Why was Sir Thomas More executed?

Sir Thomas More was convicted of treason and executed in 1535 after refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. He opposed King Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Pope Pius XI later canonised More as a martyr in 1935.

What we know

• Sir Thomas More was convicted of treason after refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. [2]
• More opposed King Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. [2]
• At his execution, More reportedly stated that he died the King's good servant, and God's first. [2]
• Pope Pius XI canonised Thomas More as a martyr in 1935, and Pope John Paul II declared him the patron saint of statesmen and politicians in 2000. [1, 2]

Still open

• More stated during his trial that he was convicted on false evidence.

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureWhat did Thomas More write in Utopia?
• what caused itHow did the Protestant Reformation impact England?
• whoWho was Catherine of Aragon?
• how it workedWhat is the history of the Oath of Supremacy?
• what followedHow did Pope John Paul II honor Thomas More?
• an unexpected connectionWhat defines a botched execution?While Thomas More faced a historic execution for treason, the modern study of executions categorizes failures through protocols and unexpected agony studied by political scientists.

Sources

• [1]Thomas More (Wikidata Q42544) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Thomas More · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]List of botched executions · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Thomas Eugene Creech · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Thomas Scott (Orangeman) · CC BY-SA 4.0