Claire | July 5, 2016
On this day in history, 5th July 1535, Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s former chancellor, wrote a last letter from his prison cell in the Tower of London. He’d been imprisoned in the Tower since 17th April 1534 and had been found guilty of high treason by a commission of oyer and terminer on 1st […]
Claire | July 1, 2016
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, includes a record of the commission of oyer and terminer which tried Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s former chancellor, for treason on 1st July 1535. Firstly, it gives a list of those appointed to the commission of oyer and terminer: “Special commission of oyer and terminer for […]
Claire | October 25, 2015
On 25th October 1529, Sir Thomas More was made Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor following the fall of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry’s previous Lord Chancellor who had been forced to surrender the Great Seal on 17th October. According to an account in Letters and Papers, the seal was then delivered to Sir Thomas More by the […]
Claire | June 26, 2015
On this day in history, 26th June 1535, a new commision of oyer and terminer was appointed for the county of Middlesex. The commission ordered the Sheriff of Middlesex to gather the Grand Jury on the 28th June at Westminster Hall. “Oyer and terminer” comes from the French “to hear and to determine” and denotes […]
Claire | June 3, 2015
On 3rd June 1535, Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor, was interrogated in the Tower of London by Thomas Boleyn, Thomas Audley, Thomas Cromwell and the Duke of Suffolk regarding the royal supremacy. He had been arrested and taken to the Tower on 17th April 1534 after refusing to swear the Oath of […]
Claire | April 27, 2015
Today, Beth von Staats, author of Thomas Cranmer: In a Nutshell and creator of QueenAnneBoleyn.com, shares with us a biography of Thomas More. And it was precisely in defence of the rights of conscience that the example of Thomas More shone brightly. It can be said that he demonstrated in a singular way the value […]
Claire | February 7, 2015
This day in history, 7 February 1478 (some say 1477), is the traditional birthdate of Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, in Milk Street, Cheapside, London. He was the son of Sir John More, lawyer and judge on the King’s Bench, and Agnes Graunger, daughter of Thomas Graunger, a Merchant of the Staple of […]
Claire | July 5, 2014
On 5th July 1535, the day before his execution, Sir Thomas More wrote to his beloved daughter Margaret Roper from his prison in the Tower of London. He had been found guilty of high treason at a special commission of oyer and terminer for refusing to recognise Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church […]
