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Thomas More: Difference between revisions
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(1478–1535), saint, statesman, scholar, and author, was an incarnation of [[El Morya]]. He served as Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry VIII. He discharged his duties wisely and well, but was beheaded because he failed to support the king in his departure from the laws of the Church regarding his marriage to Ann Boleyn. | (1478–1535), saint, statesman, scholar, and author, was an incarnation of [[El Morya]]. He served as Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry VIII. He discharged his duties wisely and well, but was beheaded because he failed to support the king in his departure from the laws of the Church regarding his marriage to Ann Boleyn. | ||
He was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1886 and canonized in 1935 | He was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1886 and canonized in 1935. | ||
== Early life == | == Early life == | ||
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Without friends and without office, More and his family lived in abject poverty. Nevertheless, Henry had been insulted at the chancellor’s public disapproval of him. The king, therefore, sought to defame More and thus restore his royal image. When Sir Thomas clearly refused to give the oath of supremacy to Henry as head of the new Church of England, he was imprisoned in the dread Tower of London. Badgered by king’s lawyers, More staunchly refused to compromise the position of the Church but diplomatically avoided direct accusation of the king, thereby saving his life and remaining a testimony to Henry’s sinful injustice. | Without friends and without office, More and his family lived in abject poverty. Nevertheless, Henry had been insulted at the chancellor’s public disapproval of him. The king, therefore, sought to defame More and thus restore his royal image. When Sir Thomas clearly refused to give the oath of supremacy to Henry as head of the new Church of England, he was imprisoned in the dread Tower of London. Badgered by king’s lawyers, More staunchly refused to compromise the position of the Church but diplomatically avoided direct accusation of the king, thereby saving his life and remaining a testimony to Henry’s sinful injustice. | ||
Finally, however, jealous enemies were encouraged by Henry to lie against him in the chancellor’s own court at Westminster. Charged and convicted of high treason, Thomas More was beheaded on Tower Hill in 1535. Kneeling before the executioner, he said, “I die the king’s loyal subject but God's first.” Sir Thomas More was canonized a saint in 1935. The motion picture based on the play by Robert Bolt, ''A Man For All Seasons,'' is the story of the life of Sir Thomas More. | Finally, however, jealous enemies were encouraged by Henry to lie against him in the chancellor’s own court at Westminster. Charged and convicted of high treason, Thomas More was beheaded on Tower Hill in 1535. Kneeling before the executioner, he said, “I die the king’s loyal subject but God's first.” | ||
== Influence == | |||
Sir Thomas More was canonized a saint in 1935. The motion picture based on the play by Robert Bolt, ''A Man For All Seasons,'' is the story of the life of Sir Thomas More. | |||
More’s most famous work, ''[[Utopia]]'', is an attempt to depict an ideal society, one in which men live in harmony under the holy will of the Most High God. | |||
{{main|Utopia}} | |||
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||