Latimer's House, Thurcaston. Said to be home of Hugh Latimer, born in Thurcaston at the end of the 15th century.
"He was a prominent Catholic who converted to Protestantism. He was in and out of favour with Henry VIII: becoming Bishop of Worcester, but later imprisoned twice in the Tower. In 1555, during Mary’s reign, he was tried and burned on the stake for his beliefs. He was one of the Oxford Martyrs (with Ridley and Cramner).
The central part of the house now known as “Latimer’s House” was built at this time. There is no evidence that this was the house in which Latimer actually lived."
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"House of C15/C16. Red brick and timber framing with thatch roof and 4 brick ridge stacks. Higher cross wing with stone plinth to left, gable facing, 1½ and 2 storeys mostly of leaded light casements. Range to right of red brick refacing the original cruck framed structure. Central C20 open oak gabled porch with 3-light casement to left, 2-light casement to right and 2-light horizontal sliding sash over. Wing to left of 2 storeys, 1 bay, 3 x 3 panels to front, and 2 bay, 6 x 3 panels to side. On right return front a 3-light casement both floors. On front gable a 3-light casement on 1st floor and a 1-light in attic. Clasped principal rafters and coped brick gable. On left side a 3-light casement, small C20 bay, and door with 2 2-light casements over. On rear, timber framing in lower range and cross wing, an eyebrow dormer and doors and casements. Extending from right end of front a c1800 stable wing with Swithland slate roof and ridge stack. Garage door, 2 stable doors and 3-light casement.
History: possibly home and birthplace of Bishop Hugh Latimer, martyred at Oxford in 1555."
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"Latimer was born into a family of farmers in Thurcaston, Leicestershire. His birthdate is unknown. Contemporary biographers including John Foxe placed the date somewhere between 1480 and 1494. He started his studies in Latin grammar at the age of four, but not much else is known of his childhood. He attended Cambridge University and was elected a fellow of Clare College on 2 February 1510. He received the Master of Arts degree in April 1514 and he was ordained a priest on 15 July 1515. In 1522, Latimer was nominated to the positions of university preacher and university chaplain. While carrying out his official duties, he continued with theological studies and received the Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1524. The subject of his disputation for the degree was a refutation of the new ideas of the Reformation emerging from the Continent, in particular the doctrines of Philipp Melanchthon. Up to this time, Latimer described himself as "obstinate a papist as any was in England". A recent convert to the new teachings, Thomas Bilney heard his disputation and later came to him to give his confession. Bilney's words had a great impact on Latimer and from that day forward he accepted the reformed doctrines.
Latimer joined a group of reformers including Bilney and Robert Barnes that met regularly at the White Horse Tavern. He began to preach publicly on the need for the translation of the Bible into English. This was a dangerous move as the first translation of the New Testament by William Tyndale had recently been banned. In early 1528, Latimer was called before Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and he was given an admonition and a warning. The following year, Wolsey fell from Henry VIII's favour when he failed to expedite the annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. In contrast, Latimer's reputation was in the ascendant as he took the lead among the reformers in Cambridge. During Advent in 1529, he preached his two "Sermons on the Card" at St Edward's Church.
In 1535, he was appointed Bishop of Worcester, in succession to an Italian absentee, and promoted reformed teachings and iconoclasm in his diocese. On 22 May 1538, at the insistence of Cromwell, he preached the final sermon before Franciscan Friar John Forest was burnt at the stake, in a fire said to have been fueled partly by a Welsh image of Saint Derfel. In 1539, he opposed Henry VIII's Six Articles, with the result that he was forced to resign his bishopric and imprisoned in the Tower of London (where he was again in 1546).
During the reign of Henry's son Edward VI, he was restored to favour as the English church moved in a more Protestant direction, becoming court preacher until 1550. He then served as chaplain to Katherine Duchess of Suffolk. However, when Edward VI's sister Mary I came to the throne, he was tried for his beliefs and teachings in Oxford and imprisoned. In October 1555 he was burned at the stake outside Balliol College, Oxford.
On April 14, 1554, commissioners from the papal party (including Edmund Bonner and Stephen Gardiner) began an examination of Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer. Latimer, hardly able to sustain a debate at his age, responded to the council in writing. He argued that the doctrines of the real presence of Christ in the mass, transubstantiation, and the propitiatory merit of the mass were unbiblical. The commissioners tried to demonstrate that Latimer didn't share the same faith as eminent Fathers, to which Latimer replied, "I am of their faith when they say well... I have said, when they say well, and bring Scripture for them, I am of their faith; and further Augustine requireth not to be believed."
Latimer believed that the welfare of souls demanded he stand for the Protestant understanding of the gospel. The commissioners also understood that the debate involved the very message of salvation itself, by which souls would be saved or damned:
After the sentence had been pronounced, Latimer added, 'I thank God most heartily that He hath prolonged my life to this end, that I may in this case glorify God by that kind of death'; to which the prolocutor replied, 'If you go to heaven in this faith, then I will never come hither, as I am thus persuaded.'
Latimer was burned at the stake with Nicholas Ridley. He is quoted as having said to Ridley:
Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.
The deaths of Latimer, Ridley and later Cranmer – now known as the Oxford Martyrs – are commemorated in Oxford by the Victorian Martyrs' Memorial which is located near the actual execution site which is marked by a cross in Broad Street (then the ditch outside the city's North Gate).
Hugh Latimer said, "It may come in my days, old as I am, or in my children's days, the saints shall be taken up to meet Christ in the air, and so shall come down with Him again" (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4)."
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