In 1529, following the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, More became Lord Chancellor, equivalent of Prime Minister; but his tenure in that office was brief and stormy. In the early 1530s Henry started negotiations to divorce Catherine of Aragon—or have his marriage annulled—and he expected to find a loyal supporter in his Lord Chancellor. More’s refusal to second the king’s arguments eventually brought about a breach, and More resigned. Then when Henry broke off allegiance to the pope, declaring himself head of the Church of England, he tried to force all Englishmen to acknowledge the “Act of Succession and Supremacy” under penalty of law. More was one of a distinguished group of faithful Roman Catholics who refused to recognize Henry’s proclaimed supremacy over the Church of England. He was accused of treason, imprisoned in the Tower, and beheaded, July, 1535.
The full story of More’s life and character casts valuable light on Utopia, even those events that came after the writing of the work; but the principal key to its interpretation is the story of More the humanist scholar. He came to Oxford as a student, when Greek studies were being encouraged through the instruction of William Grocyn, an Englishman who had been trained in Italy. More was to become a friend and collaborator with the leaders in the new movement—Colet, Latimer, and the rest—and eventually a leader himself. When Erasmus visited England, he and More became warm friends. The great Dutch scholar was often a guest in More’s home; in fact, it was in More’s house that he wrote part of his famous Praise of Folly (Encomium Moriae), which he dedicated to More. It was Erasmus who was responsible for introducing More to Peter Giles, the man who figured prominently in the composition of Utopia. And it was Erasmus who arranged for the anonymous publication of Utopia in Louvain in 1516.
It is important at the outset to understand certain circumstances connected with the writing of Utopia. During More’s stay in the Low Countries, there was a long recess in the official negotiations, during which he spent a good deal of time in conversations with that friend of Erasmus, Peter Giles. The tenor of their speculations on world-wide problems apparently led More into writing down his account of an imaginary kingdom on an imaginary island. That account was to become the basis for, or chief portion of, Book II of Utopia. During the year following his return to England, he wrote Book I, the section on contemporary English and European society, which offers sharp contrasts to Utopian life.
This over-simplified account will serve for the present. A fuller explanation of details of the piecing together of these parts and the significance of this information for the better understanding of More’s life and personality, as well as how they impinge upon the work, Utopia, will be presented later.
