There is much to learn from the story of how the head of one of the most revered men in England， Sir Thomas More， ended up on the chopping block on London's Tower Hill in 1535. Few people in history have faced their trials and deaths as squarely， calmly， and with as much integrity as did More.

　　More's road from his post as Lord Chancellor of England to the Tower of London owes its course to a Bible passage， a marriage of a long-dead prince， and the consuming desire of lustful and vain-glorious King Henry VIII to marry Anne Boleyn. Swept along with More， in this fateful confluence of writings， events， and people， was nothing less than the Reformation.

　　Henry Finds Leviticus

　　In 1509， when the new eighteen-year-old king， Henry VIII， married a young Spanish princess， Catherine of Aragon， the marriage came with the blessing of Pope Julius II， in the form of a dispensation from an injunction found in the Bible's Leviticus. The dispensation was deemed necessary because Catherine had been briefly married to Henry's older brother， Arthur， raising the question of whether Henry's marriage would violated Leviticus 20：21： "If a man shall take his brother's wife， it is an unclean thing……they shall be childless." The fact that Arthur remained ill throughout the six-month-long marriage until his death， and that therefore the marriage——if Catherine is to be believed——was never consummated， doubtless made the case an easier one for Pope Julius than it otherwise might have been.

　　By early 1526， however， King Henry's affection had turned from Catherine to the beautiful Anne Boleyn. Reviewing Leviticus， Henry began to question the lawfulness of his marriage to Catherine. Even the least skeptical historian， of course， has considered the possibility that lust， together with a desire to father the healthy son that Catherine——now past her child-bearing years——could not， might have influenced his interpretation of the Bible chapter. Whether out of concern for his soul or for his sex life， Henry set in motion a process that would change the face of Europe.

　　In early 1527， Henry instructed his Lord Chancellor， Cardinal Thomas Wolsey， to institute proceedings to resolve the issue of the validity of his marriage to Catherine. Henry's request came at a tumultuous time in European history. Emperor Charles V pushed his troops toward Rome and， in May， wreaked havoc in the city. Troops raped women， killed children， and even disentombed the corpse of Pope Julius II and dragged it through the streets. （The living pope， Pope Clement VII， fled Rome for a castle in St. Angelo， where he was held prisoner——complicating Wolsey's task of gaining a dispensation for Henry）。 Meanwhile， in an effort to counterbalance Charles's power， Sir Thomas More， a loyal councilor of Henry's， working in France， successfully negotiated a treaty between England and its longtime enemy.

　　By June， Henry had become sufficiently convinced that his 1509 marriage violated the command of Leviticus and he informed his wife that they had been unlawfully married for the past eighteen years. Faced with having her dignity as a married woman stripped and her surviving daughter labeled illegitimate， Catherine did not take the news well.

　　When More and Wolsey returned to England in September， after traveling to France to ratify the new treaty， the king raised with More at Hampton Court the issue of his marriage. According to More， "his Highnes walkying in the galery， brake with me of his great mater." More reported that Henry "layed the Bible open byfore me， and ther red the wordis that moved" him to conclude his marriage was unlawful. When More suggested a different interpretation of Leviticus， the King ordered him to "commune ferther" with royal advisers and read a report——then in preparation——that made the case for annulment.

　　Later in the fall， Henry took the unusual step of visiting More at his home in Chelsea to take up again his "great matter." In a scene memorialized in Robert Bolt's great play， A Man for All Seasons， the King walked the gardens with his arm around the neck of his trusted counselor. Henry and More differed， in the end， over the matter of papal supremacy. The King argued that Leviticus made his marriage a crime in God's eyes——and that no Pope had the power to waive the Biblical injunction. More， on the other hand， accepted papal supremacy as a matter of faith， and tended to view Pope Julius's 1509 dispensation as conclusive.

　　from Henry's standpoint， the proceedings to gain the annulment of his marriage to Catherine continued at a frustratingly slow speed and with no tangible results. In the summer of 1528， as London confronted outbreaks of the plague and sweating sickness， the Pope dispatched Cardinal Campeggio from Rome to convene a legatine court in London that would decide the matter. For his part， Thomas More occupied himself aggressively pursuing heretics， who he viewed as a much greater threat to England's well-being than the king's marriage controversy.

　　On May 31， 1529， at the Dominican house of Blackfriars in London， an inquest into the King's "great matter" convened. Three weeks later， on Midsummer's Day， a remarkable scene took place——one that is slightly recast in Shakespeare's King Henry VIII. In the real event， the proceeding opens with the cry， "King Harry of England， come into the court！" "Here， my lords，" the king replies. "Catherine， Queen of England， come into the court！" Without an answer， Catherine walked over to the King， then knelt and pleaded for "pity and compassion." She proclaimed her loyalty to Henry and insisted that she never had relations with her husband's brother. Henry， in response， stated that were it not for his love for her， he would have acted sooner on his religious doubts——and pledged to abide by the court's conclusions concerning the lawfulness of his marriage. In a speech that followed， Henry made the case for annulment and acknowledged——at Wolsey's request——that he， and not any member of the clergy， was the "chief mover" of the inquest. In a moment of drama that portended another date with the executioner's block， John Fisher， the Bishop of Rochester and a main supporter of Catherine， rose to make clear that he had not， as the King had implied joined with other bishops in signing a document urging the king to take the matter of his marriage to the Pope. The inquest produced no results； Catherine chose to make no more appearances， nor to recognize its authority to decide the validity of her marriage. Instead， in July， she appealed the matter directly to Pope Clement——who then announced that the decision would be made in Rome， not England.

　　While the court at Blackfriars continued in session， Thomas More traveled to Cabrai， where negotiations involving major European powers to take place. More played England's cards well， winning separate peace agreements with Francis and Charles V. The agreements， which would hold the peace in Europe for fifteen years， rank among More's proudest achievements. More chose to remember the accomplishment on his tombstone at Chelsea along with just one other： he noted that he had always been "molestus" （troublesome） to heretics.

　　The failure of Cardinal Wolsey to secure a Church decision annulling his marriage did not sit well with King Henry. In October 1529， Henry ordered Wolsey arrested for treason and stripped him of the title of Lord Chancellor， the highest appointed office in England and a position he had held for fourteen years. In his place， Henry chose Thomas More. The choice was widely acclaimed. Wolsey called his replacement "the aptest and fittest man in the Realm." More， despite having sympathies for Catherine and being well aware of the tension that might cause， accepted the post——primarily because it offered him an opportunity to defend his Church against what he saw as a growing plague of heretics. （During his tenure， More would ban heretical texts， search the home of heretics， and prosecute——and even burn——those persons he believed to be undermining Church authority.）

　　The King Takes on the Church

　　Beginning in 1530， King Henry VIII took an increasingly aggressive posture on the matter of his marriage annulment. Thomas Cranmer， who would become a sort of scholar-in-residence for Henry， wrote a treatise， Collectanea satis copiosa， that demonstrated the unlawfulness of the marriage between Henry and Catherine. The King added his own handwritten comments in the margins. The report circulated to faculties of England's universities which duly——under some pressure——issued declarations that the king's scruples were probably justified.

　　In the middle of June， Henry convened a meeting of lords and prelates， who were persuaded to send a letter to Pope Clement asking that the the King's annulment be granted. More's signature was conspicuously absent from the letter sent to the Pope. In the month after the meeting， the King's attorney general charged fourteen prelates （including Bishop John Fisher） who had sided with Catherine in the dispute with violations of praemunire laws. Clement's answer to the king's letter could not have made Henry happy； the Pope reminded the King that his refusal to send a delegate to Rome was the principal cause of the delay in resolving his "great matter."

　　In September， Henry issued a proclamation that prevented enforcement of any papal bull inconsistent with his own view of his marriage's lawfulness. Henry's direct at