LATIMER, HUG. — Anglican bishop, one of the leaders of the English “Reformation,” born at Thurcaston (Leicestershire) ca. 1480–90, died at Oxford in 1555. Initially an opponent of the Protestant “Reformation,” to the extent that he received his bachelor’s degree with a dissertation against Melanchthon (1524), he soon thereafter inclined toward Protestantism. He quickly acquired fame as a preacher. The bishop of Ely, West, suspended him from preaching (1525), but he was nevertheless able to continue in an Augustinian monastery before a very large audience. Many of his statements caused a great sensation.
In 1530 he was the court preacher for Lent and preached before Henry VIII. The following year he received the parish of Westington (Wilshire) and, thanks to the royal favour he had gained, avoided an already certain condemnation for his heretical preaching. The English schism brought him into a prominent position. In 1535 he became archbishop of Worcester and supported the work of T. Cromwell. Opposed to the “articles of uniformity,” which he refused to sign, he was deposed and lived in seclusion for some time, until 1548, when, upon the accession of Edward VI, he resumed his preaching. His sermons of that period remained famous for certain themes of social importance that they addressed, such as the alleged immorality of certain aspects of the English agrarian economy. In 1548 L. could practically be regarded as a Calvinist. When Mary the Catholic (v.) ascended the throne, he was summoned to London. He did not flee: he appeared at a public disputation in which he declared his convictions. When attempts to induce him to recant had failed, on 16 October 1555 he was sent to the stake.