The Life of Thomas More

503 Pages·1999·4.21 MB·English

by  Peter Ackroyd

Praise for The Life of Thomas More
by Peter Ackroyd
“Frank and masterful.… [Ackroyd has a] gift for describing what it all looked and felt
like.”
—The Baltimore Sun
“An exceptionally fascinating, colorful and moving biography.”
—The Christian Science Monitor
“Mr. Ackroyd skillfully captures the life of a consummate lawyer, humanist, martyr and
Renaissance man.…”
—The National Law Journal
“Beautifully written, comprehensively researched.”
—Houston Chronicle
“Exquisite.… [Ackroyd has] a sense of history and a wonderful command of the English
language.… Highly recommendable.”
—Library Journal
“A limpidly written and superbly wrought portrait.”
—Kirkus Reviews
PETER ACKROYD
The Life of Thomas More
Peter Ackroyd is a prizewinning writer. His biographies include T.S.
Eliot, recipient of the Whitbread Biography of the Year Award and joint
winner of the Royal Society of Literature’s William Heinemann Award;
and Blake. His novels include Chatterton, Hawksmoor, and most recently,
The Trial of Elizabeth Cree and Milton in America. He lives in London.
BY PETER ACKROYD
FICTION
The Great Fire of London
The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde
Hawksmoor
Chatterton
First Light
English Music
The House of Doctor Dee
Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem
Milton in America
The Plato Papers
NONFICTION
Dressing Up: Transvestism and Drag: The History of an Obsession
London: The Biography
Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination
BIOGRAPHY
Ezra Pound and His World
T. S. Eliot
Dickens
Blake
The Life of Thomas More
POETRY
Ouch!
The Diversions of Purley and Other Poems
CRITICISM
Notes for a New Culture
The Collection: Journalism, Reviews, Essays, Short Stories, Lectures edited by Thomas
Wright

FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION, DECEMBER 1999
Copyright © 1998 by Peter Ackroyd
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in
the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally
published in hardcover in the United Kingdom by Chatto & Windus, London in 1998. Originally
published in hardcover in the United States by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday in 1998.
Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the Nan A. Talese/Doubleday edition as follows: Ackroyd,
Peter, 1949–
The life of Thomas More / Peter Ackroyd. — 1st ed. in the U.S.A.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. More, Thomas, Sir, Saint, 1478–1535. 2. Great Britain—
History—Henry VIII, 1509–1547—Biography. 3. Great Britain—
Politics and government—1509–1547. 4. Christian martyrs—England—
Biography. 5. Statesmen—Great Britain—Biography. 6. Humanists—
England—Biography. I. Title.
DA334.M8A64 1998
942.05′2′092—dc21
[B] 98-24333
eISBN: 978-0-30782301-4
www.anchorbooks.com
Author photograph by Roderick Field
v3.1
FOR THOMAS WRIGHT
Contents
Cover
About the Author
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I THIS DARK WORLD
II PRETTY PLAYS OF CHILDHOOD
III ST ANTHONY’S PIGS
IV COUGH NOT, NOR SPIT
V SET ON HIS BOOK
VI DUTY IS THE LOVE OF LAW
VII MOST HOLY FATHER
VIII WE TALK OF LETTERS
IX IF YOU WANT TO LAUGH
X THE WINE OF ANGELS
XI HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!
XII CRAFT OF THE CITY
XIII MILK AND HONEY
XIV A JOLLY MASTER-WOMAN
XV KINGS’ GAMES
XVI THE BEST CONDITION OF A SOCIETY
XVII WHOLLY A COURTIER
XVIII HE SAT UPON A THRONE OF GOLD
XIX MY POOR MIND
XX EQUES AURATUS
XXI I AM LIKE RIPE SHIT
XXII LONG PERSUADING AND PRIVY LABOURING
XXIII THY FOOLISH FACE
XXIV YOU ARE BUT ONE MAN
XXV FOOLISH FRANTIC BOOKS
XXVI WE POOR WORLDLY MEN OF MIDDLE EARTH
XXVII INFINITE CLAMOUR
XXVIII ALL THE BEASTS OF THE WOODS
XXIX THE WRATH OF THE KING MEANS DEATH
XXX THE WEEPING TIME
XXXI PECK OF TROUBLES
XXXII CALL FORTH SIR THOMAS MORE
XXXIII THE KING IS GOOD UNTO ME
SOURCE NOTES
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
14.1 Sir Thomas More, Hans Holbein the Younger (The Royal Collection ©
Her Majesty The Queen) 14.2 The More household at Chelsea, Hans
Holbein the Younger (Kunstmuseum, Basle) 14.3 Sir John More, Hans
Holbein the Younger (The Royal Collection © Her Majesty The Queen) 14.4
William Roper, ascribed to Hans Holbein the Younger (Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York) 14.5 Margaret Roper, ascribed to Hans
Holbein the Younger (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) 14.6
Elizabeth Dauncey, Hans Holbein the Younger (The Royal Collection ©
Her Majesty The Queen) 14.7 Cicely Heron, Hans Holbein the Younger
(The Royal Collection © Her Majesty The Queen) 14.8 Anne Cresacre, Hans
Holbein the Younger (The Royal Collection © Her Majesty the Queen) 14.9
John More, Hans Holbein the Younger (The Royal Collection © Her
Majesty The Queen) 14.10 Henry VII, ascribed to Michael Sittow (National
Portrait Gallery, London)
14.11 Richard III, unknown artist (National Portrait Gallery, London)
14.12 Elizabeth of York, unknown artist (National Portrait Gallery, London)
14.13 The young Henry VIII, unknown artist (National Portrait Gallery,
London)
14.14 Catherine of Aragon, unknown artist (National Portrait Gallery,
London)
26.1 Anne Boleyn, unknown artist (National Portrait Gallery, London) 26.2
Sir Thomas More, Hans Holbein the Younger (Frick Collection, New York;
Bridgeman Art Library) 26.3 Desiderius Erasmus, Quentin Matsys (Galleria
Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome) 26.4 Peter Gillis, Quentin Matsys (Private
collection; Courtauld Institute of Art) 26.5 John Fisher, Bishop of
Rochester, unknown artist (National Portrait Gallery, London) 26.6
Thomas Cromwell, unknown artist (National Portrait Gallery, London)
26.7 Martin Luther, Lucas Cranach the Elder (City of Bristol Museum and Art