Latimer, Hugh

Hugh (1490-1555), an English reformer. He was educated at Cambridge and took part in the stirring times of the English Reformation. His experience illustrates well the intolerance of the times. First he narrowly escaped the vengeance of the Roman Church for preaching against its abuses; then he was thrown into prison for not coming out squarely for the new English Church; finally, in the reign of the Catholic Mary, he was bound to the stake and burned as a heretic. His sermons, two volumes of which are extant, now seem plain, witty talks to the people on practical reforms and earnest living.