Rise of Thomas More

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thomas More is one of the most famous and controversial figures in English history. Was he truly the saintly man of conscience, immortalised by A Man for All Seasons? Or was he the stubborn zealot depicted in Wolf Hall? In the first of two episodes looking at Thomas More's rise and fall, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Joanne Paul, whose decade-long research into More drew upon new archival discoveries to unravel his complex legacy, his profound influence on modern Europe, the enduring debates about his faith and politics, and why his story still matters.

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast.

More:

Thomas More on Film: The Historians' Verdict >

Wolf Hall - Who's Who? >

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb.
0:02.6	If you'd like not just the Tudors ad-free to get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:10.5	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:16.0	including my own recent two-part series, A World Torn Apart, the Dissolution of the Monastries, and enjoy a new
0:23.7	release every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:31.7	How did the dog sneak out? When did that parcel vanish? Who was outside last night?
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0:58.2	Arlo 20 at Arlo.com. Conditions apply. Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome to
1:10.3	Not Just the Tudors from History Hit,
1:12.5	the podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs,
1:17.0	from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to Samarise,
1:21.5	relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft.
1:25.7	Not in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.
1:39.1	There are two versions of Thomas More in popular culture.
1:46.6	There's the more of conscience that we find in a manful seasons, and there's more the bigot that we find in Wolf Hall. The origin
1:53.7	myth for both versions of Moore can be traced back to the 16th century in writings after Moore's
2:00.4	death. We find the more of a man for
2:03.8	seasons in William Roper, who was eulogising his late father-in-law as a saint. We find the more
2:10.3	of Wolf Hall in John Fox, who castigated Moore as the burner of saints. So who was the real Thomas Moore? Who, as my guest
	...

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