Thomas More

The epitaph was written in Latin by More himself, in 1532.

Sir Thomas More being lorde Chaunceller of England, gaue ouer that office (by his great sute & labour) the .xvi. day of may, in the yere of our lord god a.1532. and in the .xxiiii. yere of the raigne of king Henry the eight. And after in that somer, he wrote an epitaphy in latin, and caused it to be written vpon his tombe of stone, which himself (while he was lord Chanceller) had caused to be made in his parishe church of Chelsey (where he dwelled) thre smal Miles from London. The copye of which epitaphy here foloweth...

"Thomas More, a Londoner borne, of no noble famely, but of an honest stocke, somewhat brought vp in learning, after that in his yong dayes, he had ben a pleader in the lawes of this hall certaine yeres, being one of the vndershrieves of London, was of noble kinge Henry the eight (which alone of all kinges worthely deserued both with the sweorde and penne, to be called the defender of the faith, a glory afore not herd of) called into the court, & chosen one of the counsel, and made knight: then made first vnder treasorer of englande, after that Chanceller of ye Duchy of Lancaster, and last of all (with great fauour of his Prince) lord Chaunceller of England. But in the meane season, he was chosen speker of the parlement, & besides was diuers times in dyuers places the kinges embassator, and last of all at Cameray (ioined felow and companion with Cuthbert Tonstal chief of that embassy than Bishop of London, and wythin a while after Bishop of Durham, who so excelleth in learning wit and vertue, that the whole world scant hath at this daye any more lerned wiser or better) where he both ioyfully saw & was present ebassator, when the legues betwene the chief Princes of christendome wer renued againe and peace so long loked for restored to Christendome. Which peace oure lord stable and make perpetual.

When he had thus gone throughe thys course of offices or honours, that neither that gracious prince could disalow his doinges, nor was he odious to the nobilite, nor vnplesant to the people, but yet to theues, murderers and heretikes greuous, at laste John More hys father knight, and chosen of the Prince to be one of the iustyces of the kynges benche a ciuil man, plesant, harmless gentil, pitiful, iust, & vncorrupted, in yeres old, but in body more than for his yeres lusty, after that he parceiued his sonne lord Chaunceller of Englande, thinking hymselfe nowe to haue liued long inough, gladly departed to god, his sonne than, his father being dead, to whome as long as he liued being compared, was wont both to be called yong, & himself so thought to, missing now his father departed, and seing .iiii. children of his own, & of their offspringes xi. began in his own conceit to waxe old. And this affect of his was increased, by a certayne sickly disposicion of hys brest, euen by & by folowing, as a signe or token of age creping vpon him. He therfore irke and wery of worldly business, giuing vp his promocions, obtained at last by ye incomparable benefite of his most gentil prince (if it please god to fauour his enterprise) that thing which from a childe in a manner alway he wished & desyred, that he might haue some yeres of his life fre, in which he litle and litle withdrawing himself from the business of this life, might continually remembre the immortalite of the lyfe to come. And he hath caused this tombe to be made for himselfe (his firste wiues bones brought hither to) that might euerye day put him in memory of death that neuer ceaseth to crepe on hym. And that this tombe made for him in his life time be not in vaine, nor that he fere death comming vpon him, but that he may willingly for the desire of Christ, die, & find death not vtterly death to him, but ye gate of a welthyer life, helpe hym (I besech you good reader) nowe with your praiers while he liueth, & when he is dead also."

Under this epitaphy in prose, he caused to be written on his tombe, this latten epitaphy in versis following, which himself had made .xx. yeres before', for Jane Colt:

'"Here lieth Ione ye welbeloued wife of me Thomas More, who haue apointed this tombe for Alis my wife and me also, the one being coupled with me in matrimony, in my youthe brought me forth thre daughters & one sone, ye other hath ben so good to my children (which is a rare praise in mothers in law) [ie stopmothers] as scant any could be better to her own. The one so liued with me, & the other nowe so lyueth, that it is doubtfull whether thys or the other were derer vnto me. Oh howe well could we thre haue liued ioined together in matrimony, if fortune and religion wolde haue suffred it. But I beseche our lord that his tombe and heauen may ioine vs togither. So deathe shall give vs, that thyng that life could not'.

The last letter of Thomas More - The following letter was written to More's daughter Margaret on 5 July 1535, the day before his execution. More wrote with a stick of charcoal on cloth; King Henry VIII had ordered his books and writing materials to be removed. More had been appointed Lord Chancellor upon Wolsey's fall in 1529. He was already a respected philosopher and writer throughout Europe. But to his English contemporaries, he was most famous as a lawyer. He was a brilliant jurist; he served in parliament and on diplomatic missions. Unlike most royal servants, he had unimpeachable integrity. He could not be bribed. He believed, above all else, in the impartial supremacy of the law. As Chancellor, he worked industriously to promote justice and faith in the courts. However, he resigned in 1532 when the king's determination to annul his marriage to Katharine of Aragon caused Henry to reject papal authority in England. More was deeply pious. He recognized the abuses of the Catholic church, but he believed it could reform itself from within. He could not accept spiritual reformation via secular power. As a young man, he had been torn between a career in the church and a career in law. Though he had chosen the latter, he never lost his passion for theology. After resigning the chancellorship, More retired to his family home. He attempted to live modestly and quietly, hoping to be left alone. But he was too famous and respected to be forgotten. Henry VIII knew that his controversial reformation would be far more credible if men such as More accepted it. As the premier intellectual in England, More's opinion was too important to remain his own. It should be noted that More accepted parliament's ability to decide the succession in favor of the king's children with Anne Boleyn, for it was a legal issue and parliament was within rights to decide it. However, he would not take an oath recognizing Henry's position as Supreme Head of a new English church. He simply could not repudiate the spiritual authority of the papacy. And so he was arrested in the spring of 1534. He was kept in the Tower of London for over a year, under increasingly harsh conditions. The king hoped that imprisonment would alter More's disposition. It did not. More was finally charged with high treason and tried at Westminster on 1 July 1533. Despite his brilliant defense, he was found guilty and executed on 6 July. The news shocked all of Europe. It remains the most famous example of judicial murder during Henry's reign. More was later canonized by the Catholic church.

Our Lord bless you, good daughter, and your good husband, and your little boy, and all yours, and all my children, and all my god-children and all our friends. Recommend me when ye may to my good daughter Cecily, whom I beseech Our Lord to comfort; and I send her my blessing and to all her children, and pray her to pray for me. I send her a handkercher, and God comfort my good son, her husband. My good daughter Daunce hath the picture in parchment that you delivered me from my Lady Coniers, her name on the back. Show her that I heartily pray her that you may send it in my name to her again, for a token from me to pray for me.

I like special well Dorothy Colly. I pray you be good unto her. I would wot whether this be she that you wrote me of. If not, yet I pray you be good to the other as you may in her affliction, and to my good daughter Jane Aleyn too. Give her, I pray you, some kind answer, for she sued hitherto me this day to pray you be good to her.

I cumber you, good Margaret, much, but I would be sorry if it should be any longer than to-morrow, for it is St. Thomas's even, and the utas of St. Peter; and therefore, to-morrow long I to go to God. It were a day very meet and convenient for me.

I never liked your manner towards me better than when you kissed me last; for I love when daughterly love and dear charity hath no leisure to look to worldly courtesy. Farewell, my dear child, and pray for me, and I shall for you and all your friends, that we may merrily meet in heaven. I thank you for your great cost. I send now my good daughter Clement her algorism stone, and I send her and my godson and all hers God's blessing and mine. I pray you at time convenient recommend me to my good son John More. I liked well his natural fashion. Our Lord bless him and his good wife, my loving daughter, to whom I pray him to be good, as he hath great cause; and that, if the land of mine come to his hands, he break not my will concerning his sister Daunce. And the Lord bless Thomas and Austin, and all that they shall have.

Some useful sites -

http://www.apostles.com/thomasmore.html (Official Site)

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