1731 Sir Thomas More - Biography / Henry VIII / RARE ED

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1731 Thomas More - Biography / Henry VIII / RARE ED!Scarce edition of Roper’s biography / English History The title page to this scarce early edition reads, “The Life and Death of Sir Thomas Moore, Kt. Lord High-Chancellor of England in the Reign of King Henry VIIIth. Written by William Rooper, Esq; Prothonotary of the King’s-Bench. To which are added, Some Original Letters referred to in the Account of his Life. London: Printed for C. Davis in Pater-Noster-Row, MDCCXXXI.” Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) was one of the most trusted officials of King Henry VIII, a loyal, intelligent, and highly principled man who was eventually hanged by his king for refusing to sanction Henry’s whims regarding the Roman Catholic Church and the sanctity of marriage. Trained as a lawyer, More’s heart was perhaps more in the church and in spiritual devotion. But he was obedient to his father’s wishes and became known as a lawyer, author, Renaissance scholar, and statesman, eventually taking over the ill-fated Cardinal Wolsey’s position as Lord High Chancellor under Henry VIII. A close friend of the humanist scholar Erasmus, More was a prolific writer (notably of his masterpiece Utopia ) and patron of the arts. Loyal to Henry VIII, More at first supported the king’s desire to annul his first marriage in order to marry Anne Boleyn. However, as antagonism grew between the pope and the king, More’s loyalty to the king was overshadowed by his faith in the Roman Catholic doctrine and the authority of the pope. At the last, More refused to sign the Act of Supremacy, which proclaimed Henry VIII as head of the English church. He also refused to attend the coronation of Queen Anne. As a result, he was beheaded in 1535. The life of Sir Thomas More, a fascinating man caught up in the turbulence of the early 16th century, is a study in character, integrity, and faith in the midst of intense political pressure. A good read, perhaps, for the politicians of our time. Certainly a solid source of information for the politics and culture of the Tudor court and the Renaissance era in England. Written by William Roper, More’s son-in-law, it is a detailed, first-hand account of this complex man’s life and personality. Roper (1498-1578) was an English gentleman who married the eldest of Sir Thomas More’s daughters, Margaret. A man of “excellent and modest character,” he espoused Luther’s Protestant views early on, only to return eventually to the Roman Catholic church after arguments and prayers by his father-in-law, whom he admired greatly. Roper’s biography of More is held in high esteem by historians, who recognize the authenticity of his account. Roper wrote it during the reign of Queen Mary, although it did not appear in print until 1626. His work won him the enmity of many Englishmen who were loyal to Elizabeth, because of his negative portrayal of Anne Boleyn, the mother of Elizabeth I. Roper gives this account of More’s early relationship with Henry VIII: And so was he from time to time by the Kinge advanced, continueinge in his singular favour and trustie service 20 yeeres and above. A good part tof used the Kinge upon holie daies when he had donne his owne devotions to sende for him into his traverse [closet], and theare sometimesin matters of Astronomy, Geometry, Divinity, and suche other Faculties, and sometimesof his worldlie affaires, to sit and conferre with him. And otherwhile in the night would he have him up into his leades theare to consider with him the diversities, courseds, motions, and opperacions of the stares and planets. And because he was of a pleasant disposicion, it pleased the Kinge and Queene after the Counsaile had suppt, yea at the time of their supper, to sende for him to be merry with them. Who when he perceived soe muche in his talke to delight that he could not in a monethe get leave to goe home to his wife and children (whose company he most desired) and to be absent from the Court to daies together but that he should be thither sent for againe, he muche mislikinge this restraint of libe... read more

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