CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: B - Thomas More was an English humanist who published Utopia in 1516, describing a fictional island society where life was ideal. More was an educator then advisor to King Henry VIII, who appointed his trusted friend Lord Chancellor in 1529. More was the most devout Catholic and abhorred the Protestant Reformation when it began in Europe- a position that Henry initially shared with him. However, when Henry faced a crisis over a divorce that the Church would not approve, which sowed the seeds of Reformation in Henry’s mind, he and More began to split. More refused to recognize the king as the Church’s superior, and Henry ultimately had him executed in 1535, to the great shock of Europe. He remains one of the most revered men in the nation’s history, heralded for his virtue and genius.