July 5 - Sir Thomas More's last letter
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- On this day in Tudor history, 5th July 1535, Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor and friend, wrote his final letter from the Tower of London. 🏰📜
Discover the poignant words he penned to his beloved daughter, Margaret Roper, on the eve of his execution. 💔👨👧 Dive into the heart-wrenching farewell of a man standing firm in his beliefs and saying goodbye to those he cherished most. 🙏
✉️ Don’t miss this glimpse into More’s last moments and the legacy of his unwavering conscience. Watch now! 🎥✨ #TudorHistory #SirThomasMore #OnThisDay #FinalFarewell #HistoryUncovered #MustWatch
Also on this day in Tudor history, 5th July 1589, three Essex women were hanged at Chelmsford, Essex, after being found guilty of murder by witchcraft. Find out how these women came to be accused of witchcraft and why they were hanged in last year’s video - • July 5 - The Essex Wit...
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How touching and sad it was listening to this On this day in Tudor history. How terrible for his daughters, his family, extended family and his friends. Really very heartbreaking!💔
Thomas More burned people who didn't agree with his way of worshipping his imaginary friend. Yes, it was sad for HIS family, but he caused many other families to suffer in a like way....over nothing.
Poor Thomas Moore. What strength of character; a good man who must’ve been terribly missed,
He had people put on the rack for owning a Bible in English! Great man not.
@@thomassperduti4500 :
Please name the people that he " ...put on the rack..."
What authority did he have to order the executions?
I always thought that Sir Thomas Moore would have been so much happier remaining as he was before Henry VII added him to his court. Another example of the king offering a position that you could not get out of/avoid. Thomas was lucky to have been loved and respected by his family and trusted friends. He just couldn't betray his morals, ethics, honor for the sake of keeping in the king's good graces.
Poor Sir Thomas Moore...he's always been one of my favourites...such a fasinating man & familky.. .I would love to have had the opportunity to slip into his world & observe him in his everyday life & times...thankyou Claire...it's always a pleasure to watch & listen to your tasty history 'bites' 😁😁...hope you are all very well xx
"I die the King's good servant---but God's first!" St.Thomas More's last words.
He did, & he is a Saint in Heaven for it.
Years ago, my mother had the following inscription written on my father's gravestone "Pray for me, as I will for thee, that we may merrily meet in heaven'. I did not know until today that it was from Thomas More's final letter.
How lovely of you to share that, thank you.
What a perfectly beautiful thing your mother placed on your father’s gravestone.
Very good video, Claire. Thanks for explaining what an algorism stone is.
We have a copy of Holbein's painting of (St) Thomas More in our study. It hangs alongside a display of religious icons.
It’s amazing that a letter written in coal survived this long.
A fascinating insight into the last words from a man who was close the Henry VIII and paid the price for of that closeness.
It’s interesting to hear who he mentioned and what objects he mentioned as well.
I could do with an algorithm stone.
Thank you as always for another great video and I’ll be tuning in again tomorrow
This certainly is a day to talk about moral character. I have no spine. The thought of that axe coming down on my neck is more than I could take. Can you imagine that final walk and laying you head down on that block. Makes me shudder.
In regard to July 4th, I had a friend from England that called today "Good Riddance Day" LOL
I am glad that sir Thomas could find comfort in his faith, I know it was great.
And don't come back...unless you bring $$$$ to spend.
Happy 244th Birthday America.
You know, for all the Brits say "Good Riddance", they sure put a lot of effort into trying to retain the colonies.😂 My Canadian mother tries to portray the colonists as ingrates who just needed to ask nicely for their independence like the Canadians did. But it is likely they did that because they had learned from experience that fighting to hold onto colonies doesn't work out so well.
@@ladyv5655 LOL
I was born and raised in the UK but now American.
When I first arrived here, within a few minutes of stepping off the plane, I decided I'm never going back.
I like to think of my adopted country as the rebellious child who struck out on its own and ended up doin' pretty good.
Happy Birthday America!
@@ladyv5655 The Battle of the Plains of Abraham happened in 1759. The British North America Act happened in 1867. However, it wasn't until the cusp of my birth, that Canada became independent of the United Kingdom (the patriation of the constitution). That's a long time to wait for rights.
@@landonmiller6943 I was in London for two weeks my last trip in 2017 and I would return in an instant but we are NOT allowed. Thank you Mr. President. I always spend $$$$$$$$$$ when there. I'm not getting any younger but it would be lovely to get one more visit in.
The murder of St Thomas More was one of the worst atrocities Henry ever committed. .His ego was more important than a man of God just trying to serve Him. Thanks Claire.
I can't help being sorry for Alice not being mentioned in the letter. Hopefully Alice did get her farewell in person.
Marion Arnott--He may not have written a letter to her because Alice was not likely to have been able to read.
@@onemercilessming1342 That's sad.
@@RezaChity-G--It's sad by 21st century American standards. In the middle ages, very few girls were educated beyond being taught how to run a household. Needlework, dancing, social mores, were the fare taught in their homes more often than not. More's daughters--especially Margaret--were very well educated by the standards of the day. Keep in mind that, in colonial America, girls went to "dame schools" or were taught at home--again, enough to run a home and be a credit to their father/husband/brother/son. By the Civil War, there were "girls academies" that taught, again, enough to run a household and a bit more...arithmetic, geography, art, some history. Both Alcott's Little Women and Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind attest to the kind of education middle class girls and wealthier girls born to plantation owners received. "Sunday School" was first initiated as a means of educating (and keeping occupied on their day off) factory girls during the Industrial Revolution. My own paternal grandmother, born in 1881, had only the equivalent of a third grade education--enough to run a household. Her daughters "graduated" from 8th grade and that was a VERY big deal at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. THEIR daughters and sons (my cousins) went on to college, as did I. My mother finished high school at 18, then earned her nursing degree at age 40; my father's education was interrupted by WW II and he never went back. My cousins and I are the first ones in the family (on both sides) to graduate with college degrees. I am the first female of my family (both sides) to earn a "man's" degree--mechanical engineering. That was in the 1960s. localhistories.org/womensed.html www.bustle.com/p/heres-how-women-fought-for-the-right-to-be-educated-throughout-history-53150#:~:text=Here%27s%20How%20Women%20Fought%20For%20The%20Right%20To,To%20Their%20Education%20In%20The%2020th%20Century.%20
@@onemercilessming1342 people could have letters read to them, also the letter he could have written to her may have got lost.
@@charlottebruce979--Alice could not read; Sir Thomas More was a VERY careful man and not likely to have such a personal missive READ to his wife by someone else. Doesn't anyone actually RESEARCH these historical people before they babble? Try it. It will make you look less a fool.
Hi Claire! Good video as ever. The execution of Thomas More has always been a difficult topic for me and his burial especially so. I have trouble knowing his head was put on a pike on London Bridge. While listening to your video, I looked up More's burial on Bing ... I saw the photo of the Roper burial vault in St. Dunstan's Church which includes the floor tile for the burial of More's head. But the thing that really surprised me was the burial vault for More in St. Peter ad Vincula. I truly thought his bones were just thrown into the bare earth and that he rested near Anne Boleyn and others. Your video encouraged me to look for Thomas More ... thank you!!! Take good care of yourself!
How interesting. Thank you for sharing about these people named in the letter
These videos have become one of the highlights of my day.
Everyone, if you haven't already done so, help keep Thomas More's contribution to the Western intellectual tradition by reading his Utopia. It's a brilliant book on many, many levels and very relevant.
Read Claire's books' as well of course!
More had quite an exit honor his belief .. Such crazy times that ppl were killed because religious beliefs. Jesus has left 1500 yrs by then yet this was goin on still. Even today but there's no crazy king doin it.
I enjoyed the reading of the letter with the names, items and especially the old English. So nice to hear the bells chime for Sir Thomas More. A brave man to stand firm in his beliefs against his king and friend. Thank you Claire.
I hope all who have written such praise of More take some time to research his life. The More of the brilliant play A Man for All Seasons (a superb drama) is historically inaccurate. Thomas More passionately tortured and burned people he deemed to be heretics. His suffering was trivial compared to the misery and horror he visited on others for the crime of holding beliefs different from his own. If he was a good man then, so was Torquemada.
Your reading of his letter moved me to tears.
Always a pleasure watching your vids... Can't get enough... Good thoughts your way💖💙💖
In "A Man For All Seasons", Thomas More asks Alice if she'd like him to teach her to read (after he resigns as Chancellor). Alice declines. Perhaps he did not write a letter to Alice because she could not have read it. His children were well-educated--even the girls which wasn't usual for the time. (Margaret was especially facile with Latin.) Alice probably was not, except in housewifery.
I finally ordered your book today. Can't wait to get it.
It's a great read!
I assure you it will be a great boon, and you’ll find it fascinating.
Interesting video about a brave man who would look to God rather than the king.
Man For All Seasons is one of my favorite movies of all time. I feel inadequate after watching a man with such courage and conviction go to the block. May God reward him for his loyalty and faith.
Love your channel
That was a very nice letter. Is this the Catholic Saint Thomas More? Thank you.
Thank you Claire something else I didn't know about sir thomas more and his other children 👍
Thomas More, what a kind soul!!
Thank you Claire for this beautiful video on Thomas More. I also appreciate all the info on his family and loved ones.
Henry was a Monster. The More I Learn the More I Believe this. His Grand Mother Would Have Been Disappointed in Him. His Father was Cruel from time to time, with reasoning behind his actions. Henry was Just Evil!!!!
Thomas More drives me crazy...he forced himself to die a “martyr” knowing full well that his wife and family would be ruined, destroyed, consigned to penury by his selfish actions. The pope would’ve forgiven him, god would’ve forgiven him, jesus would’ve forgiven him...he didn’t have to mean a single word coming out of his mouth if he swore the oath...it would’ve been nothing more than a means to an end, leaving him w his freedom and his family and his beloved work and studies and the ability to continue burning protestant “heretics” (probably a FAR greater sin in god’s/jesus’ eyes than taking some fake oath)...ok, I know that at the time of his imprisonment and execution he no longer held the position in Henry’s govt allowing him to burn non-catholics at the stake, but the fact that he did and had done, and that he wanted more of those so called heretics to burn...which is the greater sin? He was so consumed w his soul and his martyrdom that he forgot - or perhaps just cared far less - that his children would be left wo their beloved father, his wife wo her dearest husband, and that they all would have to live w the never ending agony and trauma and horror and anger and despair bc of his public, selfish, sad, gruesome, self serving, pathetic, unnecessary execution...So what if Henry was to be recognized as head of the church of and in England? It wasn’t even the same church as the Catholic Church, and it was only in England...Henry didn’t even care other than that it allowed him to get his divorce, which is really why he wanted and needed everyone to say that he was the head of the church...so that his divorce could not be questioned. In all other ways, we all know that Henry died a catholic in his true heart. Such nonsense. I understand that this was all SOOOOOOOO important to Thomas, and religion back then was a bit different than it is now, but still...I find the whole thing simply MADDENING!!!! Ok, rant over...
More's death is entirely on Henry VIII. More would not have had to make that choice between conscience and convenience if not for an amoral, adulterous king who thought he could play God and force his god complex everybody.
Socrates did the same, his buddies could have easily bribed the guards to allow him to escape and his Athenian enemies wouldn't have cared, they'd have just been glad to see the back of him, since he'd called them out and embarrassed them so many times for their bad behavior. Socrates left behind his wife and three sons, two adolescents and an infant. I've often thought did he consider he had any moral duty or obligation as a husband and father to stick around for them? Socrates discusses the reasons why he could not agree to their plans to help him escape in the "The Last Days of Socrates" but he doesn't address this issue.
I'm pretty sure of the answer he would have given, and I've little doubt More would have responded with the same argument; "Yes, those are important duties and obligations, but the most important value of all is the state of your eternal soul, which must be kept pure and uncorrupted by wordly concerns.
What do you know
You make some very interesting comments. None of us will really know what Thomas More was really like. I have read lots of articles and comments online and in books. My opinion of his is probably influenced by my catholic upbringing and education. He may well have been a flawed person. I read that many dissenters were persucetd during his time as chancellor whereas Cardinal Wolsey (as chancellor) was much more lenient. One incident has many dissenters presenting before the King and Wolsey down on his knees begging the King to forgive them....which Henry did. The one thing that is certain is that he was put to death because of a crazed, selfish, self interested monster of a tyrant King, who had 2 of his wives executed including the mother of his own daughter! As well as many many others who had served him faithfully.
@@colinlavelle7806 I agree Henry VIII was, or turned into, a monster, maybe as a result of his head injury from his jousting accident. Who knows. More is interesting, clearly he was a brilliant man and one of the major scholars of his age (close buddy of Erasmus who was the total humanist) but he seems to have had one foot in the "medieval period" and the other in the new age of humanism with its completely different set of priorities, attitudes and ways of understanding human existence. In the end, I think for More, religious authority trumped secular authority and the religious impulse took precedence over his lawyer side. It's clear he didn't seek martyrdom, his "lawyer side" tried the remaining silent approach, but More had his limits, a line that he was not prepared to cross. So More lost his life and Henry lost a valuable counselor and aide.
I don't think Socrates sought out martyrdom either, as some philosophers have suggested, but his arguments - laid out in Plato's "The Last Days of Socrates" - to his buddies on why he had to accept the judgement of the Athenian jury have long puzzled me. He's clearly invoking an early form of "social contract" theory but if one party violates a contract, as Athens did, the case against him obviously being spurious, then the contract is null and void.
As for Cardinal Wolsey, it was probably his "good luck" to die on the trip back home. If he'd made it back safe and sound his days around Henry would have surely been numbered, he'd likely have suffered the same fate as More and Cromwell.
This was such an interesting video, thanks Claire.
🇭🇲🦘 What a moving and beautiful letter from a father (awaiting his death) to his beloved daughter! 🙏🔔 A lovely touching video. "Thank you" Claire 👑👍
I am touched by this posting. Thank you for sharing More’s last letter.
Claire, that was very beautiful and shows the tenderness within the family. Thank you once again for such a lovely posting.
I admire Sir Thomas Moore for his beliefs of Christianity over his support of the king.
this is heartbreaking, his death is cruel and so unfair... as most of the ones that happened under Henry VIII's reign!
Hey Claire do you think that Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour were friends or knew each other because they both served under Catherine of Aragon and we don’t know Janes reaction to finding out Anne was executed was she surprised, happy, sad, or guilty? I just kind of like the idea but I want to know your opinion. (Also love ur channel)
Great video Claire. I can't help but wonder what your tattoo says ;)
He was an arrogant man, all things considered.
A man of principle certainly but something of a martinet and definitely a fanatic; not many people would have a torture chamber in their basement.....However, praise to him for educating his daughters.
Wait, he executed the monks by starving them to death? Was this a style of execution he did with others?
I really do feel for all he executed. Idk why, but all of these people are very real to me.
He starved the monks? ? ?
Are you sure you've got your facts right?
Why would he do that?
Love it history
Enjoy as always.
Excellent!
sad event.
Just awful what a terrible time all because of religion I say this over and over again more people have died in the name of religion. I don’t think this is what God and Jesus would have wanted for their people 🙏🏼🌹
It is always interesting to me to read, or hear read, original writings and then, in my mind's memory, realize that these words, taken from original sources, were used in the movies made about Sir Thomas More. 'I hope we may all meet merrily in heaven" is so poignant, but something is niggling at me about that. Sir Thomas was a very religious man, faithful to the tenets of his Church even though he knew he could never be a monk/priest because he knew he couldn't live a celibate life (he was married twice; first wife died in 1511). THEREFORE, why didn't he say that he TRUSTED they would all meet merrily in heaven. That has always bothered me.
In the movie "A Man For All Seasons" the narrator says Margaret kept his head. This didn't seem to be "Hollywood History," but where would have come from? Is it plausible?
I talk about that in tomorrow's video. Yes, she kept it and then it was buried in the Roper vault when she died.
More - A man who betrayed his own King, a friend, to side with the Pope. The word 'Ingratitude' comes to mind. More was also incredibly arrogant, believing he was vastly more intelligent than everyone else. If he had been so smart he would've uttered the oath regardless of whether he agreed with it. All he had to do was say a few words, instead he abandoned his own family for martyrdom. An ego maniac if there ever was one.
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