Do you accept the view that More was a cruel man with little compassion for others?
Do you accept the view that More was a cruel man with little compassion for others?
More was a rarity among political figures: a man who wouldn't lie about his principles, even to save his own life. He was Henry VIII's chancellor, and a loyal and highly effective administrator. A lot can be said either about his cruelty or about his sainthood and loyalty to the King. Using my own knowledge and the information from the sources, I can state that Thomas More was not a cruel man, considering the commonness and customs in which people of that time lived.
More, a major humanist, was acknowledged to be one of England's greatest thinkers ever, and far ahead of his time. Four centuries before anyone offered women an equal education, More championed that cause, and gave his daughters the same classical education as he gave his son.
In Source N Peter Ackroyd tells about J. Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs”. According to this book, “he tied heretics to a tree in his Chelsea garden and whipped them”. This, if it’s true, undoubtedly demonstrates More’s cruelty and shows him as a sadist. The quote from the book also says: “he watched as newe men were put upon the rack in the Tower and tortured until they confessed” and “he was personally responsible for the burning of several of the brethren in Smithfield”. If we agree to his words that he never tortured people, but only imprisoned heretics in his house, we still can say that he was not a cruel man himself. Even if we accept that he was guilty in burning heretics, it was not an uncommon thing those times. Heretics were being burnt all the time obeying to the word of the Church. Moreover, by burning heretics More was still carrying King’s and again Churche’s tasks. Therefore we can say that Thomas More stood up as a cruel man, but served his King loyally. When Henry couldn't get the divorce he wanted, he simply created his own church with himself as the supreme religious figure, but one which an entire country chose to
More was a rarity among political figures: a man who wouldn't lie about his principles, even to save his own life. He was Henry VIII's chancellor, and a loyal and highly effective administrator. A lot can be said either about his cruelty or about his sainthood and loyalty to the King. Using my own knowledge and the information from the sources, I can state that Thomas More was not a cruel man, considering the commonness and customs in which people of that time lived.
More, a major humanist, was acknowledged to be one of England's greatest thinkers ever, and far ahead of his time. Four centuries before anyone offered women an equal education, More championed that cause, and gave his daughters the same classical education as he gave his son.
In Source N Peter Ackroyd tells about J. Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs”. According to this book, “he tied heretics to a tree in his Chelsea garden and whipped them”. This, if it’s true, undoubtedly demonstrates More’s cruelty and shows him as a sadist. The quote from the book also says: “he watched as newe men were put upon the rack in the Tower and tortured until they confessed” and “he was personally responsible for the burning of several of the brethren in Smithfield”. If we agree to his words that he never tortured people, but only imprisoned heretics in his house, we still can say that he was not a cruel man himself. Even if we accept that he was guilty in burning heretics, it was not an uncommon thing those times. Heretics were being burnt all the time obeying to the word of the Church. Moreover, by burning heretics More was still carrying King’s and again Churche’s tasks. Therefore we can say that Thomas More stood up as a cruel man, but served his King loyally. When Henry couldn't get the divorce he wanted, he simply created his own church with himself as the supreme religious figure, but one which an entire country chose to