Tradition Says His Daughter Got His Head Back

The case

In fifteen thirty-five, they cut off a man's head and put it on a pole on London Bridge. Tradition says his daughter got it back. His name was Thomas More. He'd been the king's chancellor. The top job in England, under the king.

What’s established, and what isn’t

What the sources support, claim by claim — each one checked against the sources listed at the foot of this page:

• More executed 1535; head displayed on London Bridge
• More was Lord Chancellor (1529-1532)
• Henry VIII was declared Supreme Head of the Church in England, and an oath to that effect was required
• More refused the oath and kept silent about his reasons
• Held in the Tower from April 1534 to July 1535; his books were taken away near the end
• Richard Rich testified More denied the king's supremacy in conversation; More called it perjury
• The jury returned a guilty verdict within minutes; popular accounts say about fifteen, but there is no official record of the trial's proceedings
• Last words reported: the king's good servant, and God's first (the earliest account has "and"; later accounts have "but")
• Head on the bridge about a month; tradition says Margaret Roper obtained it by paying the man charged with throwing it in the Thames
• Head believed to rest in the Roper vault, St Dunstan's Church, Canterbury
• Canonized 1935

Where the record stops short:

• That Margaret Roper got her father's head back by paying the man charged with throwing it in the Thames is tradition, not record.
• That the head rests in the Roper vault at St Dunstan's in Canterbury is believed, not established.
• Richard Rich's testimony is the only evidence that More ever said out loud what he was convicted of saying. More called it perjury.

For your men’s group

1. More kept silent rather than lie. Where is the line for you between keeping silent and going along?
2. The jury came back guilty in minutes. What does a verdict that fast tell you about the trial?
3. Tradition says his daughter went to get what was left of him. What are you asking your children to carry, and have you told them?

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Every source

• Chancellorship dates, Tower dates, books taken, Rich, execution, head on the bridge, Margaret Roper, Roper vault, canonisation 1935
• Trial 1 July 1535, jury verdict, 'I die the King's good servant' variants
• Paris News Letter as the earliest account; English text only via Hitchcock, EETS 186 (1932)
• Yeames painting 1863, Tower of London (Historic Royal Palaces)

Found an error? [email protected] — errata corrected the day they’re found.

Drafted with AI assistance, founder-directed, and checked against the sources linked here. Our editorial standards.

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