Biography
Studied at London and Oxford, England. Page for the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lawyer. Twice married, and a widower he was the father of one son and three daughters, and a devoted family man. Writer, most famously of the novel which coined the word Utopia. Translated with works of Lucian. Known during his own day for his scholarship and the depth of his knowledge. Friend of King Henry VIII. Lord Chancellor of England from 1529 to 1532, a position of political power second only to the king. Fought any form of heresy, especially the incursion of Protestantism into England. Opposed the king on the matter of royal divorce, and refused to swear the Oath of Supremacy which declared the king the head of the Church in England. Resigned the Chancellorship, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Martyred for his refusal to bend his religious beliefs to the king's political needs. Born: 7 February 1478 at London, England Died: • beheaded on 6 July 1535 on Tower Hill, London, England • body taken to Saint Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, England • his head was parboiled and then exposed on London Bridge for a month as a warning to other "traitors"; Margaret Roper bribed the man whose was supposed to throw it into the river to give it to her instead • in 1824 a lead box was found in the Roper vault at Saint Dunstan's Church Canterbury, England; it contained a head presumed to be More's