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| Sunday, 27 March 2005 |
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Famous trials that shook the world : The Trial of Thomas More by Lionel Wijesiri Thomas More was born in London, on February 7, 1478. His father, Sir John More, was a respected prominent judge. As a youth More served as a page in the household of Archbishop Morton, who anticipated he would become a "marvellous man."
More's desire for monasticism was finally overcome by his sense of duty to serve his country in the field of politics. At Twenty six he was elected to Parliament; at twenty seven he married Jane Colt, and fathered four children in the next five years. Jane died when More was 33, leaving him with four young children during the height of his career as a lawyer. Despite his deep sorrow, he married again within one month for the sake of his children. The reputation which More had earned not only as a lawyer, and a man of learning, but also as an active politician, marked him out for further promotion. He was invited to take part in some difficult commercial negotiations with Britain's most important trading partner, the Netherlands, and it was during the months of discussion in Flanders that he found time to write his book Utopia,' which at once became a best-seller throughout Europe. More coined the term 'utopia' which is a pun meaning both 'good place' and 'no place'. More's Utopia was discovered on a voyage to the newly found Americas. It is thus one of the first books to invoke the analogy between the great voyages of discovery, and discoveries of the mind. His ideal society was a communistic democracy, and not an aristocracy with communism confined to the ruling elite. The trade mission also enhanced his reputation for public business. A year or so later, promotion came again in the shape of an invitation to join the inner government. During this period he acted as Under-Treasurer, as Speaker in Parliament, as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and as High Steward of both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. This high career of service was crowned by his appointment as Lord Chancellor. Six years before the book was published, King Henry VII died. His son, Henry VIII was then crowned King. King Henry VIII was a catastrophic failure. In personal life too, he did things that brought him great disrepute, and eventual downfall. At that time, the Pope was still the ultimate authority for the deeply devout catholic subjects. So naturally eyebrows were raised when Henry divorced his first wife Catherine (Princess of Spain) to marry Anne Boleyn, without seeking the blessings of the Pope. This open defiance to the Church offended many, including More, who was a devout catholic himself and believed in the supremacy of the Pope. More clearly did not approve of this development, and chose to step down from the King's cabinet. The reason offered was ill health and so he was allowed to retire. Soon afterwards his life took a turn for the worse. The King invited him to the marriage with Boleyn. More chose not to attend, and the King took this as a great personal offence. More knew he was a marked man now. His impending sense of doom grew by the day as did the King's arrogance. By 1534, Henry's egomaniac behaviour was to reach a new height - he claimed to be the Head of the Church of England, and denied the Roman jurisdiction. Everyone was to accept this by oath. More's sense of righteousness was offended. Bravely he refused to accept it. The infuriated the King who incarcerated him. More was locked up for over one year in the Tower of London and denied pen, paper or books. Family and well-wishers visiting him, begged him to submit to the oath. More refused. Under the pretext of visiting him, friends of the King would cleverly question More about his opinion of the King but More was careful about what he said. The Solicitor-General, Rich, visited him and tried to ensnare him into treasonable utterances. It was in vain; but the King was determined to proceed against him in whatever possible manner. His 14-month confinement took a heavy toll on his health. On 15th of July 1535 More was literally dragged to trial. The charges were treason for failing to take the oath. So futile was the case against him and so conclusive his defence that an acquittal seemed inevitable. At this juncture Rich left his place as Crown Counsel at the Bar, entered the witness box, and swore on oath that the accused had uttered treasonable words. More preserved his calm and dignity, saying only: "In truth, Mr. Rich, I am more sorry for your perjury than for my peril." He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, but according to the custom for men of his rank, the sentence was commuted to death by beheading. It was reported that when he put his head on the chopping block, he uttered one of the most famous of all his sayings: "Wait till I put my beard aside, for that hath done no treason." Four hundred years later, in 1935, the Catholic Church canonized Thomas More. He is the patron saint of lawyers, and has become a symbol of professional integrity, famous for the balanced judgement, and undaunted courage. His life story was made into a play, and then into an excellent multiple Oscar Award-winning film directed by Fred Zinneman titled - A Man for All Seasons.
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More went on to study at Oxford and during this time, he wrote comedies,
and studied Greek and Latin literature. Around 1494 More returned to London
to study law, and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1496. He became a
barrister in 1501, but did not automatically follow his father's footsteps.
He was torn between a monastic calling, and a civilian life. While at
Lincoln's Inn, he often lived at a nearby monastery, taking part in the
monastic life. 
