Thomas Morus

Thomas More, known in German as Thomas Morus (1478–1535), was an English lawyer, statesman, humanist, and Renaissance writer. Born in London, he served as a member of Parliament and as Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII. In 1516 he published “Utopia,” an influential political novel that gave rise to the term “utopia.” After Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church, More refused to acknowledge the king’s ecclesiastical authority. He was executed for treason and canonized as a Catholic martyr in 1935.