Margaret More, Daughter of Sir Thomas More
Margaret More was the eldest daughter of Thomas More, lord chancellor of England, and Joanna Colt.
Margaret was born at home, in the late summer or early autumn of 1505, in Bucklersbury, London.
Margaret spent most of her childhood at ‘The Barge’ at Bucklersbury.
In 1524, the Mores moved to Butts Close, a home in Chelsea, Middlesex.
It was a large and commodious mansion, opposite the Thames, built by Thomas More.
Thomas More’s children, Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecily, John and adopted daughter, Margaret Gigs Clement , were given a humanist education.
They learnt Latin, Greek, Logic, Philosophy, Theology, Mathematics, and Astronomy.
Margaret learned so quickly and with enthusiasm, she wished to eventually write a book.
However, although her father advocated education for his daughters, he thought certain boundaries should be maintained.
Thomas More replied sternly that Margaret’s
“lofty and exalted character of mind should not be
debased by pandering to what is vain and low.”
Margaret’s moral virtue was more prized than literary fame.
Thomas More appeared to worry that women who publicly exhibited their intelligence, would harm the public’s acceptance of educating girls.
Margaret would go on to become a prolific writer and translator, and is considered to have been one of the most learned women in sixteenth-century England.
Sadly, only a portion of her work has survived.
In 1521, at the age of 16, Margaret married William Roper, in Eltham, Kent.
The young couple made their home at Well Hall, in Eltham.
They had five children together: Elizabeth, Margaret, Thomas, Mary and Anthony.
Margaret’s relationship with her father Thomas More, was described as a close one.
Thomas often referred to Margaret as “My dearest Meg”
Margaret’s father was tried for treason in 1535, and she often visited him during his imprisonment in the Tower of London.
Thomas Cromwell allowed Margaret’s visits in the hope that she would persuade Thomas More to accept the Acts of Supremacy, and avoid exEcution.
During her visits, Margaret smuggled letters and other things to and from her father.
Margaret is credited with putting together a dossier of the letters written by Thomas More during his time in the tower.
Thomas More was b-headed in 1535, for his refusal to accept the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Succession of Henry VIII of England.
Writing in 1588, Thomas Stapleton records the incident given to him by an eyewitness of the event:
“By order of the king, Thomas More’s head was
placed upon a stake on London Bridge, where it
remained for nearly a month, until it had to be taken
down to make room for other heads…
The head would have been thrown into the river had
not Margaret Roper, who had been watching
carefully and waiting for the opportunity, bribed the
exEcutioner, whose office it was to remove the
heads, and obtained possession of the sacred
relic”
After Margaret retrieved her father’s head, she was summoned before the King’s Council and charged with crimes against the state.
Margaret was charged with keeping her father’s head as a sacred relic, as well as retaining possession of his books and writings.
Margaret was detained by Thomas Cromwell overnight, from which she was released the next day.
Margaret More Roper died in 1544 at age thirty-nine.
It’s been suggested that her father’s head was interred with her at her request.
Thomas More’s head was found with Margaret’s remains when her body was disinterred and removed from the More family vault – to be buried with her husband in the Roper Chapel in St Dunstan’s Church, Canterbury.
Thomas Moore’s skull was then set into the wall of the vault in St. Dunstan’s Church and kept as a holy relic.
🥀 Portrait of Margaret, from a 1593 reproduction of a now-lost Hans Holbein portrait of all of the women of Thomas More’s family.
