Thomas Berrington Tudor Mystery in Order
Thomas Berrington settles in Ludlow during the reign of Henry VII.
All books in this series
Historical person
Thomas More
1478–1535
Thomas More was an English lawyer, humanist, author and statesman who became lord chancellor under Henry VIII. Born in London in 1478, he studied law while participating in the intellectual culture of northern European humanism and formed friendships with scholars including Erasmus. His best-known literary work, Utopia, published in 1516, used an imagined island society to explore property, government, religion and social order. More also served in Parliament, diplomacy and the royal council before becoming chancellor in 1529.
More was a committed Catholic who opposed the Protestant Reformation and supported the prosecution of religious dissent while in office, an aspect of his career central to modern reassessment of his reputation. He resigned the chancellorship in 1532 as Henry VIII’s conflict with papal authority deepened. More later refused to accept the king’s supremacy over the English church and would not swear the required succession oath. Convicted of treason after imprisonment in the Tower, he was executed in 1535 and canonised by the Catholic Church in 1935.
Jean Plaidy’s Saint Thomas’s Eve makes More’s household and conscience the centre of the story, following the humanist lawyer from family life and royal service to his refusal to accept Henry VIII’s religious supremacy. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall views him from Thomas Cromwell’s perspective, presenting their conflict over reform, authority and heresy as both ideological and intensely personal. Steven Veerapen’s Of Judgement Fallen brings a murder investigation into More’s legal and political London before his final break with the king. Margaret George’s The Autobiography of Henry VIII includes More’s execution among the decisive consequences of Henry’s marital and religious policies. Tracy Borman’s Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him places More among the advisers whose abilities helped the king exercise power before conviction and policy made continued service impossible.
Series
Historical novels and book series featuring Thomas More (4 series)
Tudor Saga in Order
The Tudor Saga follows the dynasty from Henry VII’s insecure victory through the marriages of Henry VIII and the reigns of his children. The novels place queens, courtiers and claimants at the centre of religious change, diplomatic marriage and the succession crises that transformed sixteenth-century England.
All books in this series
1. Uneasy Lies the Head
2. Katharine, the Virgin Widow
3. The Shadow of the Pomegranate
4. The King’s Secret Matter
5. Murder Most Royal
6. Saint Thomas’s Eve
7. The Sixth Wife
8. The Thistle and the Rose
9. Mary, Queen of France
10. The Spanish Bridegroom
11. Lord Robert
The Wolf Hall Trilogy in Order
The Wolf Hall Trilogy follows Thomas Cromwell from his early service to Cardinal Wolsey through his rise as Henry VIII’s most effective minister and his fall in 1540. Told largely through Cromwell’s perspective, the series reinterprets the Tudor court as a working political system shaped by patronage, law,…
All books in this series
Anthony Blanke Mysteries in Order
The Anthony Blanke Mysteries follow a fictional son of the historical Black Tudor trumpeter John Blanke through Henry VIII’s court in the early 1520s. Of Blood Descended is set during Charles V’s 1522 visit and the renewal of war with France; Of Judgement Fallen moves into 1523 as…
All books in this series
Standalone books
Standalone books featuring Thomas More (1 book)
Non Fiction
Non Fiction featuring Thomas More (3 books)
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.
