Scott here with another episode of the History and Plug podcast.

Thomas Moore was one of the most famous and notorious figures in English history,

born into the era of the Wars of the Roses, educated during the European Renaissance,

rising to become Chancellor of England and ultimately destroyed by Henry VIII.

He hunted Protestants for heresy and

had them burnt at the stake in the final years of Catholic England, but after the English

Reformation was executed himself when he refused to support Henry as a supreme head of the

English church. He also achieved literary immortality for his book Utopia, which describes an ideal

imaginary island society with communal property, religious

tolerance, and social harmony, critiquing the political and social issues of 16th Central Europe.

Was he a saintly scholar and an inspiration for statesmen and intellectuals today?

The Catholic Church would say yes, as they canonized him and made him the patron saint of statesmen,

or was he a cruel zealot who only wanted to burn Protestants alive and hold back England's progress? Today's guest is Joanne Paul, author

of Thomas Moore Alive. We look at a man who, more than 400 years after his execution,

remains one of the most brilliant minds of the Renaissance. He also shows us the limits of passive

resistance and how somebody can achieve posthumous fame,

but also fail to affect the events of his day.

Hope we enjoy this discussion.

And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for a word from our sponsors.

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