02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS
in helping stop books that contained Lutheran beliefs entering
England.Whilst More is often viewed as pious, principled and
particularly kind to his family, it should be remembered that
he was also responsible for sentencing six Lutheran heretics to
be burned to death whilst he was Lord Chancellor. He also
showed no hesitation in having around forty more Lutheran
sympathisers sent to prison.
However, although More was in many ways entirely committed
to the authority of the monarch and believed in the importance
of hierarchy and structure within society, it became
increasingly obvious that Henry would not accept the authority
of the pope.
When the king revealed that he planned to take on the role
and powers traditionally held by the pope, More was horrified.
It is, of course, the belief in the Roman Catholic Church
that the popes are the direct successors to St Peter and therefore
their importance as leaders of the Church is indisputable.
King Henry VIII demanded that the clergy acknowledge him
as the newly styled ‘Protector and Supreme Head of the
Church of England’. Although More was opposed to this and
considered stepping down as Lord Chancellor, he was persuaded
to stay by John Fisher and other religious figures who
found themselves in a similar predicament.They took the oath
demanded by the king that he should be acknowledged as
head of the English Church with the additional proviso,‘as far
as the law of Christ allows’.With the agreement of the king,
More finally resigned from his post in 1532 on the grounds of
ill health. But his convictions and loyalty to the king were to
be finally tested and found wanting when he refused to attend
the coronation of Anne Boleyn as the queen of England.
He was then attacked with false charges that he had taken
bribes whilst in office but was found innocent of them.
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