Thomas More

Sir Thomas More (7 February, 1478–6 July, 1535), posthumously known also as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, writer, and politician. During his lifetime he earned a reputation as a leading humanist scholar and occupied many public offices, including that of Lord Chancellor from 1529 to 1532. More coined the word "utopia", a name he gave to an ideal, imaginary island nation whose political system he described in a book published in 1516. He is chiefly remembered for his principled refusal to accept King Henry VIII's claim to be the supreme head of the Church of England, a decision which ended his political career and led to his execution as a traitor. More was canonized in 1935 by Pope Pius XII as a rebuke to the political extremists in Germany who championed putting considerations of State ahead of all others, even ahead of one's duties towards God. More became the patron saint of statesmen, lawyers, and politicians.

Influence and reputation

The steadfastness with which More held on to his religious convictions in the face of ruin and death, and the dignity with which he conducted himself during his imprisonment, trial, and execution, contributed much to More's posthumous reputation, particularly among Catholics. More was beatified by the Pope in 1886 and canonized in 1935. His feast day is 22 June. In 2000, Saint Thomas More was declared "heavenly patron of statesmen and politicians" by Pope John Paul II.

Related Topics:
Beatified - 1886 - 1935 - 22 June - 2000 - Pope John Paul II

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More's conviction for treason was widely seen as unfair, even among Protestants. His friend Erasmus, who was broadly sympathetic to reform movements within the Christian church, declared after his execution that More had been "more pure than any snow" and that his genius was "such as England never had and never again will have." 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 Edmund Tylney, Master of the Revels in the government of Queen Elizabeth I.

Related Topics:
1592 - Henry Chettle - Anthony Munday - William Shakespeare - Master of the Revels - Queen Elizabeth I

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Catholic writer G. K. Chesterton declared that More was the "greatest historical character in English history." The 20th-century agnostic playwright Robert Bolt portrayed More as the ultimate man of conscience in his play A Man for All Seasons. That title is borrowed from Robert Whittinton, who wrote in 1520 that More

Related Topics:
G. K. Chesterton - 20th-century - Agnostic - Robert Bolt - A Man for All Seasons

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: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 and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons. http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0078.html

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In 1966, Bolt's play was made into a successful film directed by Fred Zinnemann, which won the Academy Awards for Best Actor (Paul Scofield), Adapted Screenplay (Bolt), Cinematography (Ted Moore), Costume Design (Elizabeth Haffenden, Joan Bridge), Director (Zinnemann), and Picture (Zinnemann) and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Shaw) and Actress (Wendy Hiller). Karl Zuchardt wrote a novel, Stirb Du Narr! ("Die you fool!"), about More's struggle with King Henry, portraying More as an idealist bound to fail in the power struggle with a ruthless ruler and an unjust world.

Related Topics:
1966 - Fred Zinnemann - Karl Zuchardt

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As the author of Utopia, More has also attracted the admiration of modern socialists. While Catholic scholars point out that More's attitude in composing Utopia was largely ironic and that he was at every point an orthodox Christian, Marxist theoretician Karl Kautsky argued polemically in the book Thomas More and his Utopia (1888) that Utopia was a shrewd critique of economic and social exploitation in pre-modern Europe and that More was one of the key intellectual figures in the early development of socialist ideas.

Related Topics:
Socialist - Ironic - Karl Kautsky - 1888 - Europe

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A number of modern writers, such as Richard Marius, have attacked More for his religious fanaticism and intolerance (manifested, for instance, in his enthusiastic persecution of heretics). Biographer Jasper Ridley goes much further, describing More as "a particularly nasty sadomasochistic pervert" in his book The Statesman and the Fanatic. In her biography of Anne Boleyn, Joanna Denny declares that

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:His zeal for public order verged on the fanatical. His early desire to become a priest exacerbated a repressed nature that led him secretly to wear a hair shirt and practise self-flagellation. He even imprisoned evangelicals in his own house at Chelsea and had them whipped on a tree in the garden.

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Other biographers, such as Peter Ackroyd, have offered a more complicated but balanced picture of More as both a sophisticated humanist and man of letters, as well as a zealous Catholic who believed in the necessity of religious and political authority.

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