"A man can lose his head..."

Thomas More (1477/78 - 1535) is one of the great figures of history. He came from a family of lawyers and was himself a judge for many years. He lived at a time that was characterized by great upheaval. Old orders were falling apart, new worlds were being discovered and broadening horizons. This unsettled and frightened people, as there was also a backlog of reforms in the state and church at the time.Morus, who had already thought about state and society as a young man, drafted an alternative state structure in his book "Utopia", which was published in 1516. In 1518, he was appointed to the court of the English King Henry XIII and finally became Lord Chancellor in 1529. When his king broke away from the Catholic Church and made himself head of the Church of England, More refused to take the oath of allegiance, resigned from office, was imprisoned and beheaded in the Tower on July 6, 1535. Although he lost his head, he remained true to his convictions and followed his conscience.