Why did St Thomas Moore die?

Answer 1

Hey So,

Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 — 6 July 1535), posthumously known also as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author, and statesman. During his lifetime he earned a reputation as a leading humanist scholar and occupied many public offices, including that of Lord Chancellor from 1529 to 1532. More coined the word "utopia", a name he gave to an ideal, imaginary island nation whose political system he described in a book published in 1516. He is chiefly remembered for his principled refusal to accept King Henry VIII's claim to be the supreme head of the Church of England, a decision which ended his political career and led to his execution as a traitor.

In 1935, four hundred years after his death, More was canonized in the Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI, and was later declared the patron saint of lawyers and statesmen. He shares his feast day, June 22 on the Catholic calendar of saints, with Saint John Fisher, the only Bishop during the English reformation to maintain his allegiance to the Pope. More was added to the Anglican Churches' calendar of saints in 1980.
The last straw for Henry came in 1533, when More refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as the Queen of England. Technically, this was not an act of treason as More had written to Henry acknowledging Anne's queenship and expressing his desire for his happiness [1] - but his friendship with the old queen, Catherine of Aragon still prevented him from attending Anne's triumph. His refusal to attend her coronation was widely interpreted as a snub against her.

Shortly thereafter More was charged with accepting bribes, but the patently false charges had to be dismissed for lack of any evidence. In 1534 he was accused of conspiring with Elizabeth Barton, a nun who had prophesied against the king's divorce, but More was able to produce a letter in which he had instructed Barton not to interfere with state matters.

On 13 April of that year More was asked to appear before a commission and swear his allegiance to the parliamentary Act of Succession. More accepted Parliament's right to declare Anne the legitimate queen of England, but he refused to take the oath because of an anti-papal preface to the Act asserting Parliament's authority to legislate in matters of religion by denying the authority of the Pope, which More would not accept. Four days later he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he wrote his devotional Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation.

On 1 July 1535, More was tried before a panel of judges that included the new Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley, as well as Anne Boleyn's father, brother, and uncle. He was charged with high treason for denying the validity of the Act of Succession. More believed he could not be convicted as long as he did not explicitly deny that the king was the head of the church, and he therefore refused to answer all questions regarding his opinions on the subject. Thomas Cromwell, at the time the most powerful of the king's advisors, brought forth the Solicitor General, Richard Rich, to testify that More had, in his presence, denied that the king was the legitimate head of the church. This testimony was almost certainly perjured (witnesses Richard Southwell and Mr Palmer both denied having heard the details of the reported conversation), but on the strength of it the jury voted for More's conviction.

Before his sentencing, More spoke freely of his belief that "no temporal man may be head of the spirituality". He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered (the usual punishment for traitors) but the king commuted this to execution by beheading.

Answer 2

Thomas Moore Henry Viii

Answer 3

Thomas More died because he refused to sign a document the "Act of Succession" which in effect was a oath declaring the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne Boylen as legal and legitmate before God and that Henry was the legal head of the Church of England and not the Pope.
For this he lost his head.

Answer 4

He refused an oath that would have recognized Henry's right to a divorce. The play/movie "A Man For All Seasons" does an excellent job of capturing the story - you might be able to rent it on DVD. Wikipedia link below.

Answer 5

Thomas More Death

Answer 6

Henry VIII chopped his head off, mainly becasue he opposed the English separation from the Catholic church and Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

Answer 7

Saint Sir Thomas More was a humanist, lawyer and politician who rose to become Chancellor under Henry VIII, but was beheaded for refusing to recognise the king as head of the Church of England.

More was born in London on 7th February 1478, the son of a judge of the King’s Bench. He was educated at Canterbury Hall (now part of Christ Church), Oxford, and Lincolns Inn, after which, he entered the legal profession. After serving for seven years as under sheriff of the City of London, More was appointed as one of Henry VIII’s personal secretaries and advisors, and served on several diplomatic missions.

During his time in the king’s service, More worked to improve the legal structure, introducing the principle of Equity, a system whereby the Common Law may be overridden where natural justice demands it, into English Law. He wrote the philosophical work Utopia, a name deriving from the Greek ‘no place’, describing an imaginary but perfect state. More also carried out much of the work on Defence of the Seven Sacraments, a text attributed to Henry VIII.

More experienced a crisis of conscience when Henry VIII began to question the validity of his marriage with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. At first, More supported the king. He was appointed Chancellor and denounced his predecessor, Cardinal Wolsey, who had been dismissed for not backing Henry’s claim, and bringing in theological evidence to support the king’s argument. But when Henry decided that he alone and not the pope was the supreme head of the Church of England, More asked to be relieved of his position.

Out of office, More became the subject of accusations from his enemies. When he refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, he was accused of high treason. He was accused of accepting bribes while in office, but no evidence was brought. He was blamed for the nuisance being caused by Elizabeth Barton but refuted the charge with proof that he had told her to be quiet. More’s enemies caught him out when he was summoned to Parliament to swear to the Act of Succession, declaring Anne Boleyn to be the rightful queen. He declared that he recognised Parliament’s right to make Anne queen, but could not consent to the section of the Act denying the authority of the pope in spiritual matters. More was sent to the Tower of London to await trial.

More was tried before a panel of judges including Anne Boleyn’s father, brother and uncle. His defence strategy was to maintain silence, as was his right, knowing that the prosecution could not convict him without evidence. But the king’s new councillor, Thomas Cromwell, brought in perjured evidence that More had denied the king’s authority over ecclesiastical matters. More was convicted of high treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, a judgment later commuted to beheading.

More was executed on 6th July 1535. His last words were that he died “the king’s good servant but God’s first.” Before he ascended the scaffold he asked for the executioner’s help, saying “See me safe up. For coming down, I can shift for myself.” More is buried in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, in the Tower of London. [Tower of London, London, EC3N 4AB] His head was exhibited on a spike on London Bridge, until it was rescued by his daughter and buried in St Dunstan’s Church, Canterbury. [St Dunstans Street, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8BY]