Every year, the Anglican Church celebrates the life of Sir Thomas More with an official feast day on his birthday, the 7th of February. The Roman Catholic Church does the same thing on the 22nd of June.1 Why is this man venerated by Protestants and Catholics alike? Sir Thomas More has become Saint Thomas More to millions because his principled stand for his convictions has been an inspiration for generations.
Thomas More was born in London on February 7, 1478. He was the son of Sir John More, a judge in the city. Naturally, Thomas was given the best education. He studied at St. Anthony’s School and later at Oxford University. After Oxford, he studied to be a lawyer and became a barrister in 1501. His aptitude was such that soon he was even lecturing about the law at one of London’s law schools.2
The time he had spent as a page for the Cardinal Morton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as a boy had influenced him greatly, however.3 While he was engaged in his law studies, he thought seriously about a life in the Church. After thinking briefly about studying for the priesthood, More decided that what he really wanted to do was become a monk. To that end, he moved to a monastery and engaged rigorously in monastic life. He was unable to decide which order to join, however, and eventually gave up the cloister entirely.4 Like his time with Cardinal Morton, his time in the monastery affected him greatly. The religious devotion that was reinforced during his time in the monastery stayed with him his whole life. Until his death, he was known as a deeply religious man.
By now, More was about 26 years old. During that time, he had demonstrated that he had both a keen intellect and wide ranging interests. Not only had he excelled in his regular studies of Latin, Greek, French, history, mathematics, music, and law, but he had spent much of his free time studying the literature of his day. He even met many leading writers and scholars, including Erasmus, the renowned humanist, whom he met in 1499.5 This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship that included numerous visits and correspondence between the two. Obviously, More’s relationship with Erasmus had a great impact on his own theology and political philosophy.
By this time, More had also proved his own talents as a writer. He wrote poems in Latin and English and translated a biography of the Italian philosopher Pico della Mirandola into English. He also translated some of the poems in The Greek Anthology into Latin.6 It would be several years, however, until his literary efforts would culminate in the writing of his most popular work, Utopia.
More was elected to Parliament in 1504.7 This was his introduction to politics which would prove to be a life-long love for him. His introduction to politics, was not, however, very romantic as it did not take him long to make powerful enemies. Soon after obtaining his seat in the House of Commons, he began to speak against the levies of money that King Henry VII was demanding through the Speaker of the House of Commons himself. More managed to convince Parliament to lower the amount of the tax from 113,000 pounds to 30,000 pounds.8
His success made More a political enemy of the Speaker, a man by the name of Dudley. Dudley even went so far as to put More’s father in the Tower of London until the elder More agreed to pay Dudley the sum of 100 pounds. As outrageous as this must have seemed to Thomas at the time, Dudely later informed him that the only reason that Dudely had not had Thomas executed for speaking against him was that Thomas had been wise enough to avoid speaking directly against the king himself. Having thus narrowly escaped disaster, More retired from politics until the death of Henry VII.9 This must have taught More a valuable lesson about the nature of politics in England in the early modern period. Thus, there can be little doubt that several years later, at the time of his fall from favor, he knew what the consequences of his criticism of the King might very well be.
He was not only making enemies during this time, however. He made friends as well including John Colte and in 1505, More married John’s daughter Jane. This marriage proved happy for all too short a time. She died after only six years of marriage, but not until she had given birth to several children. She was survived by three daughters and one boy whom More’s second wife, Alice, helped him raise.10
In 1514, he received an appointment as an ambassador to Flanders. This position marked his entrance into major, national politics as it came from Cardinal Wolsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury and King Henry VIII’s chief adviser.11 From this time forward, More became more and more of an important political figure and consequently closer and closer to King Henry VIII and his wife Catherine of Aragon.
His entrance into major politics coincided with his greatest literary achievement. In 1515, his most popular work, Utopia, was published. Utopia has been the subject of much debate over the years and has been interpreted in a variety of ways. Most people, however, take it as a satire on the political institutions of More’s day. In the book, Raphael Hythloday (whose last name means dispenser of nonsense in Greek) travels about Europe criticizing the customs and laws of the various nation-states and describes how grand things are in the island nation of Utopia (which literally means nowhere in Greek).12
Utopia is a kind of ideal society whose practices are very different from its contemporaries in Europe. While some think that More truly believed that a society patterned on Utopia would cure many of society’s ills, most people realize that More was merely trying to point out some of the problems of his day. Most likely, More used the fictional Utopia as a kind of shield to protect himself from the political consequences of criticizing specific governments and governmental officials. Thus, we again see that More must have realized just how dangerous it was to cross an almost absolute monarch like King Henry VIII. This makes his eventual decision to defy the King’s Act of Supremacy just that much more compelling.
The publication of Utopia brought More even more fame and political clout. Until his fall from power in the mid 1530s, More’s career consisted of one advancement and honor after another. In 1517, More became a member of the Privy Council. In 1520, he accompanied Henry VIII to his meeting with Francis I which has come to be known as “The Field of the Cloth of Gold” because of its opulence. The next year, Thomas More became Sir Thomas More when the King knighted him and appointed him his sub-treasurer. In 1523, he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons and in 1525, he was appointed High Steward of Cambridge University. By 1529 he reached the zenith of his career when he was appointed Lord Chancellor to replace Cardinal Wolsey after Wolsey fell out of the King’s favor.13
More had already written several essays and pamphlets attacking the Protestant Reformers, so when he became Lord Chancellor, he used his power to purge England of those he believed were heretics. Although he was intolerant of religious heterodoxy, he was not nearly as radical as some of his contemporaries. He endeavored always to convince the “heretic” to recant and repent before having them executed. In fact, he had only four Protestants executed during his term as Lord Chancellor.14 While More is sometimes criticized for being a “religious fanatic”, the fact remains that compared to the people of his day, he was fairly lenient.15 No doubt, his relationship with Erasmus helped influence his opinions in this area.
By this time, More and the King were very close. The King granted More titles and lands in exchange for the fine service More rendered him. The King was even a frequent guest in More’s house. Despite their apparent friendship, More knew that his position was every bit as precarious as that which Cardinal Wolsey had enjoyed. More is even reported to have said that, “If my head should gain him one castle in France, it shall not fail to go”.16 More had no delusions about the security of his position and apparently he accepted it. He knew full well that high politics was a dangerous game during the reign of Henry VIII. It had the potential to bring one enormous wealth, but it also had the potential to bring about one’s ruin.
That is exactly what happened just a few months after More took office. That account, however, requires some exposition. For years, King Henry VIII, the “Defender of the [Catholic] Faith” had been drifting away from Rome. This is because his religious convictions were overshadowed by his intense desire to preserve the Tudor Dynasty. His twenty year marriage to Catherine of Aragon had failed to produce a male heir. Fearing that he had somehow transgressed against God by marrying the woman who had been betrothed to his brother, he sought to have the marriage annulled. He petitioned the Pope, but the Pope refused to grant him a dispensation. After Cardinal Wolsey had tried for years and failed to secure an annulment or divorce for the King, the King lost patience with Wolsey and had him removed from office. He would have had Wolsey executed if Wolsey had not first succumbed to a heart attack.17
In 1533, Thomas Cranmer was appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury. He promptly annulled Henry’s marriage to Catherine and married Henry to Anne Boleyn. By thus ignoring the Pope, Henry and Cranmer created a permanent rift with the Catholic Church. Eventually, this rift led Henry to officially separate from the Catholic Church once and for all and establish himself as the head of the Church of England.18
Now, we must see More in the context of this struggle between Henry and the Papacy. In 1530, Henry issued a royal proclamation declaring that he was the “Supreme Head” of the Church. More, who considered this heresy, immediately resigned as Chancellor, but his resignation was refused.19 Two years later, however, he resigned again after finding that he had fallen from the King’s graces because of his opposition to Henry’s divorce, Henry’s claim to supremacy over the church in England, and Henry’s laxness concerning the punishment of heretics in the kingdom. This time, the resignation was accepted.20 It was the beginning of the end for Sir Thomas More.
More immediately left the public arena, hoping this would spare him the unpleasant results of an open disagreement with the King. For the next two years he faced several attempts to convict him of various charges, none of which succeeded as none of them had any merit. Things changed, however, in 1534 when Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy. In addition to establishing Henry as the head of the Church of England, the act decreed that all subjects of Henry VIII must be willing if asked to swear an oath acknowledging that Henry and Ann were legitimate heirs to the throne and that no “foreign authority”, i.e. the Pope, had any power at all in England.21
More was soon called upon to take this oath, but refused to comply with the order. He did this because he firmly believed that the Pope, not Henry was the rightful head of the church and that Henry’s divorce to Catherine had been illegitimate. Within days, More was imprisoned in the Tower of London and faced charges of treason. He defended himself as best he could, but the lies of his accusers were accepted and he was sentenced to death. He was beheaded on July 6, 1535.22
During his last few months, while he was in prison, More demonstrated remarkable courage in the face of his impending death. He wrote many letters to his family and even a few theological works and spent a great deal of time in prayer and in making penance for his sins. He is said to have uttered several memorable phrases in the hours and minutes before his death, including his last words which are reported to have been, “The King’s good servant, but God’s first.” His cheerful acceptance of death is probably as important as the way he lived to his enduring reputation in history.
Ultimately, Sir Thomas More’s resolve proved to be both an asset and a liability. It gave him the determination to succeed, which propelled him to national fame, but also the persistent steadfastness for his convictions that eventually resulted in his death. He was a victim of the absolutist monarchy of King Henry VIII, not through any deficiency in and of himself, but because of the very qualities which had been of such service to the King for years. Thus, More is a tragic figure and one worth being venerated by people of all religious affiliations. It is, therefore, little wonder that Anglicans and Catholics alike “claim him” as one of their own.
Endnotes
1Wikipedia. 2007. “Thomas More” Wikimedia Foundation. 30 April 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More
2Guy, John. 2000. Thomas More. New York: Oxford University Press. 22 & 25
3Ibid., 23.
4Ibid., 29-30.
5Ridley, Jasper.1982. Statesman and Saint: Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Thomas More and the politics of Henry VIII. New York: The Viking Press. 16
6Lewis, C.S.1977. Thomas More. In The Essential Writings: Thomas More. Hamden, Connecticut. Archon Books. 388-401
7 Wilson, Derek. 2001. In the Lion’s Court: Power, Ambition, and Death in the Reign of Henry VIII. New Work: St. Martins Press. 60
8Ibid., 61.
9Ibid., 62.
10Guy. Thomas More. 31 – 32
11Ibid., 35.
12Wikipedia. Thomas More.
13Ibid.
14Ridley. Statesman and Saint. 239
15Wikipedia. Thomas More.
16Ibid., 53.
17Wilson. In the Lion’s Court. 265.
18Ibid., 373
19Wikipedia. Thomas More.
20Wikipedia. Thomas More.
21Wilson. In the Lion’s Court. 265.
22Ibid., 371-379
23Guy. Thomas More. 211.
