Thomas More

Who they were

Thomas More, a lawyer's son, was born in London in 1478. He spent time close to the Franciscans of Greenwich and the London Charterhouse, then married Jane Colt, who bore him four children, and after her death Alice Middleton; his house was always open to friends, and he gave his children a solid education. Just, witty and learned, admired by Erasmus, he wrote Utopia in 1516 and rose to be Speaker of the Commons and, in 1529, the first layman to be Lord Chancellor.

When Henry VIII broke with the Pope to marry Anne Boleyn and made himself head of the Church in England, More resigned in 1532, and his family fell into poverty. Refusing to swear the oath required by the Acts of Supremacy and Succession, he was condemned for high treason and beheaded on 6 July 1535, a few days after John Fisher. He died, he said, 'the King's good servant, but God's first'.

The miracles

As a martyr he did not need an approved miracle. He shares his memorial with St John Fisher on 22 June. In 2000 St John Paul II declared him patron of statesmen and politicians.

Why that counted as sanctity

Thomas More followed his conscience against the King he had served faithfully, choosing to serve God first, as Benedict XVI recalled at Westminster Hall. He met poverty, prison and death with faith and good humour.

Connected on this site

• John Fisher Saint
  “In answer to a popular petition of English Catholics, Pope Pius XI canonized John Fisher and Thomas More on 19 May 1935 as representatives of the many Catholic martyrs of England.” — Wikipedia
• German Gardiner Blessed
  “His other companions at the bar were John Larke, and John Ireland, a priest who had once been Thomas More's chaplain.” — Wikipedia
• John Larke Blessed
  “Larke was a notable personal friend of Thomas More, Lord High Chancellor of England.” — Wikipedia
• Thomas Marshall Blessed
  “He took the Oath of Supremacy in 1534, but the martyrdoms of the Carthusians, St John Fisher and St Thomas More moved him deeply.” — this site's research