The Last Letters of Thomas More

Publisher Description

In the spring of 1534, Thomas More was taken to the Tower of London and, after fourteen months in prison, the brilliant author of Utopia, friend of Erasmus and the humanities, and former Lord Chancellor of England, was beheaded on Tower Hill. Yet More wrote some of his best works as a prisoner, and his last letters are themselves works of art, historically important, and highly relevant as religious documents.Good Company is a superb new edition of More's prison correspondence, introduced and fully annotated for contemporary readers by Alvaro de Silva. Based on the critical edition of More's correspondence, this volume begins with letters penned by More to Cromwell and Henry VIII in February 1534 and end with More's last words to his daughter, Margaret Roper, on the eve of his execution. More writes on a host topics -- from prayer and penance, the right use of riches and power, and the joys of heaven to psychological depression, suicidal temptations, and passionate protests against the moral compromises of those who imprisoned him.Valuable to a range of readers, this volume records the clarity of More's conscience and his readiness to die for the integrity of his religious faith. It also throws light on the literary works More wrote during the same period and on the religious and political conditions of Tudor England.