More, Thomas (Thomas Moro), Saint

MORE, Thomas (Thomas Moro), Saint. - Born in London on 7 February 1477 or 1478 into a family of honourable standing, died there on 6 July 1535.

As a page, at about the age of 13, in the service of the Lord Chancellor Archbishop Morton, he was sent by the latter to Canterbury

College at Oxford (1492) for humanistic studies, whence in 1494 he passed to the study of jurisprudence and held a post as lecturer in law at Furnival's Inn. Meanwhile T. did not abandon letters, combining meditation on the Fathers of the Church with the reading of the classics; together with William Lily he translated epigrams from the Greek Anthology. From his meeting with Erasmus in 1499, when the latter, travelling to Oxford, stopped in London, there arose an esteem and mutual affection that never failed.

(from R. W. Chambers, T. M. Noora York, BBS)

THOMAS MORE, saint - Portrait, by H. Holbein - Windsor Castle, Library.

Uncertain whether to become a religious, on the advice of Colet he remained in the lay state, while preserving until the end a sincere admiration for the Carthusian life. Elected a member of Parliament in 1504, he opposed the excessive levy demanded by Henry VIII on the occasion of his daughter's marriage to the King of Scotland: the House of Commons reduced to about a quarter the sum requested by the King; but the latter, indignant, under futile accusations had T.'s father arrested, keeping him in the Tower until he had paid a heavy fine. In 1505 T. married Jane Colt, by whom he had four children: Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecilia and John. After Jane's death, in 1511, he contracted a second marriage with Alice Middleton, a widow and older than he. In 1510 he was appointed undersheriff of London; in 1515 he was sent to Flanders as ambassador to defend English commercial interests; in 1516 he received a life pension of 100 pounds, and in the following year he was appointed ambassador to Calais. The King then chose him as a member of the privy council and later as master of requests (perhaps in 1518). In 1524 elected speaker of the House of Commons, in 1525 he received the title of chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. When Henry VIII towards the end of 1527 asked T. for his opinion on the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, he met with a clear opposition; however, resolved in his purpose, in 1529 he forced Wolsey to leave the chancellorship because he had not succeeded in bringing the Pope round to his designs; he then offered this office to T. in the hope perhaps of making him change his purpose. T. accepted reluctantly and was the first layman to occupy this office (25 Oct. 1529); invited to reconsider the question of the repudiation of Catherine, he maintained his own position and confined himself to the strict duties of chancellor. When, then, Henry, at the beginning of 1531, claimed to be recognized as supreme head of the Church of England, T.'s position became ever more delicate; he avoided pronouncing himself in public and on 30 March 1531, in reporting to Parliament the King's justifications concerning his own conduct, he went no further than the pure task of spokesman. On 12 May 1532 Archbishop Warham, under royal pressure, presented the act of conditional submission of the clergy; on the same day T. resigned for reasons of health, withdrawing to live with his family at Chelsea, where Henry left him undisturbed for 18 months, resolved however to bend him. The former chancellor, included among the adherents of Elizabeth Barton, who had prophesied misfortunes for Henry if he should attempt a new marriage, was interrogated on 6 March 1534 by a commission, but he did not yield and, having returned to Chelsea, defended himself, also in writing, against all the accusations. On 13 Apr. he was called to swear the act of succession: he declared himself willing to swear to the succession of the Boleyn line, and not to the rest, which implied recognition of the divorce and repudiation of papal authority. Imprisoned in the Tower he remained there until 1 July 1535, when, tried for high treason, he was condemned to death by decapitation. He was beatified by Leo XIII in 1886 and canonized by Pius XI in 1935 together with Cardinal John Fisher (v.).

Among T.'s writings the best known is the Latin dialogue Utopia. T., who had had occasion to take to heart the political-social questions that were beginning to agitate the world of the Renaissance (the emergence of modern nations presented to a Catholic attentive to historical reality the necessity of ideal solutions to the problem of the organization of the earthly «community»), touching on them in his Life of Edward V and of the Duke of York, supposes the dialogue to have taken place in Antwerp among three characters: T. himself, Peter Giles, his friend and that of Erasmus, and an imaginary Raphael Hythloday, an old navigator who has the principal part in it, narrating the things he saw on his journeys in very distant lands. Book I of the work, which is an open criticism of the customs of European politics, inspired by outright Machiavellianism, and of English social organization, where wealth was concentrated in the hands of an oligarchy, has its central point in the question: in the face of a politics without scruples, can a «philosopher» - read «Catholic» - take part in the direction of the State, knowing that his moral counsels find no good welcome? The answer that emerges is that it is not good to withdraw because one cannot convert the rulers to one's own conceptions, but by adapting to circumstances one must rectify as much as possible, without compromising everything with a rigid intransigence. In Book II R. Hythloday describes the laws and customs of an imaginary island, Utopia, where he had stayed for some time, and where a pre-Christian society inspired by the dictates of natural reason flourished.

On the foundation of a community of goods (the society without property is created by T. M. to underline the economic injustices of his homeland and as an ultra-real aspiration to a life as fraternally «community» as possible) the author evidently wishes to show the degree of civilization attainable by human reason alone; certain «Utopian» institutions would be to be adopted in Europe, while others would not, as he himself declares at the end of the writing, where often a subtle wit and irony ends in satire. The Utopian society is nothing but a great family governed by magistrates who call themselves and are fathers. All activity is regulated by the senate, where debates are held on every question of common interest; in particular contingencies recourse is had to consultation of the entire island population. Although different religious professions exist, a great part of the population believes in an eternal and immense divinity whom it calls father. All, moreover, are convinced of the existence of a single supreme being, creator of the universe and provident, called Mithras. If one wishes to draw others to his belief he uses only persuasion, otherwise he is exiled or made a slave; no one, however, is free to deny a providence and a recompense after death. In that case he is excluded from public functions and may uphold his own opinions only privately with priests and wise men, because thus perhaps he might change them. As soon as they came to know the faith of Christ, brought by Raphael and his travelling companions, many Utopians were converted, while always respecting the freedom of others. The priests (men and women) in Utopia, holy and few, have the task of counselling and admonishing; they do, however, keep the impious away from the functions, and these, if they do not show repentance, are referred to the judgment of the senate.

Divorce is permitted for adultery or incompatibility of character, and self-euthanasia in certain cases of illness. In international relations the Utopians do not conclude treaties because nature already sufficiently makes men brothers; in war they buy off the enemy to eliminate their prince or induce his relatives to usurp his power, or the neighboring peoples to occupy his lands — here T. repeats, veiled in irony, the critique of Machiavellianism —; yet they detest war and are most sparing of the blood of their own citizens.

The other writings of T. can be grouped into works of humanistic erudition (such as the translation of epigrams from the Greek Anthology and of Dialogues of Lucian, and the Life of Pico della Mirandola); of religious meditation, among which the Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, written in English during his imprisonment in the Tower, is notable also artistically; of religious polemic against heretics, likewise composed in English for practical reasons; finally, standing apart, are his letters to family members and friends and the interesting Apology written after his resignation. T. contributed not a little to the formation of English as a literary language, especially in prose.

In the complex figure of T. M. is concentrated the balance between Catholic orthodoxy and the demand for renewal, between politics and religion, between humanism and the Renaissance; his highly refined culture is itself an expression of the constant harmony of his life.

Alberto Montecone