In 1532, More resigned from the House of Commons, citing poor health. Professor of Philology, Catholic University of the West, Angers, France. Among the topics discussed by More in Utopia were penology, state-controlled education, religious pluralism, divorce, euthanasia, and women’s rights. Sir Thomas More ( 7 February 1477 to“ 6 July 1535), known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More since 1935, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. Sir Thomas More having remained a Prisoner in the Tower about a Week after his Sentence, on the 6th of July early in the Morning, his old Friend Sir Thomas Pope came to him with a Mes­sage from the King and Council, to acquaint him, That his Execution was appointed to be before nine that Morning. Omissions? The important negotiations More conducted in 1509 on behalf of a number of London companies with the representative of the Antwerp merchants confirmed his competence in trade matters and his gifts as an interpreter and spokesman. Director. More was originally one of Henry's tutors. We strive for accuracy and fairness. He was the sole surviving son of Sir John More, barrister and later judge, by his first wife Agnes, daughter of Thomas Graunger. Thomas More is known for his 1516 book 'Utopia' and for his untimely death in 1535, after refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. He left behind the final words: "The king's good servant, but God's first." Sir Thomas More participates in a royal trade delegation to Flanders. Erasmus wrote his In Praise of Folly while staying there. The Life of Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd, one of the more positive More biographies, recounts that when Sir Thomas learned that John Tewkesbury, a London leather-seller, secretly possessed banned books, he had the man burned alive. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! More managed to keep up with his literary and spiritual interests while practicing law, and he read devotedly from both Holy Scripture and the classics. Her rule precipitated the collapse of Russia's imperial government. And in February 1496, More was admitted to Lincoln's Inn, one of England's four legal societies, to prepare for admission to the bar, and in 1501 he became a full member of the profession. The conference was held at Brugge, with long intervals that More used to visit other Belgian cities. At Odds With Henry & Subsequent Beheading. More’s domestic idyll came to a brutal end in the summer of 1511 with the death, perhaps in childbirth, of his wife. Saint, knight, Lord Chancellor of England, author and martyr, born in London, 7 February, 1477-78; executed at Tower Hill, 6 July, 1535. More did not attend the subsequent coronation of Anne Boleyn in June 1533, and the king did not view this in a very kind light, and his vengeance was imminent. Sir Thomas More was first called, and the oath was tendered to him under the great seal; then he called for the act of succession, to which it related, which was also shewed him: having considered of them, he said, he would neither blame these that made the act, nor those that swore the oath; but, for his part, though he was willing to swear to the succession, if he might be suffered to draw an oath concerning … Thomas More is known for his 1516 book 'Utopia' and for his untimely death in 1535, after refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. God remained the centre of his life. Thomas More was born in London in 1478 CE, his father being the lawyer Sir John More. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher in the 17th century, was best known for his book 'Leviathan' (1651) and his political views on society. Sir Thomas More, 1478-1535 The English statesman, Sir Thomas More, later canonized as Saint Thomas More (1935), was born the son of a lawyer who later became a judge. Lawrence was a British military officer who took part in the Great Arab Revolt and later wrote the memoir 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.'. However, he is most known for being the Lord Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. We have to understand his cares and his concerns, which were intimately wrapped up with his sense of duty to his community. He was educated at St. Anthony's School and was appointed a page in the home of Archbishop (later Cardinal) Morton, who sent him to Canterbury Hall, Oxford, in the early 1490s. 1478 - 1535. Sir Thomas More's 'Utopia' is published. He was educated at St. Anthony's School in London, then the best in the city. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. The work is considered the first masterpiece of English historiography (the study of history, or the study of a particular historical subject), and, despite remaining unfinished, influenced subsequent historians, including William Shakespeare. Mr. Tannery and Professor Wright concluded in 1933 that the princes had “probably” died in the summer of 1483. After the war, he worked as managing director of a concrete company and was an avid motorcycle racer. 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