St.John Fisher and Thomas Morus

June 22, non-binding commemoration
Position: martyrs
Death: 1535
CURRICULUM VITAE

John Fisher was a professor and chancellor of the University of Cambridge. At the age of 35, he became Bishop of Rochester. He wrote writings in defense of the faith against heresies. He devoted special care to the poor and the sick.
Thomas More became a lawyer, married, and raised four children. He lived an intensely spiritual life despite being knighted in the king’s service, elected Speaker of Parliament, a trustee of two universities, and holding the office of lord chancellor.

Both he and John Fisher were convicted of high treason for refusing to sign the Declaration against the indissolubility of marriage and to acknowledge the supremacy of King Henry VIII over the church. They were executed in London that same year.

CV FOR MEDITATION

A FAITHFUL BISHOP AND A MOST CHARACTERISTIC LAWYER
John Fisher was born in 1469 in Beverly, Yorkshire, in the east of England. He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at Cambridge in 1491 with a Master of Liberal Arts degree. He soon became a priest and received his doctorate in 1501. He then served as vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, becoming professor of Theology in 1503 and chancellor the following year.

Around 1501, the mother of King Henry VII contacted John Fisher, who recognized and drew on his extraordinary abilities. Among other things, they were involved in founding a seminary in Cambridge and theology departments at both Cambridge and Oxford universities.

From 1504, John Fisher was Bishop of Rochester, east of London. Later, he was offered a more lucrative bishopric, but he refused it out of loyalty to his diocese. He lived modestly and conscientiously, carrying out his pastoral work, including frequent visits to the poor and sick.

John’s hobby was studying, and for this reason, he had a rich library. He successfully studied Biblical Greek and then corrected printing errors in the New Testament published in it. In defense of the Catholic faith, he wrote works against Luther and similar reformers from 1523 to 1527. His works were used at the Council of Trent ten years after his death.

Bishop John was the pride of Henry VIII’s reign at the beginning, but he fell from grace when he opposed the king’s sinful life and when he exchanged his lawful wife, Catherine of Aragon, for a lady-in-waiting. What began as a sinful affair developed into a proud attempt to determine right from wrong and to declare himself head of the Church in England, since the Pope could not annul his marriage. Henry VIII had a law passed granting the children of Anne Boleyn the right to the throne. In April 1534, John Fisher was called upon to swear an oath to the law that confirmed the king’s first marriage as invalid and did not recognize the authority of the Pope. John refused and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. That same year, Parliament passed a law declaring the king head of the Church, and the clergy had to swear allegiance to it. When they came to see him again, John only confirmed his loyalty to the Pope. Pope Paul III appointed him a cardinal. However, John was not held in greater regard in England, and the following month, on 17 June, he was sentenced to death. He waited another five days for the blow with the executioner’s axe. As a sign of humiliation, they stripped his clothes from his body and left him exposed until evening. At night, they buried him in Barkin Cemetery, but without a proper burial. However, they left his head impaled on a stake on London Bridge for two weeks. Then they threw it into the Thames and impaled the head of his martyred companion, Thomas More.

Thomas More was born on 6 February 1478 in Cheapside, a district of London near the Tower. His father was a lawyer, later a judge. His mother, Agnes, died when he was a child. Thomas had five siblings. At the age of twelve, he left home and was educated for some time by the royal chancellor, Cardinal Morton. He then studied in Canterbury and, from 1492, at the University of Oxford. At his father’s request, he continued studying law at New Inn School in London for two years. Life among the canons did not fully satisfy him, so he went to a Carthusian monastery for four years, where, in addition to his spiritual life, he devoted himself to the study of philosophy and theology. John Colet was his spiritual leader. In 1503, Thomas returned to public life. He was considered the best lawyer. In addition to the canons, his thinking and actions were influenced by philosophical and theological knowledge and a sensitive conscience. So he was an incorruptible supporter of the law and, at the same time, full of understanding for people experiencing poverty who came into conflict with it. People soon recognized Thomas’s good heart, in whose hands the code served everyone and protected the rights of ordinary people. In 1504, he was elected to parliament. King Henry VII asked Parliament to approve an extraordinary tax to fund a dowry for his daughter. Still, Thomas More so influenced the other members of Parliament with his speech that the unjust tax was not approved. For this, he had to withdraw into seclusion due to the king’s anger and travel around Europe.

In 1505, Thomas married Jane Colt, the daughter of a nobleman and a scientist. Together, they had three girls and one boy within five years. His wife died when their last child was born. To take care of the children, he then married Alice Middleton, a widow seven years older than him and with one daughter. She was quite energetic and a bit irritable, but she was a competent housewife and mother to all the children. Thomas used his intelligence and patience to ensure the family’s well-being and, as a good psychologist, to dampen his wife’s more violent reactions. He arranged for a home tutor for the children and, contrary to custom, tried to ensure the highest possible education for his daughters.

In 1509, the king died and was succeeded by his son, Henry VIII. In January of the following year, Thomas More re-entered Parliament as one of the representatives of London. After eight months, he became deputy chief constable of the city and assistant to the mayor in matters of jurisdiction. For eight years, he attended the court every Thursday until the institution came under royal control. In 1517, he became a member of the royal council and served as a guide to both Henry VIII and Catherine, who appreciated his abilities and harmonious demeanor.

In May 1521, the king granted him a peerage with the small estate of Chelsea, and in the same year, he was appointed steward of the royal treasury. In the next two years, he became Speaker of the House of Commons and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He had the king’s confidence and defended Catholic doctrine with him against Martin Luther. Thanks to the work he collaborated on, the king received the honorary title of defender of the faith from the Pope. In 1523, Thomas published the work “Answer to Luther,” and in the following years wrote polemical tracts against English innovators.

On October 5, 1529, Thomas was promoted to Lord Chancellor of England, the highest rank after the king. Then the friendship between the two began to be disrupted due to Thomas’s fundamental stance on the values ​​of the Gospel and loyalty to the Church.

Henry VIII. In 1527, he sought to have his marriage to Catherine declared null and void by the Pope through the Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, in vain. He tried to achieve this through Thomas More. However, he did not win the characterful Thomas over to his side in the matter. He held the position that a secular person should not interfere in matters falling within the competence of the church. However, he willingly fulfilled demands that did not conflict with Christian principles. The king’s passion and ambition led him to violate the principles of his conscience. Due to the growing tension in 1532, Thomas gave up his chancellorship. With this, he lost royal favor and the source of family security. Unlike others, he did not accumulate wealth during his career, and so his family soon felt a lack.

The king decided to use Parliament as an instrument to break the power of the clergy and forced Parliament to recognize his new marriage to Anne Boleyn. The Constitution of Subordination of 15 May 1532 unconditionally subordinated the administration of church affairs to the king himself. In July 1533, Clement VII declared the king’s marriage to Anne Boleyn invalid.

The following year, the king’s officials approached Thomas to swear an oath to a new law that confirmed the invalidity of the king’s first marriage and denied the pope’s authority. A strong defender of justice, he refused and was thrown into prison in the Tower as Bishop John Fisher. The separation from his family weighed him down the most, so his captors persuaded his wife and daughter to try to get him to take the required oath, which was a question of his freedom and also his life. Thomas was pleased to talk to them, and with gentle determination, he defeated their tempting mission. His torturers then forced him again in the dark to take the “Act of Submission”, which was to recognize the king as the head of the church. He spent 15 months in prison, and although he was preparing for death, he wrote several spiritual writings. On July 1, 1535, he was accused of high treason under the new law and sentenced to death.

The execution took place on July 6. Before placing his head on the gallows, Thomas prayed for King Henry VIII. Then, as he lay his head down and the executioner raised the axe, he is said to have pushed aside his beard, saying: “He has committed no treason.” With firm faith and a joyful heart, he went to meet the Lord through death for his laws.

His head was then replaced on a stake on London Bridge by that of John Fisher. Both were canonized together in 1935. Their memory extends beyond the circle of the Catholic Church.