American Ideals 28. Thomas More

Abstract

More’s life in connection to Henry V’s dissolution of the English Catholic Church and Henry’s assumption of the supreme leadership of the subsequent Anglican Church is discussed. Thomas More’s trial for treason for this failure to subscribe to Henry’s supreme leadership and the critical legal issues raised by the trial (the right against self incrimination, the right to remain silent, and the right to privacy of personal thought) are elucidated.