Peter Espeut

Sir Thomas More was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1501, and in 1504 he entered Parliament as an MP. He became Lord Chancellor of England in 1529 under King Henry VIII at a time of great turmoil: the King wanted annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella) so he could marry Anne Boleyn (a courtier in his wife's entourage), but the Roman Catholic Church determined that the marriage was valid. The only way he could get his divorce was to create his own church which he could control. So he formed the Church of England with himself as head, dissolved his marriage to Catherine, and married Anne Boleyn.

Parliament supported him by passing the 1533 Act of Succession validating his marriage with Anne. The 1534 Act of Supremacy declared that the king was "the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England"; the Act made it high treason punishable by death to refuse to acknowledge the king as such. All adults in the kingdom were required to acknowledge the act's provisions by oath, and those who refused to do so were subject to imprisonment for life. The publisher or printer of any literature alleging that Henry's marriage to Anne was invalid, was automatically guilty of high treason and could be punished by death.

Great wealth and privilege

Although Sir Thomas More was a subject and friend of the king, and in a position of great wealth and privilege, he refused to compromise his principles by taking the oath of supremacy, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. His property was seized and forfeited to the crown. It would have been so easy for him to say the few words without meaning them, and he would have been free to return to his wife and children; and maybe have his property back. His wife and some of his friends who took the oath, tried their best to convince him to do what everyone else was doing, but he refused, even though he was afraid. In a letter to his eldest daughter Margaret he wrote: "His grace has strengthened me until now and made me content to lose goods, land, and life as well, rather than to swear against my conscience. I cannot, therefore, mistrust the grace of God. I will not mistrust him, Meg, though I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear. I shall remember how Saint Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith, and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray to him for help. And then I trust he shall place his holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning. And if he permits me to play Saint Peter further and to fall to the ground and to swear and forswear, may God in his tender mercy keep me from this, and let me lose if it so happen, and never win thereby!"

He was convicted of high treason and beheaded in 1535.

Who says Members of Parliament cannot be saints? St. Thomas More was immortalised in the play A Man For All Seasons, which was made into a movie. He is certainly a model for other politicians to follow. Compromise if you must, but not on essentials. Thomas More had principles that he lived by, and that he was prepared to die for. As for Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII had her beheaded in 1536, and married someone else.

History tells us that kings and politicians and parliaments pass laws to suit themselves. Power tends to corrupt! No party whip should be able to force you to voteagainst your conscience. And if everyone else has thugs and gunmen, and takes political contributions for favours later, that does not mean you must follow suit.