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Thomas More was born in Milk Street, London on February 7, 1478, to Agnes Graunger and John More who was a lawyer, and then went on to become a prominent judge on the king's bench
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After studying at St. Anthony's School in Threadneedle street, Saint Thomas is placed in the household of John Morton, Lord Chancellor to Henry VII and Archbishop of Canterbury, who believed Thomas would become a marvelous man.
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Enters Oxford University at the age of 15 to study law
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At his fathers insistence, Thomas returned to London to study law
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More is admitted to Lincoln's Inn to further his legal studies and during this time meets Desiderius Erasmus.
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After the completion of his law studies, more went on to become a barrister. However he did not automatically follow in his fathers footsteps, while studying at Lincoln's inn, Moore subjected himself to the Carthusians on the basis that he was determined to become a monk.
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The prayers, fasting and penance habits from the monastery stayed with him is whole life, however finally Moore's duty to serve is country in the field of politics overcame his monasticism and he joined parliament in 1504
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At the age of 27 More marries Jane Colt, and was blessed with four children in the next 5 years
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He was elected to Parliament again and became undersheriff of London. It was in this later capacity that More received the widest range of practical experience and eventually became beloved by his fellow Londoners for his “marriage of wit and wisdom” and for being “the best friend the poor ever had."
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In 1511 he was asked to give the prestigious Autumn lectures at Lincoln’s Inn. In that same year, just when life seemed happiest, his wife Jane died. A month later, having his children's well-being at heart, More marries a widowed women by the name of Alice Middleton.
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More was also active in the areas of literature and philosophy. In 1515 he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Antwerp where he begins writing Utopia. His Utopia, a work considered by some to be one of the finest Socratic dialogues of all time, has long been recognized as his masterpiece.
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In 1516 his book, Utopia, is published which describes an ideal, if not impossible, social world
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Thomas More enters the service of King Henry VIII, gaining his friendship and trust, serving primarily as his personal secretary, but with some administrative and diplomatic responsibilities.
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In 1518 he joined Henry VIII's service with reluctance and well aware of the serious risks involved. Besides the danger and substantial loss of income, this career meant he would have less time for his family and for his own study and writing; it also meant he would be a subject of the king rather than a free citizen of London. Yet, “in the interests of Christendom,” More took on what he saw as his civic duty.
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In recognition of his wide range of services to the King, King Henry knighted Sir Thomas More in 1521
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The Kings and the Commons confidence was shown through Mores entitlement of Speak of the house of Commons in 1523
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In 1524 More had moved to Chelsea. The Great House he built there bore the stamp of his philosophy, its gallery, chapel, and library all geared toward studious and prayerful seclusion.
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In 1525 Henry gave Sir Thomas full responsibility for his extensive and lucrative Duchy of Lancaster. As Chancellor of this duchy, More assumed the full scope of administrative and judicial duties of a political ruler.
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This committee consisted of the for member of the kingdom, the four who oversaw all the major concerns of the realm, excluding matters of war.
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Sir Thomas More also served as a peace ambassador for France and his efforts were evident in the Peace of Cambrai in 1529. After his efforts were confirmed, Sir Thomas was offered the highest office of the land, to be the Lord Chancellor of England.
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On November 3, 1529, More opened the Parliament that was later to forge the legal instruments for his death.
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In 1530, More refused to sign a letter by the leading English churchmen and aristocrats asking the Pope to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine, and furthermore, quarreled with Henry VIII over the heresy laws.
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Sir Thomas is forced to take an oath declaring the king the supreme head of the English church "as far the law of Christ allows." He attempts to resign his office but the King refuses him permission
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To the stress of stooping for hours over his manuscript More ascribed the sharp pain in his chest, perhaps angina, which he invoked when begging Henry to free him from the yoke of office.
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More's refusal to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn, whom Henry married after his divorce from Catherine in 1533, marked him out for vengeance.
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More was included in a bill of attainder for alleged complicity with Elizabeth Barton, who had uttered prophecies against Henry's divorce, but he produced a letter in which he had warned the nun against meddling in affairs of state.
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On 13 April 1534, More was asked to appear before a commission and swear his allegiance to the parliamentary Act of Succession. More accepted Parliament's right to declare Anne Boleyn the legitimate queen of England, but he steadfastly refused to take the oath of supremacy of the Crown in the relationship between the Kingdom and the Church in England. More refused to take the oath and furthermore publicly refused to uphold Henry's annulment from Catherine.
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With his refusal to support the King's annulment, More's enemies had enough evidence to have the King arrest him on treason, More was imprisoned in the Tower of London four days later.
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After the jury's verdict was delivered and before his sentencing, More spoke freely of his belief that "no temporal man may be the head of the spirituality". He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, but the king commuted this to execution by decapitation.
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On 1 July 1535, More was tried before a panel of judges that included the new Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley, as well as Anne Boleyn's father, brother, and uncle. He was charged with high treason for denying the validity of the Act of Succession. More, relying on legal precedent understood that he could not be convicted as long as he did not explicitly deny that the king was Supreme Head of the Church
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The execution took place on 6 July 1535. When he came to mount the steps to the scaffold, he is widely quoted as saying : "I pray you, I pray you, Mr Lieutenant, see me safe up and for my coming down, I can shift for myself"; while on the scaffold he declared that he died "the king's good servant, but God's first."
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400 years after his death Sir Thomas More was canonized in the Catholic Church by Pope Pius the XI and was later declared patron saint of politicians and statesman by Pope John Paul II
