Thomas More
Sir Thomas More PC (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More,[2] was an English lawyer, judge,[3] social philosopher, author, statesman, amateur theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist.[4] He also served Henry VIII as Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532.[5] He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, which describes the political system of an imaginary island state.[6]
"Sir Thomas More" redirects here. For the play, see Sir Thomas More (play).
Sir Thomas More
7 February 1478
City of London, England
6 July 1535 (aged 57)
Tower Hill, London, England
Sir John More
Agnes Graunger
Utopia (1516)
Responsio ad Lutherum (1523)
A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation (1553)
More opposed the Protestant Reformation, directing polemics against the theology of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli and William Tyndale. More also opposed Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, he was convicted of treason on what he claimed was false evidence, and executed. On his execution, he was reported to have said: "I die the King's good servant, and God's first".
Pope Pius XI canonised More in 1935 as a martyr.[7] Pope John Paul II in 2000 declared him the patron saint of statesmen and politicians.[8][9][10]
Spiritual life[edit]
According to his friend, the theologian Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, More once seriously contemplated abandoning his legal career to become a monk.[20][21] Between 1503 and 1504 More lived near the Carthusian monastery outside the walls of London and joined in the monks' spiritual exercises. Although he deeply admired their piety, More ultimately decided to remain a layman, standing for election to Parliament in 1504 and marrying the following year.[15]: xxi
More continued ascetic practices for the rest of his life, such as wearing a hair shirt next to his skin and occasionally engaging in self-flagellation.[15]: xxi A tradition of the Third Order of Saint Francis honours More as a member of that Order on their calendar of saints.[22]
Scholarly and literary work[edit]
History of King Richard III[edit]
Between 1512 and 1519 More worked on a History of King Richard III, which he never finished but which was published after his death. The History is a Renaissance biography, remarkable more for its literary skill and adherence to classical precepts than for its historical accuracy.[113] Some consider it an attack on royal tyranny, rather than on Richard III himself or the House of York.[114] More uses a more dramatic writing style than had been typical in medieval chronicles; Richard III is limned as an outstanding, archetypal tyrant—however, More was only seven years old when Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, so he had no first-hand, in-depth knowledge of him.
The History of King Richard III was written and published in both English and Latin, each written separately, and with information deleted from the Latin edition to suit a European readership.[115] It greatly influenced William Shakespeare's play Richard III. Modern historians attribute the unflattering portraits of Richard III in both works to both authors' allegiance to the reigning Tudor dynasty that wrested the throne from Richard III in the Wars of the Roses.[115][116] According to Caroline Barron, Archbishop John Morton, in whose household More had served as a page , had joined the 1483 Buckingham rebellion against Richard III, and Morton was probably one of those who influenced More's hostility towards the defeated king.[117][118] Clements Markham asserts that the actual author of the chronicle was, in large part, Archbishop Morton himself and that More was simply copying, or perhaps translating, Morton's original material.[119][120]
Thomas More
29 December 1886, Florence, Kingdom of Italy, by Pope Leo XIII
19 May 1935, Vatican City, by Pope Pius XI
Church of St Peter ad Vincula, London, England
22 June (Catholic Church)
6 July (Church of England)
9 July (Catholic Extraordinary Form)
dressed in the robe of the Chancellor and wearing the Collar of Esses; axe
Statesmen and politicians; lawyers; Ateneo de Manila Law School; Diocese of Arlington; Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee; Kerala Catholic Youth Movement; University of Malta; University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters
Historic sites[edit]
Westminster Hall[edit]
A plaque in the middle of the floor of London's Westminster Hall commemorates More's trial for treason and condemnation to execution in that original part of the Palace of Westminster.[168] The building, which houses Parliament, would have been well known to More, who served several terms as a member and became Speaker of the House of Commons before his appointment as England's Lord Chancellor.
