The story of Sir Thomas More
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The year of 1509 was one of great celebration in England
as there was a new king, Henry VIII,
and he married the beautiful Spanish Princess
Katherine of Aragon.
However nearly twenty years later
without a true son and heir
and having fallen in love with someone else,
the King was looking for a way out of the marriage.
To get a divorce, he had to ask the Pope,
as head of the Roman Catholic Church,
for permission.
The Pope refused to allow it
and so for the next few years
those with clever minds surrounding the King
fell to helping him solve his Great Matter:
The problem of how he could divorce his wife.
After years of debate
and failing to persuade Katherine to agree to a divorce,
it was decided that England would break away
from the Pope and Rome.
and the King, along with all his subjects
would become English Catholics.
The King would become the head of this new Church.
and allow himself the divorce that he so desperately wanted.
Some people welcomed this change
as there were lots of complaints against the Church
but for others
the idea that the King was to be be
the Supreme Head of the Church in England
was difficult to live with.
They believed that God had chosen
the King to rule England
and the Pope to be the head of the Church.
It questioned their faith.
The king was determined to make everyone accept
both the change to the Church,
and his divorce from Katherine,
and he came down hard on those who openly disagreed.
There were lots of arrests
and many people were found to be either heretics
or traitors.
Either way the punishments were death.
One such man who would not accept the King's supremacy
was Thomas More.
This was a huge blow to the King
as Sir Thomas was his Chancellor and a trusted friend.
He was also very intelligent
and helped the King in the running of the country.
In particular Sir Thomas was a lawyer
and had a very quick mind for making laws
to suit the King's needs.
In this important position
Thomas More investigated anyone believed to be a heretic
and often these investigations led to arrest and death.
Sir Thomas didn't really agree with a divorce
but after a lot of pressure from the King
he did agree to respect the new queen Anne Boleyn,
but he refused to agree with the changes to the Church.
This refusal meant that in 1534
Sir Thomas was arrested and taken to the Bell Tower
in the Tower of London.
Even then the King still had hopes of persuading him
to sign an oath agreeing that the King
was the Supreme Head of the Church in England
but Sir Thomas wouldn't budge.
The King had moved to cold smaller rooms
to make him uncomfortable
but still his mind was made up.
Finally the King ordered his books to be taken from him.
This really hurt Sir Thomas
who was known for his love of books
and had written many himself.
Now he had nothing.
Still the King sent his best men
to argue, beg, and plead with him to change his mind.
He would not budge.
In the end the King was forced to put him on trial
and he was found guilty of treason.
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For this crime
most people would be hanged, drawn and quartered
but as he was once a man of great importance
he was allowed to quicker, less painful execution.
So on the sixth July 1535
Sir Thomas More was taken from his prison
and walked to the scaffold on Tower Hill.
A small crowd gathered and he spoke to them
saying he had always been a loyal servant to the King
but that he always put God first.
Then with one swift drop of the axe
his head was cut off.
His body was buried in the chapel at the Tower
but his head was placed on London Bridge for all to see.
Sir Thomas More died for his religious beliefs
and so would many more during the reign of the Tudor monarchs