The steadfastness and courage with which More held on to his religious convictions in the face of ruin and death and the dignity with which he conducted himself during his imprisonment, trial, and execution, contributed much to More's posthumous reputation, particularly among Catholics. More was
beatified by
Pope Leo XIII in
1886 and
canonized with
John Fisher after a mass petition of English Catholics in
1935, as in some sense a 'patron saint of politics' in protest against the rise of secular, anti-religious Communism. His joint feast day with Fisher is
22 June. In
2000 this trend continued, with Saint Thomas More declared the "heavenly Patron of Statesmen and Politicians" by
Pope John Paul II. He even has a feast day, 6 July, in the
Anglican church.
More's conviction for treason was widely seen as unfair, even among Protestants. His friend
Erasmus, who (though not a Protestant) was broadly sympathetic to reform movements within the Christian Church, declared after his execution that More had been "more pure than any snow" and that his genius was "such as England never had and never again will have." More was portrayed as a wise and honest statesman in the
1592 play ''
Sir Thomas More'', which was probably written in collaboration by
Henry Chettle, Anthony Munday, William Shakespeare, and others, and which survives only in fragmentary form after being censored by Edmund Tylney,
Master of the Revels in the government of
Queen Elizabeth I (any direct reference to the Act of Supremacy was censored out).
Roman Catholic writer
G. K. Chesterton said that More was the "greatest historical character in English history." Catholic science fiction writer
R. A. Lafferty wrote his novel ''
Past Master'' as a modern equivalent to More's ''Utopia'', which he saw as a satire. In this novel, Thomas More is brought through time to the year 2535, where he is made king of the future world of "Astrobe", only to be beheaded after ruling for a mere nine days. One of the characters in the novel compares More favorably to almost every other major historical figure: "He had one completely honest moment right at the end. I cannot think of anyone else who ever had one." He was also greatly admired by the
Anglican clergyman,
Jonathan Swift.
The 20th century
agnostic playwright
Robert Bolt portrayed More as the ultimate man of conscience in his play ''
A Man for All Seasons''. That title is borrowed from Robert Whittinton, who in 1520 wrote of him:
: "More is a man of an angel's wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons."
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0078.html
In 1966, the play was made into
a successful film directed by
Fred Zinnemann, adapted for the screen by the playwright himself, and starring
Paul Scofield in an
Oscar-winning performance. The film won the
Academy Award for Best Picture for that year.
Karl Zuchardt wrote a novel, ''Stirb Du Narr!'' ("Die you fool!"), about More's struggle with King Henry, portraying More as an idealist bound to fail in the power struggle with a ruthless ruler and an unjust world.
As the author of ''Utopia'', More has also attracted the admiration of modern
socialists. While Roman Catholic scholars maintain that More's attitude in composing ''Utopia'' was largely
ironic and that he was at every point an orthodox Christian, Marxist theoretician
Karl Kautsky argued in the book ''Thomas More and his Utopia'' (1888) that ''Utopia'' was a shrewd critique of economic and social exploitation in pre-modern Europe and that More was one of the key intellectual figures in the early development of socialist ideas.
A number of modern writers, such as
Richard Marius, have attacked More for alleged religious fanaticism and intolerance (manifested, for instance, in his persecution of heretics).
James Wood calls him, "cruel in punishment, evasive in argument, lusty for power, and repressive in politics". The polemicist
Jasper Ridley goes much further, describing More as "a particularly nasty sadomasochistic pervert" in his book ''The Statesman and the Fanatic'', a line also followed by Joanna Dennyn in a biography of Anne Boleyn.
Aaron Zelman, in his nonfiction book "The State Versus the People" describes
genocide and the history of governments which have acted
totalitarian. In the first chapters "Utopia" is reviewed along with Plato's "The Republic". Zelman noted facts about "Utopia" which were ridiculous in the real world, such as agriculture, and could not draw a conclusion whether More was being humorous towards his work or seriously advocating a nation-state. It is pointed out, as a serious point for consideration, that "More is the only Christian saint to be honored with a statue at the
Kremlin", which implies that his work had serious influence on the
Soviet Union, the irony given its intense hatred towards Christianity and all other religions.
Other biographers, such as
Peter Ackroyd, have offered a more sympathetic picture of More as both a sophisticated humanist and man of letters, as well as a zealous Roman Catholic who believed in the necessity of religious and political authority.
The protagonist of
Walker Percy's novel, ''Love in the Ruins'', is Dr. Thomas More, a reluctant Catholic.
Thomas More College is a private Diocesan college in Crestview Hills, Ky.
Comunidad Educativa Tomas Moro is a private Non Catholic school in México City, México
The honors program at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT is called the Thomas More School of Honors.
The
Thomas More Law Center is a legal aid organization that provides law services for those arguing conservative-aligned issues, especially those dealing with religious liberty and expression.
The
Cathedral of St. Thomas More is the seat of the
Diocese of Arlington, Virginia.
The St. Thomas More Church is the church of the Queens Campus of
St. John's University in New York. There is also a St. Thomas More Church in Sheldon, Birmingham, United Kingdom. There are also St. Thomas More Catholic Churches in Allentown, PA, Manhattan, KS, Austin, TX, Boynton Beach, FL and in Tulsa, OK in the United States. The Catholic chapel of Yale University is dedicated to him.
The Thomas More Building at the
Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London, is an 11 storey office block built in January 1990 containing the courts of the Chancery Division of the High Court. These are known as the Thomas More Courts.
Sir Thomas More is mentioned briefly in
The Shins' song, ''
So Says I'' on the album ''
Chutes Too Narrow'' - "Tell Sir Thomas More we've got another failed attempt
'cause if it makes them money they might just give you life this time."
He is also the focus of the
Al Stewart song A Man For All Seasons, from the 1978 album
Time Passages
Jeremy Northam portrays
Thomas More in the Showtime series, ''
The Tudors'', where he is shown as a peaceful man--a sometimes-advisor to
Henry VIII, and a devout
Catholic, and family head. However, Season 1, Episode 7 hints at a different side of More, as he unabashedly expresses his hatred of
Lutheranism.