One of the most charismatic of the sixteenth-century English reformers, Hugh Latimer is remembered not just for the zeal with which he adopted the cause of reform in the church, even going to his death at the stake, but for his oral performances as a preacher, establishing the pulpit as a site of rhetoric and literary inspiration.

Latimer was born in the 1480s at Thurcaster, a village north of Leicester. He was the only surviving son of his parents, although he did have six sisters. He attended his local grammar school, and went to Cambridge aged 14. There he graduated BA in 1511, MA in 1514, and BTh in 1524. He was ordained subdeacon of Peterborough in March 1515, deacon of Lincoln Cathedral in April 1515, and priest of Lidington

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First published 11 January 2006

Citation: Coleman, David. "Hugh Latimer". The Literary Encyclopedia. 11 January 2006.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2628, accessed 9 February 2010.]