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St Thomas More was born on Milk Street, London, on February the 7th in 1478. He was son of John More a prominent judge and his wife Agnes Graunger.
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St Thomas More went to St Anthony's School Threadneedle Street in London.
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During this period he was sent to live with of John Morton, Lord Chancellor to King Henry VII and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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He went and studied Greek and Latin Literature at Oxford University under Thomas Linacre and William Grocyn.
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He went to London again and studied law at the University of Oxford.
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St Thomas More is then sent off to Lincoln's inn to further his knowledge in law. He met Erasmus while he was there.
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He finishes his studies of law and begins to work as a barrister.
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While living as a guest in the London Charterhouse, Thomas More considers entering the priesthood.
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St Thomas More married Jane Coult, 17, and over the years had four children; Margaret, Elizabeth, Cicely and John.
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St Thomas More decides priesthood is not a good choice and as he is married he decided to join Parliament.
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St Thomas More became one of two undersheriffs in London and gained a reputation as a really honest man.
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Jane Coult dies leaving him with his four children. He marries another woman by the name of Alice Middleton a month later to ensure his children have a mother. Alice also had a daughter that Thomas adopted.
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Thomas More goes on diplomatic mission to Antwerp. While there, he begins to write Utopia.
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St Thomas More then returns to London and finishes his book Utopia. It is then published. The book sets an ideal nearly impossible social society.
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St Thomas More becomes King Henry VIII's counsellor and "personal servant".
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St Thomas More becomes part of the Privy Council of King Henry VIII. The Privy Council is a council that advises the head of the monarchy which at the time was King Henry VIII. At this time St Thomas also started working on a History of King Richard III, which was strongly biased towards the Tudors and was used by William Shakespeare as a base for his play.
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St Thomas More is then knighted and made Sub-Treasurer after he came back from a diplomatic mission to Rome to meet the Roman Emperor Charles V.
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St Thomas more was elected Speaker of the House of Commons.
During this time he also wrote Responsio ad Lutherum. -
St Thomas More was made Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster which meant he controlled most of northern England.
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King Henry VIII fell madly in love with a lady named Anne Boleyn who he then became obsessed with.
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Hans Holbein a famous painter paints a portrait of St Thomas More.
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He began writing in English documents and other forms of text in defence of the Catholic Church.
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St Thomas More was finally made the Lord Chancellor of England after Cardinal Wolsey. He also published "Dialogue Concerning Heresies".
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St Thomas More refuses to sign the letter written by the leading English churchmen and courtiers asking the Pope to annul the marriage of King Henry VIII to Katherine of Aragon.
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St Thomas More is forced to take an oath declaring that the king from then on will be the supreme head of the English church "as far the law of Christ allows." He attempted to resign his position but it was refused by the king.
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St Thomas More didn't believe it right to support King Henry VIII with his attempt to divorce Katherine of Aragon and to marry Anne Boleyn. St Thomas then went through the trouble of asking for his resignation again but to do so he faked the fact that he had an illness and was suffering from sharp chest pains. King Henry VIII grants his request this time.
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St Thomas More published many books one of them being Confutation of Tyndale's Answer.
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King Henry VIII ends up marrying Anne Boleyn and as a consequence of this he is excommunicated from The Church by Pope Clement VII.
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Pope Clement VII declares that the marriage of King Henry VII to Katherine of Aragon is valid.
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Parliament passes the Act of Succession which allowed King Henry VIII's children from Anne Boleyn to succeed the throne after the king's death and did the opposite of that to any of the children of Katherine of Aragon. Having anything against this act would be considered as high treason.
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St Thomas More was sent to the Tower of London for refusing to take the oath of the Act of Succession. During this time, St Thomas More writes Treatise on the Passion and Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation.
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King Henry VIII breaks off from the Church of Rome and passes an act, The Act of Supremacy that allowed and validated King Henry VIII as the supreme head of the Church of England.
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St Thomas More was convicted and tried for high treason. He was found guilty. He was tried in Westminster Hall and was also accused of perjured testimony.
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St Thomas More was beheaded alongside Bishop Fisher by King Henry VIII on Tower Hill. He was convicted and found guilty of treason.
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Sir Thomas More became Blessed Thomas More in 1935. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI.
