Thomas more biography richard iii funeral

Thomas More (1478-1535)

I am seriously not going to attempt a proper biography of Thomas More – books have been written on the subject.

But a very quick summary maybe.

The Oxford DNB summarises thus – ‘lord chancellor, humanist, and martyr’. Thomas came from wealthy families, from trade (his father was a wealthy baker) and the law.

Thomas more biography richard iii funeral

He studied at St Anthony’s school in London, and England’s second oldest university, Oxford (joke, sorry).  In 1496, More was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn to prepare for admission to the bar, and in 1501 became a full member of the legal profession.

More interests though were of course much wider than the law; he became close friends with Erasmus, and read extensively from Holy Scriptures and the classics.

He was a deeply religious man, and in 1503 started to train to become a Carthusian monk, but instead chose public service and in 1504 became a member of parliament.

More published ‘Utopia’ in 1516; and went on to become s