The break with Rome part 2 (17)

Historical reputations - Thomas More: saint or sinner?

• Thomas More's reputation in histopry owes much to his courageous refusal to swear to the Oath of Succession and his subsequent martyrdom (death of a martyr) at the Hands of Henry VIII
• He is seen as a man of principle who was willing to die for his beliefs
• The popular view of More has largely been shaped by Robert Bolt's play 'A Man For All Seasons' (1960) which hit the big screen in a film version which won 6 academy awards but was not historically accurate
• It relies heavily for its historicl grounding on early biographers of More such as William Roper and Nicholas Harpsfield
• Both of these accounts of More's life are flawed, in that they present a very sympathetic…