World Timelines- Sir Thomas More (AD 1478-1535)

British Isles > England > South-east England AD 1500-1750 Early modern

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Gold and silver objects connected with Sir Thomas More Gold and silver objects connected with Sir Thomas More Gold and silver objects connected with Sir Thomas More Gold and silver objects connected with Sir Thomas More Gold and silver objects connected with Sir Thomas More Gold and silver objects connected with Sir Thomas More

Gold and silver objects connected with Sir Thomas More

More jewels: Garnet cameo with bust of the Virgin Mary	More jewels: Cornelian seal-die bearing the arms of More's grandson, with gold crucifix handle
More jewels: Silver seal-die bearing the arms and crest of Sir Thomas More	More jewels: The George Jewel interior
More jewels: The George Jewel exterior	More jewels: Gold reliquary cross inscribed in Greek: 'This is a relic of Thomas the Apostle'
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	AD 1500-1700 England Known as ‘The More Jewels’, all the objects in this collection are associated with Sir Thomas More or his family. However, only the seal-die with More’s coat of arms and crest definitely belonged to him. The ‘George Jewel’, with St George and the Dragon on the front, contains an obliterated miniature of More probably made to commemorate his martyrdom. AD 1500-1700 England Known as ‘The More Jewels’, all the objects in this collection are associated with Sir Thomas More or his family. However, only the seal-die with More’s coat of arms and crest definitely belonged to him. The ‘George Jewel’, with St George and the Dragon on the front, contains an obliterated miniature of More probably made to commemorate his martyrdom. AD 1500-1700 England Known as ‘The More Jewels’, all the objects in this collection are associated with Sir Thomas More or his family. However, only the seal-die with More’s coat of arms and crest definitely belonged to him. The ‘George Jewel’, with St George and the Dragon on the front, contains an obliterated miniature of More probably made to commemorate his martyrdom. AD 1500-1700 England Known as ‘The More Jewels’, all the objects in this collection are associated with Sir Thomas More or his family. However, only the seal-die with More’s coat of arms and crest definitely belonged to him. The ‘George Jewel’, with St George and the Dragon on the front, contains an obliterated miniature of More probably made to commemorate his martyrdom. AD 1500-1700 England Known as ‘The More Jewels’, all the objects in this collection are associated with Sir Thomas More or his family. However, only the seal-die with More’s coat of arms and crest definitely belonged to him. The ‘George Jewel’, with St George and the Dragon on the front, contains an obliterated miniature of More probably made to commemorate his martyrdom. AD 1500-1700 England Known as ‘The More Jewels’, all the objects in this collection are associated with Sir Thomas More or his family. However, only the seal-die with More’s coat of arms and crest definitely belonged to him. The ‘George Jewel’, with St George and the Dragon on the front, contains an obliterated miniature of More probably made to commemorate his martyrdom.


	The British Museum On loan from the Society of Jesus British Museum: Gold and silver objects connected with Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More (AD 1478-1535)

The Spanish Armada

Elizabethan adventurers

Timekeeping and navigation

The French Connection

Witchcraft

	Sir Thomas More (AD 1478-1535) Sir Thomas More was an internationally respected scholar and friend of the great Renaissance humanist Erasmus (AD 1466-1536). His most famous book, Utopia, is about an imaginary commonwealth, the Island of Utopia, where there is religious freedom and equality. He succeeded Cardinal Wolsey as Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor in 1529 after Wolsey had failed to persuade the Pope to grant Henry a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. More tried to persuade Henry to take Catherine back as his wife, and the king’s predictable rage forced him to resign as Chancellor in 1532. A faithful Catholic, More could not accept that Parliament had the power to declare Henry Supreme Head of the Church of England. He refused to swear an oath on the new royal succession in 1534, was imprisoned and interrogated. In February 1535 the Treason Act was passed – anyone who spoke against the Supremacy ‘maliciously’ was guilty of treason. More was tried in July, and although he did not expressly deny the Supremacy, he was convicted and executed on the 6th of July. He was widely seen as a Catholic martyr. In 1935 he was made a saint. View this article in the Timeline Viewer (requires Flash Player 7)