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Saint Thomas More
Lawyer, judge, statesman, scholar, writer, husband, father, martyr, saint: Thomas More truly was, as his friend Erasmus described him, "a man for all seasons".
Lawyer, judge, statesman, scholar, writer, husband, father, martyr, saint: Thomas More truly was, as his friend Erasmus described him, “a man for all seasons”. Born in 1478, educated at Oxford, New Inn, and Lincolns’ Inn, he was called to the bar in 1501. Thomas soon became London’s leading barrister and served as a part time judge. In 1518 he entered the king’s service, becoming Chancellor in 1529. He retired to his home in Chelsea in 1532 after Henry VIII was declared Head of the Church. He was a vocal defender of the Church and wrote numerous works, including Utopia. With his first wife, Jane, he had four children. After Jane’s death, he married Alice. He was a pioneer in educating his daughters. Thomas was known for his gift for friendship and sense of humour. Thomas was convicted of treason for refusing to swear an oath acknowledging Henry as Head of the Church, and beheaded, in 1535. He was canonized in 1935.
Online Biographies and Articles
Centre for Thomas More Studies – About Thomas More:
http://www.thomasmorestudies.org/about.html
Luminarium:
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/morebio.htm
Catholic Encyclopedia:
http://www.franciscan-archive.org/more/
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_more
John Farrow, The Story of Thomas More:
http://www.cin.org/farmor.html
Robert H. Bork, “Thomas More for Our Season”, 1999 First Things 94:
http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9906/articles/bork.html
Mark Shea, “St. Thomas More”:
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0559.html org
Marvin O’Connell, “A Man for all Seasons: an Historian’s Demur”, Catholic Dossier 8 no. 2 (March-April 2002):
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0078.html
Edward Surtz S.J., Thomas More’s Friendship with John Fisher
http://pweb.netcom.com/~rjs474/fishmore.html
St. Thomas More page on SPQN:
http://http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-thomas-more/
Contemporaneous accounts
Famous Quotations:
http://www.thomasmorestudies.org/quotes.html
Erasmus’ Description of Thomas More:
http://pw2.netcom.com/~rjs474/thomasmore/1519lett.html
The Paris Newsletter Account of More’s Trial and Execution, August 4, 1535:
http://www.thomasmorestudies.org/segn/control/context?docId=12&searchDocId=12&selectedDoc=12&offset=0&version=modern&xpath=/wp:Document/wp:Content/page[1]&allDoc=true#null
William Roper: The Life of Sir Thomas More (1557 – this is one of the earliest biographies of More, written by his son-in-law).
http://www.cin.org/farmor.html
Modern Biographies
Peter Ackroyd, The Life of Thomas More (New York: Nan A. Talese, 1998) 978-0-385-49693-3 Exerpt:
http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/1098/ackroyd/excerpt.html
Interview with P. Ackroyd:
http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/1098/ackroyd/interview.html
John F. Fink, St. Thomas More: Model for Modern Catholics (St. Paul, 2009)
Richard Marius, Thomas More: A Biography (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984)
Writings and Organizations Dedicated to the Study of Thomas More
Centre for Thomas More Studies:
http://www.thomasmorestudies.org/
The St. Thomas More Website:
http://www.apostles.com/thomasmore.html
Luminarium Thomas More Page:
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/tmore.htm
Franciscan Archive:
http://www.cin.org/farmor.html
Catholic Lawyers’ Associations
Canada
There are Thomas More Lawyers’ Guilds in a number of Canadian cities, including Ottawa, Hamilton, Saskatoon and Edmonton
United States
Most major American cities have a Catholic lawyers’ association under the patronage of St. Thomas More. Here is a selection:
St. Thomas More Society of San Francisco, California:
http://www.stthomasmore-sf.org/
St. Thomas More Society, Los Angeles:
http://www.laredmass.org/
St. Thomas More Society of Orange County, California:
http://www.stthomasmore.net/
St. Thomas More Society of the Diocese of Madison:
http://www.cin.org/farmor.html
St. Thomas More Lawyers Society of Wisconsin:
http://www.stthomasmorewi.org/
The Saint Thomas More Society of Philadephia:
http://saintthomasmoresociety.blogspot.com/
St. Thomas More Society of the Diocese of Dallas, Texas:
http://www.stmsdallas.org/
The John Carroll Society (Washington DC):
http://www.johncarrollsociety.org/about/
International
Thomas More Society (London) (no website)
St. Thomas More Society, Los Angeles:
http://www.stmsociety.org.au/
