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Lord Chancellor
Before 1534, the Church of England was the English Church, a branch of the Roman Catholic Church. After 1534 and the Act of Supremacy, the Church of England split from the Catholic Church, and appointed the King of England as the Supreme Leader of the Church, as opposed to the Pope.
Church of England Quotes in A Man for All Seasons
The A Man for All Seasons quotes below are all either spoken by Church of England or refer to Church of England. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1 Quotes
Roper: You are denying the Act of Supremacy!
More: No, I’m not; the Act states that the King—
Roper: —is Supreme Head of the Church in England.
More: Supreme Head of the Church in England—“So far as the law of God allows.” How far the law of God does allow it remains a matter of opinion, since the Act doesn’t state it.
Roper: A legal quibble.
More: Call it what you like, it’s there, thank God.
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More has been called upon to take an oath supporting the Act of Supremacy, an Act that will separate England from the Catholic Church. Although Roper, now a devout Catholic, doesn’t support this Act, it worries him that More, a high-ranking government official, is willing to publically deny it. What Roper understands that More does not is, regardless of More’s motivations, his refusal to approve of the Act will not be read as neutral. Instead, it will be interpreted as a rejection of the new Church and a rejection of the King. More tries to defend what is essentially a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dol
The Apostolic Success of the Pope is—….Why it’s a theory, yes; you can’t see it; can’t touch it; it’s a theory. But what matters to me is not whether it’s true or not but that I believe it to be true, or rather, not that I believe it, but that I believe it…I trust I make myself obscure?
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Thomas More and Norfolk have gotten into an argument regarding More’s reluctance to sign the King’s Act of Supremacy. After the law passed through Parliament, More resigned from his position as Chancellor, as he would rather be unemployed than work in a government he feels is behaving immorally. Norfolk is concerned for his friend, and tries to convince him to change his mind. Norfolk is less religious and less committed to his conscience than More, and argues that More is throwing his life away for what is essentially a theory of religion—one that sees the Pope as the head of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessi
Act 2 Quotes
Norfolk: Have you anything to say?
More: Yes. To avoid this I have taken every path my winding wits would find. Now that the court has determined to condemn me, God knoweth how, I will discharge my mind…concerning my indictment and the King’s title. The indictment is grounded in an Act of Parliament which is directly repugnant to the Law of God. The King in Parliament cannot bestow the Supremacy of the Church because it is a Spiritual Supremacy! And more to this the immunity of the Church is promised both in Magna Carta and the King’s own Coronation Oath!
Cromwell: Now we plainly see that you are malicious!
More: Not so, Master Secretary! I am the King’s true subject, and pray for him and all the realm…I do none harm, I say none harm, I think none harm. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live…I have, since I came into prison, been several times in such a case that I thought to die within the hour, and I thank Our Lord I was never sorry for it, but rather sorry when it passed. And therefore, my poor body is at the King’s pleasure. Would God my death might do him some good…Nevertheless, it is not for the Supremacy that you have sought my blood—but because I would not bend to the marriage!
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After More has been found guilty by the court, he is finally given the opportunity to defend himself. He breaks his silence, and explains that he refused to sign the Act of Supremacy because he believed the Act went against God’s law. Because More believes God bestows religious supremacy, he morally could not sign an Act that said the King could bestow religious supremacy upon himself. More was not a disloyal subject, and still believed in the power of the King—he just didn’t think the King could rightly call himself the head of the Church. Once he has heard More’s Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis.
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Church of England Term Timeline in A Man for All Seasons
The timeline below shows where the term Church of England appears in A Man for All Seasons. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2
...explains that two years have passed since the play’s first act. In the meantime, the Church of England has been created. Although great changes usually come with bloodshed, the Common Man explains that...
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...removing his Chancellor chain. Only Margaret will help him. More sees the creation of the Church of England as a declaration of war against the (true) Catholic Church, and he believes that the...
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...offer. Cromwell accuses More of denying the King his title of Supreme Head of the Church of England . More is upset because he has never denied this. He argues “silence is not...
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...he asked More why he wouldn’t accept the King’s title as Supreme Head of the Church of England . He says More verbally rejected Henry’s title. More immediately protests. He rationalizes that after...
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