In this blog post, we will examine Thomas More’s life, the background behind the writing of ‘Utopia’, and the work’s historical significance.
Sir Thomas More was the son of Sir John More, a judge of the High Court of Justice in England, and was born in 1478 on Milk Street in London. As a child, he was educated at St. Anthony’s School on Threadneedle Street before entering the household of Cardinal John Morton, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor. At that time, it was common for the offspring of distinguished families to form a patron-protégé relationship with a powerful patron. Young men could enter society by leveraging their patron’s prestige and connections, while the patron used his influence to support their future prospects.
Cardinal Morton had once served as Bishop of Ely, having been imprisoned in the Tower of London by Richard III, but he later fell out with the king. In 1486, Henry VII appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury; he served as the king’s chief advisor and, nine months later, became Lord Chancellor. Cardinal Morton was deeply impressed by the wit and intelligence of the young Thomas More. He once remarked, “If anyone were to test this boy sitting at this table, they would find that he will become a man more outstanding and noble than anyone else.”
The year Thomas More turned 14, his guardian sent him to the University of Oxford. There, he studied Greek under William Grocyn and Thomas Linacre, who had introduced the study of Greek classics from Italy to England. Linacre, who was also a physician, later played a key role in establishing a medical society with the king’s support.
From the age of 16, at his father’s urging, he studied law. More possessed a very diligent and austere character. While studying law, he led an ascetic life, wearing a hair shirt (a garment traditionally made of coarse fibers or horsehair worn for religious penance to practice repentance and physical mortification), sleeping on a log as a pillow, and flogging himself every Friday.
He entered Parliament at the age of 21, and shortly after qualifying as a barrister, he became the Under-Sheriff of London. In 1503, a bill was introduced in the House of Commons by Henry VII to levy additional taxes to fund the marriage of his daughter Margaret; More strongly opposed this and ultimately succeeded in preventing the House of Commons from approving it. People at the time remarked, “A boy who hadn’t even grown a beard has betrayed all the king’s expectations.”
As a result, toward the end of Henry VII’s reign, More fell out of favor with the king and even considered leaving England at one point. When Henry VII passed away in April 1509, More was just over thirty years old.
During the early years of Henry VIII’s reign, More handled many important cases in court. He refused to argue cases he deemed unjust and did not charge fees to widows, orphans, or the poor. More wished to marry the second daughter of John Colt, who lived at Newhall in Essex, but in accordance with the customs of the time—which held that it would be considered dishonorable if the older sister did not marry first—he ultimately married the eldest daughter.
In 1513, Thomas More, then Undersheriff of London, is said to have written ‘The History of the Life and Death of Edward V and the Usurpation of Richard III’. This work appears to reflect the views of his patron, Cardinal Morton, and was not published until 1557—22 years after More’s death. At that time, More’s manuscript was also made public.
In 1515, Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, was created a cardinal by Pope Leo X, and Henry VIII appointed him Lord Chancellor. From that year until 1523, the king and Cardinal Wolsey exercised immense power and did not convene Parliament.
In May 1515, Thomas More—who had not yet been knighted—was dispatched to the Low Countries along with Cuthbert Turnstall to negotiate the renewal of the alliance with the delegation of Charles V. At the age of 37, he left England and stayed in Belgium for about six months; in Antwerp, he formed a deep friendship with the scholar Peter Hilles, who served as the local magistrate.
Cuthbert Turnstall was a promising clergyman in the Diocese of Canterbury. He became Chief Clerk to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1515 and was appointed Keeper of the Archives the following year, in 1516. That same year, he was again dispatched to the Low Countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands; More also accompanied him on a visit to Brussels, where he continued his close correspondence with Erasmus.
More’s ‘Utopia’ was written in Latin and consists of two parts. It is generally believed that Part II was written first and is estimated to have been completed in late 1515. In his letters, More sometimes referred to the setting of his work in Greek as “Nusquama,” meaning “nowhere.” Part I, which serves as the introduction, appears to have been written in early 1516.
The book was first published in Leuven in late 1516, edited jointly by Erasmus, Peter Helles, and several of More’s friends in Flanders. More later revised the text himself, and in November 1518, Provenius published a revised edition in Basel. It was subsequently republished in Paris and Vienna, but it was not published in England during More’s lifetime.
The first publication in England was an English translation by Ralph Robinson in 1551, during the reign of Edward VI. Later, in 1684, Gilbert Burnet produced a new translation that brought out the work’s literary sensibility. At the time, he had just witnessed the execution of his friend Sir William Russell, whom he had defended, and had recently been stripped of his professorship at St. Clement’s College under James II. Just as More had written ‘Utopia’ to criticize the absurdities of power and the contradictions of society, Burnett, sharing this sense of concern, devoted himself to the translation.
The title of this book has left behind a word that carries new meaning today. While the term “Utopian” is now commonly used to mean “fantastical,” the work itself contains a very serious and realistic vision for social reform. More sharply criticized the political and social problems plaguing English society at the time with scholarly insight and his characteristic wit. In fact, while explaining how he had been dispatched to Flanders alongside Cuthbert Turnstall, he wrote, “His Majesty preferred the position of judge in the Court of Appeal for the sake of the people.”
It is said that while staying in Antwerp, separated from his family, More formed a friendship with Pieter Helles, which helped ease his longing for his wife and children. The story then shifts fully into the realm of fiction with the introduction of Raphael Hisloday (a name of Greek origin meaning “one who spreads nonsense”), who is depicted as having accompanied Amerigo Vespucci on three voyages to the New World.
Noted for its meticulous descriptions, ‘Utopia’ is a work in which More gave free rein to his imagination, drawing inspiration from Plato’s ‘The Republic’ and Plutarch’s writings on Sparta during the time of Lycurgus. He depicted an ideal community with wit and satire, embedding within it his own political philosophy regarding the ideal state. At times, he mentioned France as a veiled criticism of England, and by ironically praising the good intentions of Christian monarchs, he sought to avoid accusations that he was directly attacking the policies of Henry VIII.
In a letter to a friend in 1517, Erasmus wrote, “If you have not read More’s ‘Utopia’, you will not know the true root of all political evils.” It is also reported that he told More, “The mayor of Antwerp is so pleased with this book that he has memorized its entire contents.”
