Who was Thomas More? Interview with Dr. Joanne Paul

Tides of History

Wondery / Patrick Wyman

Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thomas More is one of the most fascinating figures of the 16th century: saint, persecutor of Protestants, government official, martyr. But who was he, really? Dr. Joanne Paul has written a wonderful new biography of More, entitled Thomas More: A Life, which explores his origins and the world that shaped him. She joins Tides to discuss More, how the tumultuous England of his youth shaped him, and why he became one of the most enduring figures of the Tudor period.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Tides of History early and ad-free right now.
0:04.6	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:13.5	Hi, everybody. From Wondery, welcome to another episode of Tides of History. I'm Patrick Wyman.
0:22.3	Thanks so much for joining me today.
0:24.2	If you've heard the name Thomas Moore, it's probably because of his famous work Utopia,
0:28.7	or because you watched one of the mini-TV series on the Tudors, and you know that he was executed by Henry VIII, over a matter of conscience.
0:36.5	Now, both of those things are true, as the truth goes,
0:39.6	but there was a great deal more to the man than that. Thomas Moore provides an extraordinary
0:44.3	window onto the world of the early 16th century, all of its conflicts and contradictions,
0:49.1	if we look at him hard enough. More is the subject of a fantastic new book by today's guest.
0:55.5	Dr. Joanne Paul is Honorary Associate Professor in Intellectual History at the University
0:59.4	of Sussex and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
1:02.7	She previously authored the House of Dudley on one of the most influential noble houses
1:06.5	of late medieval in early modern England, as well as the book Council and Command in
1:10.8	Early Modern English Thought. That's in addition to a wide array of academic papers.
1:16.2	Her new book is entitled Thomas Moore, A Life and Death in Tudor England, which I really
1:20.8	enjoyed, highly recommend you all, and cannot wait to discuss with her today.
1:24.7	Dr. Paul, thank you so much for joining me.
1:27.3	Oh, thank you for having me on.
1:28.5	I really appreciate it. So who was Thomas Moore and why should we care about him 500 years after
1:35.2	his death? That's a big question to start with. You know, I wasn't going to ease you in. I was
1:41.5	going to drop you right into the deep end. Perfect, perfect. Who was Thomas Moore? I mean, on the surface, he was many things. As you say,
	...

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