During the next decade, Thomas More attracted the attention of King
, and served frequently on diplomatic missions to the Low Countries. In 1518, and he was knighted in 1521. Two years later, Thomas
More was made Speaker of the House of Commons. Thomas More became
Lord Chancellor in 1529; His fortunes changed, however, when he refused to Support Henry's request for a divorce from . Privately, More did not like Henry the 8th . Henry the 8th failed miserably as King. He divorced his first wife (and his brother's widow), Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of the King of Spain and married Anne Boleyn, without the blessing of the Pope. Thomas More was a devout Catholic and believed deeply in the supremacy of the Pope and the impropriety of this marriage. But, in 1532, when he saw that King Henry was determined to marry Anne Boleyn and that divorce was in the air. Rather than stay in the King's cabinet, he claimed ill health and was allowed to retire from the bench. He resigned from the chancellor-ship in 1532 and withdrew from public notice. In 1534, Henry enacted a law, which declared him supreme ruler of the world. All citizens were to accept this by oath. Thomas said no to this. Henry threw him into the Tower of London where for a whole year he was locked up, denied pen, paper, or books. His wife and children visited and begged him to submit to the oath but Thomas More refused on principle. It was on May 7, 1535 that More was dragged to trial, charged with treason for failing to take the oath. He could barely walk from his 14-month confinement. There were seven judges including the new Lord Chancellor, Thomas Audley. More was immediately told that he could even yet take the oath and beg the King's pardon and be saved. Sir Thomas More declined.
Thomas was tried the following year; he refused to take an oath of supremacy, asserting that Parliament did not have the right to usurp papal authority in favour of the king. Condemned for his stand, Henry the 8th commuted the sentence to a quick beheading. He was be-headed on July 7, 1535.
His head was stuck on London Bridge where it stayed for several months (his daughter later bought it). When news came of Thomas More death, Henry the 8th, then 44 years old, quickly confiscated all of Thomas More's property and forced Thomas More's wife and family to start anew. He even negated special legal assignments that Thomas More had devised to provide for his family in case he was executed.
Anne Boleyn was beheaded eleven months after Thomas More, on charges of adultery. Henry the 8th went on to marry four more wives, another of which was also beheaded. Henry died in 1547. During his rein, there had been an average of 120 executions a month in England. Thomas More was named a Catholic saint in 1866.