The Right Honourable Saint Sir Thomas More, PC (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535)

St Thomas More was born 547 years ago today.

He was born in the City of London, Kingdom of England. He was an English husband, father, lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author of Utopia, statesman, and theologian. He was a devout Catholic and refused to acknowledge Henry VIII as the supreme head of the Church of England and the annulment of Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to sign the Oath of Supremacy, on April 18, 1534, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London by King Henry VIII. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death on false testimony. He was executed on 6 July 1535 at Tower Hill in London, England. He was 57 years old. He was Beatified by Pope Leo XIII on December 29, 1886 and Canonized as a Saint by Pope Pius XI on May 19, 1935. He shares a Feast Day with St John, Cardinal Fisher, martyred Bishop of Rochester on 9 July. In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared him the patron saint of statesmen and politicians.

Pictured: Sir Thomas More, by Hans Holbein the Younger (1527)