimer of harboring Lutheran ideas and in 1525 ordered him not to preach in the university or the diocese. A nearby Augustinian monastery, not being under diocesan control, invited Latimer to preach there. The bishop’s charges led to a hearing at the court of the papal legate, Thomas Wolsey. Latimer argued before Wolsey’s chaplains that he had not become a Lutheran and had not even read Luther’s works. He was then again permitted to preach in all England. In 1529, he aroused resentment at the university by his two “sermons on the card” in which he questioned the value of pilgrimages as compared with works of charity. At the same time, he was gaining notice at the court of Henry VIII because of his expressed sympathy with the king’s cause in the question of divorcing Catherine of Aragon. In 1530, the king invited Latimer to preach at Windsor during Lent. Latimer did not simply seek to curry favor at any cost. An anonymous letter from this period implored the king to allow William Tyndale to print and circulate the Scripture in English translation without restriction. Some scholars believe that the letter was from Latimer. Thomas Cranmer’s good standing at the court and the favor of Thomas Cromwell, vicar general of the Church, brought him the living of West Kineton in Wiltshire.

Leaving the court in 1531, Latimer now gave himself to preaching against abuses in the Church. By 1533, he had accepted Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith. “If I see the blood of Christ with the eye of my soul,” he wrote in that year, “that is true faith that his blood was shed for me.” His preaching aroused much opposition, and charges were made that he had denied the doctrines of purgatory, the sinlessness of Mary, and the value of pilgrimages. After appearing before the bishop of London and then the Convocation of Bishops on these charges, he was finally released on agreeing to submit to the teachings of the Church. He was made bishop of Worcester in 1535 but resigned the post four years later because he was unwilling to sign the Six Articles, a conservative expression of theology that indicated that Henry VIII believed that the Reformation had gone far enough and should be checked. Now out of favor, Latimer was held prisoner for nearly a year but was finally released. He was forbidden to preach, to visit the universities, or to return to his old diocese. From 1541 to 1546, his life is nearly a blank, but in the latter year, he was sent to the Tower of London because of his association with the condemned preacher Edward Crome. The next year, he was released as part of the general pardon given to prisoners at the accession of Edward VI.

Latimer refused an invitation to return to his old bishopric. Instead, he remained with the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. Together they prepared the Book of Homilies. With England now turning strongly toward Reformation doctrines under Edward VI, Latimer in 1548 broke with the doctrine of transubstantiation, accepting instead the doctrine of the real mystical presence of Christ in the sacrament. With the Catholic Mary I’s accession to the throne in 1553, the era of Protestant growth was checked temporarily. It had been clear that the coming of Catherine of Aragon’s daughter to the throne would mean a return to papal supremacy in England. Latimer was among the three hundred reformers who perished as heretics during Mary’s reign.

Significance

Latimer’s main claim to fame comes not from what he left behind, but from his ability as a shaper of popular opinion. He was not primarily a theologian such as John Calvin, who could leave behind a system of doctrine. His influence was as a preacher, and his effect was primarily on the people of his own time. He passionately drew their attention both to social injustice and to abuses of the clergy. Many among his hearers had experienced rural life and could identify with his pastoral allusions. He did not spare in his acid criticism the venality of clergymen, the sloth of nonresident bishops, or the hypocrisy of prelates. Latimer was a major influence in creating popular support for Protestant reform in England.

He is also remembered especially for his sacrifice of his own life for the faith he held dear. On September 4, 1553, he was summoned to London, charged with seditious behavior, and confined in the Tower of London. Although his treatment was not especially severe, his advancing age and poor health made the imprisonment very difficult to bear. An intentional warning that the summons was coming had given Latimer several hours to escape and save his life, but he chose to face his accusers. At Oxford, he and Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer were called on to argue before the bishops for their doctrine. The trial experienced numerous delays, in part caused by the need of reenacting a capital punishment act for heresy that had been annulled while Edward ruled. With the death penalty for heresy once again the law of England, Latimer finally went to the stake with his friend Ridley, on October 16, 1555. As the torch was being applied to the wood stacked around him, Latimer made the statement that has made him famous. According to John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes (1563; better known as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs ), he turned to his fellow sufferer and said, “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.”

Bibliography

Carlyle, R. M., and A. J. Carlyle. Hugh Latimer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1899. This is a fairly brief and readable account that is favorable to Latimer. It has no bibliography and little documentation.

Chester, Allan G. Hugh Latimer: Apostle to the English. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1954. Although the author has been criticized for being too meticulous with providing details, this is an exciting and enjoyable book to read. It is also well documented and contains a useful bibliography. The author makes no secret of his admiration for Latimer yet provides a scholarly and cautious account.

Darby, Harold S. Hugh Latimer. London: Epworth Press, 1953. A biography written by one who deeply admired Latimer. Darby, himself a pulpiteer, sees Latimer as preeminently a preacher.

Demaus, Robert. Hugh Latimer: A Biography. London: Religious Tract Society, 1904. A very laudatory and fairly lengthy work. It was originally published in 1869, then revised slightly in 1881.

Foxe, John. Actes and Monuments. London: John Day, 1563. Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1965. Along with Latimer’s sermons, the contemporary account by Foxe is a major source of information. Foxe wrote from a pro-Protestant viewpoint at a time when religious viewpoints were expressed in strongly emotional terms.

Keeble, N. H. “’Take Away Preaching, and Take Away Salvation’: Hugh Latimer, Protestantism, and Prose Style.” In English Renaissance Prose: History, Language, and Politics, edited by Neil Rhodes. Tempe, Ariz.: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1997. Analysis of the relationship between style, faith, persuasion, and ideology in Latimer’s sermons. Includes bibliographic references and index.

Latimer, Hugh. The Works of Hugh Latimer. Edited by George E. Corrie. 2 vols. Cambridge, England: Parker Society, 1844-1845. Reprint. New York: Johnson Reprint, 1968. Any serious investigation of Latimer should largely involve the study of his sermons as recorded by Corrie.

Marshall, Peter. Reformation England, 1480-1642. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Extremely detailed, meticulously supported argument that the English Reformation should be understood to begin in the late fifteenth century and to last well into the seventeenth century. Grapples with and explicates the specific meanings of Protestantism and Catholicism to the major players and to laypeople during the Renaissance. Includes bibliographic references and index.

Ryrie, Alec. The Gospel and Henry VIII: Evangelicals in the Early English Reformation. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. A close study of Protestant evangelicalism in England from 1539 to 1547. Includes bibliographic references and index.