Thomas More Quiz (Non Members)
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The Thomas More Quiz
Welcome, all, to the life of Thomas More – saint, brilliant man of the new learning, creator of the ever fascinating Utopia, heretic hunter, man of principle. 482 years ago, he gave his life for those principles, on 6th July 1535.
The History of England Members are having a bit of a commemorative event going on; there’s a Shedcast dedicated to his life and some of the controversies. Was he really quite so saintly? Did he hunt heretics? For what did he really give his life?
Then, we have a quiz, and a prize draw; the prize is a Henry VIII Halfpenny, struck somewhere between 1526 and 1544. You might ask why I am telling you all of this? Mainly, it’s to make you jealous, and engender a desperate urge to join the Members, the club. I’m sure you really want to, and frankly, it’d be silly not to. If you do decide to give in to that urge, just hop along to Become a Member. We don’t do the Prize draw until 30th July (sorry, I have some holiday) so you have plenty of time to give in to your urges.
The Quiz
But I can give you a go at the quiz; it is a short quiz about his life. You’ll probably do better if you have listened to the Shedcast, but never mind you are probably super clever, after all you listen to the History of England so you must be bright. A few things to remember about the quiz…
- The format is that you get one chance, and one chance only, and you have 10 minutes to cover 10 questions. This is like life, because as you know you don’t get second chances in life. Well, maybe sometimes, but not here on the History of England.
- When you’ve answered each question, hit ‘Check’ and you will see the answer and some explanation, and then you can go on to the next question
- At the end of the quiz, the app ends slightly oddly; you arrive at Question 10 (the last question) and you need to then press the ‘Quiz Summary’ Button to get to the last page where you can hit the ‘Finish Quiz’. [Note: don’t hit ‘Quiz summary until you get to the end – it appears to lock you out!]
- For multiple choice questions, if there is more than one correct answer I will say so in the question
How hard can it be? To find out the answer to that, press ‘start’ and let the games begin. Good luck!
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Congratulations, you have made it to the end of the quiz, and are without doubt a master of the new learning. Hope you enjoyed it – leave a comment and let me know, and I’ll get an idea of whether or not I should do some more quizzes. They are fun, but take a surprising amount of time to do.
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Question 1 of 10
1. Question
2 pointsThomas More presented the image of an innocent man unfairly pursued despite making every effort to avoid trouble. Complete his famous quote:
‘I am, quoth I, the King’s true faithful subject and daily bedesman and pray for his highness and all his and all the realm. I do none harm, I say none harm, I think none harm but wish everybody good. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive in good faith I long not to _____’
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I long not to (live)
Correct
The quote appeared in a letter written by Thomas More to his daughter Margaret (Meg) Roper, written on 2-3 May 1535 as he waited in the Tower of London for his execution. Now it could be that the letter and its sentiments be taken entirely at face value. But More was the consummate exponent of the New Learning, and was conscious that Cicero taught that a man had a responsibility to present an image to the world that reflected how he would like to be seen, not how he actually was. It is entirely possible, that here was another example of More building his case – of the innocent man hounded unreasonably to death.
Incorrect
The quote appeared in a letter written by Thomas More to his daughter Margaret (Meg) Roper, written on 2-3 May 1535 as he waited in the Tower of London for his execution. Now it could be that the letter and its sentiments be taken entirely at face value. But More was the consummate exponent of the New Learning, and was conscious that Cicero taught that a man had a responsibility to present an image to the world that reflected how he would like to be seen, not how he actually was. It is entirely possible, that here was another example of More building his case – of the innocent man hounded unreasonably to death.
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Question 2 of 10
2. Question
2 pointsWhen he got married for the second time, More joked that he had married his wife, ‘against the advice of his friends’; he joked that she was ‘neither a pearl nor a girl’; and that he had remarried ‘more to have someone to look after his household than for his own pleasure’.
Funny guy.
What were the names of Thomas’s wives? There’s more than one by the way.
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Jane Colt was Thomas’s first wife, who lived from 1488 and died in 1511. Following on with the rather cruel humour, More had remarked that he’d have rather married her younger sister, but nobly married Jane, to save her from shame and disappointment. Still, the other women in the pictures reflect rather better on More; Anne Cresacre was his ward, whom he rescued from a court case where she had basically been raped and abducted; and Margaret Roper was his beloved daughter Meg with whom he was very close, and shared a powerful intellectual life. More famously ran in the face of Tudor society by staunchly holding that women had every equal right to a good education, and would profit just as much as men.
Incorrect
Jane Colt was Thomas’s first wife, who lived from 1488 and died in 1511. Following on with the rather cruel humour, More had remarked that he’d have rather married her younger sister, but nobly married Jane, to save her from shame and disappointment. Still, the other women in the pictures reflect rather better on More; Anne Cresacre was his ward, whom he rescued from a court case where she had basically been raped and abducted; and Margaret Roper was his beloved daughter Meg with whom he was very close, and shared a powerful intellectual life. More famously ran in the face of Tudor society by staunchly holding that women had every equal right to a good education, and would profit just as much as men.
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Question 3 of 10
3. Question
2 pointsMore’s “Utopia: On the Best State of a Republic and on the New Island of Utopia” was published in 1516 and was an instant success. One reader though, was apparently confused, and thought it to be a real place.
What was it about the title that should have given the game away?
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Utopia was published in Latin in 1516 in England; it was a sensation, and went through a number of editions, one of them edited by More’s friend and colleague, Erasmus. In 1551 it was finally published in an English translation. In 1624, reputedly a man called Rowland Phillips asked for directions, because he’d like to go and evangelise. This is a great story – but could possibly also have just been a joke at the expense of the other-worldly theologian.
Incorrect
Utopia was published in Latin in 1516 in England; it was a sensation, and went through a number of editions, one of them edited by More’s friend and colleague, Erasmus. In 1551 it was finally published in an English translation. In 1624, reputedly a man called Rowland Phillips asked for directions, because he’d like to go and evangelise. This is a great story – but could possibly also have just been a joke at the expense of the other-worldly theologian.
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Question 4 of 10
4. Question
2 pointsA Paris Newsletter reported More’s death on the Scaffold, quoting his last words as
“I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first”
Who did Thomas More himself say had given him this advice, to serve God first and the king second, back in 1521 when he first joined the king’s service?
Correct
Thomas More had joined the king’s service in 1521, and when he had met the king. More had related this story. It seems entirely possible that on the scaffold, More found a way to make a barbed comment that only the king would understand, and avoid breaking the firmly held prejudice against having a rant at your death – and therefore possibly further endangering the family you left behind.
Incorrect
Thomas More had joined the king’s service in 1521, and when he had met the king. More had related this story. It seems entirely possible that on the scaffold, More found a way to make a barbed comment that only the king would understand, and avoid breaking the firmly held prejudice against having a rant at your death – and therefore possibly further endangering the family you left behind.
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Question 5 of 10
5. Question
2 pointsBelow are a number of statements about Thomas More – two of them are true. Match the True or False to the right statement, and you’ll get a point for each true answer.
Sort elements
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He believed parliament could not remove Princess Mary from the succession
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He believed that the individual should be able to choose their religious beliefs according to their conscience
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He refused to agree to parliament's right to appoint Henry head of the Church in England
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As Chancellor, his household at Chelsea included over 100 people
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To protect his family, he attended the wedding between Henry and Anne Boleyn
Correct 2 / 2PointsThe most complicated thing about More’s story (or so I find) is why he gave his life. The ‘Man for All Seasons’ represents More as giving his life for the conscience of the individual. It’s often said that he died for the principle of Papal supremacy. In fact he gave his life to protect a much more medieval and religious concept. He believed in a community of catholic church and its apostolic tradition and community – and that this community was infallible. The Pope, though important, was an individual who could be fallible. He believed that one part of the church, England, could not therefore part from the whole, without the agreement of the whole Christian community.
Incorrect / 2 PointsThe most complicated thing about More’s story (or so I find) is why he gave his life. The ‘Man for All Seasons’ represents More as giving his life for the conscience of the individual. It’s often said that he died for the principle of Papal supremacy. In fact he gave his life to protect a much more medieval and religious concept. He believed in a community of catholic church and its apostolic tradition and community – and that this community was infallible. The Pope, though important, was an individual who could be fallible. He believed that one part of the church, England, could not therefore part from the whole, without the agreement of the whole Christian community.
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Question 6 of 10
6. Question
2 pointsThe religious controversy sparked by Luther caused, of course, the complete range of responses to ‘reformists’ or heretics depending on your view point. This quote from a letter written by one member of Henry VIII’s contemporaries shows how strong feelings ran.
I find that breed of men absolutely loathsome, so much so that, unless they regain their senses, I want to be as hateful to them as anyone can possibly be.
Who wrote the line?
Correct
It cannot be claimed, as did Fox in his ‘Book of Martyrs’ that Thomas More pursued heretics illegally though he was certainly a very enthusiastic heretic hunter. The law of England was very clear, and had been from Henry IV’s time, that exposing heretics was a public duty, and that heretics should burn. The most damaging accusation against More is not that; it is that in his own courts, and in cases administered by him, heretics were forced to take oaths and required to speak; just while he was building his defence on the assertion in law that silence meant assent, and that by maintaining his silence he could not legally be condemned of Treason.
Incorrect
It cannot be claimed, as did Fox in his ‘Book of Martyrs’ that Thomas More pursued heretics illegally though he was certainly a very enthusiastic heretic hunter. The law of England was very clear, and had been from Henry IV’s time, that exposing heretics was a public duty, and that heretics should burn. The most damaging accusation against More is not that; it is that in his own courts, and in cases administered by him, heretics were forced to take oaths and required to speak; just while he was building his defence on the assertion in law that silence meant assent, and that by maintaining his silence he could not legally be condemned of Treason.
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Question 7 of 10
7. Question
2 pointsAs a boy, Thomas More was already attracting positive comment. Here’s a particularly nice one. Who was it that paid him this pretty compliment?
‘This child here waiting at the table, whosoever shall live to see it, will prove a marvellous man’
Correct
Cardinal John Morton and Thomas More obviously had a close relationship full of mutual admiration. Morton was stitched into Utopia by More as an even handed, genial host, encouraging debate.
Incorrect
Cardinal John Morton and Thomas More obviously had a close relationship full of mutual admiration. Morton was stitched into Utopia by More as an even handed, genial host, encouraging debate.
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Question 8 of 10
8. Question
2 pointsThis is a famous portrait of Thomas More and his family at his estate in Chelsea. The figure to the furthest right of the photograph is Alice More, Thomas’s second wife. At her knee is the small figure of the family’s monkey, which appears to be pulling on Alice’s rosary. Why is the monkey in the picture?
Correct
The portrait is a copy of a sketch – the original has been lost. The portrait looks as though the group has been caught on their way to family prayers, or at least that’s what all the books suggest. The portrait is of a very rich and powerful family; despite More’s carefully cultivated image as a straightforward man uninterested in power all the figures are well and richly dressed. The house as far as it is shown in the picture was built by More, and is thought to be sumptuous without being spectacularly modern in it’s architecture.
Incorrect
The portrait is a copy of a sketch – the original has been lost. The portrait looks as though the group has been caught on their way to family prayers, or at least that’s what all the books suggest. The portrait is of a very rich and powerful family; despite More’s carefully cultivated image as a straightforward man uninterested in power all the figures are well and richly dressed. The house as far as it is shown in the picture was built by More, and is thought to be sumptuous without being spectacularly modern in it’s architecture.
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Question 9 of 10
9. Question
2 pointsOn June 22, this Yorkshireman, theologian, confidente of Margaret Beaufort, Bishop and Cardinal, was executed, just like Thomas More, for refusing to take the oath accepting Henry as the Supreme head of the English church. He was executed, and in 1935 was made a saint by the Catholic church.
Who is he?
Correct
Bishop John Fisher was born in 1369, and acquired a towering reputation as a theologican – it’s no surprise that he was given the bishopric of Rochester, one of England’s poorest sees. He was a close confidente of Margaret Beaufort, and gave the address at her funeral. Fisher was more outspoken than More, arguing fiercely in favour of Henry’s marriage to Catherine, and giving his opinion in the Tower about Henry’s claim to be Supreme Head of the English church. His execution was immediately greeted in Europe as martyrdom, and as historian Richard Rex remarks, Protestants no longer had a monopoly of deaths for the truth. His saints day is 22nd June, which he shares with Thomas More.
Incorrect
Bishop John Fisher was born in 1369, and acquired a towering reputation as a theologican – it’s no surprise that he was given the bishopric of Rochester, one of England’s poorest sees. He was a close confidente of Margaret Beaufort, and gave the address at her funeral. Fisher was more outspoken than More, arguing fiercely in favour of Henry’s marriage to Catherine, and giving his opinion in the Tower about Henry’s claim to be Supreme Head of the English church. His execution was immediately greeted in Europe as martyrdom, and as historian Richard Rex remarks, Protestants no longer had a monopoly of deaths for the truth. His saints day is 22nd June, which he shares with Thomas More.
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Question 10 of 10
10. Question
2 points‘It was with great unwillingness that I came to court’
Although More carefully painted picture of himself as an unwilling member of the court, there appeared to be nothing unusual about his ambition and desire to succeed, in a professional and material sense. He had a number of official jobs in his time, and many of them from the hand of the king. Here are some of them – try to put these in chronological order, with the earliest date first at the top, and the latest at the bottom.
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Justice of the Peace for Middlesex
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King's Secretary
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Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
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Chancellor of England
Correct
It is difficult to know whether More really was a reluctant courtier. He was clearly ambitious and successful, and held no notions about living in poverty; the estate he built at Chelsea was suitably substantial for a man in his position, his family portrait reveals a well dressed, richly (though not ostentatiously) adorned bunch of people. On the other hand, More also clearly believed that he had a responsibility to work with the real world and with princes to bring his learning to improve the Commonwealth. He seems to have done his best where possible to get away from court back to a home life that was clearly important to him. And More would not have been the first person to detest court life. So it’s entirely possible that he was a reluctant courtier – but also incontrovertible that he enjoyed the benefits it brought.
On these jobs; More became an JP in 1509, King’s secretary in 1521, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1525 and Chancellor of England in 1529.
Incorrect
It is difficult to know whether More really was a reluctant courtier. He was clearly ambitious and successful, and held no notions about living in poverty; the estate he built at Chelsea was suitably substantial for a man in his position, his family portrait reveals a well dressed, richly (though not ostentatiously) adorned bunch of people. On the other hand, More also clearly believed that he had a responsibility to work with the real world and with princes to bring his learning to improve the Commonwealth. He seems to have done his best where possible to get away from court back to a home life that was clearly important to him. And More would not have been the first person to detest court life. So it’s entirely possible that he was a reluctant courtier – but also incontrovertible that he enjoyed the benefits it brought.
On these jobs; More became an JP in 1509, King’s secretary in 1521, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1525 and Chancellor of England in 1529.
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Yep, really enjoyed the quiz.
Keep up the good work.
Hurrah! Gutted to say that due to an administrative error. I failed to turn the stats function on. But hope you achieved a whopping score.
Totally bombed the quiz! Thought I knew more than I need. Evidence I need the Shedcasts apparently
Betsy, unfortunately it is not possible for me to know who has scored what. But I can confirm that somebody certainly has comprehensively bombed the quiz. Your conclusion sounds excellent!
Very educational, now I know more than I did before (or during, as it turned out).
sadly I can’t see your score., it’s all anonymous. But I am sure you were magnificent. And if you were not, remember that it’s the taking part that counts.
Got to say my score here is a cheat as I was dire on the member’s quiz so this was my second go some hours later. And I still got stuff wrong. Pathetic, truly pathetic. Enjoyed doing it though. So all non members disregard my score – and if you possibly can, be a member.
Great score though! Even for second time round…and of course, excellent advice about membership…
Nice quiz David. Great idea. I think a person who didn’t get them all correct, but tried really hard should win. That’s a very nice silver halfpenny by the way. Someone who scored around, maybe, 14/20 or something like that. Someone very deserving, but not always fully up to the job. Did I mention that’s a very nice silver halfpenny?
Ha! would that…spookily enough…would that possibly describe you?! I had a lovely comment too from Anna who self deprecatingly and certainly falsely described herself as an ‘old colonial hag’ making a similar pitch. I must of course maintain a regal incorruptibility and judicial impartiality! But if it turns out to be not your day, I will without a doubt be doing more such events so do not despair! And 14/20 ain’t looking too bad…
Sorry David – I should have posted this against the members quiz. See, I don’t get much right at all. That’s a really lovely shiny silver halfpenny – did I mention that?
you did!
Nice and challenging. Great marketing tool to make a person recognize the need to become a member of the shed cast! Now, where is that credit card . . .
no…no…Craig…not my intention at all….but I think it’s probably in your wallet?
ST.THOMAS MORE WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SAINT AND INDEED THE MAN FOR ALL SEASON FAITHFUL TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE LORD GOD EVEN TO DEATH!
He did burn a few people though…which is not what I expect from a saint to be honest