is only by generation. We are by regeneration made spiritual children of Christ and the Pope." The sentence for treason was then handed down: "That he should be carried back to the Tower of London and from thence drawn on a hurdle through the City of London to Tyburn there to be hanged till he should be half dead; that then he should be cut down alive, his privy parts cut off, his belly ripped, his bowels burnt, his four quarters set up over four gates of the City, and his head upon London Bridge." When the sentence was read out, More said he may as well speak freely now and revealed that he was totally unable to see the sense of the oath of supremacy. To this, the Lord Chancellor replied that why, then, had so many bishops and academics taken the oath of supremacy? "I am able to produce against one bishop which you can produce, a hundred holy and Catholic bishops for my opinion; and against one realm, the consent of Christendom for a thousand years." And upon those desperate words, More rejoined that "albeit your lordships have been my judges to condemnation, yet we may hereafter meet joyfully together in Heaven to our everlasting salvation." Thomas More was then led back to London Tower, but this time with the Tower's axe before him, pointed edge leading the procession and towards the convict as was the custom. Henry the 8th later commuted the sentence to a quick beheading. The day of execution was July 6, 1535 and the procession left London Tower at nine in the morning. This was a big spectacle for Londoners, a parade of sorts. Persons who had lost law suits before him when he was Lord Chancellor, seized the opportunity to heckle the condemned man. To one wretched woman he yelled back: "I very well remember the case and if I were to decide it now, I would make the same decree." Brought up to the scaffold, Thomas More said to his executioner. ""Pluck up thy spirits, man, and be not afraid to do thine office. My neck is very short. Take heed, therefore, thou not strike awry for saving thine honesty."
Sir Thomas More was no more.
His head was stuck on London Bridge where it stayed for several months (his daughter later bought it). When news came of More death, King Henry abruptly left his game of cards and scowled at his new wife Anne Boleyn: "Thou art the cause of this man's death." But Henry the 8th, then 44 years old, was still a child and as good an argument one can make against monarchy as can be found in history. He quickly confiscated all of More's property and forced More's wife and family to start anew. He even negated special legal assignments that More had devised to provide for his family in case he was executed.
Anne Boleyn was beheaded eleven months after More, on charges of adultery. Henry the 8th went on to marry four more wives, another of which was also beheaded. Henry died in 1547. During his rein, there had been an average of 120 executions a month in England. More was named a Catholic saint in 1866.
A Chronology of More's Life
1477, Feb. 7 - Born in London to John and Agnes More
1484-1489 - Attends St. Anthony's School, London (More's age: 7-12)
1489-1491 - Page for Archbishop and Chancellor Morton (12-14)
1491-1493 - Student at Oxford (14-16)
1493-1495 - Pre-law student, New Inn, London (16-18)
1496-1501 - Law student, Lincoln's Inn; called to bar (18-23)
1499 - Meets Erasmus for the first time (22)
1501-1504 - Frequents Charterhouse (Carthusians) (24-27)
1501 - Lectures on St. Augustine's City of God; begins Greek (24)
1503-1506 - Reader at Furnival's Inn (26-29)
1504 - Elected to Parliament (27)
1505 - Marries Jane Colt; Margaret born (28)
1506 - Studies intensely; visits Coventry; Elizabeth born (29)
1507 - Financial secretary of Lincoln's Inn; Cecily born (30)
1508 - Visits universities at Paris and Louvain (31)
1509 - Member of Mercers' Guild; John born; Henry VIII crowned (32)
1510 - Elected to Parliament (33)
1510-1518 - Undersheriff of London (33-41)
1511 - After Jane's death, marries Alice Middleton; Autumn Reader at Lincoln's Inn (34)
1512 - Governor and treasurer of Lincoln's Inn (35)
1513 - Henry VIII leads an army against France; to Henry, Erasmus dedicates his translation of Plutarch's essay on flattery (36)
1514 - Elected to Doctors' Common; serves on sewers commission (37)
1515 - Embassy to Bruges and Antwerp for commercial treaties; Lenten Reader at Lincoln's Inn; refuses royal pension (38)
1516 - Continues to study history and political philosophy (39)
1517 - Embassy to Calais; counsel to pope's ambassador in England; Evil May Day; Wolsey's Treaty of Universal Peace; Luther's "Ninety-five Theses" (40)
1518 - Joins King Henry's service; Master of Requests (41)
1520 - Field of Cloth of Cold: peace with France (43)
1521 - Knighted; undertreasurer; ambassador to Bruges and Calais; cautions Henry not
