He was educated at Eton and Oxford, where as a student he took well-nigh all the honors open to a student. His prize poem on "Apollo Belvidere", written in 1812, Dean Stanley pronounced "the most perfect of all Oxford prize poems." He entered the ministry in 1816; was Professor of Poetry at Oxford from 1821 to 1831; became Canon of Westminster in 1835, and Dean of St. Paul's in 1849. He died September 24, 1868. His career as a man of letters, theologian, and Churchman was brilliant. His poetic and theological writings are numerous. His History of the Jews (1829) was the first work of English theology to subject the Bible to historical criticism. Other works include History of Christianity (1840), History of Latin Christianity (6 vol., 1854-1855), and other volumes are among the ablest and most valuable of nineteenth century contributions to English theological literature. Milman's thirteen hymns were first published in Bishop Heber's posthumous volume of Hymns, 1827, and later republished in his own Psalms and Hymns, 1837. They are all in use among modern (Circa 2000) Church hymnals.