I wrote this movie review as a short paper for a history class I took back in college.
The movie A Man for All Seasons, is an account of Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and the political and religious this had upon his reign. The Act of Succession of 1534 declared that the children of Anne Boleyn were the only legitimate heirs to the throne and required all of the king’s servants to take a loyalty oath recognizing his leadership over the Church of England. Sir Thomas More, the humanist and scholar of Utopia fame, refused to adhere to an oath that was intended to destroy the historic unity of the Roman Catholic Church. This film allows the modern viewer to achieve a fuller understand of how the court faction headed by Thomas Cromwell was able to bring about the downfall of More, a man whom he viewed as a direct threat to Protestant reforms.
More became Lord Chancellor after the fall of Cardinal Wolsey in 1529. However, more resigned his office in 1532 when it became evident that the king was going to obtain a divorce with or without the pope’s consent. The Act of Restraint in Appeals in 1533 gave the King Henry VIII jurisdiction over all the spiritual cases in his realm, and thus allowed Archbishop Cranmer to declare Anne Boleyn as Henry’s legitimate wife. More did not accept the argument that Leviticus 20:21 proved, at least in Henry’s eyes, that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was unsanctioned by God since she had failed to produce a healthy male heir. To Henry’s consternation, More continued to insist that only the pope had the God-given authority to dissolve marriages. The wedding scene eloquently portrays More’s refusal to accept the king’s marriage to Anne Boleyn; in it Henry rushes up to a man who resembles More only to discover that is another courtier.
The movie illustrates how Cromwell used the ambitious Sir Richard riche as a pawn in his scheme to bring about the destruction of More. Cromwell regarded More’s failure to take the oath under the Act of Succession as a threat to his Protest agenda. In order to keep More in check; Cromwell offers Riche the one thing he cannot refuse, a position at court. In return for this favor, Riche delivers a false, yet incriminating, testimony against More in court. Riche contends that More questioned the king’s supremacy, although in reality he had remained silent regarding the oath. However, More’s silence is construed as a subversive act, resulting in his beheading under the 1534 Act of Treason, which exemplifies the power Cromwell’s faction held at this time.
The film helps to bolster one’s understanding of the historical events surrounding Henry VIII’s break with Rome. Although certain scenes of the movie are slightly more dramatic than the actual events might have been, the film does justice to More, who was basically a good man that had no intention of undermining the authority of the king. More was simply unpopular with many at court, and Cromwell in particular, because he was willing to die for the uncompromising principals of the Catholic faith. Talk about a martyr, and I am glad that today even right wing Christians do not take organized religion that seriously, and I believe this movie shows how we have evolved as a people, and where secularism is needed when religion can be too persuasive. The film ends on the note that both Anne Boleyn and Cromwell would be executed for acts of treason a few years later, ironically demonstrating that no one was immune to the power of court factions under the Tudor dynasty.