Utopia

Sir Thornas More (7 February 1478 - 6 July 1535), also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance hümanist. He was an important councilor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor. He is recognized as a saint within the Catholic Church and is commemorated by the Church of England as a "Reformation martyr". He was an opponent of the Protestant Reformation and in particular of Martin Luther and William Tyndale.More coined the word "utopia" - a name he gave to the ideal and imaginary island nation, the political system of which he described in Utopia published in 1516. He opposed the king's separation from the Catholic Church and refused to accept the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England, a status the king had been given by a compliant parliament through the Act of Supremacy of 1534. He was imprisoned in 1534 for his refusal to take the oath required by the First Succession Act because the act disparaged the power of the Pope and Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. in 1535, he was tried for treason, convicted on perjured testimony and beheaded.