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Sir Thomas More - Historical Profile
 | The History of 1478 - 1535 (aged 57) "No famous family, |  |
 [Source: British Library online] "In this, the last of his six extant letters to Henry, More began by giving an account of his resignation, saying that Henry, then, had promised ‘that for the service which I byfore had done you (which it than lyked your goodnes far above my deserving to commend) that in eny suit that I should after have un to your Highnes… I should fynd your Highnes good and graciouse lord unto me’.Now, taking Henry up on his offer, More accordingly petitioned the King not to listen to such ‘sinistre information’ as might have been given against him. He protested his honesty and sincerity in Barton’s case, and urged that, if the King, after reconsidering the matter, still suspects him to be ‘a wreche of such a monstrouse ingratitude’, then his only comfort would be that ‘I shold onys mete with your Grace agayn in hevyn, and there be mery with you.’" |
| In 1515, Thomas More published Utopia, in which he theorized about a perfect world. In Utopia, More foresaw cities of 100,000 inhabitants as being ideal. In his Utopia, there was no money, just a monthly market where citizens bartered for what they needed. Persons engaged to each other were allowed to see each other naked before marriage, so that they would know if the other was 'deformed.' In Utopia, More also fashioned a society in which individual rights had lower priority than the needs of the community. Therefore, citizens reported on each other for the common good. [see LINKS below] "This growing favour, by which many men would have been carried away," writes the Encyclopedia Britannica, "did not impose upon More. He discouraged the king's advances, showed reluctance to go to the palace, and seemed constrained when he was there. Then the king began to come to More's house and would dine with him without previous notice." "As Thomas More wrote in Utopia: 'You, if you be disposed and can find in your heart to follow some prince`s court, shall with your good counsels greatly help and further the commonwealth. Wherefore there is nothing more appertaining to your duty, that is to say to the duty of a good man.' More himself was well aware that in the real world of the Renaissance court, compromise was the most that morality and honesty could hope to achieve. His own career would show how difficult that was...." (Ives, E.W.) Sir Thomas resigned as Lord Chancellor on May 16th, 1532. I considered it my duty to protect the integrity of my reputation. After resigning my office, I waited until the opening of the new term, and, so far, no one has advanced a complaint against my integrity. Either my life has been so spotless or, at any rate, I have been so circumspect that, if my rivals oppose my boasting of the one, they are forced to let me boast of the other. As a matter of fact, the King himself has pronounced on this situation at various times, frequently in private, and twice in public. ("Letter to Erasmus, June 1533," Selected Letters pp. 179-180)
|  Hans Holbein's sketch of Thomas More
This letter would later be edited by Catholic writers to exclude the part where More describes Anne as 'noble.' Revisionist history was rampantly practiced by both Catholics and Reformers after the deaths of Sir Thomas More and Anne Boleyn. However, More did not attend Anne's coronation on June 1st, 1533. It was reported in Europe that the real reason for More's condemnation was his refusal to assent to the 'Boleyn Marriage,' although this was never put into words by More himself.
 c.1530 | |||
 More confronts Wolsey |  Margaret's Final Farewell to More Painting at Tyburn Convent, London | |||
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| Thomas More's Last Letter "Our Lord bless you, good daughter, and your good husband, and your little boy, and all yours, and all my children, and all my god-children and all our friends. Recommend me when ye may to my good daughter Cecily, whom I beseech Our Lord to comfort; and I send her my blessing and to all her children, and pray her to pray for me. I send her a handkercher, and God comfort my good son, her husband. My good daughter Daunce hath the picture in parchment that you delivered me from my Lady Coniers, her name on the back. Show her that I heartily pray her that you may send it in my name to her again, for a token from me to pray for me. I like special well Dorothy Colly. I pray you be good unto her. I would wot whether this be she that you wrote me of. If not, yet I pray you be good to the other as you may in her affliction, and to my good daughter Jane Aleyn too. Give her, I pray you, some kind answer, for she sued hitherto me this day to pray you be good to her. I cumber you, good Margaret, much, but I would be sorry if it should be any longer than to-morrow, for it is St. Thomas's even, and the utas of St. Peter; and therefore, to-morrow long I to go to God. It were a day very meet and convenient for me. I never liked your manner towards me better than when you kissed me last; for I love when daughterly love and dear charity hath no leisure to look to worldly courtesy. Farewell, my dear child, and pray for me, and I shall for you and all your friends, that we may merrily meet in heaven. I thank you for your great cost. I send now my good daughter Clement her algorism stone, and I send her and my godson and all hers God's blessing and mine. I pray you at time convenient recommend me to my good son John More. I liked well his natural fashion. Our Lord bless him and his good wife, my loving daughter, to whom I pray him to be good, as he hath great cause; and that, if the land of mine come to his hands, he break not my will concerning his sister Daunce. And the Lord bless Thomas and Austin, and all that they shall have." |  More bidding his daughter Margaret Roper farewell
 Thomas More’s body of Latin verse includes five poems, which were written in celebration of the coronation of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon on June 24, 1509. This copy was probably the one presented to the royal couple. It is written in an elegant italic script, and is decorated in the Flemish style. | |||
 Sir Thomas More (c) by Kevin W. Michael |  Thomas More, c.1527-1528. Modern portrait, painted in multimedia. A re-painting based on a sketch of Sir Thomas made by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1527 or 1528. The original painting of The Family of Sir Thomas More, made from Holbein's sketches, was lost in the Great Fire of London. It was re-painted in 1593 (by Rowland Lockey) based on the original sketches, which survived. The portrait above is a modern representation based on Holbein's original sketch of Sir Thomas. This interpretation of Thomas More has been painted using vibrant colors for More's robes, in place of the black or dark colors in which we usually see him clothed. In this portrait, he wears a bright violet robe with red and orange sleeves; he also wears the 'S' necklace of Chancellorship. | |||
 Thomas More's Statue at Chelsea, London. Created in honor of the martyr. Patron saint of government, of good politicians, and of people who die for their beliefs. |  L´eloge de la Folie - Desiderius Erasmus Boston College - St. Thomas More Collection - Fall 2007 | |||
 Early edition of UTOPIA ("No Place" from Greek ou+topos), Thomas More. Design Hans Hobein. Annotations: early owner. |  The Household of Sir Thomas More Boston College - St. Thomas More Collection - Fall 2007 |
| Clip from "A Man for All Seasons", 1966 adaptation of the play by Robert Bolt. More is portrayed here by Paul Scofield, in an Oscar-winning performance. |  Margaret Roper was Sir Thomas More's favorite child. Like her father, she was a brilliant humanist and scholar. In later years, her own daughters would inherit her intelligence; so would the other women in the More family. The lineage of her direct descendants, like that of her brother John More, has been lost -- possibly forever. |
 Richard Rich, who became a bitter enemy of More's. He delivered what is generally considered perjured testimony to ensure More's conviction. Richard Rich became Chancellor under King Edward VI, and died in his bed. |  |
 Cecily More Heron Sir Thomas More's youngest daughter also suffered for her faith. Like her older sisters, Cecily More was a well-read and educated child, extraordinarily literate for a woman of her times. Her knowledge rivaled that of her sisters. Her husband Giles Heron was convicted of 'speaking too freely'--he was overheard saying something that was considered an insult to the King, even though its 'treasonableness' was questionable. Even so, Giles Heron was convicted of treason and hung, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on August 4, 1540. |  John More II Sir Thomas More's only son suffered similar persecution for his own reluctance to accept the Oath of Supremacy. He was never considered as smart and clever as his sisters. Nevertheless, he ultimately followed the example of his father by refusing to compromise himself for something he did not believe in. He was imprisoned and later released. After his release he went to Yorkshire to live with his wife. After his death, his children and later descendants continued to hold independent and controversial beliefs. The children of his sister Margaret More Roper, especially her daughter Mary, were also somewhat controversial. However, Mary Roper chose her words carefully; she produced translations to and from Greek and Latin, as her mother had. Unlike Mary, her cousins--the children of John More--were always mired in controversy. Several of them ended up dying for their faith, just as their grandfather Sir Thomas More had. As with the line of descent from Margaret Roper, John More's line of descent became untraceable after 1758. Regrettably, there is (so far) no trace of others who could be descended from this great and famous line. |
 Depiction of the More family by Rowland Lockey, based on sketches done by the original artist, Hans Holbein. The original painting is believed to have been lost in the Great Fire of London that took place in 1666; that original was painted in approximately 1527 or 1528. It portrays most members of the More dynasty, except for Alice Middleton the Younger and some sons-in-law. Note to Contribution: The above painting is called The family of Sir Thomas More c. 1530, by Hans Holbein the Younger. Copy by Rowland Lockey, 1593. |
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