Thomas More: A Life and Death in Tudor England

by Joanne Paul

The definitive biography of the man who dominated political and intellectual circles in England during the sixteenth Thomas More.

Born into the era of the Wars of the Roses, educated during the European Renaissance, rising to become Chancellor of England, and ultimately destroyed by Henry VIII, Thomas More was one of the most famous—and notorious—figures in English history.

Was he a saintly scholar, the visionary author of Utopia, and an inspiration for statesmen and intellectuals even today? Or was he the cruel zealot famously portrayed in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall? Thomas A Life is a monumental biography of this hypnotic, flawed figure. Overturning prior interpretations of this titan of the sixteenth century, Joanne Paul shows Thomas More to have been intellectually and politically central to the making of modern Europe.

Based on new archival discoveries and drawing on more than a decade of research into More’s life and work, this is a richly told story of faith and politics that illuminates a man who, more than four hundred years after his execution, remains one of the most brilliant minds of the Renaissance.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Medieval History, Catholic, Tudor Period

604 pages, Hardcover

Published May 29, 2025

About the author

Book 1:1s and Book Club visits on Skolay: https://www.skolay.com/writers/joanne...

Dr Joanne Paul is an award-winning historian, broadcaster and writer with a passion for sharing her research on Renaissance and Tudor history. She is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex and a 2017 AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker. She has published in the Cambridge University Press 'Ideas in Context' series and has been widely praised for her work on Thomas More, William Shakespeare, Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. The House of Dudley is her acclaimed history of the Dudley family. Picked as a Times Book of the Week and Book of 2022 by The Times, The Telegraph and History Today, The House of Dudley also garnered stellar reviews in The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Literary Review, Spectator and Wall Street Journal.

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am, admittedly, a big fan of St. Thomas More. To be clear, not the burning people at the stake. That was messed up. He was pretty dang funny, though. He also is a shining example of someone who held to his principles even at the cost of his own life.

However, when it comes to history, I have learned you need to be willing to hold multiple ideas at the same time. A well-meaning and learned man could also let his ideals lead to some dark places.

Joanne Paul's Thomas More: A Life is an excellent example of how to present all sides of a complex character. Her prologue was an immediate challenge to the reader. Practically speaking, Thomas More died for nothing. Nothing concrete or tangible, that is. No law or war turned out differently because of his death. However, we are still talking about him 500 years later. Perhaps thumbing your nose at tyranny is about the unseen impacts. Having a few solid one-liners at your execution probably helps, too.

Paul's approach was unexpected to me. With so many interesting characters, it is easy to write a thousand page book trying to get every person a full backstory. Paul keeps the spotlight on More throughout. Henry VIII (reminder: he sucked), Erasmus, St. John Fisher, and even dearest daughter Meg are present but only in how they relate to More himself. It is a wonderful narrative which knows who the focus is and never wavers.

I could spend one hundred paragraphs trying to summarize how Paul covers More's humanity, hilarity, zealousness, stubbornness, and grace. You are much better off just reading this book. I highly recommend it.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Pegasus Books.)

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joanne Paul's biography of Thomas More was excellent. It is highly researched and utilizes the most recent research on the historical record, providing a great view of a very interesting, though conflicted, man.
Sir Thomas More ( venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More) was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist.[He also served Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor from October 1529 to May 1532. He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, which describes the political system of an imaginary island state. He was also a close friend of the famous humanist Erasmus.

One would think such a talented and obviously learned man ought not to be controversial and complicated, but it is. It depends on how you view him. In Hillary Mantel's excellent "Wolf Hall," he is a cruel Catholic fanatic. Paul's biography shows More to have been a principled and devout man. His ability brought him to the notice of Henry VIII and, ignoring Erasmus' warning to meddle in the affairs of Kings, he rose to become Lord Chancellor, simultaneously rising to the greatest possible height in concert with sowing his own doom.

More, the son of a Lawyer and Judge studied at Oxford and was noted as a linguist. He made a name for himself as a lawyer, but it was his connection to Cardinal Wolsey that got More knighted, and he accompanied Cardinal Wolsey to the famous "Field of the Cloth of Gold" meeting between King Henry VIII and King Francis I of France in 1520. When Wolsey falls to Henry's wrath for failing to secure his divorce from Queen Katherine, More is elevated to his position. Though he has many reservations and even spoke to Erasmus about it, he felt it was a huge step for the More family.
More was a devoted Catholic and ardently opposed to Luther and Protestantism. He was responsible for the burning of books and several cases where he, as a prosecutor for heresy, had Protestants burned at the stake.
Eventually Henry's conflict with the Pope over his divorce will cause the devout More to resign his position as Chancellor, due to his remaining steadfast in supporting the supremacy of the Pope as Successor of Peter over that of the King of England. In 1531, Henry issued a royal decree requiring the clergy to take an oath acknowledging the King as Supreme Head of the Church of England. The bishops at the Convocation of Canterbury in 1532 agreed to sign the Oath but only under threat of prosecution for praemunire (praemunire facias was the assertion or maintenance of papal jurisdiction, or any other foreign jurisdiction or claim of supremacy in England, against the supremacy of the monarch) and only after these words were added: "as far as the law of Christ allows". More agreed.
Once Henry married Anne Boleyn, More refused to sign the Acts of Succession Oath. More accepted Parliament's right to declare Anne Boleyn the legitimate Queen of England, though he refused "the spiritual validity of the King's second marriage. holding fast to the teaching of papal supremacy, he steadfastly refused to take the oath of supremacy of the Crown in the relationship between the kingdom and the church in England. More also publicly refused to uphold Henry's annulment from Catherine. Henry had More beheaded in 1535 for treason.

A very interesting and balanced view of Thomas More, who is complicated and has both admirable and shocking qualities about him. I enjoyed the balanced look and tend to agree with Paul's version versus the dessicated and cruel More from the "Wolf Hall" version.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in Thomas More.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

TLDR: Wolf Hall inspires 10-month long Thomas More research project.

———

Full Review

When I read Wolf Hall, I encountered a man I didn’t recognize. The saintly scholar my mother praised when I was growing up was nowhere to be found. Instead, I faced a snarling zealot full of hate and ill-will. It conflicted with the person I thought I knew. Thus, began my long journey of trying to learn everything I could about Thomas More.

I can’t say after reading two biographies, watching every on screen representation, and listening to countless podcasts that I have a clearer version of him, but I understand a few things pretty well.

1. He was a complex man, who I’m convinced, had a good heart and good intentions but was sometimes twisted with fear and rendered ugly.
2. He was a man of faith and conviction.
3. He loved his family very, very, much.
4. He was pretty damn funny.

As someone living in the United States at a scary time, he’s brought me hope and comfort. As a Catholic, he’s also become my favorite intercessor. He’s constantly reminding about the importance of community, caring for my family, and putting God at the center of it all.

He wasn’t perfect, but St. Thomas More has my love, my admiration, and my respect forever. I hope I meet him one day.

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible biography of St. Thomas More that must rank in the top books on this man for all seasons. Dr. Paul is an incredible writer and a deep researcher. I learned much from this great work of history and commend it to you. While not as captivating as Peter Ackroyd's biography, my sense is that Dr. Paul's research is richer and deeper. An excellent addition to the literature on Thomas More.

[Heidi Malagisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The year is 1535, and an educated scholar, father, writer, and the former Chancellor of England marches to his demise. His crime was staying silent on an issue that the King deemed extremely important: the idea that the King of England should be the Supreme Head of the Church of England, not the Pope. As a Catholic, Sir Thomas More does not agree with this decree and must die. How did one of the most prominent Tudor scholars of his age fall so quickly? Joanne Paul explores the rise and dramatic fall of this infamous Tudor figure in her latest biography, “Thomas More: A Life.”

Joanne Paul is slowly becoming one of my favorite nonfiction writers. Her debut, “The House of Dudley,” was spectacular, and when I heard that she was writing a biography about Thomas More, I knew I wanted to read it. I know the basic information about Thomas More’s life and his books about the Wars of the Roses and Utopia, but I wanted a book that gives more details about his life.

Thomas More was the son of the lawyer John More and his wife Agnes, born in 1478. A child of the Wars of the Roses, the shifting sands of the political landscape of his youth will prepare him for the tumultuous Tudor court of his adulthood. While he recalls the reign of King Richard III in his book about the period, it should be noted that he was a boy during the king’s reign.

Thomas became a scholar who specialized in Humanism and created a community of like-minded scholars and artists, including men like Desiderius Erasmus. Thomas More would marry twice, to Jane Colt, the mother of his children, Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecily, and John, and Alice Harpur. He would ensure that all his children received a proper Humanist education, and his children, especially Margaret, were praised for their scholarly abilities. He would begin to write like he was running out of time and create one of his most famous works about politics, Utopia, as well as go toe to toe against Martin Luther himself.

More would continue his academic pursuits, even when he captured the attention of King Henry VIII, who would appoint him Chancellor of England. While a great honor, Thomas did not agree with the King on the Great Matter as he believed Queen Katherine of Aragon was the rightful wife of King Henry VIII. He would persecute those whom he deemed as heretics as a devout Catholic man, and it was ultimately his faith that would lead to his earthly doom. When Henry VIII decided that he wanted his people to swear an oath that Henry VIII was the Supreme Head of the Church of England instead of the Pope. As a devout Catholic, Thomas More’s silence was deafening, and he was condemned as a traitor to the crown, destined to be executed.

Even though Thomas More was a controversial figure of the Tudor era for Ricardians and Protestants alike, we in the modern age can learn a lot from his life and apply it to our own time. Paul does it again, as this is a stunning biography of a man who was a scholar and an outspoken Catholic in a time when the King’s power was becoming dangerous. The way she weaves the historical facts, including More’s numerous pieces of writing, with a narrative that is easy to follow is astounding. Truly, this is the definitive biography on Sir Thomas More. If you want a fabulous biography on such an infamous figure of the Tudor age, I highly recommend you read “Thomas More: A Life” by Joanne Paul.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

When it comes to Tudor history, Thomas More is often a side character in the story of another figure, from Henry VIII to Thomas Wolsey to Thomas Cromwell, but he gets to take centre stage in this new biography from Dr Joanne Paul, brimming with primary sources from a man who spent so much of his life with a pen in hand.

I knew the basics when it comes to Thomas More before I read this book, primarily: his love for his family (particularly his close relationship with his eldest daughter, Margaret), his hatred of Lutheranism, and his ultimate execution for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as the head of the church in England. I really enjoyed getting the full view of More's life through this book, from his birth all the way to his death--his earlier years, in particular, I found the most compelling because I knew so little about him before he became Henry VIII's Lord High Chancellor.

Paul's writing is readable and incredibly accessible--this is absolutely the book to read if you want to learn about Thomas More, and I appreciate the way Paul doesn't lean into either end of the spectrum when it comes to someone who is a very divisive historical figure - who's been everything from murderous fanatic to Catholic saint since his execution - and instead puts forward the evidence to show More as a man, and to let her readers make up their own minds.

That said, I wish there had been more of Paul in this book. Thomas More: A Life and Death in Tudor England opens with a fantastic note to the reader about why More is a man worth knowing, and how his refusal to ignore his conscience in the face of tyranny is worthy of our respect (even more so in an age where tyrants are once more in power and as pathetic as ever). I would have loved to have seen more of this feeling sprinkled throughout the book which, by the time we get past More's childhood and early adulthood and into his working life, mostly reads as a retelling of events more than anything else.

I completely respect Paul's decision to write a book that doesn't try to sway the reader into believing any of the stereotypes about More, but it also means I don't know if I felt More's fight against tyranny because Paul already told me about it in her preface or because it also came through within the text itself. The preface might have been better suited to the epilogue, rather than the way the epilogue we get just ends and, bizarrely, is mostly not really about More at all but something of a recap of the Tudor dynasty.

I strongly dislike historians who try to convince me they've solved something with 100% certainty - especially in cases where they don't have enough evidence to back up what they believe - but I still love to hear historians' theories, and something was missing for me here. This book is incredibly readable, but I don't know that I'd say it's engaging in the way that Paul's preface is.

That aside, I'm glad to have learned more about Thomas More. If nothing else, I've come away from this book with a deep desire to learn more about his daughter, Margaret.

[Jason Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere in between the saint of A man for all seasons and the tyrant of Wolf Hall, this is a sympathetic but not hagiographic portrait. Valuable context is given to his portrait of Richard III.

On the other hand , although, one can empathise with his desire to avoid the conflict caused by the reformation , it must be said that you can't put the genie back in the bottle and this was suppressing valuable truths that had emerged. Likewise The author argues that More was not against an English bible as such but feared unbridled interpretation. Yes, but we all stand on the shoulders of giants with this and it's too easily controlling.

His battle against royal jurisdiction over the church is an ancient one going back at least to Beckett on whose anniversary he was executed . As a former Catholic now evangelical Anglican I guess I’ve been on both sides of this , and I can cherish the reformations re emphasis on grace etc while empathising with the desire for worship to not be subject to state control. A very real issue for Christian’s in communist countries etc today .

[Ronald Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent - neither a hagiography nor a hatchet-job. Paul draws heavily from More's own writings so the reader is left with a strong sense of what More was like especially as a father because there is a lot of correspondence with his daughter. She includes Richard Roper (More's son in law) as a source but is keen to flag this up because he is clearly not an impartial source but allows the reader to make up their mind. There is not a lot of editorialising. I started off a great admirer of More but my admiration of him has deepened because of this book. The big controversy surrounding more is in his dealing with 'heretics' which the book does not gloss over nevertheless the book provides context for this - the modern world is rightly horrified by the burning of heretics but More did not live in the modern world. In my own life time UK governments gave money to schools to buy sticks so children should be caned - if that seems almost incredible imagine how different Tudor England was.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refreshingly balanced biography of Sir Thomas More. In the past too many histories painted him as perfect. But this one paints him "warts and all". We witness his support of violence against evangelical Christians including their burning (even keeping stocks in his gatehouse). But for all his reactionary cruelty, we're still left with a dignified man of conscience who refused to ignore the conflict between body and soul.

I was genuinely moved at the end where we see him wrestling with his conscience and writing A Dialogue of Comfort in which he explains how only those who feel fear can be brave.

Joanne Paul also writes extensively about his philosophical and theological writings, including Dialogue Concerning Heresey which I didn't know much about.

His calling Luther a shitter on a shit pile of shit made me laugh!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful biography of a complex man living under and serving a tyrant. More’s willingness to hunt down and kill those who leaned toward Martin Luther and Protestantism foreshadowed King Henry’s killing faithful Catholics when the tables were turned. Another irony: Thomas Cromwell's spectacular rise included his playing a major role in prosecuting Thomas More, but it ended just five years after More's death. He was arrested on charges of treason and heresy and executed on Tower Hill in 1540 on the orders of Henry VIII.

[Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Thomas More isn't my favourite, this was interesting and very well researched, with a lot of depth. I reccomend it if you're interested in the man himself and a little of the people around him e.g learning more about Meg was fascinating as she usually often gets a throwaway sentence or two. While I had known that his head was supposedly taken back, I had no idea where it ended up, so that was interesting to learn about.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew anything about Sir Thomas More before reading this book. I thought Joanne Paul did a great job of sorting through the controversy about Sir More, who both prosecuted and had executed heretics (including the Lutherans of his day) and who, in turn, was beheaded by King Henry VIII for his unwillingness to accept Henry's break with Rome by declaring himself head of the Church of England. Anyone interested in the history of Great Britain should consider reading this excellent book.

[Alan Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The jury will always be out on this most divisive of English characters but there is no doubting his genius and the contradiction of being a social product of his time whilst an intellectual far ahead of it. Exceptionally well written and researched, whilst still accessible for anyone first venturing along the path of discovering more about More. Highly recommended.

[Deb Lancaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the book, the writing and the general scope. Ambivalence for the man himself. A man for all seasons strikes me as a way to describe a hypocrite. It's fascinating because we know exactly what he thought of himself because he never stopped telling everyone and writing about it. He'd have loved Twitter and podcasts. I started this book ambivalent and I end it ambivalent.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biography of an intellectual and scholarly man at the time of Henry VIII. Another Thomas (after Becket) who stood up for his principles and faith and paid for it with his life. A renaissance man who believed in educating his daughters.

This account is a far more balanced view of the life of a man, uncompromising in his beliefs and probably extremely frustrating to deal with.

[rab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

Always wondered about Thomas More and this book answers all my questions. Now I want to read about Henry the 8th, how he came to be a tyrant when before he was known as a humanist

[T.]

The one and only J.C. Scharl's review:

https://rlo.acton.org/archives/127524...

[Matt Gumbley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful, well-written portrait of More that avoids simplification

I came to Joanne Paul’s Thomas More with some familiarity, having studied his life and times during my undergraduate degree. What I found here was one of the clearest and most grounded accounts of More’s rise and role within the legal and political life of London — especially his early work with the guilds and law courts. Paul uses primary sources heavily, often quoting at length, and does so to good effect.

She avoids the temptation to speculate, letting More’s own words reveal his contradictions: the humanist and the persecutor, the idealist and the political operator. This restraint is, in my view, a strength. The tensions in his life are presented without being smoothed over.

Paul is also a gifted writer. While any book on heresy and Tudor theology will have its demands, this one is well-paced and clearly organised. Her treatment of the heresy debates is particularly valuable, making difficult material far more accessible than most.

Recommended to the general reader with an interest in Tudor England, as well as anyone wanting a better sense of More’s own voice and self-understanding. The footnotes are excellent, but the book never drowns in them.