Logo

<< Back

Hugh Latimer

Hugh Latimer (Clare 1510), c.1485–1555, was a theologian and protestant reformer, burnt at the stake under Mary Tudor as one of the three ‘Oxford Martyrs’.

He was ordained into the priesthood a year after graduating from Cambridge, and was subsequently nominated to the positions of university preacher and university chaplain. While carrying out his official duties, he continued his theological studies and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1524. The subject of his disputation was a refutation of the new ideas of the Reformation emerging from the Continent. Indeed, Latimer described himself as ‘obstinate a papist as any was in England’, but he later became a convert to the reformed doctrines.

In 1535 he was appointed Bishop of Worcester, but in 1539 his opposition to Henry VIII’s Six Articles led to resign his resignation and imprisonment in the Tower of London. He was restored to favour under Edward VI and became court preacher. However, when Queen Mary came to the throne, he was tried for his beliefs and teachings and imprisoned. In October 1555 he was burned at the stake outside Balliol College, Oxford. His last words remain famous: ‘We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.’