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More is committed to the Tower on 17 April 1534 after refusing the oath of succession

On 17 April 1534 More was committed to the Tower after refusing the oath attached to the Act of Succession. The 1534 statutes widened the net; More did not draft them. In the causal graph this event strengthens Judicial independence erosion (court capture), a driver that strengthens Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 17 April 1534 More was committed to the Tower after refusing the oath attached to the Act of Succession.

Context

TNA calendars and HRP’s Tower page independently date the April 1534 committal. The 1534 statutes widened the net; More did not draft them. Allegation of later ‘treasonous malice’ stays allegation until the July 1535 trial row.

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

High confidence on the detention 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

    He refused the oath. Councils and the lieutenant committed him. Complex: the 1534 statutes were Parliament’s.

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.The National Archives — Tudor plague and public order contextThe National Archives · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

TNA’s catalogue heading and HRP’s More page independently describe the April 1534 Tower committal.

Established: More entered the Tower on 17 April 1534 after refusing the oath. Not established: that silence already was the July conviction’s full legal file.

Thomas More did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act. A committal is not a beheading. Keep 6 July as the killing.

Causal path

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

  1. ActorThomas More
  2. contributed toFactMore is committed to the Tower on 17 April 1534 after refusing the oath of succession
  3. strengthensDriverJudicial independence erosion (court capture)
  4. strengthensIndicatorRule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). More is committed to the Tower on 17 April 1534 after refusing the oath of succession. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/tm-oath-refusal-1534

https://factrail.ai/facts/tm-oath-refusal-1534

Accessed 16 October 2026.

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

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