Thomas More Studies

57 years old.

She was related to the families of both Henry VII and Henry VIII, and is the grandmother, nine generations removed, of Queen Elizabeth II. She was a widow when she married Sir Thomas in 1511. She had married around 1490 John Middleton, a wealthy London merchant and member of the Mercers Company, which More had served. Their daughter, Alice Alington, writes Letter 205. On the sketch for this painting, Holbein writes: “This one must sit” and indicates that the monkey must be added – now chained to her chair.

Sitting in a richly ornate chair, ready for action and giving a knowing glance in our direction as would be appropriate for the attentive and experienced manager of that busy household and estate, she holds a prayer-book with a beautifully bejeweled, deep-green velvet casing. This small gold-edged book matches the small gold-edged books held by young John and by Margaret Giggs.

27 years old.

Another figure ready for secular action is John Harris, More’s secretary, who has been added in the doorway and who holds an official document in hand, a document complete with seals as he looks attentively towards Chancellor More.

John was More’s secretary (“my friend” Letter 201) and a tutor in More’s “school.” He married Dorothy Colly (Margaret’s maid) who cared for More in prison and was among the 3 women who tended to his burial. John and Dorothy were responsible for saving many of More’s writings by bringing them into exile to Louvain and making them available to Stapleton for his important biography published in 1588. They went into exile to Louvain after More’s execution.

22 years old.

“Meg” was the oldest of More’s children and the most intellectually accomplished. She was the first non-royal woman to publish a book in England. She was proficient in Greek, Latin, medicine, and liberal learning. She appears to have championed the printing of her father’s collected works (Guy 2009). She married lawyer William Roper in 1521, was mother of five children (Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary, Thomas, Anthony), and died at the age of 39. Her daughter Mary Basset was also exceptionally learned, translating books from Greek and Latin – including her grandfather’s De Tristitia Christi. Like her two younger sisters, she is pregnant in the family portrait.

Margaret, shown deeply in thought, is pointing to the word “demens” (“mad”) in the famously controversial chorus of the fourth act of Seneca’s Oedipus. Oedipus is the best known tragic character of classical antiquity. He begins being blind in terms of self-knowledge, and then proceeds “madly” to take out his own eyes once he comes to know himself and his actions for what they are. On the left hand side of the book, notice that “fate” is given first place. These parts of lines 882-889 can be read: Were it mine to shape fate at my will, I would trim my sails to gentle winds, lest my yards tremble, bent ’neath a heavy blast. May soft breezes, gently blowing, unvarying, carry my untroubled barque along.... On the right-hand page, the words of lines 893-898 not covered by Margaret’s hand are: madly the lad [Icarus] sought the stars, in strange devices trusting, and strove to vanquish true birds in flight; and [demanding too much of his false wings]....) Notice on line 103 Oedipus refers to his own action as “demens.” (112 Moreana Vol.45, 173 (June - Juin 2008) Moreana 173 3/06/08 10:53 Page 112).

The opposite page gives another approach to the troubles that “fate” seems to bring. Using terms from sailing, the Chorus of the play advises: “Were it mine to shape fate at my will, I would trim my sails to gentle winds, lest my yards tremble, bent ’neath a heavy blast.” This formulation by the Chorus raises difficult questions: IS it ours to shape fate at our will? If not, then how can one deal with a “heavy blast” such as bends Oedipus? Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy (on the cupboard behind Judge More’s deals with just this issue, both dramatically and philosophically.

Family Fool

Dressed like King Henry, he has the red and white Tudor rose on his cap, has a red beard, and wears a play sword.

20 years old.

In Holbein's preparatory sketch, Cecily is holding a rosary; here, she is now wearing a striking ivory medallion with a naked Venus30 leaning on a pillar. This Greek or Roman medallion shows that Cecily has an interest in classical art as do her sisters, even though her book is unlabeled. Like her two elder sisters, she is pregnant in the family portrait.

The youngest and most beautiful of More’s three daughters, she married in 1525 Giles Heron, wealthy heir of Sir John Heron, Treasurer of the Chamber of Henry VIII. Giles was a member of Parliament, but was later attainted by Parliament for treason in 1540, then drawn, hung, and quartered -- his lands going to Cromwell and Rich. Giles had brought to More the message about the fire at Chelsea. Giles was More’s ward from 1522-25; later More gave a judgment against him in court.

50 years old.

Sir Thomas was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when this portrait was made in 1527. The More family moved from London to Chelsea in 1524. In December 1526 Holbein arrived from Antwerp to the More home and stayed through early 1527. The great fire at Chelsea occurred in early September 1529 and More became Lord Chancellor of England October 25, 1529.

15 years old.

She became a ward of Sir Thomas More in 1512 and married John in 1529. They had 8 children. Son Thomas More II was born in 1531; his son Cresacre wrote a biography of More. Anne moved to her estate in Yorkshire after John’s death in 1547 and later married a neighbor, George West. Thomas More II inherited that estate in 1572.

76 years old.

Sir John was a barrister, serjeant at law, judge of Common Pleas and of the King’s Bench. He married four times. Thomas was the second child of six from John’s marriage with Joanna Graunger.

IS it ours to shape fate at our will? If not, then how can one deal with a “heavy blast” such as bends Oedipus? (This question arises based on the book in Margaret's hand. Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy (on the cupboard behind Judge More’s head) deals with just this issue, both dramatically and philosophically: Boethius, imprisoned and awaiting execution by the king he has loyally served, weeps and wails in misery until Lady Philosophy in torn dress enters and commands him to stop. She then leads Boethius to remember what he had earlier seen about the nature of happiness; eventually, Boethius – unlike Oedipus – is able to face the cruelties of life with calm and resignation, and perhaps even happiness. Seneca deals with these same issues in his letters, a copy of which Elizabeth has under her arm; he too ended his life in service to a ruler he faithfully served, with Stoic resignation for which he became famous – unlike mad Oedipus. Thomas More refers to Boethius as “that great wise and well learned man” (CW8 939/1) and he commends to his children “that beautiful and holy poem of Boethius” (SL 146, Corr. 250/21, TMSB 202). That More knew Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy very well is shown in these other passages: Corr 519, CW 11 84/33n, CW 12 258/13n. The parallels between Boethius and More are striking: both were philosophers, poets, and political leaders; both wrote works of consolation while in prison; both lost favor with their rulers and were subsequently executed leaving behind wives and children.

Both Boethius and Seneca deal with the possibility of happiness in the midst of fate’s powerful workings, a topic that More treated throughout his life, a topic so central and so difficult and yet so practical and so fitting – even for a king – that it may well have been the issue he chose for the disputation which his three daughters held at Chelsea for King Henry VIII shortly before the Basel drawing was done. In fact, Holbein’s revised Basel drawing may seek to suggest this event which showcased the learning of More’s daughters. If so, this would explain why the family is so well dressed and why all that is needed for entertainment and hospitality is still in full view. In this reading of the painting, the King has just left; he and Sir Thomas may have posed questions that explain why Margaret and Elizabeth remain deeply engrossed in thought about the books of Seneca they still carry. Seneca is, of course, an author whom More praises and one More quoted from his first to his last works.

More’s second daughter, Elizabeth, has a prominent place in More’s Letter to Gonell and in the last letter More wrote. She married William Dauncey, son of Sir John Dauncey, Knight of the Body to Henry VIII, and would be parents to seven children. Cecily’s husband was imprisoned for “treasonable words” & goods confiscated but restored in April 1544.

22 years old.

She was an adopted daughter and kinswoman; a scholar in Greek, Latin, mathematics, and medicine. She married John Clement (present in Utopia) in 1526, who became Court physician in 1528 and later president of the London College of Physicians.” She was the only family member at the execution. She died 6 July 1570, 35 years to the day of More’s death. She served as a co-editor of More’s English Works.

added several generations later!

added several generations later!