Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More

Thomas More was born on February 7th, 1478. He had six brothers and sisters, while only three made it to adulthood. When More was thirteen years old he was brought as a page into household of the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the age of fourteen, the Archbishop sent More to Oxford. He began studying Greek theology, and it enjoyed it immensely. His father worried about his future and pulled Thomas out after only two years of study.

At sixteen More began serious study of the law, to follow in his fathers footsteps as a barrister. After attending many schools around London, More became a barrister. He didn’t know if it was that was right for him, and thought of joining a monastery. He spent almost four years staying with the Cistercian monks outside of London. While in the end he decided that it was not the life for him, the traditions of the monks stayed with him all his life.

On leaving the monastery More felt he needed a companion. He began to look for a wife. He soon met and married Jane Colette who bore him 4 children: Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecily, and John. Their mother died early and left More with 4 young children to raise. Within a few weeks of Jane’s death he married a widow named Alice Middleton. He was working as a barrister and was very busy; he needed someone to help raise the young children.

More surrounded himself with some of the greatest humanist and theological scholars of his time. Among them were Erasmus, John Colette, John Fisher, and Antonio Bonvisi. They were the greatest minds of their time. Together, More and his friends called for reform in education, in the Church, in government, in society itself.

Thomas became very interested in politics. He took on different roles in public service, such as representing London in Parliament during the reign of Henry VII and representing England on various trade ventures. It wasn't long before he attracted the attention of both Cardinal Wolsely the Chancellor and King Henry VIII himself. While reluctant to take on service to the court, More felt it his duty to serve God through service to the King and so took the jobs given to him.

Over the years the King's dissatisfaction with Queen Catherine of Aragon grew. She wasn’t bearing any male children. The King soon fell in love with Anne Boleyn.