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More resigns the great seal on 16 May 1532 after the Submission of the Clergy

On 16 May 1532, the day after Convocation’s Submission of the Clergy, More resigned as Lord Chancellor and returned the great seal. In the causal graph this event strengthens Protection of Minority Rights, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 16 May 1532, the day after Convocation’s Submission of the Clergy, More resigned as Lord Chancellor and returned the great seal.

Context

History of Parliament Online and Britannica independently date 16 May 1532. Chapuys reported public concern. Heresy enforcement of the prior years stays on its cost 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

Rights-offset path. High confidence on the 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 handed Henry the seal after Convocation submitted. Complex: the king accepted; More did not repeal supremacy.

What changed

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

    1. FactMore resigns the great seal on 16 May 1532 after the Submission of the Clergy
    2. strengthensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Improving path

    impact weight 0.5 · Effect from 16 May 1532 · verified

    • Having a say in government

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.5 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.5 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — Thomas MoreEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.History of Parliament — MORE, Thomas I (1477/78–1535)History of Parliament Trust · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

History of Parliament Online and Britannica independently date the 16 May 1532 resignation.

Established: More resigned on 16 May 1532. Not established: that the resignation repealed any statute.

Thomas More did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act. A resignation is not a 1535 death. Keep July as the killing.

Causal path

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

  1. ActorThomas More
  2. contributed toFactMore resigns the great seal on 16 May 1532 after the Submission of the Clergy
  3. strengthensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). More resigns the great seal on 16 May 1532 after the Submission of the Clergy. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/tm-resignation-1532

https://factrail.ai/facts/tm-resignation-1532

Accessed 16 October 2026.

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

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