THE TRIAL OFSIR THOMAS MORE

BACKGROUND■ BORN: 1477/1478■ STUDIED AT OXFORD

– formal logic, writing comedies, studying Greek & Latin

■ IN 1494, MORE WAS ADMITTED TO LINCOLN’S INN, ONE OF ENGLAND’S FOUR LEGAL SOCIETIES.

■ BETWEEN 1501 AND 1504, AS A FULL MEMBER OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION, MORE BECAME TORN BETWEEN A LIFE OF LAW, SPIRITUAL LIVING AND SERVING HIS COUNTRY IN A POLITICAL CAPACITY.

POLITICAL CAREER

■ PERSONAL ADVISOR TO KING HENRY VIII■ MORE AND HENRY VIII WERE ALSO CLOSE FRIENDS

– MORE DID NOT MAGNIFY HIS OWN IMPORTANCE OR MANIPULATE THE KING

ACT OF TREASON

■ ACCORDING TO THE ACT OF TREASON, IT WAS CONSIDERED MALICIOUS TO DENY THE KING OR HIS FAMILY OF ANY OF THEIR RIGHTS.

■ MORE REFUSED THE OATH AND WAS CHARGED WITH TREASON ■ ACCORDING TO THE ACT OF TREASONS, IT IS TREASON TO

“maliciously wish, will, or desire by words or writing, or by craft imagine, invent, practice, or attempt any bodily harm to be done or committed to the king’s most royal person, or the queen’s, or their heirs apparent, or to deprive them or any of them of their dignity, title, or name of their royal estates, or slanderously and maliciously publish or pronounce, by express writings or words, that the king our sovereign lord should be a heretic, schismatic, tyrant, infidel” (Kelly et al, 2013).

CHARGES

MORE WAS IMPRISONED IN THE TOWER OF LONDON IN APRIL OF 1534 AND HEARD THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME ON JULY 1ST, 1535. THE CHARGES ARE AS FOLLOWED:

– REMAINING SILENT AGAINST THE ACT (IN THE PROCESS DEPRIVING THE KING OF HIS TITLE)

– ARMING BISHOP FISHER AGAINST THE ACT (PERSUADING HIM TO USE HIS CONSCIENCE WHEN TAKING THE OATH)

– CONSPIRING WITH BISHOP FISHER (REFERRING TO THE ACT AS A TWO-EDGED SWORD)

DEFENSES

■ SILENCE– “ONE COULD ONLY BE PUNISHED FOR DOING OR SAYING

SOMETHING OFFENSIVE, NOT FOR DOING NOTHING AND SAYING NOTHING” (Kelly et al, 2013).

– THERE IS NO LAW THAT PUNISHES SILENCE.– FOLLOWING ONE’S CONSCIENCE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN

RESPONDING TO INTERROGATION.– MORE CONTINUED TO REMAIN SILENT AND GAVE EVASIVE AND

RHETORICAL ANSWERS THROUGHOUT THE TRIAL.

■ COLLUSION– THE CONTENT OF THE LETTERS BETWEEN MORE AND FISHER WERE

OF DAILY LIFE AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP.– “WHEN FIRST EXAMINED ON THE STATUTE […] I REPLIED THAT I HAD

EXONERATED MY CONSCIENCE AND FOLLOWED REASON” (Kelly et al, 2013).

– MORE DESCRIBED THE ACT OF TREASON AS A “TWO-EDGED SWORD” AND DEFENDED HE WAS SIMPLY SPEAKING HYPOTHETICALLY.

– MORE DEFENDED, “HOW COULD ANY PERSON TAKE CARE AGAINST COMING UP AGAINST ONE EDGE OR THE OTHER?” (Kelly et al, 2013).

THESE THREE CHARGES WERE EVENTUALLY DISMISSED

FINAL CHARGE

■ CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD RICH IN THE TOWER OF LONDON– MORE’S RESPONSE WAS TO A HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION POSED

BY RICHARD RICH.– MORE CLAIMED PARLIAMENT COULD NOT MAKE RICH POPE ANY

MORE THAN IT COULD NOT MAKE GOD NOT GOD– IN RICH’S REPORT, RICH SUBSTITUTED HIMSELF AND USED HENRY

VIII BEING MADE SUPREME HEAD OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH. RICH FALSELY CLAIMED MORE DENIED PARLIAMENT HAD THE POWER TO MAKE SUCH A DECLARATION.

VERDICT & EXECUTION

■ INDICTED ON HIGH TREASON– CONVICTED ON THE PERJURED TESTIMONY OF ONE WITNESS

(SOLICITOR-GENERAL RICHARD RICH)– IT WASN’T UNTIL EDWARD VI’S REIGN THE TWO-WITNESS RULE WAS PUT

INTO PLACE.– DURING MORE’S TRIAL, THERE WERE NO RULES OF EVIDENCE.

“EVIDENCE” CONSISTED OF EXAMINATIONS AND INCRIMINATING DOCUMENTS.

■ SENTENCED TO TRAITOR’S DEATH– DRAWN, HANGED, QUARTERED

■ HENRY VIII COMMUTED SENTENCE TO BEHEADING

MEDIA

■ A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (FILM & PLAY)– PORTRAYED BY PAUL SCOFIELD IN 1966 FILM

■ THE TUDORS (2007-2010)– PORTRAYED BY JEREMY NORTHAM– SEASONS ONE to TWO

■ WOLF HALL (2015-present)– PORTRAYED BY ANTON LESSER

WORKS CITED

Kelly, Henry, Louis Karlin, Gerard Wegemer (2013). Thomas More's Trial by Jury: A Procedural and Legal Review with a Collection of Documents. Suffolk: Boydell Press.