[31681] | 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
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| 2 | <!DOCTYPE Archive SYSTEM "http://greenstone.org/dtd/Archive/1.0/Archive.dtd">
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| 3 | <Archive>
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| 4 | <Section>
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| 5 | <Description>
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| 6 | <Metadata name="gsdlsourcefilename">import/englishhistory.net/tudor/citizens/more.html</Metadata>
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| 9 | <Metadata name="FileSize">36082</Metadata>
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| 10 | <Metadata name="Source">more.html</Metadata>
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| 11 | <Metadata name="SourceFile">more.html</Metadata>
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| 12 | <Metadata name="Language">en</Metadata>
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| 13 | <Metadata name="Encoding">windows_1252</Metadata>
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| 14 | <Metadata name="Page_topic">Sir Thomas More: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</Metadata>
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| 15 | <Metadata name="Content">Sir Thomas More: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</Metadata>
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| 16 | <Metadata name="Author">Marilee Mongello</Metadata>
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| 17 | <Metadata name="Title">Sir Thomas More: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</Metadata>
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| 18 | <Metadata name="FileFormat">HTML</Metadata>
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| 19 | <Metadata name="URL">http://englishhistory.net/tudor/citizens/more.html</Metadata>
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| 20 | <Metadata name="UTF8URL">http://englishhistory.net/tudor/citizens/more.html</Metadata>
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| 21 | <Metadata name="hascover">1</Metadata>
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| 22 | <Metadata name="dc.Subject">Tudor period|Citizens</Metadata>
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| 23 | <Metadata name="Identifier">HASH01346c967faef427754dacc2</Metadata>
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| 25 | <Metadata name="lastmodifieddate">20180326</Metadata>
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| 27 | <Metadata name="oailastmodifieddate">20180326</Metadata>
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| 29 | <Metadata name="gsdlassocfile">more.gif:image/gif:</Metadata>
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| 34 | <Metadata name="gsdlassocfile">cover.jpg:image/jpeg:</Metadata>
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| 35 | </Description>
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| 36 | <Content>
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| 37 |
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| 38 | <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="667">
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| 39 | <tr>
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| 40 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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| 41 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="29">&nbsp;</td>
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| 42 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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| 43 | </tr>
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| 44 | <tr>
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| 45 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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| 46 | <td width="50%" height="3"><font size="3"></font></td>
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| 47 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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| 48 | </tr>
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| 49 | <tr>
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| 50 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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| 51 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
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| 52 | <p align="center">
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| 53 |
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| 54 | <IMG height=51 alt="Sir Thomas More"
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| 55 |
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| 56 | src="_httpdocimg_/more.gif" width=310></p>
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| 57 | <p align="center">
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| 58 | <img border="2" src="_httpdocimg_/more.jpg" alt="portrait of Sir Thomas More" width="250" height="315"><p><FONT size=-1>Thomas More's most famous literary
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| 59 |
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| 60 | work, <I>Utopia</I>, was first conceived in 1515 when More was sent on a
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| 61 |
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| 62 | diplomatic mission to Flanders.&nbsp; The story, inspired by and modeled upon
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| 63 |
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| 64 | Plato's <I>Republic</I>, has given its name to a whole genre of
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| 65 |
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| 66 | literature.&nbsp; I do not wish to ignore More's literary and philosophical
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| 67 |
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| 68 | accomplishments at this page, but I simply don't have the time to discuss
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| 69 |
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| 70 | <I>Utopia</I> within the context of the following biography.&nbsp; I urge
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| 71 |
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| 72 | readers to visit the following links to learn about More's work:</FONT><font size="2"> <BR>
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| 73 | </font><FONT size=-1> <A
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| 74 |
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| 75 | href="gopher://gopher.cc.columbia.edu:71/11/miscellaneous/cubooks/offbooks/more">Read
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| 76 |
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| 77 | the entire text of <I>Utopia</I> at this link</A></FONT><font size="2"> <BR>
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| 78 | </font><FONT
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| 79 |
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| 80 | size=-1> <A
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| 81 |
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| 82 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.d-holliday.com%2ftmore%2futopia.htm">Another electronic version of
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| 83 |
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| 84 | the text</A></FONT></p>
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| 85 | <p><FONT
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| 86 |
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| 87 | size=-1> <br>This website lists various
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| 88 |
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| 89 | essays on <I>Utopia</I> available in electronic format:</FONT><font size="2">
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| 90 | </font> <FONT
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| 91 |
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| 92 | size=-1>&nbsp;<A
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| 93 |
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| 94 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.d-holliday.com%2ftmore%2fmore.htm">More about More</A></FONT><font size="2">
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| 95 |
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| 96 | <BR></font><a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.d-holliday.com%2ftmore%2ferasmus.htm"><font size="-1">Click
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| 97 | here to read
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| 98 | Erasmus's famous description of More in a letter from 1519</font></a><font size="2">.</font></p>
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| 99 | <p><font size="2"><br>
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| 100 | </font>
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| 101 | <b><font size="2">Other online biographies of Sir Thomas More:</font></b><FONT size=-1><br>William
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| 102 | Roper was More's son-in-law;
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| 103 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.fordham.edu%2fhalsall%2fmod%2f16Croper-more.html">click here
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| 104 | to read his famous biography</a> of More.<br>John Farrow's
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| 105 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.cin.org%2ffarmor.html">biography of More</a><br>The
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| 106 | Catholic Encyclopedia's
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| 107 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.newadvent.org%2fcathen%2f14689c.htm">biography of More</a></FONT></p>
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| 108 | <p><FONT size=-1><br>An <A
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| 109 |
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| 110 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2f1535exec.html">eyewitness account of
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| 111 |
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| 112 | More's execution</A> can be read at the Primary Sources section.</FONT><font size="2">
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| 113 |
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| 114 | <BR></font><FONT size=-1>You can also read <A
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| 115 |
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| 116 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fprimore.html">More's final letter</A>,
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| 117 |
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| 118 | written to his beloved daughter Margaret while he was imprisoned in the
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| 119 |
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| 120 | Tower.</FONT></p>
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| 121 |
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| 122 | <blockquote>
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| 123 |
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| 124 | <P align="left">&nbsp;<P align="left"><u><b><font size="-1">Chronology of major events in More's life:<br></font>
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| 125 | </b></u><font size="2">Born 7
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| 126 |
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| 127 | February 1478 at Milk Street, London <BR>Entered Parliament in 1504
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| 128 |
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| 129 | <BR>Appointed undersheriff of London in 1510 <BR>Became a member of the Privy
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| 130 |
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| 131 | Council in 1518 <BR>Knighted in 1521 <BR>Made Speaker of the House of Commons
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| 132 |
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| 133 | in 1523 <BR>Made Lord Chancellor of England in 1529 <BR>Imprisoned in the
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| 134 |
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| 135 | Tower of London on charges of treason in 1534 <BR>Executed 6 July 1535 at
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| 136 |
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| 137 | Tower Hill, the Tower of London <BR>Canonized as a saint by the Catholic
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| 138 |
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| 139 | Church in 1935</font><P align="left">&nbsp;</blockquote>
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| 140 | </td>
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| 141 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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| 142 | </tr>
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| 143 | </table>
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| 144 |
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| 145 | <blockquote>
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| 146 | <hr>
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| 147 | <p><font size="4">'[E]ven though we should have no word or deed to charge upon
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| 148 | you, yet we have your silence, and that is a sign of your evil intention and a
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| 149 | sure proof of malice.'&nbsp;&nbsp; </font><i><font size="2">Henry
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| 150 |
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| 151 | VIII's attorney-general at the trial of Thomas More, 1535</font></i></p>
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| 152 | <hr>
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| 153 | <blockquote>
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| 154 |
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| 155 |
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| 156 |
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| 157 | <BLOCKQUOTE>
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| 158 | <p>Thomas More is perhaps the most famous victim of Henry VIII's
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| 159 |
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| 160 | perverse judicial policies.&nbsp; He was England's most famous and respected
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| 161 |
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| 162 | intellectual, close friends with the great philosopher Erasmus, and beloved by
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| 163 |
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| 164 | his closely-knit family and wide circle of friends.&nbsp; He was that most
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| 165 |
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| 166 | rare of intellectuals - one who was humble, patient, and truly kind; he spent
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| 167 |
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| 168 | his life in ceaseless study, both intellectual and spiritual, and was a
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| 169 |
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| 170 | dedicated public servant.&nbsp; He was also an astute judge of character, and
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| 171 |
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| 172 | capable of witty, trenchant observations - he once said of his famous king,
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| 173 |
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| 174 | 'If a lion knew his strength, it were hard for any man to hold him.'&nbsp;
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| 175 |
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| 176 | And, of course, when his son-in-law mentioned Henry VIII's fondness for More,
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| 177 |
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| 178 | the philosopher noted even more famously that if the king thought 'my head
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| 179 |
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| 180 | could win him a castle in France it should not fail to go!' </p>
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| 181 |
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| 182 | <P>
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| 183 |
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| 184 | <IMG height=236 alt="sketch of Thomas More as Lord Chancellor, by Holbein"
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| 185 |
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| 186 | src="_httpdocimg_/moresketch1.jpg" width=175 align=left border=0>In the end, Henry did not want More's head in exchange for any French
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| 187 |
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| 188 | castles; he wanted it because More refused to recognize the king's sovereignty
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| 189 |
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| 190 | over the English church.&nbsp; But Henry had wanted More's approval
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| 191 |
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| 192 | desperately, and kept his former Lord Chancellor imprisoned for months in
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| 193 |
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| 194 | increasingly dire conditions, alternating between threats and flattery in
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| 195 |
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| 196 | desperate attempts to secure More's acknowledgment of the king's new
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| 197 |
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| 198 | role.&nbsp; Henry knew, none better, that More's approval would carry great
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| 199 |
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| 200 | weight throughout Europe, and he offered More his life in return for a few
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| 201 |
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| 202 | simple words.&nbsp; But More refused, and he learned the truth of the medieval
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| 203 |
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| 204 | adage that 'the king's wrath is death'.
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| 205 |
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| 206 | <P>More was the sole surviving son of Sir John More, a prominent lawyer and
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| 207 |
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| 208 | later judge, and Agnes Graunger.&nbsp; He was born on 7 February 1478 (some
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| 209 |
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| 210 | sources say 1477), and entered Parliament in 1504.&nbsp; One of his first acts
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| 211 |
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| 212 | in public life was to speak against one of Henry VII's more austere financial
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| 213 |
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| 214 | policies; as a result, Sir John was imprisoned and only released after a fine
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| 215 |
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| 216 | was paid and Thomas retired from public life.&nbsp; After the king's death in
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| 217 |
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| 218 | 1509, however, Thomas once again entered public service.&nbsp; His early
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| 219 |
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| 220 | education had prepared him well for such a life.&nbsp; His father had sent him
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| 221 |
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| 222 | to St Anthony's School at Threadneedle Street, under the direction of Nicholas
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| 223 |
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| 224 | Holt; upon reaching adolescence, More was sent to the household of Cardinal
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| 225 |
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| 226 | Morton, then archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of England.&nbsp; As
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| 227 |
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| 228 | Morton was the most powerful man in England next to the king, and the most
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| 229 |
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| 230 | prominent ecclesiastic, his household was an invigorating blend of political
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| 231 |
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| 232 | and religious life.&nbsp; It was undoubtedly here that More first learned how
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| 233 |
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| 234 | to reconcile a deeply spiritual character with a devotion to secular
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| 235 |
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| 236 | affairs.&nbsp; Morton was living proof that a religious leader did not have to
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| 237 |
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| 238 | be monkish or retiring; he was also an inveterate gossip, and his twisted tale
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| 239 |
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| 240 | of Richard III's brief reign inspired More's awful <I>Life</I> of the last
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| 241 |
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| 242 | Plantagenet king.&nbsp; That biography is the only blight upon More's literary
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| 243 |
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| 244 | career.
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| 245 |
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| 246 | <P>Morton was sufficiently impressed with his young charge to sponsor More at
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| 247 |
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| 248 | Oxford.&nbsp; The young man entered Canterbury Hall (now part of Christ
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| 249 |
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| 250 | Church) probably around 1492.&nbsp; His time at Oxford was well-spent; under
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| 251 |
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| 252 | the tutelage of great scholars such as Thomas Linacre, More studied the
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| 253 |
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| 254 | classics and classical languages, as well as the other liberal arts.&nbsp; He
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| 255 |
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| 256 | was a bright and engaging student, enthusiastic about learning but also
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| 257 |
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| 258 | accustomed to more basic pleasures (he loved to play upon the flute and viol,
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| 259 |
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| 260 | and began his lifelong passion for collecting pets - apparently his adult home
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| 261 |
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| 262 | in Chelsea was a veritable zoo.)&nbsp; But like many university students, More
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| 263 |
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| 264 | found himself constantly short of money, a ploy his father used to keep the
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| 265 |
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| 266 | young man's mind upon his studies and not other, less academic pursuits.
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| 267 |
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| 268 | <P>He returned to London after about two years at Oxford, and entered as a law
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| 269 |
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| 270 | student at the New Inn in late 1494; in early 1496 he was admitted to
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| 271 |
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| 272 | Lincoln's Inn as well, and then called to the outer bar and made a
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| 273 |
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| 274 | bencher.&nbsp; He was once again a successful student, now following in his
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| 275 |
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| 276 | father's footsteps.&nbsp; He was made a 'reader' (or tutor) at Furnival's Inn,
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| 277 |
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| 278 | and was successful enough to retain the appointment for three years.&nbsp; But
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| 279 |
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| 280 | the law was not his true passion, and perhaps More already recognized this
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| 281 |
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| 282 | fact; he wrote poetry in his spare time, and entered into correspondence with
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| 283 |
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| 284 | the great English intellectuals of his age.&nbsp; Most of these men were
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| 285 |
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| 286 | introduced to him through his former professor at Oxford, Thomas
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| 287 |
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| 288 | Linacre.&nbsp; More's own reputation as a man of learning and wit was already
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| 289 |
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| 290 | begun, but he was beginning to suffer great spiritual conflict.&nbsp; The law
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| 291 |
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| 292 | was not wholly satisfying to his character, but religious study might be, or
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| 293 |
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| 294 | so he thought.&nbsp; Perhaps his introduction to the famous Dutch humanist
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| 295 |
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| 296 | Desiderius Erasmus in 1497 spurred his intense personal examination; the men
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| 297 |
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| 298 | became fast friends, and corresponded until More's execution.&nbsp; Whatever
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| 299 |
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| 300 | the cause, it is certain that around the turn of the century, More turned his
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| 301 |
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| 302 | attention to religious matters; he delivered well-attended lectures on St
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| 303 |
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| 304 | Augustine's <I>The City of God</I>, and was seriously considering becoming a
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| 305 |
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| 306 | priest.&nbsp; He underwent a dramatic personal struggle, debating whether he
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| 307 |
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| 308 | had a true vocation, or calling, to be a priest; he left his comfortable home
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| 309 |
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| 310 | in Chelsea and moved near the London Charterhouse.
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| 311 |
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| 312 | <P>At the Charterhouse, More began to examine the possibility of a wholly
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| 313 |
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| 314 | religious life.&nbsp; He joined the monks in daily prayer, and wore a hair
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| 315 |
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| 316 | shirt; he wavered between joining the Franciscans or Carthusians, and both
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| 317 |
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| 318 | orders were particularly dedicated to lives of strictness and denial.&nbsp;
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| 319 |
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| 320 | Perhaps their extreme fervor dismayed More, for he possessed an ironic wit
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| 321 |
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| 322 | which would not rest easy with their single-minded worship.&nbsp; Or perhaps
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| 323 |
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| 324 | he remembered his comfortable home and lifestyle in London.&nbsp; Whatever the
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| 325 |
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| 326 | case, he decided to abandon his brief dream of becoming a priest.
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| 327 |
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| 328 | <P>(It is worth noting that Erasmus later referred to his friend's decision in
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| 329 | a letter, writing that More 'chose, therefore, to be a chaste husband rather
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| 330 |
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| 331 | than an impure priest.'&nbsp; The implication is obvious, but sexual desires
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| 332 |
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| 333 | are normal enough in young men, and - even if Erasmus is correct - it does not
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| 334 |
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| 335 | speak ill of More's character.)
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| 336 |
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| 337 | <P>After finally deciding that the priesthood was not his true vocation, More
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| 338 |
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| 339 | returned to his law practice with a vengeance.&nbsp; He was soon enough
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| 340 |
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| 341 | elected to Parliament, and found himself firmly on the side of his friends,
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| 342 |
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| 343 | mostly London merchants, as they battled Henry VII's unjust 'grants'.&nbsp; As
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| 344 |
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| 345 | mentioned at the beginning of this biography, his speeches in defense of the
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| 346 |
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| 347 | merchants irked the king; as a result of More's persuasive oratory, Parliament
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| 348 |
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| 349 | lessened the amount from Henry's request of over £100,000 to about
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| 350 |
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| 351 | £30,000.&nbsp; Immediately, the temperamental king imprisoned More's father
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| 352 |
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| 353 | upon some pretext, and demanded that the hefty sum of £100 as a fine.&nbsp;
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| 354 |
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| 355 | More paid the fine, and thought it wise to disappear a bit from public
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| 356 |
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| 357 | life.&nbsp; He had other, more personal matters to occupy him anyway; in 1505,
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| 358 |
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| 359 | he married Jane, the eldest daughter of Master John Colte.&nbsp; It was a
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| 360 |
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| 361 | happy marriage, and Jane bore four children before her untimely death in 1511
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| 362 |
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| 363 | (daughters Margaret, Elizabeth, and Cecilia, and son John.)&nbsp; His
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| 364 |
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| 365 | son-in-law William Roper's biography implies that More married Jane out of
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| 366 |
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| 367 | pity; he preferred her younger sister, but thought it would bring shame upon
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| 368 |
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| 369 | the eldest daughter for her younger sister to be married before her.&nbsp;
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| 370 |
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| 371 | This anecdote was perhaps Roper's attempt to further enshrine More's generous
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| 372 |
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| 373 | character.&nbsp; In truth, More loved his wife deeply, and two decades after
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| 374 |
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| 375 | her death he called her 'uxorcula Mori'.
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| 376 |
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| 377 | <P>In any case, More was not a widower for long.&nbsp; He was left with four
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| 378 |
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| 379 | young children to care for, and soon decided to marry again.&nbsp; This time
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| 380 |
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| 381 | he chose a widow, Alice Middleton, seven years his senior.&nbsp; She had a
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| 382 |
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| 383 | good dowry and became exceptionally devoted to More and his children.&nbsp; The
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| 384 |
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| 385 | marriage was quite happy, and Alice maintained the household in London as a
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| 386 |
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| 387 | refuge for her busy, scholarly husband.&nbsp; More became a renowned 'family
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| 388 |
|
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| 389 | man', loathe to leave his home and kin, and truly dedicated to their
|
---|
| 390 |
|
---|
| 391 | happiness.<P align="center">
|
---|
| 392 | <img border="0" src="_httpdocimg_/morefamilysmall.jpg" alt="Holbein's famous portrait of Sir Thomas More and his family" width="550" height="370"><P align="center">
|
---|
| 393 | <i><font size="2">Rowland Lockey's 1593 copy of Holbein's famous portrait of
|
---|
| 394 | Sir Thomas More and his family</font></i><P>But More's love of family and learning were soon to become secondary to the
|
---|
| 395 |
|
---|
| 396 | desires of his king.&nbsp; Henry VIII was crowned in 1509, and More's
|
---|
| 397 |
|
---|
| 398 | reputation for learning and wit was already well-known.&nbsp; In 1510, he was
|
---|
| 399 |
|
---|
| 400 | made Under-Sheriff of London, and four years later the Lord Chancellor,
|
---|
| 401 |
|
---|
| 402 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fcitizens%2fwolsey.html">Cardinal Thomas Wolsey</a>, appointed More as ambassador to Flanders.&nbsp; The
|
---|
| 403 |
|
---|
| 404 | mission was close to More's heart for it involved the rights of London
|
---|
| 405 |
|
---|
| 406 | merchants.&nbsp; But he was unhappy in Flanders; the salary was insufficient
|
---|
| 407 |
|
---|
| 408 | for his needs, and he missed his family.&nbsp; But it was in Flanders that he
|
---|
| 409 |
|
---|
| 410 | first began his most famous literary work, <I>Utopia</I>; it was published
|
---|
| 411 |
|
---|
| 412 | shortly after his return to England and helped secure his fame throughout
|
---|
| 413 |
|
---|
| 414 | Europe.
|
---|
| 415 |
|
---|
| 416 | <P>Wolsey and Henry VIII were impressed enough by More's services that they
|
---|
| 417 | offered him a position at Court.&nbsp; In 1516, after returning from Flanders,
|
---|
| 418 | he was officially granted a pension of £100 for life, a significant sum at the
|
---|
| 419 | time.&nbsp; In 1517, the government
|
---|
| 420 |
|
---|
| 421 | duties began in earnest - missions to the all-important Calais, and
|
---|
| 422 |
|
---|
| 423 | appointment to the Privy Council.&nbsp; Other honors soon followed; he
|
---|
| 424 |
|
---|
| 425 | attended Henry personally at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, was knighted and
|
---|
| 426 |
|
---|
| 427 | made treasurer to the king in 1521, and secured lands in Kent and
|
---|
| 428 |
|
---|
| 429 | Oxford.&nbsp; In 1523 Wolsey secured More's appointment as Speaker of the
|
---|
| 430 |
|
---|
| 431 | House of Commons, and a few years later More was appointed High Steward of
|
---|
| 432 |
|
---|
| 433 | Cambridge University and Chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, all honorable
|
---|
| 434 |
|
---|
| 435 | and important offices.
|
---|
| 436 |
|
---|
| 437 | <P>It is obvious that both Henry VIII and Wolsey greatly favored More, though
|
---|
| 438 |
|
---|
| 439 | how More himself thought of his government service is unclear.&nbsp; He
|
---|
| 440 |
|
---|
| 441 | performed his offices with aplomb, but undoubtedly wished for
|
---|
| 442 |
|
---|
| 443 | more time with his family - and even more time with his studies.&nbsp; Life at
|
---|
| 444 |
|
---|
| 445 | court held little attraction for him; he was not ambitious (which intrigued
|
---|
| 446 |
|
---|
| 447 | the king and Wolsey) and he thought little of the gossip and mad scramble for
|
---|
| 448 |
|
---|
| 449 | power which characterized the Tudor court.&nbsp; But he did admire Henry and
|
---|
| 450 |
|
---|
| 451 | the king's intelligent and pious wife, Katharine of Aragon.&nbsp; For her
|
---|
| 452 |
|
---|
| 453 | part, Henry's queen once commented that, of all her husband's ministers, only
|
---|
| 454 |
|
---|
| 455 | Thomas More had deserved the title 'Lord Chancellor', a remarkable comment
|
---|
| 456 |
|
---|
| 457 | considering More was the first layman to hold the office.
|
---|
| 458 |
|
---|
| 459 | <P>More first purchased the land for his famous home in Chelsea in 1523; soon
|
---|
| 460 |
|
---|
| 461 | enough his mansion upon the Thames was built, complete with a large garden
|
---|
| 462 |
|
---|
| 463 | bordering the river.&nbsp; It was here that he retreated as often as possible
|
---|
| 464 |
|
---|
| 465 | from court; here, too, that he entertained his many friends, including
|
---|
| 466 |
|
---|
| 467 | Erasmus.&nbsp; Often the king would arrive unannounced for dinner and stroll
|
---|
| 468 |
|
---|
| 469 | about the garden with More.&nbsp; Despite his later decision to imprison and
|
---|
| 470 |
|
---|
| 471 | execute More, it is clear that the king was truly fond of his councilor.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 472 |
|
---|
| 473 | Henry enjoyed intellectual debate and More was arguably the most learned man
|
---|
| 474 |
|
---|
| 475 | in England; he was also witty and kind-hearted.&nbsp; And for a long while, he
|
---|
| 476 |
|
---|
| 477 | basked in the king's service.
|
---|
| 478 |
|
---|
| 479 | <P>The conflict within More between government service and personal time was
|
---|
| 480 |
|
---|
| 481 | never fully resolved, though for many successful years he remained a respected
|
---|
| 482 |
|
---|
| 483 | and influential friend to the king and an independent philosopher.&nbsp; It
|
---|
| 484 |
|
---|
| 485 | was simply that he and Henry, for a long while, shared similar philosophical
|
---|
| 486 |
|
---|
| 487 | and religious views.&nbsp; Henry had, after all, jumped to the defense of the
|
---|
| 488 |
|
---|
| 489 | Catholic faith with a religious treatise of his own, and thus won the title
|
---|
| 490 |
|
---|
| 491 | 'Defender of the Faith' from the pope.&nbsp; More had little reason to suspect
|
---|
| 492 |
|
---|
| 493 | that Henry, originally raised as the second son destined for the church, would
|
---|
| 494 |
|
---|
| 495 | one day force papal power from England.&nbsp; But in the mid-1520s, More was
|
---|
| 496 |
|
---|
| 497 | aware - like everyone in England - that the king's long marriage to
|
---|
| 498 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2faragon.html">Katharine
|
---|
| 499 |
|
---|
| 500 | of Aragon</a> was unlikely to produce a male heir.&nbsp; Of the four sons
|
---|
| 501 |
|
---|
| 502 | Katharine had borne, all had died - and only the Princess Mary, born in 1516,
|
---|
| 503 |
|
---|
| 504 | survived as a viable heir for the Tudor throne.&nbsp; It was clear to everyone
|
---|
| 505 |
|
---|
| 506 | - especially the king - that something had to be done, though Henry never
|
---|
| 507 |
|
---|
| 508 | envisioned anything as drastic as what has come to be known as the '<a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2ffaq.html">Henrician
|
---|
| 509 |
|
---|
| 510 | Reformation</a>'.&nbsp; It was only after years of frustration, delays,
|
---|
| 511 |
|
---|
| 512 | double-talk, and interference from Charles V that Henry finally denounced the
|
---|
| 513 |
|
---|
| 514 | pope's authority on religious matters.
|
---|
| 515 |
|
---|
| 516 | <P>Both the king and More had responded to the growing threat of Lutheranism
|
---|
| 517 |
|
---|
| 518 | with religious works (as mentioned above, Henry's work won special praise from the
|
---|
| 519 |
|
---|
| 520 | pope.)&nbsp; Today More's work strike us as bigoted and narrow-minded, but
|
---|
| 521 |
|
---|
| 522 | it should be read within the context of his time and beliefs, and it is often less inflammatory than other Catholic polemics.&nbsp; Also, the
|
---|
| 523 |
|
---|
| 524 | Lutherans were hardly decorous in their prose.&nbsp; More was eventually
|
---|
| 525 |
|
---|
| 526 | persuaded to write in English so he could reach a wider audience; he had also
|
---|
| 527 |
|
---|
| 528 | watched as the Lutheran 'heretics' wrote in the vernacular and attracted
|
---|
| 529 |
|
---|
| 530 | numerous followers.
|
---|
| 531 |
|
---|
| 532 | <P>But More's response to this new heresy was reinforced by the fall of
|
---|
| 533 |
|
---|
| 534 | Cardinal Wolsey, once his great patron.&nbsp; Henry's decision to annul his
|
---|
| 535 |
|
---|
| 536 | marriage to Katharine of Aragon was simple enough, and quite common among
|
---|
| 537 |
|
---|
| 538 | monarchs and other high nobles in Europe.&nbsp; It was a necessary way to end
|
---|
| 539 |
|
---|
| 540 | unsuccessful (i.e., childless) unions.&nbsp; Henry had every reason to expect
|
---|
| 541 |
|
---|
| 542 | that the pope would grant his petition for an annulment; he even had a
|
---|
| 543 |
|
---|
| 544 | stronger claim that most men.&nbsp; Henry could quote liberally from
|
---|
| 545 |
|
---|
| 546 | Leviticus, particularly the injunction against marrying a brother's
|
---|
| 547 |
|
---|
| 548 | wife.&nbsp; On grounds of strict theology, he certainly had a case for
|
---|
| 549 |
|
---|
| 550 | annulment.&nbsp; But he had two problems - a stubborn wife who refused to see
|
---|
| 551 |
|
---|
| 552 | reason, and her very powerful nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who
|
---|
| 553 |
|
---|
| 554 | virtually controlled the pope.&nbsp; As a result, the simple matter of an
|
---|
| 555 |
|
---|
| 556 | annulment became a major European political issue.
|
---|
| 557 |
|
---|
| 558 | <P>
|
---|
| 559 | <img border="0" src="_httpdocimg_/anne2.jpg" alt="portrait of Anne Boleyn, whose marriage to King Henry VIII brought about More's downfall" align="left" width="139" height="194">Matters were complicated by Henry's growing - and
|
---|
| 560 | scandalously open - passion for
|
---|
| 561 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fboleyn.html">Anne
|
---|
| 562 |
|
---|
| 563 | Boleyn</a>, the daughter of Thomas Boleyn and niece of the duke of Norfolk.&nbsp; More knew
|
---|
| 564 |
|
---|
| 565 | the Boleyns well enough for Thomas was an ambassador and well-liked; like
|
---|
| 566 |
|
---|
| 567 | More, he was from humble beginnings but used his skill and intelligence to
|
---|
| 568 |
|
---|
| 569 | rise quickly in Henry's service.&nbsp; His eldest daughter Mary had been
|
---|
| 570 | Henry's mistress, and possibly borne his son.&nbsp; Anne, however, was more
|
---|
| 571 | ambitious than her sister.&nbsp; She recognized
|
---|
| 572 |
|
---|
| 573 | the king's predicament; he needed heirs, and she was young and healthy.&nbsp;
|
---|
| 574 |
|
---|
| 575 | And Henry loved her passionately, at least for a time.&nbsp; But it is far too
|
---|
| 576 |
|
---|
| 577 | simplistic to argue, as many biographers have, that Henry defied the Catholic
|
---|
| 578 |
|
---|
| 579 | Church because of Anne Boleyn.&nbsp; The king was dissatisfied with his
|
---|
| 580 |
|
---|
| 581 | marriage before they met and there had been talk of an annulment as
|
---|
| 582 |
|
---|
| 583 | well.&nbsp; His love for Anne simply gave new impetus to an existing desire to
|
---|
| 584 |
|
---|
| 585 | break with Katharine.
|
---|
| 586 |
|
---|
| 587 | <P>
|
---|
| 588 |
|
---|
| 589 | Wolsey's hatred of the Boleyns was spurred by jealousy.&nbsp; He had been the king's closest advisor and confidante
|
---|
| 590 |
|
---|
| 591 | until his failure to secure an annulment earned royal displeasure.&nbsp; Anne and her supporters were quick to put distance between Henry
|
---|
| 592 |
|
---|
| 593 | and the elderly cardinal.&nbsp; Wolsey's time had passed, and he died while on
|
---|
| 594 |
|
---|
| 595 | the way to the Tower for trial.&nbsp; And so, in October of 1529, Thomas More
|
---|
| 596 |
|
---|
| 597 | became the first layperson appointed Lord Chancellor of England.&nbsp; He was
|
---|
| 598 |
|
---|
| 599 | now Keeper of the Great Seal, and second only to the king in power.&nbsp; It
|
---|
| 600 |
|
---|
| 601 | was a heady appointment, but More probably greeted the appointment with his
|
---|
| 602 |
|
---|
| 603 | usual ironic stance - particularly since he had just witnessed Wolsey's fall
|
---|
| 604 |
|
---|
| 605 | from grace.
|
---|
| 606 |
|
---|
| 607 | <P>More did not like the Boleyns.&nbsp; They represented a new generation at
|
---|
| 608 |
|
---|
| 609 | court - greedy, flamboyant, and openly ambitious.&nbsp; They were quick to
|
---|
| 610 |
|
---|
| 611 | make enemies, and difficult to please.&nbsp; More, who had no love of gossip
|
---|
| 612 |
|
---|
| 613 | and admired Katharine of Aragon's deep piety (the old queen spent several
|
---|
| 614 |
|
---|
| 615 | hours a day on her knees in prayer), was aware that Henry was drifting from
|
---|
| 616 |
|
---|
| 617 | him intellectually and spiritually.&nbsp; Anne Boleyn had come to represent
|
---|
| 618 |
|
---|
| 619 | the Lutheran cause in More's mind as well, though not because she was a
|
---|
| 620 |
|
---|
| 621 | Lutheran.&nbsp; It was simply that her marriage to Henry would mean defiance
|
---|
| 622 |
|
---|
| 623 | of papal law, and would place England in spiritual jeopardy.&nbsp; And so, to
|
---|
| 624 |
|
---|
| 625 | More and most Englishmen, Katharine represented the piety and virtues of the
|
---|
| 626 |
|
---|
| 627 | old faith, and Anne represented the startling spiritual changes sweeping
|
---|
| 628 |
|
---|
| 629 | throughout Europe.
|
---|
| 630 |
|
---|
| 631 | <P>More used his position as Lord Chancellor to wipe out as much of the new
|
---|
| 632 |
|
---|
| 633 | heresy as possible; he had always been a great lawyer and judge, and he used
|
---|
| 634 |
|
---|
| 635 | these talents formidably.&nbsp; He never equaled Wolsey's power or prestige,
|
---|
| 636 |
|
---|
| 637 | simply because Henry had temporarily lost his taste for all-powerful political
|
---|
| 638 |
|
---|
| 639 | advisors.&nbsp; But More was completely successful in ridding the English
|
---|
| 640 |
|
---|
| 641 | court of cases - he actually exhausted the case log!&nbsp; And, of course, he
|
---|
| 642 |
|
---|
| 643 | didn't simply judge cases; he also enforced the existing heresy laws with
|
---|
| 644 |
|
---|
| 645 | great zeal.&nbsp; One cannot condemn More for following the tenets of his own
|
---|
| 646 |
|
---|
| 647 | religious convictions, and it is worth noting that he specifically
|
---|
| 648 |
|
---|
| 649 | distinguished between the vice of heresy and the actual heretic.&nbsp; He
|
---|
| 650 |
|
---|
| 651 | hesitated to bring the full force of the law against heretics; he was
|
---|
| 652 |
|
---|
| 653 | scrupulous about offering them every possible opportunity to recant.&nbsp; In
|
---|
| 654 |
|
---|
| 655 | this he was successful, and only four people were actually executed for heresy
|
---|
| 656 |
|
---|
| 657 | during his tenure as Lord Chancellor.
|
---|
| 658 |
|
---|
| 659 | <P>More's religious views were shortly to conflict with his king's
|
---|
| 660 |
|
---|
| 661 | desires.&nbsp; Henry was frustrated with the pope's endless delays in deciding
|
---|
| 662 |
|
---|
| 663 | his case, and he was determined to establish some control over the church in
|
---|
| 664 |
|
---|
| 665 | England.&nbsp; He did not tell More of his plans, preferring to confide in
|
---|
| 666 |
|
---|
| 667 | more liberal members of his council and parliament.&nbsp; And so, just a few
|
---|
| 668 |
|
---|
| 669 | months after More's elevation to the position of lord chancellor, a new
|
---|
| 670 |
|
---|
| 671 | parliament began to pass the sweeping laws which would end the supremacy of
|
---|
| 672 |
|
---|
| 673 | the Roman Catholic Church in England.&nbsp; First there was a royal
|
---|
| 674 |
|
---|
| 675 | proclamation that all members of the clergy must acknowledge the king as
|
---|
| 676 |
|
---|
| 677 | 'Supreme Head' of English affairs 'as far as the law of God will
|
---|
| 678 |
|
---|
| 679 | permit'.&nbsp; More realized the threat to his own spiritual beliefs and
|
---|
| 680 |
|
---|
| 681 | immediately proffered his resignation.&nbsp; Henry refused angrily, and
|
---|
| 682 |
|
---|
| 683 | promised More that he would never have to agree to anything proclamation that
|
---|
| 684 |
|
---|
| 685 | went against his conscience.&nbsp; Was this promise a deliberate lie on the
|
---|
| 686 |
|
---|
| 687 | king's part?&nbsp; Probably not, for Henry truly believed in the religious
|
---|
| 688 |
|
---|
| 689 | righteousness of his own cause and undoubtedly expected all to do the same.
|
---|
| 690 |
|
---|
| 691 | <P>But More could not hold out for long, and nor could Henry - whose designs
|
---|
| 692 |
|
---|
| 693 | were becoming more sweeping and offensive to the old faith - ignore his chief
|
---|
| 694 |
|
---|
| 695 | minister's open opposition.&nbsp; It was an embarrassment, and in May 1532 he
|
---|
| 696 |
|
---|
| 697 | finally accepted More's resignation.&nbsp; By this time, More had lost his
|
---|
| 698 |
|
---|
| 699 | close friendship with the king; there were no more impromptu dinner visits, or
|
---|
| 700 |
|
---|
| 701 | intense conversations about philosophical matters.&nbsp; It was clear to
|
---|
| 702 |
|
---|
| 703 | everyone that a line would soon be clearly drawn, and everyone would be either
|
---|
| 704 |
|
---|
| 705 | for or against the king - always remembering, of course, the old adage that
|
---|
| 706 |
|
---|
| 707 | 'the king's wrath is death'.
|
---|
| 708 |
|
---|
| 709 | <P>More still had powerful friends and allies, and Henry was always far more
|
---|
| 710 |
|
---|
| 711 | eager to have More's cooperation than his disobedience.&nbsp; More was still,
|
---|
| 712 |
|
---|
| 713 | after all, the most famous English philosopher, widely read and respected on
|
---|
| 714 |
|
---|
| 715 | the continent.&nbsp; And in England he even had the friendship of Thomas
|
---|
| 716 |
|
---|
| 717 | Cranmer, the very Protestant archbishop of Canterbury and, along with Thomas
|
---|
| 718 |
|
---|
| 719 | Cromwell, the chief advisor to the king.&nbsp; But English Catholics, feeling
|
---|
| 720 |
|
---|
| 721 | their faith under siege, were also looking to More as their most prominent
|
---|
| 722 |
|
---|
| 723 | champion.&nbsp; And so he was faced with the simple fact that despite his own
|
---|
| 724 |
|
---|
| 725 | longing for retirement and personal peace, he was too much a public figure to
|
---|
| 726 |
|
---|
| 727 | fade into the background.&nbsp; His opinion mattered too much, and was sought
|
---|
| 728 |
|
---|
| 729 | by too many.
|
---|
| 730 |
|
---|
| 731 | <P>After resigning from the lord chancellorship, More had immediately lost a
|
---|
| 732 |
|
---|
| 733 | great deal of his income but he scaled back his lifestyle and happily returned
|
---|
| 734 |
|
---|
| 735 | to Chelsea.&nbsp; His greatest wish was to simply stay at home with his
|
---|
| 736 |
|
---|
| 737 | beloved family and write; he wanted no part in the politics of Henry's
|
---|
| 738 |
|
---|
| 739 | court.&nbsp; But he couldn't escape so easily.&nbsp; Still, it is worth
|
---|
| 740 |
|
---|
| 741 | remembering that More did not hurry toward his fate; he did not accept death
|
---|
| 742 |
|
---|
| 743 | as inevitable and put himself directly in opposition to the king.&nbsp; He
|
---|
| 744 |
|
---|
| 745 | wanted to live, and in the following years he did much to avoid his eventual
|
---|
| 746 |
|
---|
| 747 | fate - everything except betray his conscience.
|
---|
| 748 |
|
---|
| 749 | <P>For about eighteen months he was able to escape the king's wrath.&nbsp; He
|
---|
| 750 |
|
---|
| 751 | stayed away from Anne Boleyn's coronation, deliberately avoiding a public
|
---|
| 752 |
|
---|
| 753 | confrontation with the king.&nbsp; And when his nephew, William Rastell, wrote
|
---|
| 754 |
|
---|
| 755 | a pro-Catholic treatise, More immediately wrote to Cromwell and Henry denying
|
---|
| 756 |
|
---|
| 757 | any involvement.&nbsp; More specifically stressed that he knew his duty as a
|
---|
| 758 |
|
---|
| 759 | citizen, and supported his prince completely - too completely to criticize any
|
---|
| 760 |
|
---|
| 761 | of his decisions.&nbsp; But such dissembling - and from such a famous man -
|
---|
| 762 |
|
---|
| 763 | would not please Henry for long.&nbsp; Soon enough More's name was included in
|
---|
| 764 |
|
---|
| 765 | the Bill of Attainder against the Catholic mystic Elizabeth Barton, the Holy
|
---|
| 766 |
|
---|
| 767 | Maid of Kent.&nbsp; More had once visited the woman, but was too skeptical to
|
---|
| 768 |
|
---|
| 769 | believe in her increasingly dramatic 'visions'.&nbsp; He was brought before
|
---|
| 770 |
|
---|
| 771 | the Council and asked about his religious views; he explained that he had
|
---|
| 772 |
|
---|
| 773 | discussed his feelings to the king on various occasions, and never incurred
|
---|
| 774 |
|
---|
| 775 | Henry's wrath.&nbsp; More was popular enough, and quite innocent, and so Henry
|
---|
| 776 |
|
---|
| 777 | grudgingly removed his name from the bill.&nbsp; But he had intended the
|
---|
| 778 |
|
---|
| 779 | measure as a warning to More, and it was well-taken.&nbsp; The duke of
|
---|
| 780 |
|
---|
| 781 | Norfolk, Anne Boleyn's uncle, warned More that 'the king's wrath is death' and
|
---|
| 782 |
|
---|
| 783 | More replied wittily, 'Is that all, my lord?&nbsp; Then, in good faith,
|
---|
| 784 |
|
---|
| 785 | between your grace and me is but this - that I shall die today, and you
|
---|
| 786 |
|
---|
| 787 | tomorrow'.</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
---|
| 788 |
|
---|
| 789 | </blockquote>
|
---|
| 790 | <hr>
|
---|
| 791 |
|
---|
| 792 | <P><font size="4">'Thou wilt give me this day a greater benefit than ever any mortal man
|
---|
| 793 |
|
---|
| 794 | can be able to give me.&nbsp; Pluck up thy spirits, man, and be not afraid
|
---|
| 795 |
|
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| 796 | to do thine office.&nbsp; My neck is very short: take heed, therefore, thou
|
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| 797 |
|
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| 798 | strike not awry for saving of thine honesty.'</font>&nbsp; <i> <FONT size=-1>&nbsp;Thomas
|
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| 799 |
|
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| 800 | More's last words to his executioner, 6 July
|
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| 801 |
|
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| 802 | 1535</FONT></i></P><hr>
|
---|
| 803 | <blockquote>
|
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| 804 |
|
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| 805 |
|
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| 806 |
|
---|
| 807 | <BLOCKQUOTE>
|
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| 808 |
|
---|
| 809 | <P>Today came quickly for More; in March of 1534, just months after the birth
|
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| 810 |
|
---|
| 811 | of Henry and Anne's
|
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| 812 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2feliz.html">daughter</a>, the Act of Succession was passed which ordered
|
---|
| 813 |
|
---|
| 814 | everyone the government called upon to swear an oath acknowledging the
|
---|
| 815 |
|
---|
| 816 | legitimacy of Anne and Henry's heirs, and - most significantly - including a
|
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| 817 |
|
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| 818 | clause which repudiated the power of any 'foreign authority' in English
|
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| 819 |
|
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| 820 | affairs.&nbsp; On the 14th of April More was summoned from Chelsea to take the
|
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| 821 |
|
---|
| 822 | oath at Lambeth; he refused.&nbsp; He was turned over to the custody of the
|
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| 823 |
|
---|
| 824 | abbot of Westminster, and four days later taken to the Tower of London where he was
|
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| 825 |
|
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| 826 | lodged in the Bell Tower.&nbsp; Months passed, and the king both threatened
|
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| 827 |
|
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| 828 | and cajoled his former friend, sending various emissaries while also keeping
|
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| 829 |
|
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| 830 | More in increasingly dire conditions.&nbsp; More did not break.&nbsp;
|
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| 831 |
|
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| 832 | Imprisoned with John Fisher, the bishop of Rochester, More took strength from
|
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| 833 |
|
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| 834 | that great man's equal courage.
|
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| 835 |
|
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| 836 | <P>When not entertaining a rare visitor with his wit and charm, More engaged
|
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| 837 |
|
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| 838 | in prayer and writing.&nbsp; In the spring of 1535 Cromwell visited the Tower
|
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| 839 |
|
---|
| 840 | personally to ask More's opinion of recently-passed statutes which gave Henry
|
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| 841 |
|
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| 842 | the title 'Supreme Head of the Church of England'.&nbsp; More judiciously
|
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| 843 |
|
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| 844 | replied that he was a faithful servant of the king; in June, the
|
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| 845 |
|
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| 846 | solicitor-general interviewed him and reported to Henry and Cromwell that More
|
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| 847 |
|
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| 848 | had denied parliament's power to confer supreme ecclesiastical authority upon
|
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| 849 |
|
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| 850 | the king.&nbsp; Henry now turned both petty and cruel - he used the pretext of
|
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| 851 |
|
---|
| 852 | More and Fisher's occasional letters to one another to confiscate all of
|
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| 853 |
|
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| 854 | More's writing materials.&nbsp; He was now reduced to writing upon scraps with
|
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| 855 |
|
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| 856 | a stick of charcoal.
|
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| 857 |
|
---|
| 858 | <P>The king was further angered when the pope made Fisher a cardinal,
|
---|
| 859 |
|
---|
| 860 | essentially a prince of the church, even while the bishop was imprisoned for
|
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| 861 |
|
---|
| 862 | treason.&nbsp; The king caustically remarked that he would soon send Fisher's
|
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| 863 |
|
---|
| 864 | head to Rome so it could wear the red cardinal's hat.&nbsp; By now, Henry had
|
---|
| 865 |
|
---|
| 866 | pushed aside all thought of popular reaction; he was flush with his own power,
|
---|
| 867 |
|
---|
| 868 | and determined to have his way.&nbsp; More refused to submit to royal
|
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| 869 |
|
---|
| 870 | authority, and he would pay the ultimate price.&nbsp; And so, on the 1st of
|
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| 871 |
|
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| 872 | July 1535, he was indicted for high treason at Westminster Hall.&nbsp; More
|
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| 873 |
|
---|
| 874 | denied the chief charges and defended himself ably, but it was of no
|
---|
| 875 |
|
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| 876 | matter.&nbsp; The jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to hang at
|
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| 877 |
|
---|
| 878 | Tyburn.&nbsp; A few days later news arrived that the king would be merciful -
|
---|
| 879 |
|
---|
| 880 | More would instead be beheaded at Tower Hill.&nbsp; On the 6th of July, a bit
|
---|
| 881 |
|
---|
| 882 | before nine o'clock in the morning, More was executed; he met his end with
|
---|
| 883 |
|
---|
| 884 | great dignity, grace, and courage.&nbsp; His body was buried at the Tower
|
---|
| 885 |
|
---|
| 886 | church of St Peter ad Vincula, but his head was parboiled and stuck on a pike
|
---|
| 887 |
|
---|
| 888 | in Tower Bridge.&nbsp; His beloved daughter Margaret bribed a worker to give
|
---|
| 889 |
|
---|
| 890 | it to her and it was interred in the Roper family vault in Canterbury,
|
---|
| 891 |
|
---|
| 892 | Margaret having married William Roper some years before.
|
---|
| 893 |
|
---|
| 894 | <P>King Henry VIII was increasingly tyrannical and hated as his reign
|
---|
| 895 | progressed.&nbsp; Anne Boleyn was beheaded less than a year after More on
|
---|
| 896 | false charges of witchcraft, adultery and incest; the king would eventually
|
---|
| 897 | marry four more times.&nbsp; His fifth wife, Catherine Howard, was also
|
---|
| 898 | executed.</P>
|
---|
| 899 |
|
---|
| 900 | <P>On 29 December 1886, Pope Leo XIII formally beatified Thomas More, and his
|
---|
| 901 |
|
---|
| 902 | reputation for learning and saintliness has only grown.</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
---|
| 903 |
|
---|
| 904 | <HR width="100%">
|
---|
| 905 |
|
---|
| 906 | <p>
|
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| 907 |
|
---|
| 908 | <font size="-1"><b>Note:</b> Modern studies of More often discuss his religious
|
---|
| 909 | conservatism and intolerance of more progressive views.&nbsp; He openly
|
---|
| 910 | denounced and persecuted members of the Protestant faith, and much of his
|
---|
| 911 | writing was both vitriolic and inflammatory on this point.&nbsp; But to condemn
|
---|
| 912 | More for his religious intolerance is unfair.&nbsp; He (and Bishop Fisher, et
|
---|
| 913 | al) represented the last gasp of Catholicism in England.&nbsp; After his death,
|
---|
| 914 | the faith never regained its intellectual breadth and stature.</font> <BR><FONT
|
---|
| 915 |
|
---|
| 916 | size=-1>In our own increasingly secular age, it is easy to be cynical and
|
---|
| 917 |
|
---|
| 918 | dismissive of deeply held religious beliefs.&nbsp; But to judge More by modern
|
---|
| 919 |
|
---|
| 920 | standards is obviously wrong; the following books do an admirable job of placing
|
---|
| 921 |
|
---|
| 922 | More in the context of his time, and I recommend them to students for further
|
---|
| 923 |
|
---|
| 924 | study:</FONT></p>
|
---|
| 925 |
|
---|
| 926 | <CENTER>
|
---|
| 927 | <p><i><FONT size=-1>The Life of Thomas More</FONT><BR></i><FONT size=-1>by Peter
|
---|
| 928 |
|
---|
| 929 | Ackroyd.</FONT> <BR><i><FONT size=-1>The King's Good Servant but God's First: The
|
---|
| 930 |
|
---|
| 931 | Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More</FONT><BR></i><FONT size=-1>by James
|
---|
| 932 |
|
---|
| 933 | Monti.</FONT> <BR><i><FONT size=-1>Thomas More: A Biography</FONT><BR></i><FONT
|
---|
| 934 |
|
---|
| 935 | size=-1>by Richard Marius.</FONT> <BR><i><FONT size=-1>Thomas More: A Portrait of
|
---|
| 936 |
|
---|
| 937 | Courage</FONT><BR></i><FONT size=-1>by Gerard B. Wegemer.</FONT></p>
|
---|
| 938 | </CENTER>
|
---|
| 939 |
|
---|
| 940 | <p align="center"><FONT
|
---|
| 941 |
|
---|
| 942 | size=-1><A href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fcitizens.html">to Tudor
|
---|
| 943 |
|
---|
| 944 | Citizens</A><A
|
---|
| 945 |
|
---|
| 946 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor.html"><br>to Tudor England</A></FONT><p align="center">
|
---|
| 947 | <font size="-1"><a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.marileecody.com%2fimages.html">Visit <i>Tudor
|
---|
| 948 | England: Images</i> to view portraits of the Tudor monarchs and their courtiers</a>.</font></blockquote>
|
---|
| 949 | </blockquote>
|
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| 950 |
|
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| 951 |
|
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| 952 |
|
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| 953 | <!-- text below generated by server. PLEASE REMOVE --><!-- Counter/Statistics data collection code --><script language="JavaScript" src="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fhostingprod.com%2fjs%5fsource%2fgeov2.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;el=direct&amp;href=http://visit.webhosting.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1108082582" alt="setstats" border="0" width="1" height="1"></noscript>
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| 955 | </Content>
|
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| 956 | </Section>
|
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| 957 | </Archive>
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