Sir Thomas More: A Martyr to Conscience
by From Hero or Villain: More Prisoners of Eternity.
To the Catholic Church he is a Saint; we think of him as a liberal reformer; in reality he was a ruthless politician and religious fanatic. One thing, however, is certain – He was a Martyr to Conscience, but his own only, no one elses.
Sir Thomas More, is one of the most written about and discussed figures in English history. He is also one of the most misrepresented and misunderstood. A Renaissance Humanist he is often thought of as a liberal and a democrat who gave his life in the cause of freedom of conscience. To believe so, however, is to not know the man or understand his motives. In the end he was a man who feared God more than he feared death.
He was born on 7 February, 1478, in London, the son of a lawyer, and he was destined to follow in his fathers footsteps studying law at Oxford University. Despite falling out with King Henry VII, his father remained well-connected and young Thomas often visited and stayed with the then Archbishop of Canterbury John Morton, from whom he received an early and intense religious grounding.
Qualified as a lawyer his rise through the profession was swift and impressive, and he very quickly established a reputation for probity and honesty at a time when corruption and political graft was rife. He was also known for imparting impartial justice. It was said that Thomas More could not be bought. By 1510, aged just 22, he was appointed one of the two under-sheriffs for London. By 1517, he had come to the attention of the Court and soon after entered the young King Henry VIII’s service.
For King Henry, Thomas More was always more than a trusted civil servant. The young King was in every respect an impressive man. At 6′2 tall, and of athletic build with a mane of striking red hair, he turned heads on the tennis court. He was also well-read, deeply religious, and a committed Catholic. He did not just want to be the Warrior King, he wanted to the Renaissance Warrior King, and the perfect foil for his ambitions was the learned, emolient, and persuasive Thomas More. In no time, he had become the King’s mentor, confidante, and close friend. He was on first name terms and they regularly exchanged gifts.
More’s career continued on the upward curve. In 1521 he was knighted, by 1523 he had become Speaker of the House of Commons, and in 1525 he was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He had also made the acquaintance of the great Humanist hero, the theologian, Erasmus of Rotterdam, and had established a reputation as a scholar with his History of Richard III, that quintessential piece of Tudor propaganda that demonised the hunchback King for all time, and helped establish the Tudor Dynasty in the eyes of their European rivals. Earlier, in 1516, he had written his seminal work Utopia (a term he created that has now become part of our common language) in which he envisaged a perfect society. One that was governed by reason and lived in perfect harmony where religious difference was tolerated. It is significant, however, that atheism is not. More believed law and a strict social hierarchy, and underpinning this hierarchy was the Catholic faith and the Unity of Christendom. As far as he was concerned, this was God’s Grand Design for the World. The Unity of Christendom was essential for the harmony of the world, it guaranteed the functioning of laws, and ensured the salvation of souls. Heretics and atheists threatened this order, and the greatest threat of all was the Lutheran Reformation. This denial of Church authority and the replacement of the clergy on the road to salvation by common prayer and a literal interpretation of the Bible was the most dangerous and greatest heresy of all, and Sir Thomas More would oppose it with all the power at his disposal.
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