The Most Powerful Prelate in England

And now I would ask you...who is the most powerful prelate in all England? He surpasses all the rest in his diligence. I can tell you. For I know him well...it is the Devil. He is the most diligent preacher of all others; he is never out of his diocese...call for him when you will, he is always available....But alas! The devil by the help of that Italian bishop yonder [the pope], his chaplain, has labored by all means that he might frustrate the death of Christ and the merits of his passion.

—Hugh Latimer (c. 1487 – 16 October 1555, preaching to more than 1,000 sitting on the grass at Whitehall, residence of King Edward VI, the "British Josiah." Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer were among several hundred protestants burned at the stake by Edward's half-sister, "Bloody Mary," who claimed the kingdom after his death and sought to turn England back to Catholicism).