Did you know that Sir Thomas More knew the risks of serving King Henry VIII, knew that it could cost him his head, and yet he chose to serve him anyway?
Thomas More wasn’t just a lawyer or a statesman. He was one of the most brilliant minds of his time—a humanist who believed in reason, faith, and justice. But he also had a sharp insight into human nature, particularly that of the king he served.
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On this day in Tudor history, 12th June, Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, got cross with him, telling him to abandon his “wicked life”; Richard Rich interviewed an imprisoned Sir Thomas More; and a newly imprisoned Thomas Cromwell pleaded his innocence and begged for mercy…
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On this day in Tudor history, 3rd June, Sir Thomas More was interrogated in the Tower of London; bishops in England were ordered to preach in support of the royal supremacy; and John Aylmer, Bishop of London, died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 20th March 1572, in Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, Mary Bassett (née Roper), translator and granddaughter of Sir Thomas More, died.
Mary’s education was praised by scholars Roger Ascham and Nicholas Harpsfield, and she presented Mary I with a copy of five books of Eusebius’s “Ecclesiastical History” which she had translated from Greek into English.
Mary, born in around 1523, was the daughter of Sir Thomas More’s beloved daughter, Margaret, or Meg, who married William Roper. More, being a humanist, had provided an excellent education for his daughter and Meg did the same with Mary, making sure that she learnt Greek and Latin.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th October 1529, Sir Thomas More was sworn in as King Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor.
Sir Thomas More replaced Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who had been charged with praemunire.
More, who was described as “an upright and learned man”, could not have known that taking this office would lead to his undoing…
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th October 1536, the rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace halted at Scawsby Leys near Doncaster, where they met crown troops. The rebels were said to number around 30,000 and the crown’s army was only a fifth of the size, but the rebel leader, lawyer Robert Aske, chose to negotiate rather than fight.
Why, when they could well have won?
Well, one Tudor chronicler puts it down to rain. You can find out more about this meeting, how rain put a stop to the rebels’ plans, and what happened next between the Pilgrimage of Grace rebels and Henry VIII, in this video…
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On this day in Tudor history, 6th July 1570, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Margaret Clement (née Giggs), adopted daughter of Sir Thomas More, died in Mechelen.
Find out more about Margaret Clement, what Sir Thomas More had bequeathed her, and how she had helped some imprisoned priests, in this latest edition of #TudorHistoryShorts…
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On this day in Tudor history, 16th May 1532, Sir Thomas More resigned as Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor.
But what led to More’s resignation when he had been such a loyal servant to King Henry VIII?
Find out…
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On this day in Tudor history, 27th November 1531, former Benedictine monk and reformist, Richard Bayfield, was burnt at the stake at Smithfield for heresy after Sir Thomas More had caught him importing heretical books into England.
It wasn’t Bayfield’s first brush with the authorities. He’d been in trouble for heresy previously so was now deemed a “relapsed heretic”. This time, penance wasn’t enough, he was condemned to death.
Find out more about Richard Bayfield, how he went from being a monk to a reformer, and how he ended up at the stake as a Protestant martyr. I also share John Foxe’s account of Bayfield’s burning.
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On this day in Tudor history, Tuesday 6th July 1535, Henry VIII’s former friend and Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, was beheaded on Tower Hill as a traitor.
In today’s talk, I share accounts of his execution, including one that gives real insight into More’s personality, with his black humour on the scaffold.
I also give details on the fate of Sir Thomas More’s head and what his daughter, Margaret Roper, did with it.
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th July 1535, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor and good friend, Sir Thomas More, wrote his final letter.
More’s last letter was addressed to his beloved daughter Margaret (Meg) Roper and it was written in coal. It is a touching letter and includes instructions and messages for other members of the family.
In today’s talk, I share Sir Thomas More’s letter and give details on the people mentioned, along with explaining the meaning of the algorism stone.
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On this day in Tudor history, 1st July 1535, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor, was tried for high treason by a special commission of oyer and terminer. The commission found him guilty and he was executed on 6th July 1535.
But how did More, a faithful and loyal servant of the king, end up in this mess? Who was on the commission and what exactly happened?
Find out all about the fall of Sir Thomas More in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th October 1529, Sir Thomas More took his oath as Lord Chancellor, replacing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey who was charged with praemunire.
It was an important day for Sir Thomas More, who was described as “an upright and learned man”, but, little did he know that his loyal service to the king would lead to his undoing.
Find out all about this day in 1529 in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 26th June 1535, in the reign of King Henry VIII, a new commission of oyer and terminer was appointed in the case against Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor and good friend. More was being indicted for high treason, and, of course, would eventually be executed.
How had this Tudor statesman come to this?
In today’s video, I explain why More was accused of high treason.
[Read More...]On this day in Tudor history, 3rd June 1535, Sir Thomas More, King Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor and good friend, was interrogated in the Tower of London by members of the king’s council.
These men were trying to get More to give a definitive answer on whether the statute of supremacy was lawful, seeing as he’d refused to take the oath of supremacy.
What happened on their visit and what was said afterwards?
Find out in today’s video.
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th April 1534, Sir Thomas More got into a spot of bother, or rather a lot of bother, when he refused to swear his allegiance to the Act of Succession. This act of defiance, or rather of his conscience, would, of course, lead to More’s execution in 1535.
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Today’s “on this day in Tudor history” video is about William Roper, son-in-law of Sir Thomas More.
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Lady Alice More was born the daughter of Sir Richard Harpur and his wife, Elizabeth Ardern. Little is known of Alice’s early life, including her year of birth, but historian Retha Warnicke has dated it to in or after 1474. Alice’s first husband was John Middleton; however, the date of their wedding ceremony is unknown. Warnicke has put forward the argument that Alice was likely already married to John by the year 1492, as her father had failed to mention her in his will of the same year. This is a convincing argument; it was not particularly unusual for a fifteenth-century father to exclude his daughter from his will if she was an established member of another household. Alice’s marriage to John represented the customary ambitions of the late medieval gentry: securing wealth, status and property. The Middleton and Ardern families were related by kinship, with John being Alice’s cousin; with both parties owning a significant number of properties in Yorkshire. Additionally, Alice’s husband was a wealthy silk merchant and a member of the Mercers’ Company (a successful trade association) and the Staple of Calais (a mercantile corporation). The couple had three children: a son and two daughters, Alice and Helen, but only Alice survived infancy.
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As it is the anniversary of the execution of Sir Thomas More today and yesterday was the anniversary of the day that he wrote his very last letter, I thought I’d have a look at the letter and the people that More mentions in it. I hope you enjoy my talk.
[Read More...]On this day in history, 13th April 1534, Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor and good friend, was summoned to Lambeth to swear his allegiance to the Act of Succession. He refused to swear the oath and “thereupon was he delivered to the abbot of Westminster to be kept as a prisoner.”
His son-in-law, William Roper, recorded what happened that day in his book The Life of Sir Thomas More:
“So fell it out, within a month, or thereabout, after the making of the Statute for the Oath of the Supremacy and Matrimony, that all the priests of London and Westminster, and no temporal men but he, were sent for to appear at Lambeth before the Bishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and Secretary Cromwell, commissioners appointed there to tender the oath unto them. Then Sir Thomas More, as his accustomed manner was always ere he entered into any matter of importance, (as when he was first chosen of the king’s privy council, when he was sent ambassador, appointed Speaker of the parliament, made Lord Chancellor, or when he took any like weighty matter upon him) to go to church and be confessed, to hear mass, and be houseled; so did he likewise in the morning early the selfsame day that he was summoned to appear before the lords at Lambeth.
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Sir Thomas More is thought to have been born on 7th February 1477 or 1478 n Milk Street, London, and he was the son of Sir John More, lawyer and judge on the King’s Bench, and Agnes Graunger, daughter of Thomas Graunger, a Merchant of the Staple of Calais and an Alderman of London.
More joined the household of John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, before studying Latin and logic at the University of Oxford. He then studied law in London. It was while he was a student that he met and became friends with men like William Lilye, John Colet and Erasmus.
[Read More...]Yesterday was the anniversary of the execution of Sir Thomas More, former Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, on 6th July 1535. To commemorate that anniversary, I thought I would share with you a brief bio of More, based on an extract from my book On This Day in Tudor History, and then some videos about him.
Sir Thomas More is thought to have been born on 7th February 1477 or 1478 n Milk Street, London, and he was the son of Sir John More, lawyer and judge on the King’s Bench, and Agnes Graunger, daughter of Thomas Graunger, a Merchant of the Staple of Calais and an Alderman of London.
More joined the household of John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, before studying Latin and logic at the University of Oxford. He then studied law in London. It was while he was a student that he met and became friends with men like William Lilye, John Colet and Erasmus.
[Read More...]How much do you know about this prominent Tudor man, a man who served King Henry VIII loyally but who ended his days on the block? Test your knowledge with this fun quiz.
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On this day in history, two important Tudors died: Sir Thomas More was beheaded on 6th July 1535 for high treason for denying the King’s supremacy, and fifteen year-old King Edward VI died on 6th July 1553 of natural causes at Greenwich Palace.
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This month’s amazing Expert Talk is by Stephanie Mann, author of “Supremacy and Survival”. Her topic, one which is clearly close to her heart, is Thomas More, a fascinating man who it turns out we really don’t know as much about as we should.
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Historian Derek Wilson has just informed me that he’s doing a series of articles on the six Thomases of Henry VIII’s reign over on his blog. Here are some clickable links for you:
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