On this day in UK history – 7th February

On this day in UK history:

7^th February 1478 – Sir Thomas More was born.

Sir Thomas More – known to Roman Catholics as Saint Thomas More was an English lawyer / social philosopher / author / statesman and well-known Renaissance humanist.

He was an important councillor to King Henry VIII and was Lord Chancellor between October 1529 and May 1532. More was opposed to the Protestant Reformation – particularly the theology of Martin Luther and William Tyndale, burning their books and persecuting their followers.

In 1516 More’s book Utopia was published – the book was about the political system of an ideal and imaginary island nation.

More later opposed King Henry VIII’s separation from the Catholic Church and refused to accept him as the Supreme Head of the Church of England because it disparaged Papal authority and Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

More was tried for treason and convicted on perjured testimony and beheaded.

Pope Pius XI canonised More in 1935 as a martyr of the split that separated the Church of England from Rome and in 2000 Pope John Paul II declared More the “heavenly Patron of Statesmen and politicians”. Since 1980 the Church of England as remembered More liturgically as a Reformation martyr.

In 2002 Thomas More was placed at number 37 in the BBC’s poll of the 100 Greatest Britains.