Saint, Knight, Lord Chancellor of England, author
and martyr: born in London, 7 February, 1477-78;
beheaded at Tower Hill, 6 July, 1535.
In October, 1529, More succeeded Wolsey as
Chancellor of England, a post never before held by a
layman. In matters political, however, he is nowise
succeeded to Wolsey’s position, and his tenure of the
chancellorship is chiefly memorable for his unparalleled
success as a judge. His dispatch was so great that the
supply of causes was actually exhausted, an incident
commemorated in the well-known rhyme:
When More some time had Chancellor been
No more suits did remain.
The like will never more be seen,
Till More be there again.
After a thorough grounding in religion and the classics,
he entered Oxford to study law. Upon leaving the
university he embarked on a legal career which took him
to Parliament. In 1505, he married his beloved Jane Colt
who bore him four children, and when she died at a
young age, he married a widow, Alice Middleton, to be a
mother for his young children. A wit and a reformer, this
learned man numbered Bishops and scholars among his
friends and by 1516 wrote his world-famous book
"Utopia". He attracted the attention of Henry VIII who
appointed him to a succession of high posts and
missions, and finally made him Lord Chancellor in 1529.
However, he resigned in 1532, at the height of his career
and reputation, when Henry persisted in holding his own
opinions regarding marriage and the supremacy of the
Pope. The rest of his life was spent in writing mostly in
defense of the Church. In 1534, with his close friend, St.
John Fisher, he refused to render allegiance to the King
as the Head of the Church of England and was confined
to the Tower. Fifteen months later, and nine days after
St. John Fisher's execution, he was tried and convicted
of treason. He told the court that he could not go against
his conscience and wished his judge that "we may yet
hereafter in heaven merrily all meet together to
everlasting salvation." And on the scaffold, he told the
crowd of spectators that he was dying as "the King's
good servant-but God's first." Patron of Law.
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