ABOUT ME:

Thomas More was born on February 7, 1478 in London, England. He was born to John More, a lawyer and, later, judge on the King's Bench. He studied formal logic at the University of Oxford for two years, which is where much of his philosophical and political thinking may have originated. He returned to London at the direction of his father to study common law. He was accepted into Lincoln's Inn in 1496, which was one of the most prestigious legal societies at the time, but never left literature and scripture during his studies.

Thomas More transitioned into becoming an interpreter and spokesperson for London trade companies around 1505 to 1509. In 1510, he became one of the two deputy sheriffs in all of London, and prided himself on being a champion for the poor. During this time period, he began to write his first history script, History of King Richard III, in English and Latin from about 1513 to 1518, which would never become finished. He also published his most famous work, Utopia, in 1516.

In 1517, More resigned to begin his campaigns for humanist movements in the government, especially with Thomas Wolsey, the lord chancellor from 1515 to 1529. More embraced the ideas of Erasmus, one of the greatest scholars of the Renaissance, and the two became very close.

In April of 1523, More was elected speaker of the House of Commons. In 1525, he was promoted to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, which gave him great control over Northwestern England. On October 26, 1529, Thomas More became Lord Chancellor of all of England.

Thomas More's political career came crashing down after he refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII. He was summoned to swear to the Act of Succession, which would declare the marriage between Anne and Henry VIII valid, but refused. He claimed that by doing so, he would be undermining the pope's authority. By April 17, 1534, Thomas More was imprisoned, and a little over a year later, he was sentenced to death. He died on July 6, 1535 by beheading.

However, the label of traitor on Thomas More didn't stick throughout Europe, even among non-Catholics. And on May 19, 1935, Thomas More was officially canonized as a saint for his literature and rejection of secular powers. He is now well known for being a martyr for Catholicism and for his major work, Utopia.

MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

If not known for his contributions towards Catholicism, Thomas More is known for his book Utopia. The book describes a seemingly perfect society, through multiple characters, most notably Thomas More, who is supposed to present his own viewpoint and learn about Utopia, and Raphael Hythloday, who presents Utopia and gives his full endorsement of it and its policies.

Utopia is a communist society with seemingly ideal policies with little explanation. For example, a key aspect of Utopia is that senators (one is elected from each quarter) don't run, but instead are volunteered by their citizens. As said in the text, “Anyone who campaigns for public office becomes disqualified for holding any office at all”. This seems straightforward at first, but how would a person become democratically elected this way without receiving a very slim plurality of the votes? This is assuming they use some sort of a First Past the Post voting system, but it isn't elaborated on.

It is also said that no honors or responsibilities are put on some people, so that they are free to live a fulfilling life. It is said in the text: “They bestow no honors on such a person [“those who do not believe in the immortality of the soul, divine providence, and future rewards and punishment”], they assign him to no office, they put him in charge of no public responsibility.” How is a productive society built using this model? Wouldn't this statement directly contradict the electoral practice described earlier by involuntarily putting honors on someone? Again, it isn't elaborated on.

The book itself isn't vague, but often doesn't answer the very questions it poses. As this type of book is inspired by the ancient texts of Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Plato, the open endedness presented to the audience is very unusual. Thomas More poses poignant questions, but leaves them unanswered, sometimes voluntarily, but mostly because the questions are unanswerable. This isn't to say that More's opinion isn't given, but that a definite answer to the questions posed is never given.

However, the arguably more important character is Raphael Hythloday, who describes Utopia. He is our main guide into the society, and through him, the audience can make many revelations about Utopia. For one, it definitely isn't a perfect society. Assuming Hythloday aligns with Utopia, which is his main purpose, Utopia is in support of colonialism and bloody warfare. Harsh punishments such as slavery are ingrained in their culture, which creates an image of an authoritarian hell, instead of a paradise. But at the same time, like Hythloday himself, Utopia isn't entirely admirable or deplorable.

Utopia itself is a word created by Thomas More. It is a play on words, using two Greek phrases: ou-topos, which means “no place”; and eu-topos, which means “good place”. More was clever in describing the impossibility of the prospect of a utopia in the very word. It's critical to remember that Utopia wasn't the idea of a perfect world, it was an idea of the idea of a perfect world; commenting on, not proposing, the concept of a perfect society.

One of Thomas More's lesser known works, History of King Richard III, was still incredibly influential. The work actually inspired William Shakespeare to make his play Richard III over a century later. History of King Richard III was written in both English and Latin, but was never finished by More. The picture of King Richard III that was portrayed was heavily dramaticized. Thomas More never directly experienced his rule as an adult, so it was difficult for him to paint an accurate picture.

THE RENAISSANCE IS…

The first criterion that would be most important in defining the Renaissance in the perspective of Thomas More would be that: Classical ideas and influences are most important to the separation of Middle Ages ideas and newer thinking present in the Renaissance. For one, Thomas More was inspired by the great works of Greek philosophers among the ranks of Plato and Aristotle. His writings, like Utopia, are all in similar formatting as the dialogues by Classical philosophers.

In a more general sense, the Renaissance were greatly disconnected from the Middle Ages largely from looking at Ancient Greek and Roman texts. This came from the translations of these works from Greek and Latin to Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age and back into Latin and vernacular in the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance. This revitalization back to Classical thinking created a distinct era.

The second criterion that would be most important in defining the Renaissance would be that: man is capable of being good, and what is best for humanity is a society that is dedicated to values of community and strong moral and Christian behavior. In Utopia, Thomas More focuses on this by imagining the perfect government, even if it comes at the cost at some personal freedoms. Thomas More was famously defined by a strong Catholic value system, defying the King Henry VIII and the English government to uphold the authority of the Catholic Church.

As a whole, the Renaissance was still strongly centered around religion, especially when compared to today. In the humanist movements of the Renaissance, focus turned from deities to humans and what we could do to fulfill duties towards God and our communities.

MY IDEAL SCHOOL WOULD INCLUDE…

Firstly, as a humanist, Thomas More endorsed the teaching of liberal arts and the humanities. Thomas More also didn't view education's purpose as for preparing for a career, but instead for bettering oneself as a human. Thomas More was quite an advocate of women's education at his time, but not using our definition of education, but instead his own. More still likely believed that women shouldn't have careers, but they should have education to better themselves as humans.

In Utopia, Thomas More proposed many ideas through the characters that we can interpret to find his true desires on education. For example, he strongly believed that a group of scholars should be free from labor to focus on philosophy. He described a full education in Utopia that was given to all students.