1. Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) "The King's good servant, but God's first."

2. Thomas More was born in Milk Street, London on February 7, 1478 educated at St Anthony's School in London. served as a page in the household of Archbishop Morton, who anticipated More would become a "marvelous man."1. Archbishop Morton

3. More went on to study at OxfordOxford During this time, he wrote comedies and studied Greek and Latin literature. Around 1494 More returned to London to study law, was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1496, and became a barrister in 1501.Lincoln's Inn

4. He entered Parliament in 1504, and married for the first time in 1504 or 1505. was made Speaker of the House of Commons in 1523 after the fall of Thomas Wolsey in 1529, More became Lord Chancellor, the first layman yet to hold the post.Thomas Wolsey

5. While his work in the law courts was exemplary, his fall came quickly was committed to the Tower of London on April 17. More was found guilty of treason and was beheaded alongside Bishop Fisher on July 6, 1535. Bishop Fisher More's final words on the scaffold were: "The King's good servant, but God's First."

6. More was beatified in 1886 and canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint by Pope Pius XI in 1935.

7. More's Utopia More's playful fusing of genres is characteristic of European humanism, as is his self-deflating wit. On a diplomatic trip to Brussels, "More" takes a side trip to the seaport of Antwerp where he falls into conversation with Peter Giles and Giles' acquaintance, Raphael Hythloday, who sailed with Amerigo Vespucci. The men go to "More"'s house where, in the garden, Raphael tells them of the history, customs and culture of the Utopians.

8. the founding of Utopia which might be viewed as essential for the success of the strange experiment he contemplates there. The humanist love of paradox and ironic contradiction shows itself first in the name, which may mean the "good place" or "no place."

9. More's work probably influenced the American Transcendentalist, Henry David Thoreau, especially in the conception and description of Walden.

10. described a fictional ideal world he called Utopia. Henry VIII's break from the Catholic church and establishment of the Church of England signaled the start of the Reformation in England.

11. Sir Thomas More (1478-1535). A distinguished humanist and man of letters, he served in various official capacities under Henry VIII, most notably as Lord Chancellor of England from 1529 to 1532. As a literary man, Thomas More produced the Utopia (1516), which has had a lasting influence on western thought. He traveled to the universities of Paris and Louvain, and was visited twice by the humanist Erasmus.