A Biography of Sir Thomas More

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the life and times of Sir Thomas More. The author gives a brief biography of the great English writer whose contributions to both literature and history cannot be ignored. The paper looks how his opposition to the King becoming the head of the Church of England instead of the Pope cost him his life, but made him a saint in the eyes of the Catholic Church. It looks at his writings, especially those written during his years of incarceration awaiting execution. The author pays particular attention to "Utopia" which many feel has the same weight as Plato's "Republic" and reflects his disenchantment with the morals and values held by many Europeans at the time.

From the Paper:

"The late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries were also an important stage in the Renaissance, a period which witness a growth of art and a renewed interest in classical Greece and Rome. Beginning in Italy, the Renaissance soon flowed throughout Europe, introducing an increased emphasis on science and reason and producing an intellectual movement known as humanism. Humanists, including More and Erasmus, remained committed to Christianity but also believed in the concepts of the dignity of man, and man's power of reason. By emphasizing these scientific and intellectual beliefs in their writings, the humanists influenced many scholars to seek a new understanding of religion and of society. One of these was Martin Luther (1483-1546), whose challenge to the Catholic Church by posting his "95 Theses" to the door of a church in Wittenberg led to the period of history known as the Reformation. This signaled a time of intense political and religious conflict throughout Europe, most graphically demonstrated by the mass imprisonment and execution of non Catholics carried out by Torquemada during the Spanish Inquisition's reign of terror. In England also, there developed a Counter-Reformation which sought the persecution of Protestants, one of the leaders being Sir Thomas More. Then, in 1534, Henry VIII, in order to obtain a divorce, broke with the Catholic Church, making England protestant and declaring himself the head of a new Anglican Church."

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