| The Right Honourable Sir Thomas More | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lord Chancellor | |
| In office October 1529 – May 1532 | |
| Precededby | Thomas Wolsey |
| Succeededby | Thomas Audley |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
| In office 31 December 1525 – 3 November 1529 | |
| Precededby | Richard Wingfield |
| Succeededby | William FitzWilliam |
| Speaker of the House of Commons | |
| In office 16 April 1523 – 13 August 1523 | |
| Precededby | Thomas Neville |
| Succeededby | Thomas Audley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 February 1478 City of London, London Kingdom of England |
| Died | 6 July 1535 (aged 57) Tower Hill, Liberties of the Tower of London, Tower Hamlets Kingdom of England |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Signature |  |
Sir Thomas More (/ˈmɔr/; 7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), known to Roman Catholics asSaint Thomas More since 1935,[1][2] was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author,statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and Lord Chancellor from October 1529 to 16 May 1532.[3] Moreopposed the Protestant Reformation, in particular the theology of Martin Luther andWilliam Tyndale, whose books he burned and followers he persecuted. More also wroteUtopia, published in 1516, about the political system of an ideal and imaginary islandnation. More later opposed the King's separation from the Roman Catholic Church andrefused to accept him as Supreme Head of the Church of England, because suchdisparaged Papal Authority and Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Tried fortreason, More was convicted on perjured testimony and beheaded.
Pope Pius XI canonized More in 1935 as a martyr of the schism that separated theChurch of England from Rome; Pope John Paul II in 2000 declared More the "heavenlyPatron of Statesmen and Politicians".[4] Since 1980, the Church of England hasremembered More liturgically as a reformation martyr.[5]
Early life
| Saint Thomas More, T.O.S.F. | |
|---|---|
 Medallion of Thomas More | |
| Martyr | |
| Honoredin | Catholic Church; Anglican Communion |
| Beatified | 29 December 1886, Florence,Kingdom of Italy, by Pope Leo XIII |
| Canonized | 19 May 1935, Vatican City, byPope Pius XI |
| Feast | 22 June (Catholic Church) 6 July (Church of England) 9 July on the traditionalistCatholic (Latin Mass) calendar |
| Attributes | dressed in the robe of theChancellor and wearing theCollar of Esses; axe |
| Patronage | Adopted children; civil servants;court clerks; difficult marriages;large families; lawyers,politicians, and statesmen;stepparents; widowers; Ateneode Manila Law School; Diocese of Arlington; Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee; KeralaCatholic Youth Movement;University of Malta; University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters |
Born in Milk Street in London, on 7 February 1478, Thomas More was the son of Sir JohnMore,[6] a successful lawyer and later judge, and his wife Agnes (née Graunger). Morewas educated at St Anthony's School, then considered one of London's finest schools.From 1490 to 1492, More served John Morton, the Archbishop of Canterbury and LordChancellor of England as a household page.[7]:xvi Morton enthusiastically supported the"New Learning" (now called the Renaissance), and thought highly of the young More.Believing that More had great potential, Morton nominated him for a place at OxfordUniversity (either in St. Mary's Hall or Canterbury College).[8]:38 Both Canterbury Collegeand St Mary’s Hall have since disappeared; Christ Church College grew over Canterbury'ssite, and Oriel College over the former St Mary’s.
More began his studies at Oxford in 1492, and received a classical education. Studyingunder Thomas Linacre and William Grocyn, he became proficient in both Greek andLatin. More left Oxford after only two years – at his father's insistence - to begin legaltraining in London at New Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery.[7]:xvii[9] In 1496, More becamea student at Lincoln’s Inn, one of the Inns of Court, where he remained until 1502, whenhe was called to the Bar.[7]:xvii
Spiritual life
According to his friend, theologian Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, More once seriouslycontemplated abandoning his legal career to become a monk.[10] Between 1503 and 1504More lived near the Carthusian monastery outside the walls of London and joined in themonks' spiritual exercises. Although he deeply admired their piety, More ultimately decidedto remain a layman, standing for election to Parliament in 1504 and marrying the followingyear.[7]:xxi
In spite of his choice to pursue a secular career, More continued ascetical practices forthe rest of his life, such as wearing a hair shirt next to his skin and occasionally engagingin flagellation.[7]:xxi A tradition of the Third Order of St. Francis honors More as a memberof that Order on their calendar of saints.[11]
Family life
More married Jane Colt in 1505.[8]:118 She was nearly ten years younger than herhusband, quiet and good-natured.[8]:119 Erasmus reported that More wanted to give hisyoung wife a better education than she had previously received at home, and tutored her inmusic and literature.[8]:119 The couple had four children before Jane died in 1511:Margaret, Elizabeth, Cicely, and John.[8]:132
Going "against friends' advice and common custom" within thirty days More had marriedone of the many eligible women among his wide circle of friends.[12] He chose the richwidow Alice Middleton as his second wife, having met her while working with her latehusband who had been a prosperous merchant. The speed of the marriage was so unusualthat More had to get a dispensation of the banns, which due to his good public reputationhe easily obtained.[12] Alice More lacked Jane's docility; More's friend Andrew Ammoniusderided Alice as a "hook-nosed harpy."[citation needed] Erasmus, however, called theirmarriage happy.[8]:144 More had no children from his second marriage, although he raisedAlice's daughter from her previous marriage as his own. More also became the guardian ofa young girl named Anne Cresacre, who would eventually marry his son, John More.[8]:146An affectionate father, More wrote letters to his children whenever he was away on legal orgovernment business, and encouraged them to write to him often.[8]:150[13]:xiv
More insisted upon giving his daughters the same classical education as his son, a highlyunusual attitude at the time.[8]:146–47 His eldest daughter, Margaret, attracted muchadmiration for her erudition, especially her fluency in Greek and Latin.[8]:147 More told hisdaughter of his pride in her academic accomplishment in September 1522, after he showedthe Bishop a letter she had written:
When he saw from the signature that it was the letter of a lady, his surprise led himto read it more eagerly... he said he would never have believed it to be your workunless I had assured him of the fact, and he began to praise it in the highestterms... for its pure Latinity, its correctness, its erudition, and its expressions oftender affection. He took out at once from his pocket a portague [A Portuguese goldcoin]... to send to you as a pledge and token of his good will towards you.[13]:152
More's decision to educate his daughters set an example for other noble families. EvenErasmus became much more favourable once he witnessed their accomplishments.[8]:149
Early political career
In 1504 More was elected to Parliament to represent Great Yarmouth, and in 1510 beganrepresenting London.[14]
From 1510, More served as one of the two undersheriffs of the City of London, aposition of considerable responsibility in which he earned a reputation as an honest andeffective public servant. More became Master of Requests in 1514,[15] the same year inwhich he was appointed as a Privy Councillor.[16] After undertaking a diplomatic missionto the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, accompanying Thomas Wolsey, CardinalArchbishop of York, to Calais and Bruges, More was knighted and made under-treasurerof the Exchequer in 1521.[16]
As secretary and personal adviser to King Henry VIII, More became increasingly influential:welcoming foreign diplomats, drafting official documents, and serving as a liaison between theKing and Lord Chancellor Wolsey. More later served as High Steward for the universities ofOxford and Cambridge.
In 1523 More was elected as knight of the shire (MP) for Middlesex and, on Wolsey'srecommendation, the House of Commons elected More its Speaker.[16] In 1525 More becameChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with executive and judicial responsibilities over muchof northern England.[16]
Chancellorship
After Wolsey fell, More succeeded to the office of Chancellor in 1529. He dispatched caseswith unprecedented rapidity. Fully devoted to Henry and the royal prerogative, More initially co-operated with the King's new policy, denouncing Wolsey in Parliament and joining the opinion ofthe theologians at Oxford and Cambridge that the marriage of Henry to Catherine had beenunlawful.[citation needed] But as Henry began to deny Papal Authority, More's qualms grew.
Campaign against the Reformation
More supported the Catholic Church and saw the Protestant Reformation as heresy, a threat to the unity of both church and society.Believing in the theology, polemics, and ecclesiastical laws of the church, More "heard Luther's call to destroy the Catholic Church as a call towar."[17]
His early actions against the Reformation included aiding Wolsey in preventing Lutheran books from being imported into England, spying onand investigating suspected Protestants, especially publishers, and arresting any one holding in his possession, transporting, or selling thebooks of the Protestant reformation. More vigorously suppressed the travelling country ministers who used Tyndale's English translation of the New Testament.[citation needed] It contained translations of certain words—for example Tyndale used "elder" rather than "priest" for theGreek "presbyteros"—and some footnotes which challenged Catholic doctrine.[18] It was during this time that most of his literary polemicsappeared.
Sir Thomas More is commemorated with asculpture at the late-19th-century Sir ThomasMore House, opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, Carey Street, London.
Rumours circulated during and after More's lifetime regarding ill-treatment of heretics during histime as Lord Chancellor. The popular anti-Catholic polemicist John Foxe, who "placedProtestant sufferings against the background of... the Antichrist"[19] was instrumental inpublicising accusations of torture in his famous Book of Martyrs, claiming that More had oftenpersonally used violence or torture while interrogating heretics. Later authors, such as BrianMoynahan and Michael Farris, cite Foxe when repeating these allegations.[20] More himselfdenied these allegations:
Stories of a similar nature were current even in More's lifetime and he denied themforcefully. He admitted that he did imprison heretics in his house – 'theyr sure kepynge' –he called it – but he utterly rejected claims of torture and whipping... 'so helpe meGod.'[8]:298
In total there were six burned at the stake for heresy during More's chancellorship: ThomasHitton, Thomas Bilney, Richard Bayfield, John Tewkesbery, Thomas Dusgate, and JamesBainham.[8]:299–306 More's influential role in the burning of Tyndale is reported by Moynahan.[21] Burning at the stake had long been a standard punishment for heresy—about thirtyburnings had taken place in the century before More's elevation to Chancellor, and burningcontinued to be used by both Catholics and Protestants during the religious upheaval of thefollowing decades.[22] Ackroyd notes that More explicitly "approved of Burning"[8]:298 R.W.Chambers is also noted as saying that "More, while denying indignantly the cruelties attributedto him, 'wills all the world to wit on the other side' that he believes that it is necessary to prohibit'the sowing of seditious heresies', and to punish them, in extreme cases with death, those whodefy such prohibition." And he goes on to say "It was the view, held by all parties alike, thatopen defiance of authority in spiritual matters, of such a kind as to lead to tumult and civil war,might be punished with death."[23]:274–275 After the case of John Tewkesbury, a Londonleather-seller found guilty by More of harbouring banned books and sentenced to burning forrefusing to recant, More declared: he "burned as there was neuer wretche I wene better worthy."[24]
Historians have been long divided over More's religious actions as Chancellor. While biographers such as Peter Ackroyd, a Catholic Englishbiographer, have taken a relatively tolerant view of More's campaign against Protestantism by placing his actions within the turbulent religiousclimate of the time, other equally eminent historians, such as Richard Marius, a somewhat controversial American scholar of theReformation, have been more critical, believing that persecutions—including what he perceives as the advocacy of extermination forProtestants—were a betrayal of More's earlier humanist convictions. As Marius writes in his biography of More: "To stand before a man at aninquisition, knowing that he will rejoice when we die, knowing that he will commit us to the stake and its horrors without a moment's hesitationor remorse if we do not satisfy him, is not an experience much less cruel because our inquisitor does not whip us or rack us or shout at us. . .More believed that they (Protestants) should be exterminated, and while he was in office he did everything in his power to bring thatextermination to pass."[25] Many Protestants take a very different view from that of Marius – in 1980, despite being an opponent of theEnglish Reformation that created the Church of England, More was added to the Church of England's calendar of Saints and Heroes of theChristian Church, jointly with John Fisher, to be commemorated every 6 July (the date of More's execution) as "Thomas More, Scholar, andJohn Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Reformation Martyrs, 1535".[5]
The six executions for heresy should perhaps also be seen in the context of More trying to prevent a repetition in England of the up to 100,000deaths in the German Peasants' Revolt of 1524–25. More and other conservatives (including Henry VIII at this time) openly blamed thesedeaths on the socially destabilising effects of Luther's heresy,[26] though clearly such conservatives were also trying to prevent othersupposed ills less easily understood by our modern secular and ecumenical world, such as alleged eternal agony in Hell[27] for the souls ofthose allegedly misguided into heresy, as well as the suffering of souls in Purgatory supposedly caused by Luther's abolition of indulgences,as argued in More's 1529 work Supplication of Souls. It seems unlikely that modern Catholics, Protestants, and others, could ever easily agreeon how many eventually died in Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere as an arguable result of the English Reformation that More wasunsuccessfully trying to prevent, and whether or not this cost could be justified by arguable offsetting benefits. The modern Catholic attitudeon the issue was probably best expressed by Pope John Paul II when honouring him by making him patron saint of statesmen andpoliticians in October 2000, when he stated "It can be said that he demonstrated in a singular way the value of a moral conscience ... even if,in his actions against heretics, he reflected the limits of the culture of his time".[4]
Resignation
As the conflict over supremacy between the Papacy and the King reached its apogee, More continued to remain steadfast in supporting thesupremacy of the Pope as Successor of Peter over that of the King of England. In 1530, More refused to sign a letter by the leading Englishchurchmen and aristocrats asking Pope Clement VII to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine, and also quarrelled with Henry VIII over theheresy laws. In 1531, Henry had isolated More by purging most clergy who supported the papal stance from senior positions in the church. Inaddition, Henry had solidified his denial of the Papacy's control of England by passing the Statute of Praemunire which forbade appeals to theRoman Curia from England. Realizing his isolated position, More attempted to resign after being forced to take an oath declaring the King theSupreme Head of the English Church, pursuant to Parliament's Act of Supremacy of 1534. He tried to limit the oath "as far as the law of Christallows." Furthermore, the Statute of Praemunire made it a crime to support in public or office the claims of the Papacy. Thus, he refused totake the oath in the form in which it would renounce all claims of jurisdiction over the Church except the sovereign's. Nonetheless, thereputation and influence of More as well as his long relationship with Henry, kept his life secure for the time being and consequently, he wasnot relieved of office. However, with his supporters in court quickly disappearing, in 1532 he asked the King again to relieve him of his office,claiming that he was ill and suffering from sharp chest pains. This time Henry granted his request.
Trial and execution
In 1533, More refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as the Queen of England. Technically, this was not an act of treason, as More had written to Henryacknowledging Anne's queenship and expressing his desire for the King's happinessand the new Queen's health.[28] Despite this, his refusal to attend was widelyinterpreted as a snub against Anne, and Henry took action against him.
Shortly thereafter, More was charged with accepting bribes, but the charges had to bedismissed for lack of any evidence. In early 1534, More was accused of conspiringwith the "Holy Maid of Kent," Elizabeth Barton, a nun who had prophesied against theking's annulment, but More was able to produce a letter in which he had instructedBarton not to interfere with state matters.[citation needed]
On 13 April 1534, More was asked to appear before a commission and swear hisallegiance to the parliamentary Act of Succession. More accepted Parliament's rightto declare Anne Boleyn the legitimate Queen of England, but he steadfastly refused totake the oath of supremacy of the Crown in the relationship between the kingdom andthe church in England. Holding fast to the teaching of papal supremacy, More refusedto take the oath and furthermore publicly refused to uphold Henry's annulment fromCatherine. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, refused the oath along with More. Theoath reads:
...By reason whereof the Bishop of Rome and See Apostolic, contrary to the great and inviolable grants of jurisdictions given byGod immediately to emperors, kings and princes in succession to their heirs, hath presumed in times past to invest who shouldplease them to inherit in other men's kingdoms and dominions, which thing we your most humble subjects, both spiritual andtemporal, do most abhor and detest;[29]
With his refusal to support the King's annulment, More's enemies had enough evidence to have the King arrest him on treason. Four dayslater, Henry had More imprisoned in the Tower of London. There More prepared a devotional Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation. WhileMore was imprisoned in the Tower, Thomas Cromwell made several visits, urging More to take the oath, which More continued to refuse.
Commemorative plaque at the site ofthe ancient scaffold at Tower Hill,with Sir Thomas More listed amongother notables executed at the site.
On 1 July 1535, More was tried before a panel of judges that included the new Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley, as well as Anne Boleyn's father, brother, and uncle. He was charged with high treason for denying the validity of the Act of Succession. More, relying on legal precedent and themaxim "qui tacet consentire videtur" (literally, who (is) silent is seen to consent), understood thathe could not be convicted as long as he did not explicitly deny that the King was Supreme Head ofthe Church, and he therefore refused to answer all questions regarding his opinions on the subject.Thomas Cromwell, at the time the most powerful of the King's advisors, brought forth the Solicitor General, Richard Rich, to testify that More had, in his presence, denied that the King was thelegitimate head of the church. This testimony was extremely dubious: witnesses Richard Southwelland Mr. Palmer both denied having heard the details of the reported conversation, and as Morehimself pointed out:
Can it therefore seem likely to your Lordships, that I should in so weighty an Affair as this,act so unadvisedly, as to trust Mr. Rich, a Man I had always so mean an Opinion of, inreference to his Truth and Honesty, ...that I should only impart to Mr. Rich the Secrets ofmy Conscience in respect to the King's Supremacy, the particular Secrets, and only Pointabout which I have been so long pressed to explain my self? which I never did, nor neverwould reveal; when the Act was once made, either to the King himself, or any of his PrivyCouncillors, as is well known to your Honours, who have been sent upon no other account atseveral times by his Majesty to me in the Tower. I refer it to your Judgments, my Lords,whether this can seem credible to any of your Lordships.
However, the jury took only fifteen minutes to find More guilty.
More was tried, and found guilty, under the following section of the Treason Act 1534:
If any person or persons, after the first day of February next coming, do maliciously wish, will or desire, by words or writing, or bycraft imagine, invent, practise, or attempt any bodily harm to be done or committed to the king's most royal person, the queen's,or their heirs apparent, or to deprive them or any of them of their dignity, title, or name of their royal estates...
That then every such person and persons so offending... shall have and suffer such pains of death and other penalties, as islimited and accustomed in cases of high treason.[30]
After the jury's verdict was delivered and before his sentencing, More spoke freely of his belief that "no temporal man may be the head of thespirituality". He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered (the usual punishment for traitors who were not the nobility), but the Kingcommuted this to execution by decapitation. The execution took place on 6 July 1535. When he came to mount the steps to the scaffold, he iswidely quoted as saying (to the officials): "I pray you, I pray you, Mr Lieutenant, see me safe up and for my coming down, I can shift formyself"; while on the scaffold he declared that he died "the king's good servant, but God's first."[31]
Relics
Another comment he is believed to have made to the executioner is that his beard was completely innocent of any crime, and did not deservethe axe; he then positioned his beard so that it would not be harmed.[32] More asked that his foster/adopted daughter Margaret Clement (néeGiggs) be given his headless corpse to bury.[33] He was buried at the Tower of London, in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in an unmarkedgrave. His head was fixed upon a pike over London Bridge for a month, according to the normal custom for traitors. His daughter Margaret (Meg) Roper rescued it, possibly by bribery, before it could be thrown in the River Thames.
The skull is believed to rest in the Roper Vault of St Dunstan's Church, Canterbury, though some researchers have claimed it might bewithin the tomb he erected for More in Chelsea Old Church (see below). The evidence, however, seems to be in favour of its placement in StDunstan's, with the remains of his daughter, Margaret Roper, and her husband's family, whose vault it was.
Among other surviving relics is his hair shirt, presented for safe keeping by Margaret Clement(1508–70), his adopted daughter.[34] This waslong in the custody of the community of Augustinian canonesses who until 1983 lived at the convent at Abbotskerswell Priory, Devon. It isnow preserved at Syon Abbey, near South Brent.
Scholarly and literary work
History of King Richard III
Between 1512 and 1519, Thomas More worked on a History of King Richard III, which he never finished but which was published after hisdeath. The History of King Richard III is a Renaissance history, remarkable more for its literary skill and adherence to classical precepts thanfor its historical accuracy. Some consider it an attack on royal tyranny, rather than on Richard III himself or the House of York. More and hiscontemporary Polydore Vergil both use a more dramatic writing style than most medieval chronicles; for example, the shadowy King Richardis an outstanding, archetypal tyrant more like the Romans portrayed by Sallust. The History of King Richard III was written and published inboth English and Latin, each written separately, and with information deleted from the Latin edition to suit a European readership. It greatlyinfluenced William Shakespeare's play Richard III. Contemporary historians attribute the unflattering portraits of King Richard III in bothworks to both authors' allegiance to the reigning Tudor dynasty that wrested the throne from Richard III in the Wars of the Roses. More'sversion also barely mentions King Henry VII, the first Tudor king, perhaps for having persecuted his father, Sir John More.
Utopia
More's best known and most controversial work, Utopia is a novel written in Latin. More completed and Erasmus published the book in Leuvenin 1516, but it was only translated into English and published in his native land in 1551 (long after More's execution), and the 1684 translationbecame the most commonly cited. More (also a character in the book) and the narrator/traveller, Raphael Hythlodeaus (whose name alludesboth to the healer archangel Raphael, and 'speaker of nonsense', the surname's Greek meaning), discuss modern ills in Antwerp, as well asdescribe the political arrangements of the imaginary island country of Utopia (Greek pun on 'ou-topos' [no place], 'eu-topos' [good place])among themselves as well as to Pieter Gillis and Jerome de Busleyden. Utopia's original edition included a symmetrical "Utopian alphabet"omitted by later editions, but which may have been an early attempt at cryptography or precursor of shorthand.
Utopia contrasts the contentious social life of European states with the perfectly orderly, reasonable social arrangements of Utopia and itsenvirons (Tallstoria, Nolandia, and Aircastle). In Utopia, there are no lawyers because of the laws' simplicity and because social gatherings arein public view (encouraging participants to behave well), communal ownership supplants private property, men and women are educated alike,and there is almost complete religious toleration (except for atheists, who are allowed but despised). More may have used monasticcommunalism (rather than the biblical communalism in the Acts of the Apostles) as his model, although other concepts such as legalizingeuthanasia remain far outside Church doctrine. Hythlodeaus asserts that a man who refuses to believe in a god or an afterlife could never betrusted, because he would not acknowledge any authority or principle outside himself. Some take the novel's principal message to be thesocial need for order and discipline rather than liberty. Ironically, Hythlodeaus, who believes philosophers should not get involved in politics,addresses More's ultimate conflict between his humanistic beliefs and courtly duties as the King's servant, pointing out that one day thosemorals will come into conflict with the political reality.
Utopia gave rise to a literary genre, Utopian and dystopian fiction, which features ideal societies or perfect cities, or their opposite. Earlyworks influenced by Utopia included New Atlantis by Francis Bacon, Erewhon by Samuel Butler, and Candide by Voltaire. AlthoughUtopianism combined classical concepts of perfect societies (Plato and Aristotle) with Roman rhetorical finesse (cf. Cicero, Quintilian,epideictic oratory), the Renaissance genre continued into the Age of Enlightenment and survives in modern science fiction.
Religious polemics
In 1520 the reformer Martin Luther published three works in quick succession: An Appeal to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation(Aug.), Concerning the Babylonish Captivity of the Church (Oct.), and On the Liberty of a Christian Man (Nov.).[8]:225 In these books, Lutherset out his doctrine of salvation through grace alone, rejected certain Catholic practices, and attacked abuses and excesses within theCatholic Church.[8]:225–6 In 1521, Henry VIII formally responded to Luther’s criticisms with the Assertio, written with More's assistance. Pope Leo X rewarded the English king with the title 'Fidei defensor' (“Defender of the Faith”) for his work combating Luther’s heresies.[8]:226–7
Martin Luther then attacked Henry VIII in print, calling him a “pig, dolt, and liar”.[8]:227 At the king's request, More composed a rebuttal: theResponsio ad Lutherum was published at the end of 1523. In the Responsio, More defended papal supremacy, the sacraments, and otherChurch traditions. More’s language, like Luther’s, was virulent: he branded Luther an “ape”, a “drunkard”, and a “lousy little friar” amongst otherinsults.[8]:230 Writing as Rosseus, More offers to "throw back into your paternity's shitty mouth, truly the shit-pool of all shit, all the muck andshit which your damnable rottenness has vomited up".[16]
Confronting Luther confirmed More’s theological conservatism. He thereafter avoided any hint of criticism of Church authority.[8]:230 In 1528,More published another religious polemic, A Dialogue Concerning Heresies, that asserted the Catholic Church was the one true church,established by Christ and the Apostles, and affirmed the validity of its authority, traditions and practices.[8]:279–81 In 1529, the circulation ofSimon Fish’s Supplication for the Beggars prompted More to respond with The Supplication of Souls.
In 1531, a year after More's father died, William Tyndale published An Answer unto Sir Thomas More’s Dialogue in response to More’sDialogue Concerning Heresies. More responded with a half million words: the Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer. The Confutation is an imaginarydialogue between More and Tyndale, with More addressing each of Tyndale’s criticisms of Catholic rites and doctrines.[8]:307–9 More, whovalued structure, tradition and order in society as safeguards against tyranny and error, vehemently believed that Lutheranism and theProtestant Reformation in general were dangerous, not only to the Catholic faith but to the stability of society as a whole.[8]:307–9
Correspondence
Most major humanists were prolific letter writers, and Thomas More was no exception. However, as in the case of his friend Erasmus ofRotterdam, only a small portion of his correspondence (about 280 letters), survived. These include everything from personal letters to officialgovernment correspondence (mostly in English), letters to fellow humanist scholars (in Latin), several epistolary tracts, verse epistles,prefatory letters (some fictional) to several of More's own works, letters to More's children and their tutors (in Latin), and the so-called "prison-letters" (in English) which he exchanged with his oldest daughter, Margaret Roper while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London awaitingexecution.[17] More also engaged in controversies, most notably with the French poet Germain de Brie, which culminated in the publication ofde Brie's Antimorus (1519). Erasmus intervened, however, and ended the dispute.[18]
More also wrote about more spiritual matters. They include: A Treatise on the Passion (a/k/a Treatise on the Passion of Christ), A Treatise toReceive the Blessed Body (a/k/a Holy Body Treaty), and De Tristitia Christi (a/k/a The Agony of Christ). More handwrote the last which readsin the Tower of London while awaiting his execution. This last manuscript, saved from the confiscation decreed by Henry VIII, passed by thewill of his daughter Margaret to Spanish hands through Fray Pedro de Soto, confessor of Emperor Charles V. More's friend Luis Vives receivedit in Valencia, where it remains in the collection of Real Colegio Seminario del Corpus Christi Museum.
Canonisation
Statue of Thomas Moreat the Ateneo LawSchool chapel.
Pope Leo XIII beatified Thomas More, John Fisher and 52 other English Martyrs on 29 December 1886. Pope Pius XIcanonised More and Fisher on 19 May 1935, and More's feastday was established as 9 July. This day is still observed as hisfeast day by traditionalist Catholics [Latin Mass]. In 1970,following post-Vatican II reforms, the Catholic calendar of saintscelebrates More and Fisher jointly with St John Fisher on 22June (the date of Fisher's execution). Fisher was the onlyremaining bishop (owing to the coincident natural deaths of eightaged bishops) who, during the English Reformation,maintained, at the King's mercy, allegiance to the Pope.[35] In2000, Pope John Paul II declared More "the heavenly Patronof Statesmen and Politicians".[4] In 1980, despite their opposingthe English Reformation that created the Church of England,More and Fisher were jointly added as martyrs of thereformation to the Church of England's calendar of Saints andHeroes of the Christian Church, to be commemorated every 6July (the date of More's execution) as "Thomas More, Scholar,and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Reformation Martyrs,1535".[5]
Legacy
The steadfastness and courage with which More maintained his religious convictions, and his dignity during his imprisonment, trial, andexecution, contributed much to More's posthumous reputation, particularly among Catholics. However, his zealous persecution of Protestantswhile Lord Chancellor contravenes modern notions of religious liberty as discussed below. Many historians consider More's treason convictionunjust, or at least his execution heavy-handed.[citation needed] His friend Erasmus defended More's character as "more pure than any snow" anddescribed his genius as "such as England never had and never again will have."[36] Upon learning of More's execution, Emperor Charles Vsaid: "Had we been master of such a servant, we would rather have lost the best city of our dominions than such a worthy councillor."[37] G. K. Chesterton, a Catholic, predicted More "may come to be counted the greatest Englishman, or at least the greatest historical character inEnglish history."[38] Hugh Trevor-Roper called More "the first great Englishman whom we feel that we know, the most saintly of humanists,the most human of saints, the universal man of our cool northern renaissance."[39]
Jonathan Swift, an Anglican, wrote that More was "a person of the greatest virtue this kingdom ever produced".[40][41][42] Some considerSamuel Johnson that quote's author, although neither his writings nor Boswell contain such.[43][44] The metaphysical poet John Donne, alsohonored as a saint by Anglicans, was More's great-great-nephew.[45]
While Catholic scholars maintain that More used irony in Utopia, and that he remained an orthodox Christian, Marxist theoretician Karl Kautsky considered the book a shrewd critique of economic and social exploitation in pre-modern Europe; More thus influenced the earlydevelopment of socialist ideas.[46] Others thought Utopia mythologised Indian cultures in the New World at a time when the Catholic Churchwas still debating internally its view toward those decidedly non-Christian cultures.[citation needed]
Several authors criticised More for his war against Protestantism. Brian Moynahan, in his book God's Messenger: William Tyndale, ThomasMore and the Writing of the English Bible, criticised More's intolerance, as does Michael Farris[citation needed] Richard Marius also criticisedMore for Anti-Protestantism and intolerance.[citation needed] Jasper Ridley, who wrote biographies of Henry VIII and Mary Tudor, goes muchfurther in his dual biography of More and Cardinal Wolsey, The Statesman and the Fanatic, describing More as "a particularly nastysadomasochistic pervert."[citation needed] Joanna Denny in her 2004 biography of Anne Boleyn also criticised More.[citation needed]
Literature and popular culture
William Roper's biography of More was one of the first biographies in Modern English.
More was portrayed as a wise and honest statesman in the 1592 play Sir Thomas More, which was probably written in collaboration by Henry Chettle, Anthony Munday, William Shakespeare, and others, and which survives only in fragmentary form after being censored by EdmundTylney, Master of the Revels in the government of Queen Elizabeth I (any direct reference to the Act of Supremacy was censored out).
The 20th-century agnostic playwright Robert Bolt portrayed Thomas More as the tragic hero of his 1960 play A Man for All Seasons. Thetitle is drawn from what Robert Whittington in 1520 wrote of More:
- More is a man of an angel's wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness andaffability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons.[39]
In 1966, the play was made into the successful film A Man for All Seasons directed by Fred Zinnemann, adapted for the screen by theplaywright himself, and starring Paul Scofield in an Oscar-winning performance. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture for thatyear. In 1988, Charlton Heston starred in and directed a made-for-television film that followed Bolt's original play almost verbatim, restoring forexample the commentaries of "the common man".
Catholic science fiction writer R. A. Lafferty wrote his novel Past Master as a modern equivalent to More's Utopia, which he saw as a satire.In this novel, Thomas More travels through time to the year 2535, where he is made king of the world "Astrobe", only to be beheaded afterruling for a mere nine days. One character compares More favourably to almost every other major historical figure: "He had one completelyhonest moment right at the end. I cannot think of anyone else who ever had one."
Karl Zuchardt's novel, Stirb du Narr! ("Die you fool!"), about More's struggle with King Henry, portrays More as an idealist bound to fail in thepower struggle with a ruthless ruler and an unjust world.
The novelist Hilary Mantel portrays More as a religious and masochistic fanatic in her 2009 novel Wolf Hall. Wolf Hall is told through the eyesof a sympathetic Thomas Cromwell. Literary critic James Wood calls him "cruel in punishment, evasive in argument, lusty for power, andrepressive in politics".[46]
Aaron Zelman's non-fiction book The State Versus the People includes a comparison of Utopia with Plato's Republic. Zelman is undecided asto whether More was being ironic in his book or was genuinely advocating a police state. Zelman comments, "More is the only Christian saintto be honoured with a statue at the Kremlin."[citation needed] By this Zelman implies that Utopia influenced Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks,despite their brutal repression of organised religion.
Other biographers, such as Peter Ackroyd, have offered a more sympathetic picture of More as both a sophisticated philosopher and man ofletters, as well as a zealous Catholic who believed in the authority of the Holy See over Christendom.
The protagonist of Walker Percy's novels, Love in the Ruins and The Thanatos Syndrome, is "Dr Thomas More", a reluctant Catholic anddescendant of More.
More is the focus of the Al Stewart song "A Man For All Seasons" from the 1978 album Time Passages, and of the Far song "Sir", featuredon the limited editions and 2008 re-release of their 1994 album Quick. In addition, the song "So Says I" by indie rock outfit The Shins alludesto the socialist interpretation of More's Utopia.
Jeremy Northam depicts More in the television series The Tudors as a peaceful man, as well as a devout Roman Catholic and loving familypatriarch. He also shows More loathing Protestantism, burning both Martin Luther's books and English Protestants who have been convicted ofheresy. The portrayal has unhistorical aspects, such as that More neither personally caused nor attended Simon Fish's execution (since Fishactually died of bubonic plague in 1531 before he could stand trial), although More's The Supplycatyon of Soulys, published in October 1529,addressed Fish's Supplication for the Beggars).[47][48] The series also neglected to show More's avowed insistence that Richard Rich'stestimony about More disputing the King's title as Supreme Head of the Church of England was perjured.
The cultus of More has been satirised. In the The Simpsons an episode, "Margical History Tour", contains a parody of both Henry VIII andMore. King Henry (Homer Simpson) is depicted as a gluttonous slob who stuffs his face while singing "I'm Henery the Eighth, I am". He thenwipes his mouth with the Magna Carta and sets out to dump Queen Catherine (Marge Simpson). Sir Thomas (Ned Flanders) objects,"Divorce! Well, there's no such thing in the Cath-diddly-atholic Church! But it's the only Church we got, so what are you gonna do?" King Henryretorts, "I'll start my own Church... Where divorce will be so easy, more than half of all marriages will end in it!" When a horrified Sir Thomasrefuses to go along, King Henry has him shot out of a cannon.
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