Skip to content
eventVerified

More is beheaded on Tower Hill on 6 July 1535

On 6 July 1535 Thomas More was beheaded on Tower Hill. Later Catholic canonisation (1935) is reception, not a lifetime Fact, and is refused here. In the causal graph this event weakens Humanitarian Access, a driver that strengthens People Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC) — an improving welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 6 July 1535 Thomas More was beheaded on Tower Hill. Later Catholic canonisation (1935) is reception, not a lifetime Fact, and is refused here.

Context

HRP’s Tower page and Britannica independently date 6 July 1535. Fisher had been killed on 22 June. Henry VIII is the king of the warrant.

Thomas More’s documented role is bounded by other offices and collaborators named in the sources below.

Conventional years are 1478–1535. Surviving public files are later parliamentary biographies, TNA calendars, HRP Tower pages, the Yale More tradition, and encyclopedias. More did not typeset those later pages. 1935 canonisation is posthumous and is not a Fact.

Why it matters

Humanitarian-harm path. High confidence on the death date.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Thomas More

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.4 · verified

    The king’s officers killed him. He is the body of the instrument. Complex: later sainthood is not this morning.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Historic Royal Palaces — Sir Thomas More at the TowerHistoric Royal Palaces · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — Thomas MoreEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Historic Royal Palaces and Britannica independently describe the 6 July 1535 execution.

Established: More was beheaded on 6 July 1535. Not established: that 1935 canonisation is this event.

Thomas More did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act. A death is not a saint’s feast. Posthumous cult is evidence, not a Fact.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorThomas More
  2. contributed toFactMore is beheaded on Tower Hill on 6 July 1535
  3. weakensDriverHumanitarian Access
  4. strengthensIndicatorPeople Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). More is beheaded on Tower Hill on 6 July 1535. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/tm-execution-1535

https://factrail.ai/facts/tm-execution-1535

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

Dispute this factNamed here, or represent someone who is? Request a right of reply.