St. Thomas More

St. Thomas More was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He was a Councillor to Henry VIII, and Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532. He is known for his 1516 book Utopia and for his death in 1535, after refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. He was canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint in 1935.  

More opposed the Protestant Reformation, in particular the theology of Martin Luther and William Tyndale. More also opposed the king's separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to acknowledge Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, he was convicted of treason and beheaded. Of his execution, he was reported to have said: "I die the King's good servant, and God's first."

Pope Pius XI canonized More in 1935 as a martyr. Pope John Paul II in 2000 declared him the "heavenly Patron of Statesmen and Politicians."