MORE, SIR THOMAS

born Feb. 7, 1477, London, Eng. died July 6, 1535, London; canonized May 19, 1935; feast day June 22 also called Saint Thomas More humanist and statesman, chancellor of England (152932), who was beheaded for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. He is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic church. Additional reading The Complete Works of St. Thomas More (1963 ), is being published by Yale University Press; the best edition of his golden little book is Utopia, ed. by George M. Logan, Robert M. Adams, and Clarence H. Miller (1995). Separate collections of his letters include Elizabeth Frances Rogers (ed.), The Correspondence of Sir Thomas More (1947), and Selected Letters (1961). Bibliographies are R.W. Gibson and J. Max Patrick (compilers), St. Thomas More: A Preliminary Bibliography of His Works and of Moreana to the Year 1750 (1961); Constance Smith, An Updating of R.W. Gibson's St. Thomas More: A Preliminary Bibliography (1981); Frank Sullivan and Majie Padberg Sullivan, Moreana: Materials for the Study of Saint Thomas More, 5 vol. (196471), and supplements; and Moreana (quarterly), a forum for ongoing research and updated bibliography begun in 1963.Studies of his life and works include R.W. Chambers, Thomas More (1935, reissued 1976), although it has been criticized for toning down the starkness of More's asceticism, the radicalism of his Utopian vision, his hatred of schism and heresy, and the dogmatic motives of his martyrdom; E.E. Reynolds, The Field Is Won: The Life and Death of Saint Thomas More (1968, reissued as The Life and Death of St. Thomas More, 1978); R.S. Sylvester and G.P. Marc'hadour (eds.), Essential Articles for the Study of Sir Thomas More (1977); J.A. Guy, The Public Career of Sir Thomas More (1980), emphasizing More's role as government administrator; Alistair Fox, Thomas More: History and Providence (1982); Anthony Kenny, Thomas More (1983); George M. Logan, The Meaning of More's Utopia (1983); Ruth Norrington, In the Shadow of a Saint: Lady Alice More (1983); Richard Marius, Thomas More (1984); Louis L. Martz, Thomas More: The Search for the Inner Man (1990); and Dominic Baker-Smith, More's Utopia (1991).