Anne and Thomas More: Mortal Enemies?

Thomas More was a close friend of the King; so close they may have been brotherly but Anne Boleyn turned Henry away from him and brought about his ultimate demise because he refused to acknowledge her as Queen.

What a myth. This misrepresentation of Thomas More and his downfall can be attributed to the influence of Hollywood and tacky historical novelists. The real story of Sir Thomas More is much more complicated and interesting. More was a noted Renaissance Humanist who deplored war and strove to be a moderate voice amongst Henry VIII's ambitious, sometimes ill informed advisers. More held minor positions in Henry's household and a seat in Parliament. Until the falling out of Thomas Wolsey and Henry VIII over negotiations with the Pope for an annulment of Henry's unhappy and rapidly deteriorating marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

After Cardinal Thomas Wolsey fell, More succeeded him to the office of Chancellor in 1529. He dispatched England's cases with unprecedented rapidity. He was undoubtedly devoted to Henry and the royal prerogative; More initially cooperated with the King's new policies, denouncing Wolsey in Parliament as ineffective and scheming. He also joined the opinion of the theologians at Oxford and Cambridge that the marriage of Henry to Catherine had been unlawful because of her relationship with his older brother Arthur. Yet as Henry's actions became more extreme and he denied Papal Authority, More's qualms about the extent which the King would go to grew.

As the conflict over supremacy between the Holy See and the King of England reached its climax, More continued to remain ardent in his support of the supremacy of the Pope as the vicar of Christ over that of the Henry. In 1530, More refused to sign a letter by the leading English churchmen and aristocrats which asked Pope Clement VII to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine, and also quarrelled with Henry VIII over the heresy laws trying to protect Catholics in England.

 In 1531, Henry began to move against More by purging nearly all of the clergy who supported Roman authority from senior positions in the church, this action left his isolated from those who shared his devotion. Additionally, Henry had solidified his denial of the Papacy's control of England by passing the "Statute of Praemunire" which forbade appeals to the Roman Curia from England, in essence silencing Catherine of Aragon's pleas for papal intervention in her divorce proceedings. More quickly realized his isolated position and attempted to resign after being forced to take an oath declaring the King the Supreme Head of the English Church "...as far as the law of Christ allows". Furthermore, the Statute of Praemunire made it a crime to support in public the claims of the Papacy to be the sole, something he had done while burning Protestant heretics and pursuing the arrest and execution of William Tyndale. Thus, he refused to take the oath in the form in which it would renounce all claims of jurisdiction over the Church except the sovereign's. Despite his refusal, the reputation and influence of More as well as his long relationship with Henry, kept his life secure for the time being and consequently Henry refused to accept his resignation from office. However, with his supporters in court quickly disappearing, in 1532 he asked the King again to relieve him of his office, claiming that he was ill and suffering from sharp chest pains. This time Henry granted his request.

In 1533, More notably refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as the Queen of England. This is the first piece of evidence sensationalists will use to suggest that there was enmity between Anne and More. Despite claims by multiple authors this act in and of itself was not treasonous, as More had written to Henry acknowledging Anne's queenship and expressing his desire for the King's happiness and the new Queen's health. Though we cannot know for sure the reasons for his absence at the event, but there were rumors of illness, proven increasing poverty and unpoularity at court as the Boleyn faction grew in power and influence.

On  April 13, 1534, More was asked to appear before a commission and swear his allegiance to the parliamentary Act of Succession. Instead More accepted Parliament's right to declare Anne Boleyn the legitimate Queen of England, but he steadfastly refused to take the Oath of Supremacy of the Crown in the relationship between the kingdom and the Church in England. Holding fast to the teaching of Holy See supremacy, More refused to take the oath which reads:

"...By reason whereof the Bishop of Rome and See Apostolic, contrary to the great and inviolable grants of jurisdictions given by God immediately to emperors, kings and princes in succession to their heirs, hath presumed in times past to invest who should please them to inherit in other men's kingdoms and dominions, which thing we your most humble subjects, both spiritual and temporal, do most abhor and detest..."

With his refusal to support the King's assertion of absolute religious authority in England More's enemies had enough evidence to have the King arrest him for treason. Four days later, King Henry VIII had More locked away in the Tower of London. While he was imprisoned, Thomas Cromwell made at least three visits, urging him to take the oath; for his part More continued to refuse. As a result he was tried by a panel of judges  that included the new Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley, as well as Anne Boleyn's father, brother and uncle. Writers have tried to point to this as evidence of Anne's influence in his destruction. Historians however, see this as only natural when one takes into account the immense power wielded by the Thomas Boleyn, the Earl of Ormonde, George Boleyn, ennobled as Viscount Rochford and Thomas Howard the Duke of Norfolk.

More was tried, and found guilty, under the following section of the Treason Act 1534:

If any person or persons, after the first day of February next coming, do maliciously wish, will or desire, by words or writing, or by craft imagine, invent, practise, or attempt any bodily harm to be done or committed to the king's most royal person, 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...

That then every such person and persons so offending... shall have and suffer such pains of death and other penalties, as is limited and accustomed in cases of high treason.

After the verdict was read and prior his sentencing, More spoke freely of his belief that "no temporal man may be the head of the spirituality".

AS we can clearly see from the evidence available, More's downfall was a direct result of his inability/unwillingness to accept Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church in England. His deeply held and unchaging Catholicism made it impossible for him to consider that the Apostolic line might not lie with the Pope. There was no personal quarrel between Anne and Sir Thomas More; in fact she kept a copy of Utopia amongst her belongings. This is just another example of irresponsible myth spreading thanks to those with little respect for historical fact or research.

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