Sir Thomas More

Thomas More (1478?-1535) was exceptionally gifted as a writer, scholar and lawyer. Witty, sociable and successful, he was also a profoundly religious man of devout and austere personal habits. He is now best remembered as a martyr of the Catholic Church (he was canonized in 1935) and as the author of Utopia (1516), which gave its name to a literary genre and is still widely read and imitated. More began to write while receiving a humanist education at Oxford (c.1492). After Oxford, More studied law in London and was admitted to the Bar (1501). As a lawyer, writer, politician, and servant of King Henry VIII, More had a brilliant career. He was, for example, twice elected to parliament, was knighted in 1521, and ultimately became Lo