Hugh Latimer

1487–1555

“We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” Latimer’s words as he burned at the stake on 16 October 1555 have echoed down the centuries. They are an affirmation of faith, a statement of defiance, and a belief in the power of ideas. 

Immortality as a Protestant martyr was a long way from Latimer’s humble beginnings, as the son of a Leicestershire farmer. But his scholarly leanings were recognised early, and in 1510 he was elected a Fellow of Clare. Ordination followed, and Latimer became university preacher and chaplain. He declared himself as ‘obstinate a papist as any was in England’; but an encounter with a supporter of the Protestant reformation convinced Latimer of its merits, and he became a fierce advocate. Thereafter his fate was sealed: not even his appointment as Bishop of Worcester could save him from Mary Tudor’s counter-reformation. 

Today, Latimer is remembered at Clare with a stained glass window, a fine portrait, and an eponymous room in Old Court. The Fellows’ Library also has one of his tracts, snatched from the flames as he burned for his beliefs. 470 years after his death, Latimer’s candle still burns bright.