Portal:Christianity/Selected biography/June 2007

  Saint Thomas More was an English lawyer, author, and statesman. During his lifetime he earned a reputation as a leading humanist scholar and occupied many public offices, including that of Lord Chancellor from 1529 to 1532. More coined the word "utopia", a name he gave to an ideal, imaginary island nation whose political system he described in a book published in 1516. He is chiefly remembered for his principled refusal to accept King Henry VIII's claim to be supreme head of the Church in England, a decision which ended his political career and led to his execution as a traitor.

In 1935, four hundred years after his death, More was canonized in the Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI, and was later declared the patron saint of lawyers and statesmen. He shares his feast day on 22 June in the General Roman Calendar with Saint John Fisher, the only bishop during the English Reformation to maintain his allegiance to the Pope at the cost of his life. More was added to the Anglican Churches' calendar of saints in 1980.

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