St. Thomas More

The life of Thomas More demonstrates how faith empowers us to decide what is right, even in the face of deep uncertainty or confusion. More enjoyed meteoric success in English politics during an epoch when the Reformation and contact with the Americas radically altered European power structures and institutions. When Parliament reconfigured English law so that the king became head of the church—allowing Henry VIII to annul his marriage with Catherine of Aragon—More joined the small group of prominent laity and clergy who raised voices of protest against their monarch. More was stripped of his office, imprisoned in the tower of London, and executed in 1535.

Sources: MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation: A History. New York: Viking, 2003. Pp92-93.