During the reign of "Bloody Mary" (Queen Mary I 1558) nearly three hundred Protestants were burned at the stake for their faith. The burnings began in February 1555 with that of Bible translator John Rogers and Bishop John Hooper. The most famous of all those who died are the Oxford Martyrs, Bishops Hugh Latimer, Nicolas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer. Hugh Latimer was born on a farm in Thurcaston, Leicester sometime around 1485, and was sent to Cambridge in 1506. An ardent defender of the Roman church, he disputed with the Reformers and implored them to abandon their convictions. Merle D'Aubigne says, "He was a second Saul, and was soon to resemble the apostle of the Gentiles in another respect". Latimer was converted through the influence of Thomas Bilney, who had earlier become a Christian by reading the New Testament (and who was do die a martyr's death in 1531). Bilney asked Latimer to hear his confession and, as he shared with him his faith in Christ, Latimer was saved. He became the most popular preacher of his day, and maintained that the Bible should be read in every household. He became Bishop of Worcester in 1535, but resigned in 1539. As he threw off the robes of his bishopric, he leaped into the air, and declared that he found himself lighter than he had ever felt before. He was later put into prison for a short period but released in 1547, with the accession of the godly Protestant King Edward VI. He spent the next six years as a humble preacher, residing with his dear friend, Thomas Cranmer. However, when Mary became Queen in 1553, she put an end to his preaching the gospel. He was thrown in the Tower of London with Cranmer, Ridley, and John Bradford. If Latimer was the popular preacher, Nicholas Ridley was to become the theologian of the Reformers. The younger of the two, he was born in 1500 in Northumberland. He attended university in Cambridge and was converted as a young man at a time when he was engaged in a detailed study of Scripture, including the committing of the Pauline Epistles to memory. In 1534, while a proctor of Cambridge, he signed the decree against the pope's supremacy in England. In 1537 he became chaplain to Thomas Cranmer, and in 1541 chaplain to Henry VIII and canon of Canterbury. He became Bishop of Rochester (1547), and was part of the committee that drew up the first English Book of Common Prayer. In 1550 he became Bishop of London. Ridley supported Lady Jane Grey's claims to the crown, and in 1553, shortly after the accession of Mary, he was imprisoned. In 1555, Latimer and Ridley were found guilty of heresy and, on 16 October that year, they were led to their martyrdom. The seventy-year-old Latimer followed feebly behind Ridley, who gave his clothes away to those standing by. Latimer quietly stripped to his shroud. As a burning faggot was laid at the feet of Ridley, Latimer spoke his famous words, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out". John Foxe relates, "And so the fire being kindled, when Ridley saw the fire flaming up towards him, he cried with a loud voice, "Lord into Thy hands I commend my spirit: Lord, receive my spirit!" and repeated the latter part often. Latimer, crying as vehemently on the other side of the stake, "Father of heaven, receive my soul!" received the flame as if embracing it. After he had stroked his face with his hands, and as it were bathed them a little in the fire, he soon died, as it appeared, with very little pain". Although Latimer died quickly, his friend Ridley endured a lingering death and suffered excruciating pain. The hundreds of bystanders were moved by what they had witnessed and, as they looked at the two motionless bodies, all that could be heard was weeping. Many more were to suffer a similar martyrdom, including Thomas Cranmer who died at the stake the following spring, and their deaths had a profound effect upon the Reformation movement in England. Latimer's candle was well and truly lit and, although it has flickered low in recent years, it has never been extinguished. The historian, A G Dickens, has written, "we have tended overmuch to neglect the martyrs". This ought not to be so, and we should praise God for the noble army of martyrs. Let us revere the memory of Latimer and Ridley, and, like them, contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints.

HUGH LATIMER ON RIGHTEOUSNESS

We have no proper righteousness of our own ; but we borrow, that is to say, we take the righteousness of Christ, which He offered freely to as many as believe in Him. And this treasure of His righteousness is not wasted or spent; He hath enough for all the world, yea, if this were a thousand worlds. Sermon preached at Grimsthorpe, 1553