A Man for All Seasons
Today is the memorial of Saint Thomas More, about whom I have briefly blathered before, principally about my confusion between him and Saint Thomas Becket.
The story of his life was (more or less) made into the wonderful movie, A Man for All Seasons, starring Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More. The script is just brilliant, and eminently quotable.
The “but for Wales?” bit alone is worth the price of admission.
Here is one of my favourite exchanges:
William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake!
More’s refusal to accept the claims of the King over the Pope in ecclesiastical matters led to his resignation as Chancellor.
His refusal to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as the Queen of England led to his arrest on charges stemming from Papal supremacy.
After a sham trial, he was found guilty of treason, at which point he gave his final statement to the court:
For as much as, my Lords, this Indictment is grounded upon an Act of Parliament, directly repugnant, to the Laws of God and his Holy Church, the Supreme Government of which, or of any part thereof, no Temporal Person may by any Law presume to take upon him, being what right belongs to the See of Rome, which by special Prerogative was granted by the Mouth of our Savior Christ himself to Saint Peter, and the Bishops of Rome his Successors only, whilst he lived, and was personally present here on Earth: it is therefore, amongst Catholic Christians, insufficient in Law, to charge any Christian to obey it.
He was sentenced to death.
I die his Majesty’s good servant but God’s first.
*glee!* That’s my favorite exchange in the entire movie too! Giving the devil the benefit of the law!
It’s a historical irony and almost sends chills up one’s back when we realize how many similarities there were between Sts. Becket and More.
Henry II appointed his close friend, Thomas Becket to be chancellor of England. When Henry tried to demand the obedience of the Church to the Crown over the Papacy, Henry had Becket appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket’s loyalty stayed with the Catholic Church and he was killed because of it.
Henry VIII appointed his close friend, Sir Thomas More to be chancellor of England. When Henry tried to demand the obedience of the Church to the Crown over the Papacy, Thomas refused. More’s loyalty to the Catholic Church saw him executed.
He and Becket are studies in loyalty and quiet dignity.