Thomas More 1 | Who Was Thomas More, and Why Did He Imagine Nowhere?

Send us Fan Mail Who was Thomas More before he became a martyr — and why did a man at the heart of Tudor government imagine a society called “nowhere”? Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson begin a new Beyond the Text series on More and Utopia. We explore the lawyer, humanist and statesman behind the famous book: his education, his friendship with Erasmus, his religious commitments and his uneasy place in Henry VIII’s political world. From Augustine and Plato to poverty, punishment and public service, we ask whether Utopia offers an ideal society, a satire of existing institutions, or a way to think more carefully about political action. Can we remake the world — or must we learn to steer the ship? CHAPTERS 00:00 Opening music 00:10 Introducing Thomas More 01:10 Reading More through his life 02:09 Education, philosophy and law 03:40 Religious vocation and life in the world 05:16 Utopia and Tudor public life 08:03 Translation, satire and the travel narrative 09:14 Why “Utopia” means nowhere 10:29 Augustine and Plato 12:03 Poverty, theft and punishment 14:02 Wolsey, Henry VIII and political service 16:21 Oaths, conscience and the break with Rome 17:05 Trial, Socrates and the philosopher in politics 18:29 The perfect society and steering the ship 19:20 Execution and legacy 20:04 Canonisation and Erasmus 21:15 Looking ahead to Utopia CHRONOLOGY NOTES More served as Speaker in 1523. He was imprisoned in April 1534 and executed on 6 July 1535. The title page and island illustration shown in the video are from the 1518 edition of Utopia; the book first appeared in 1516. READ AND DISCUSS https://beyondthetext.co.uk https://theintellectualhistorian.com https://thehistoryofideasclub.co.uk READING Thomas More, Utopia: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26971 Augustine, The City of God: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm Thomas More chronology: https://thomasmorestudies.org/chronology/ MUSIC “Queens Arrival” — Red Planet / TakeTones. WATCH ON YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/LGp0HvU3ZTI #ThomasMore #Utopia #IntellectualHistory Support the show