Was born in Milk Street, London, brought up in the household of Cardinal
Morton under Henry VII. He was early distinguished by great attainments,
wit, and dauntless love of truth. When Speaker of the House of Commons,
he came into collision with Wolsey upon a loan of £800,000 demanded by
the king. As not a member would open his lips, Wolsey appealed to More,
who said that unless all the statues around him could put their wits into
his head, he could not answer His Grace. More refused to take the oath
of supremacy to Henry VIII. as head of the English Church, and he was
executed on Tower Hill. His daughter, Margaret Roper, rescued his head.
He was a man of deep and various learning, and his _Utopia_, or romance
of a model republic, is well known.
WILLIAM TYNDALE.
Born 1447.—Died 1536.—Henry VI.—Edward IV.—Edward V.—Richard III.—Henry
VII.—Henry VIII.
Was born in Wales, educated at Cambridge, and with Miles Coverdale made a
new translation of the New Testament, the Pentateuch, and the book of
Jonah. He was strangled and burnt at the stake at Vilvoord, in
consequence of the success of his translations of the Bible.
THOMAS CRANMER,
Born 1489.—Died 1556.—Henry VII.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.—Mary.
Born at Aslacton, in Nottinghamshire, was a tutor at Cambridge, and was
made at one bound Archbishop of Canterbury. He owed his rise to his
clever suggestions for enabling Henry VIII. to divorce Queen Katherine,
and became the favourite of Anne Boleyn in consequence. As Primate he
sanctioned three divorces of Henry VIII. He drew up the Book of Common
Prayer. He perished at the stake at Oxford in 1550, under Mary, after
signing several recantations which he finally repudiated, and died with
firmness.
SEBASTIAN CABOT,
Born 1447.—Died 1557.—Edward IV.—Edward V.—Richard III.—Henry VII.—Henry
VIII.—Edward VI.
Was born at Bristol, of Venetian ancestry; became a celebrated navigator.
He was the first to see the coast of Labrador from the ship _Matthew_,
and discovered a great part of America.
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.
Born 1554.—Died 1586.—Mary.—Elizabeth.
This eminent gentleman, poet, and man of letters was born at Penshurst in
Kent. He was General of the Horse under Queen Elizabeth, and
distinguished himself in many engagements. He wrote a romance called
_Arcadia_ and _The Defence of Poesie_. He was killed at the battle of
Zutphen in Holland, where, when a draught of water was brought him, he
showed his unselfishness by sending it to a poor dying soldier near him,
saying, “He wants it more than I do.”
SIR FRANCIS WALSINGHAM.
Born 1536.—Died 1590.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.—Mary.—Elizabeth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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