History of Europe

Grace and salt shaker to the slaughterhouse.

There are people, the vast majority, who lose their calm in certain situations and others, a lesser number, who even in extreme situations remain calm and even have a sense of humor. As the maximum exponent of this last group we have Thomas More (English writer and politician).

Thomas More was born in London in 1477, in 1516 he published «Utopia » in which he described a world in which all men were equal and followed a single just and good God (this is the origin of the term utopia). From 1518 he dedicated himself exclusively to the service of the king, Henry VIII , occupying the position of chancellor. The divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon and his subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn , he was not accepted by Thomas More and resigned. The Pope did not accept it either and Henry VIII renounced the Catholic Church and founded Anglicanism .

Fidelity to the Church of Rome led to Thomas More being sentenced to the maximum penalty - beheading - accused of high treason. To climb the gallows he requested the help of a courtier to climb the stairs. As he hesitated to help him, he told him:

Don't worry, I won't pester you to come down again.

On July 6, 1535 he was beheaded. Canonized by Pius XI in 1935. What has been said, grace and salt shaker to the slaughterhouse.

Sources:A Brief History of Knowledge – Charles Van Doren and The Patch of the Princess of Eboli – Mª Pilar Queral