The map that changed the world Oct 29, 2009
The name America, for example, very probably represents not just a tip of the hat to Amerigo Vespucci but also a multilingual pun that can mean both "born new" and "no-place-land" - a playful coinage that seems to have inspired Sir Thomas More to invent his new world across the ocean, one meaning of which was also "no-place": Utopia. The map itself seems also to have made a powerful impression on none other than Nicholas Copernicus, who began his landmark On the Revolutions of the Heavenly... (BBC News -- UK)
Soccer mom chronicles: Waking the Irish Oct 22, 2009
One sweet man, in particular, came and took my hand in both of his, and recited a poem by Sir Thomas More. And although the exact work now escapes me, the sound of this man s lilting Irish brogue, rising and falling to the words, was like music to my soul calming, soothing and beautiful. (Kingston Mariner, MA)
A darkly brilliant reimagining of life under Henry VIII Oct 18, 2009
Two exalted waders, the royal chancellors Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and Sir Thomas More, had successively drowned under the king s shifting tides; Anne, a wader who thought she was swimming, still had her crown and her head. A good historical novel snakes a vivid story through a vivid panorama. (Boston Globe)
Joan Acocella on Hilary Mantel Oct 12, 2009
In the Living Hall of the Frick Collection, on either side of a fireplace, there are portraits by Hans Holbein of the two most illustrious politicians of the court of Henry VIII. On the left is Sir Thomas More, Henry s lord chancellor from 1529 to 1532, who, when the King needed an annulment of his marriage, and therefore a release from the duty of obedience to the Pope, was too good a Catholic to agree to this. For his refusal, he forfeited his office and, eventually, his life. (New Yorker)
Sir Thomas More Mar 27, 2009
A Man For All Seasons. Thomas More's Education and Career. (Suite101.com)
Down the dark path Mar 25, 2009
What if, as the clock ticked down in the Tower of London before the execution of Sir Thomas More ordered by King Henry VIII in July 1535, a comic, in the style of the late Rodney Dangerfield, was brought in to do stand-up. "Hey, everybody looks great here. Anybody here Papists? Don't worry, your secret's safe with me - I haven't even paid the withholding tax on my foodtaster yet. I just flew in from the Isle of Man, and boy, are my arms tired - you know what I mean? Hey, prison guards! I never... (Asia Times Online)
