Thomas More Studies

DOCUMENTS ABOUT MORE

Historical Documents

See also Timelines linked to original documents.

• Magna Carta, 1215
• Praemunire Law, 1353
• Coronation Oath, 1509
• Colet’s Convocation Sermon, 1510
• More’s “Petition for Free Speech,” 1523
• More’s “Petition for Free Speech,” 1523 — Modernized Version
• More’s Address to the Parliament of 1529, 8 Nov: Chapuys’ Account
• More’s Address to the Parliament of 1529, 8 Nov: Hall’s Account
• Thomas More Excluded from Court Session, 15 June 1530
• Thomas More Almost Dismissed, 20 September 1530
• Thomas More’s Report to Parliament, 2 April 1531
• Thomas More on Blindness of Princes, 11 April 1531
• Henry VIII Visits Parliament Three Times, 6 March 1532
• Henry VIII Divides the House (First on Record), 26 March 1532
• Archbishop Warham, final speech, 1532
• Richard Hall’s The Life of John Fisher, c. 1535-1604
• Samuel Johnson’s History of the English Language: Thomas More
• Edward Hall’s The Lives of the Kings: Henry VIII
  • 1517 May Day Riot and background, I.153-64
  • 1518 Oration for London, I.167
  • 1519 Reform, King’s Council, I.177-8
  • 1522 Charles V Oration, I.250
  • 1522 Why Turks Conquered, I.279-83
  • 1523 Oration, Speaker of House, I.279
  • 1525 Oration before Emperor, II.64-65
  • 1529 Speech to Parliament, II.163-65
  • 1529 Treaty of Cambray, II.158
  • 1531 Opinions on Divorce, II.185-95
  • 1532 More Resigns, II.212 

Geneology

• Principal Line of Descendants through Thomas More’s One Son, John
• Thomas More’s Nephews and Nieces: The Rastells, the Heywoods, and the Donnes

Biographical Accounts

• Erasmus’ Letters about More
  • To Ulrich Von Hutton, Latin (23 July 1519, EE 999)
  • To Ulrich Von Hutten, English
  • To William Budé, Latin (<September> 1521, EE 1233)
  • To John Faber, Latin (< End of 1532>, EE 2750)
  • To John Faber 1532, English
  • Erasmus’ Final Comments about TM, Aug-Sept 1535
• Paris Newsletter Account of More’s Trial, 1535 
• Life of Thomas More by William Roper (More’s son-in-law)
• Life and Death of Sir Thomas More by Nicholas Harpsfield, ca. 1557
• The Life and Illustrious Martyrdom of Sir Thomas More by Thomas Stapleton, 1588
• The Life of Sir Thomas More, Knight by Cresacre More, 1649 {Google Books}
• The Life and Writings of Sir Thomas More by T. E. Bridgett, 1892 {Google Books}
• Sir Thomas More by Louis Bouyer [1984, translated in 2019]

WORKS BY THOMAS MORE

Workes of Sir Thomas More, 1557

• Title page
• Letter to Queen Mary
• Table of the workes and things conteyned in thys volume
• A table of many matters conteined in this booke
• [Four English Poems]
• The Life of John Picus, p. 1
• The history of king Richard the thirde, p. 35
• A Treatyce upon the last thynges, p. 72
• A Dialogue concernynge heresyes, p. 104
• The Supplicacion, p. 288
• The Confvtacion of Tyndales Avnsvvere, p. 339
• A letter of Sir Thomas More to John Frith, p. 833
• The apology of Syr Thomas More knight, p. 845
• The Debellacyon of Salem and Bizance, p. 929
• The answer to the poysoned booke, p. 1035
• A Dyalogue of comforte agaynste tribulacyon, p. 1139
• A treatice to receave the blessed body of our lorde, p. 1265
• A treatice upon the passion of Chryste, p. 1270
• Deuout and vertuous instruccions, meditacions, and prayers, p. [1405]
• [Letter to Thomas More’s Wife], p. 1419
• [Epitaph for his tomb, written by T. More in summer of 1532], p. 1419
• Foure letters [written after resigning &] before he was imprisoned, p. 1422
• Letters and other thyngs [written while] prisoner in the tower, p. 1428
• [Dialogue on Conscience], p. 1433
• [Other Prison Letters], p. 1443

Thomae Mori Omnia Latina Opera, 1565

(Courtesy of Daniel Kumar)

• Title and introductory page
• Epitaphium Thomae Mori; Epistolae
• Utopiae Libri Duo. 1-18
• Epigrammata. 18v-31
• Ex Luciano Quaedam . . . Conversa. 31v-41
• Declamatio Thomae Mori Lucianicae Respondens. 41-44
• Historia Richardi Regis Angliae Eius Nominis Tertii. 44v-56v
• Responsio ad Convitia Martini Lutheri, Congesta in Henricum Regem Angliae, Eius Nominis Octavum. 57-117v
• Expositio Passionis Domini. 118-13[3]v
• Quod Pro Fide Mors Fugienda Non Est. 13[3]v-134
• Precatio Ex Psalmis Collecta. 134-136

Thomae Mori Opera Omnia Latina, 1689

• Title page and frontispiece
• Historiae Richardi Tertii, pp. 1-26
• Responsio ad Convitia Lvtheri, pp. 27-87 (Part 1)
• Responsio ad Convitia Lvtheri, pp. 88-146 (Part 2)
• Expositio Passionis Christi, pp. 147-178
• Quod Mos Pro Fide, pp. 179-180
• Precatio ex Psalmis, pp. 181-186
• Utopia, pp. 186-230
• Poemata, pp. 231-256
• Dialogi Lucianei, pp. 257-282
• Epistolae, pp. 283-351

More’s Individual Works

• Life of John Picus (Giovanni Pico), c. 1510
  • Life of John Picus, 500th Anniversary Edition © CTMS
  • Life of John Picus, W. E. Campbell Edition
• The History of King Richard III, c. 1513-1518
  • Richard III, Modernized English | Study Guide
  • Richard III, 1557 Text
  • Richard III, 1566 Latin Text with Ben Jonson’s Annotations, Courtesy of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral and its Library
  • Richard III, Latin “Paris” manuscript (MS fr. 4996 [Ancien fonds], beginning on manuscript page 208b/website page 211), at Bibliothèque nationale de France, rediscovered by Daniel Kinney
  • Richardi Tertii, literal translation; dissertation on
  • See edition in Thomae Mori Opera Omnia Latina above
  • Also see Thomas More Studies 2007

• Utopia
  • Utopia & Selected Epigrams | Commentary | Study Guide | Latin Edition | Utopian Geography
  • Utopia, March 1518 Edition (courtesy of Amici Thomae Mori)
  • Bibliography to Utopia
  • See edition in Thomae Mori Opera Omnia Latina above
  • Also see 2005 Conference on Utopia
• Epigrams and English Poetry
  • Pageant Verses
• The Four Last Things, 1522
  • Part 1 – The Remembrance of Death | Part 2 – Of Pride and Envy | Part 3 – Of Covertousness, Gluttony, and Sloth
• The Dialogue Concerning Heresies, 1529
  • The Dialogue Concerning Heresies © CTMS Synopsis | Intro-1.3 | 1.4-1.14 | 1.15-1.21 | 1.22-1.26 | 1.27-1.31 | 2.1-2.8 | 2.9-2.12 | 3.1-3.5 | 3.6-3.14 | 3.15-3.16 | 4.1-4.9 | 4.10-4.13 | 4.14-4.18
  • The Dialogue Concerning Heresies, Modernized Version, 2006 {Amazon} | Study Outline
  • See 2007 Conference on The Dialogue Concerning Heresies
• Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer
  • Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer, ©CTMS, Books 1-4 | Books 5-9
• A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, 1534
  • A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, 1847 Edition
  • A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, Modernized Version, 1998 {Amazon} | Study Outline
• The Four Last Things / The Supplication of Souls / Dialogue on Conscience, Modernized Version 
  • The Four Last Things / The Supplication of Souls / Dialogue on Conscience, Modernized Version {Amazon}
• The Sadness of Christ, 1535
  • The Sadness of Christ, Mary Basset’s 1557 Translation
  • The Sadness of Christ, Modern Translation {Amazon}
  • De Tristitia Christi original manuscript (courtesy of Archivo Real Colegio Seminario de Corpus Christi, Valencia)

Instructions and Prayers

• Prayers from the Treatise on the Passion, c. 1534
  • See “A treatice upon the passion of Chryste” in Workes of Sir Thomas More above
• Final Instructions and Prayers
• A Prayer to St. Thomas More
• A Litany of St. Thomas More
• A Novena to St. Thomas More

Poems

• Coronation Ode of King Henry VIII, 1509, 500th Anniversary Edition
• English Poems, c. 1496-1504, 1535
  • “The Early Poems” from The English Works of Thomas More
  • A Merry Jest, Annotated Version © CTMS
  • The Pageant of Life (1492-1501), Annotated Version © CTMS
  • A Rueful Lamentation, Annotated Version © CTMS
  • Book of Fortune, Annotated Version © CTMS
  • Fortune Poems of 1535, Annotated Version © CTMS
  • Psalm on Detachment
  • See poems at the end of Life of John Picus 500th Anniversary Edition above
• Latin Poems, 1500-1520
  • Coronation Ode and Latin Poem No. 19 with Ben Jonson’s Annotations, Courtesy of the
    Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral and its Library
  • See poems in Thomae Mori Opera Omnia Latina above

Select Correspondence, 1499-1535

Letter to John Colet, c. 1504
Letter to William Gonell, c. 1518
Letter to His Children, 1521
Letter to His Children, 1522
Letter to His Wife, 1529
Letter to Erasmus, 1533
Letter to Margaret, 17 April 1534
Letters between Alice and Margaret, August 1534 (“Dialogue on Conscience”)
Letter to Antonio Bonvisi, 1535
Letter to Margaret, 2 May 1535
Letter to Margaret, 3 June 1535
Letter to Margaret, 5 July 1535

Erasmi Epistolae, 1499-1535

(NOTE: Selections below from Erasmus, Desiderius. Erasmi epistolae [EE]. Ed. P.S. Allen et al. 12 vols. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford UP, 1906-55. Available translations are indicated to the right in parentheses: See The Collected Works of Erasmus [CWE], U of Toronto P, 1974-. Or see St. Thomas More: Selected Letters [SL], ed. Elizabeth F. Rogers, Yale UP, 1961.