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.
In April, 1533, he was summoned before a special tribunal to explain his reasons for not taking the oath. When asked he remained steadfast, maintained his silence, and refused to do so. When he was again asked to swear to the Act of Succession and the Oath of Supremacy, he again refused to do so. On 17 April, 1534, he was arrested, charged with High Treason, and committed, along with Bishop Fisher, to the Tower of London. Soon after he wrote to his daughter Meg, ”I do nobody harm, I say none harm, I think none harm, but wish everybody good. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, then in good faith, I long not to live.”
Despite his best endeavours, through both persuasion and intimidation, Cromwell was unable to dissuade More from his chosen path. Though he was not yet resigned to martyrdom he was willing to die for the Catholic faith if that was God’s Will. He was brought to trial on 1 July, 1535. On the panel judging him were Anne Boleyn’s father, brother and uncle. The verdict was a foregone conclusion. Even so, he was tried before a jury of his peers. Questioned yet again on the King’s Great Matter he refused to answer, simply stating that his silence in law must be denoted as consent. In the end he was convicted on the perjured evidence of the Attorney-General Richard Rich who claimed that More had told him that the King did not have the authority to make himself Head of the Church. Once the guilty verdict had been passed, More at last spoke his mind. He denied the legitimacy of the Act of Succession and refuted the Oath of Supremacy. He also condemned the divorce. He said that, “no temporal man, regardless of who he was, could be the head of spirituality,” and that if he were still Chancellor he would pursue his truth every bit as vigorously as Cromwell now pursued his. He was sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered.
King Henry, was angry with his old friend but he was still besotted with Anne Boleyn. Even so, it was with deep regret that he sent Thomas More to the scaffold. As such, he commuted the sentence to beheading. On 17 July, 1535, Sir Thomas More was beheaded on Tower Hill. His last words were, ” I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”
Though Thomas More, died for the sake of his conscience he did not die for the liberty of others. He was every much as ruthless in pursuit of his aims as were both Cromwell or Cranmer. Within a year of his execution, Anne Boleyn, accused of adultery and incest, went herself to the scaffold. Sir Thomas More, was made a Saint of the Catholic Church in 1986.
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