In the summer of 1534, Thomas More was imprisoned for refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England. From a grimy prison cell, the Catholic statesman wrote letters to friends and family that illustrated faith’s role in preserving his moral integrity, despite imminent death.
More’s Imprisonment
England in the 1530s was beset by widespread political turmoil. German theologian Martin Luther had published his 95 theses in 1517. The theses outlined a series of critiques against the Catholic Church for what Luther called overt corruption. They had a ripple effect throughout Europe, igniting what historians call the Protestant Reformation.Although it had many causes, the Reformation in England came into full effect when King Henry VIII decided to split from the Catholic Church. Desperate for a male heir, Henry sought to divorce Catherine of Aragon, a noblewoman with important ties to Spain, and marry Anne Boleyn.
