Image Credit: "Vow Gift to the Virgin of the Candelaria '[the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos], Image and license info available at the website of the National Museum van Wereldculturen and Wereldmuseum, The Netherlands. (image dimensions modified).

Episode Summary:

We revisit the topic of holy dirt from our Bede episode again and have a more informal conversation on the history of some Catholic customs. Some of these customs are backed by solid tradition, while others are more controversial. We discuss the interplay of fact and legend, the possible pre-Christian roots of some traditions, and whether any of these cross the line into superstition. We are sure there is much more to learn and understand about each of these traditions, so please take our speculations with at least a small grain of salt this time around. For example, one correction to the episode: the Virgin of San Juan de Los Lagos is a statue/figurine and was not originally connected with an apparition per se, but rather a famous healing credited to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

All that said, we hope this discussion is thought provoking. Here are some customs and beliefs we discussed:

• Posadas and devotions to baby Jesus in Mexican culture
• Food, such as obleas (Latin American candy based on communion wafers)
• Devotion to St. Christopher, patron saint of safe travels
• Burying a St. Joseph statute to sell a house and possible origins (for example, St. Andre Bessette)
• More sacred dirt - eating the dust from San Juan de los Lagos; St. Helena's use of dirt from Jerusalem at Santa Croce in Rome; and the story of Naaman from the Old Testament (see 2 Kings 5:17).

Sources
Books:
• A History of the Church in 100 Objects by Mike Aquilina and Grace Aquilina (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2017).
• The Catholic All Year Compendium: Living Liturgically for Real Life _by Kendra Tierney (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2018).
• _The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Vroagine - Includes the traditional story of St. Christopher and many, many other saints. (Available online from Fordham University).

Articles Online:
• "Night Adoration Growing among Hispanics" (Denver Catholic, Dec. 7, 2013)
• "Geofagia: por que hay gente que no puede parar de comer tierra" by Josh Gabbatiss (BBC News Mundo, July. 13, 2016)
• "El Bable: Geofagia: La 'tierrita' de San Juan y la extrana costumbre de comer tierra" (El Bable, Jun. 12, 2013).
• "Mexican Christmas Traditions" by Dante Arias (Xcaret Blog, Dec. 21, 2016).
• "St. Christopher" (New Advent Catholic Encylcopedia)
• "Whatever Happened to St. Christopher? Is He Still a Saint?" (Catholic Straight Answers)
• "Did the Church declare that St. Christopher is a myth?" (Catholic Answers)
• "The Sellers' Saint" (Washington Post, Oct. 6, 1990)
• "Saint André Bessette: Montreal’s Miracle Worker" by Brother Andre Marie (Catholicism.org, Oct. 25, 2004)

Intro Music Credit:
*Special Thank You to Paul Spring for allowing us to use his song "Itasca" from the album Borderline EP (2014)!

Image Credit: Folio 5r from the Codex Amiatinus (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Amiatinus 1), Ezra the scribe. [Public Domain] Available at Wikimedia Commons.

Brief Chronology (most dates are approximate):
• 410 - Goths sack Rome
• 431 - Mission of Palladius to Ireland (probably close in time to Patrick's mission)
• 449 - Vortigern invites Angles and Saxons to Britain as mercenaries
• 563 - Columba reaches Iona in Scotland
• 597 - Augustine reaches Kent, beginning mission to the English
• 604 - Death of Pope Gregory the Great
• 627 - Conversion of King Edwin of Northumbria
• 664 - Synod of Whitby
• 673 - Bede's birth near Jarrow in Northumbria
• 674 - Wearmouth (St. Peter's) founded by Benedict Biscop
• 680 - Bede becomes oblate at Wearmouth
• 681 - Jarrow (St. Paul's) founded
• 692 - Bede ordained a deacon at age 19
• 702 - Bede ordained a priest at age 30
• 703 - Bede writes his first works
• 710 - Ceolfrith's letter to the Picts concerning Easter
• 716 - Ceolfrith leaves Jarrow for Rome with the Codex Amiatinus
• 731 - Bede completes his Ecclesiastical History of the English People
• 734 - Bede's letter to Bishop Egbert, dated Nov. 4
• 735 - Bede's death on May 25
• 794 - Vikings attack Jarrow
• 1899 - Bede is declared a Doctor of the Church

Summary:

As discussed in our St. Patrick episode, Britain struggled after the Roman military left. Germanic tribes called the Angles and Saxons soon took advantage of the situation, perhaps after originally being invited as mercenaries to protect the Britons left behind by the Romans. The Pagan Angles and Saxons forced the Christian Britons toward the western side of Britain (Wales and Cornwall now) and carved out several new kingdoms for themselves in the south-eastern part of Britain, such as Kent, Mercia, and Northumbria, to name only a few. The conversion of the newcomers did not get well underway for another century and a half, which is the story Bede tells in his Ecclesiastical History.

Although Anglo-Saxon England seems to have been unstable and often violent, Bede himself lived a quiet life as a priest and scholar at the monastery of Jarrow from a young age until his death. He was probably born about 673 close to Jarrow, located in the northern Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. He was sent to Wearmouth at age 7 to be educated. The monastery of St. Peter at Wearmouth had been founded relatively recently by a nobleman named Benedict Biscop, the community's first abbot, who travelled to Rome several times in his life and was enthusiastic about implementing what he learned there. Probably Bede left Wearmouth with Ceolfrith and others when the associated monastery of St. Paul was founded at Jarrow.

A plague seems to have swept the community at some point in Bede's childhood, leaving only the abbot Ceolfrith and a child (possibly Bede himself) well enough to chant the Psalter. Later in life, when Ceolfrith left Jarrow for a pilgrimage to Rome, Bede compared Ceolfrith to Eli, the priest to whom Hannah entrusted her child Samuel (Bede in this analogy). Ceolfrith died on the journey, but his gift to the pope, the Codex Amiatinus, survives to the present day. It was a rare single-volume version of the Bible created by Bede and his fellow monks.

Bede was ordained a deacon at the age of 19, then a priest at 30. He may never have ventured outside of his native Northumbria. (Ward, Give Love and Receive the Kingdom, ch. 2). He seems to have corresponded with people throughout Britain, gathering local information for his history of the English church.

Bede left behind a numerous books, including his landmark Ecclesiastical History of the English People, as well as other historical works and Biblical commentaries. In his Ecclesiastical History, completed in 731, he tells the story of how Roman Britain became Anglo-Saxon England, then how the Anglo-Saxons came to be Christianized by missionaries like Augustine of Canterbury (an Italian who later became bishop of Canterbury) and Bishop Aidan.

Here is a basic sketch of the Ecclesiastical History:

• Book I - Roman Britain is Christianized, but then overrun by the Pagan Angles and Saxons. Pope Gregory the Great sends missionaries led by Augustine of Canterbury, who reaches Kent in 597.
• Book II - Christianity spreads from Kent to Northumbria, where King Edwin is converted by Bishop Paulinus. King Edwin is killed in battle against the Pagan Mercians and Britons, so a fresh start is needed.
• Book III - King Oswald of Northumbria invites Bishop Aidan from Iona and Christianity spreads in Northumbria again. Irish and Roman influences begin to conflict, leading to Synod of Whitby.
• Book IV - Theodore becomes bishop of Canterbury and applies Synod of Whitby decisions in favor of Roman customs to the rest of the English church. A generation of saintly church leaders is discussed: Abbess Hilda, St. Cuthbert, Etheldreda, and the poet Caedmon.
• Book V - Bede turns his attention back to Northumbria, describing for example Bishop Wilfrid and Bishop John of York, who ordained Bede. A consensus is reached in favor of Roman customs (especially Easter). Bede includes Ceolfrith's letter to the Picts on celebration of Easter and concludes with an autobiographical note.

The unfamiliar names and sometimes unpredictable arrangement of material can make reading the Ecclesiastical History a challenge, but there are also many inspiring and colorful lives presented by Bede. Were it not for Bede, most of what we know about the poet Caedmon, Bishop Aidan, and Abbess Hilda would be lost to history. (See Ecclesiastical History, notes to p. 243, on p. 372) Bede's history is filled with tension between the old Paganism and Christianity, violent politics and religion, and the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon churches. Especially important is the conflict over the celebration of Easter and the proper form of the tonsure, issues which reach a head at the Synod of Whitby and are finally resolved in favor of unified adoption of the Roman customs by the end of Bede's book.

Bede also describes how St. Gregory the Great made crucial decisions as Pope to convert the barbarians who had settled in what was left of the Western empire and to try to baptize their cultures (cleansed of Paganism) instead of insisting on full rejection of their own traditions. (See Ecclesiastical History, Book I.30, p. 91-92 and notes p. 365) This decision set the stage for the conversion of pre-Christian holidays and customs we talked about back in our first episode on Dia de los Muertos.

An important legacy of Bede is how he helped shape the study of history. He made clear what sources he was relying on and helped to popularize the "year of our lord" (A.D./B.C.) system of dating events chronologically. (Ward, Give Love and Receive the Kingdom, ch. 2) While we moderns may take chronology for granted, agreement over the order of events and a system of dating should be appreciated as a major achievement. Bede also believed that a historian should faithfully transmit the traditions of the people (while still carefully noting sources and their reliability) and present history as an inspiration for living a holy life.

Bede's death on May 25, 735 is recounted by his student Cuthbert. He had been suffering from difficulty breathing for some time and had just finished dictating a book to a fellow monk. Earlier in the day he had distributed a few personal "treasures" : some pepper, handkerchiefs, and incense. (Cuthbert's Letter, p. 359). He asked his scribe to help him position himself near his personal area for prayer, seated on the floor of his monastic cell, and then peacefully passed away chanting "Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

St. Bede was not officially canonized, since he lived and died before the process had become very formalized, but he has been recognized as a saint since the Middle Ages. In 1899 he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII. His feast day is celebrated on May 25.

Sources:

• The Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede, with Introduction by D. H. Farmer, Trans. by Leo Sherley-Price, Notes by D. H. Farmer, Revised by Ronald Latham (Penguin, 1991).
• The Cambridge Companion to Bede, edited by Scott DeGregorio (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010) - Contains wide range of essays on all things Bede and a useful table of chronology, which we used in the brief chronology above. Especially recommended is the essay "British and Irish Contexts".
• The World of Bede by Peter Hunter Blair (St. Martin's Press, 1970).

• Give Love and Receive the Kingdom: The Essential People and Themes of English Spirituality by Sr. Benedicta Ward (Paraclete Press, 2018).
• The Early Church by Henry Chadwick (Penguin Books, Revised Edition 1993) - See Ch. 17 "The Church and the Barbarians" for background on Pope Gregory the Great.

Intro Music Credit:
*Special Thank You to Paul Spring for allowing us to use his song "Itasca" from the album Borderline EP (2014)!

Brief Chronology (most dates are approximate):
• 390s - Birth of Patrick
• 397-398 - Augustine writes his Confessions
• 400-410s - Patrick is kidnapped, sold into slavery in Ireland, and escapes after 6 years
• 406 - Rhine River freezes and barbarians invade Gaul
• 410 - Goths sack Rome
• 431 - Mission of Palladius to Ireland (possibly followed by or related to Patrick's mission)
• 449 - Vortigern invites Angles and Saxons to Britain as mercenaries (according to Bede)
• 461 - Death of Patrick (traditionally March 17)

(See the "Time Line" included as an appendix in St. Patrick of Ireland by Philip Freeman, which gives a more extensive chronology of the fall of Rome and events in Patrick's lifetime.)

Summary:

When Patrick was born in the late 4th century, his native land of southern Britain was still a Roman province, but the western Roman Empire was crumbling fast. No one actually knows where Patrick’s family estate or the nearby village Bennavem Taburniae that he mentions was, except that it must have been close to the sea in western Britain. In his Confessio, Patrick says his father was a deacon in the Church named Calpornius and that his grandfather Potitus was a priest. Patrick’s name (really Patricius) means “Patrician” - as in upper class, noble. (Freeman, Ch. 1)

St. Patrick left behind two letters in Latin, but in everyday life he may have spoken a lost Celtic language similar to modern Welsh. His medieval biographer Muirchú records him saying a possibly Old British word, "Mudebroth!", perhaps meaning "By God's judgment!" once when he was irritated (see Freeman, Ch. 1).

Like St. Augustine, Patrick was not one of those saints who got off to a great start. He alludes to a great sin from his teenage years that he is always very vague about and that comes back to cause controversy for him later. He admits that he does not take religion seriously in his youth. That changes when Patrick gets captured by Irish raiders near his home sometime in the early 400s. There were probably thousands of people (including many Christians) taken captive in this period of Roman decline and sold to work on farms in Ireland. (Freeman, Ch.2)

After Patrick was enslaved, he was sold and put to work watching sheep, perhaps in northwestern Ireland, which was lonely and physically miserable work since it meant spending lots of time outside in the cold and rain. Cold and alone, Patrick started to rediscover his Christian faith, praying night and day. Finally, he hears a voice telling him it is time to escape. Trusting in God, he just walks away one day and heads for the faraway eastern coast. He sails with a crew of pagans to either Britain or (possibly) Gaul. In any case, the crew unexpectedly ends up someplace so bleak that he describes it as a “desert” and they almost starve to death. One sensational theory is that it might be Gaul in the year 407, when the barbarians flood the western empire. (Cahill p. 104). But it seems just as likely, if not more so, that they found themselves on an unfamiliar shoreline in Britain far from their intended port due to some accident (See Freeman, Ch. 3). The pagans challenge Patrick to make his God save them, so Patrick prays and a herd of pigs crosses their path.

Eventually Patrick returned to his family in Britain, but as time passes he dreams that he is being called back to Ireland. He dreams that someone named Victoricus (a fellow captive?) comes with letters for him, one of which is inscribed "voice of the Irish." The letters cry out for him to return to Ireland.

No one knows exactly when Patrick finds his way back to Ireland as a missionary. Traditionally the year is 432. The reason this date is given, according to Thomas O’Loughlin, is that it puts Patrick one year after the supposedly short-lived mission of a bishop named Palladius, who was sent to the Irish by Pope Celestine in 431. Phillip Freeman speculates that maybe Patrick trained as a priest in Gaul and there, because he knew the Irish language, was attached to Palladius's mission. Some also speculate that Patrick may have know St. Germanus of Auxerre, who travelled from Gaul to combat the Pelagian heresy in Britain. We just don’t know, but these theories do tie everything together nicely.

St. Bede the Venerable (writing in the early 8th century) does not mention Patrick. Instead, he gives credit to Palladius for being the first bishop of Ireland (Bede, I.13). Miurchú (writing in the late 7th century) explains that Palladius was sent to evangelize Ireland but dies early without accomplishing much, with the result that Patrick is really the one who deserves to be remembered as converting Ireland. Both writers unfortunately have axes to grind. Bede may have wanted to emphasize the role of Rome and may have not really appreciated the contribution at the time of the humble Briton, Patrick. However, Muirchú also has an agenda in emphasizing Patrick since it helped build up the authority of Armagh's claim to be leading bishopric of Ireland.

Patrick's own account, in his Confessio, is more vague. He does not describe how he evangelizes Ireland in detail, except to say that he was a bishop and baptizes thousands of people. It is likely he had a long and difficult ministry to the many Christian slaves spread across northern Ireland, along with a steady stream of converts. At some point some of his flock were kidnapped by a British ruler named Coroticus, prompting Patrick to condemn Coroticus in one of the letters that has been preserved. It is possible this letter caused a backlash against Patrick, prompting him to write the second letter, the Confessio. (See Freeman, Ch. 11 and 12). In that document he alludes to accusations against himself several times and the mysterious sin from his youth. History does not record how the disputes ended, but Muirchú tells us that according to legend when Coroticus would not listen to Patrick, God transformed Coroticus into a fox.

According to one tradition, Patrick died in 461. He is remembered as bishop of Armagh. His feast day is March 17.

Sources:

• Patrick: The Man and His Works, ed. by Thomas O'Loughlin (Triangle, SPCK 1999) - Contains the "Confessio" and "Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus," along with extensive notes and bibliography.
• "The Life of Patrick" by Muirchú, in Celtic Spirituality, ed. by Oliver Davies and Thomas O'Loughlin (Paulist Press, 1999) - Part of the Classics of Western Spirituality. It contains all of the key primary sources related to St. Patrick and many other sources related to the early centuries of Christianity in Ireland and Britain.
• St. Patrick of Ireland by Philip Freeman (Simon & Schuster, 2001) - Highly recommended.
• How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill (Nan A. Telese / Doubleday, 1995)
• The Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede, trans. by Leo Sherley-Price (Penguin Putnam, 1990 revised edition) - Book I, Ch. 13 mentions Palladius briefly. The notes by D.H. Farmer explain that Bede bases his view on Prosper of Aquitaine.

Children's Books
• Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie DePaola (Holiday House, 1992) - This was our favorite children's book about St. Patrick.

• Paddy and the Wolves by Steve Nagel and Jen Norton (Peanut Butter & Grace, 2017) - Imaginative recent book, but does not focus on the historical Patrick.
• The Story of St. Patrick: Irish Myths & Legends in a Nutshell, Book 3 by Ann Caroll and Derry Dillon (Poolberg Press, 2016) - A little more accurate, but also a little darker. Maybe better for older kids.
• The Wolf and the Shield: An Adventure with St. Patrick (Friends with the Saints) by Sherry Weaver Smith (Pauline Books and Media, 2016)
*Note on the Children's Books: As noted in the episode, some of these books are not good introductions to the history, but they are still enjoyable.
Film
• St. Patrick: Apostle of Ireland (Janson Media, 2008) - This documentary is available on Amazon Prime. It discusses Patrick's possible debate and dialogue with Druidism in ancient Ireland, as we mention in the episode. There was quite a bit more from this film that we did not get to that is also worth thinking about, such as Patrick's possible connection to the Croagh Patrick.

Intro Music Credit:
*Special Thank You to Paul Spring for allowing us to use his song "Itasca" from the album Borderline EP (2014)!

Image Credit:

• Detail from Irish manuscript from 2nd half of 8th century or 1st half of 9th century, depicting the evangelist Luke, from the British Library, Additional 40618 f. 21v Luke, available online at http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=1567

• Corrections or clarifications on a few point are provided below in the Summary. Also, since this discussion went long, we have divided the recording into three parts, separated by short breaks: • Part 1: Early Life (beginning to 35:40) • Part 2: Beginning of the Reformation (35:40 to 57:06) • Part 3: Martyrdom (57:06 to end)

*Special Thank You to Paul Spring for allowing us to use his song "Itasca" from the album Borderline EP (2014)!

Brief Chronology:
• 1478 - Birth of Thomas More
• 1485 - Battle of Bosworth Field (end of Plantagenet and beginning of Tudor dynasty)
• 1490-92 - More is a page in Cardinal Morton's household
• 1504 or 1505 - Marriage to first wife, Jane Colt, mother to More's four biological children
• 1511- Death of Jane Colt and marriage to second wife, Alice Middleton
• 1515 - More writes Utopia (published 1516)
• 1517 - Martin Luther posts his Ninety-Five Theses (starting Protestant Reformation)
• 1525 - Peasants' War in Germany; William Tyndale translates New Testament
• 1527 - Rome sacked by Charles V's army
• 1529-1532 - More is made Lord Chancellor
• 1533 - Marriage of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn
• 1534 - More is imprisoned in Tower of London
• 1535 - Trial and execution of Thomas More
• 1935 - Canonization by Pope Pius XI

Episode Summary:

This was a long conversation, but we hope you get a lot out of good information from it! Thomas More was (probably) born February 7, 1478 in London, England. His childhood was a unstable time for England: the final years of a civil war between rival branches of the ruling Plantagenet family called the Wars of the Roses. Thomas More would become an important official under the new Tudor dynasty, especially under Henry VII's son Henry VIII. More studied grammar, logic and rhetoric from a young age and was eventually sent to Oxford and the Inns of Court to study law. He also spent some years as part of the household of Cardinal Morton, which may have helped shape him spiritually.

More's family came from a middle class background: his grandfathers were a baker and brewer. His father John More was sent to study law and eventually became a judge. However, the family seems to have been targeted by Henry VII after a young Thomas More opposed a tax in parliament that the king wanted. (+ Correction to the episode: the tax was related to posthumous knighting of Arthur and a dowry for Princess Margaret's marriage to the king of Scotland).

After Henry VII's death, More found favor with his son Henry VIII and eventually More rose to the high position of Lord Chancellor, technically the highest judicial post, but which also included other duties at the king's discretion. Both before and after becoming Lord Chancellor, More was responsible for suppressing what were then considered heresies (Protestantism), a fact which has made him controversial for modern scholars. The Reformation is traditionally reckoned to have begun with Martin Luther posting his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517. The reformation spread to the rest of Europe and started to take on new forms. In England it was viewed as a dangerous sequel to the Lollard movement. Henry VIII's government, fearing sedition and social chaos, violently suppressed the Protestants. More was the highest lay official in this government and vehemently opposed to the Protestants' attack on tradition. Six people were executed for heresy during his time in office and many protestant books were seized and burned. During this period More wrote books against the ideas of Luther and Tyndale, who had ironically been influenced by the ideas of More's friend Erasmus.

(+ Another correction to the episode: the Bible text that Zwingli and other reformers liked, which Jake butchers is," The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing." - John 6:63).

Nonetheless, More was moderate in his response to his son-in-law William Roper's temporary conversion to Protestantism and he may have sensed that the Reformation would eventually gain the upper hand. He privately confided to Roper, "'And yet, son Roper, I pray God,' said he, 'that some of us, as high as we seem to sit upon the mountains, treading heretics under our feet like ants, live not the day that we gladly would wish to be at league and composition with them, to let them have their churches quietly to themselves, so they would be content to let us have ours quietly to ourselves." (Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas More, Knight, p. 18). Ironically, More became a victim of the same government he had served.

More took over office as Lord Chancellor, following the fall of Cardinal Wolsey from royal favor, in a turbulent time. While central Europe was dividing along sectarian lines, Italy was fought over by France and the Holy Roman Empire. England shifted first from an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire (championed by Wolsey) to an alliance with France when it became clear that Emperor Charles V would not support Henry VIII's claim to be king of France. However, despite Wolsey's efforts, Pope Clement VII would not approve Henry VIII divorce from Queen Catherine, Charles V's aunt. Clement VII was apparently fearful after Charles V's troops sacked Rome in 1527, but he also may have realized that the annulment could have tarnished his spiritual and moral authority, which was already in jeopardy due to the Reformation (Richard Marius, Thomas More, p. 214-15).

In his position of power, More's beliefs eventually became impossible to reconcile with King Henry VIII's objectives of divorcing Catherine and declaring himself supreme head of the Church of England. More was allowed to resign, but refused to publicly support the marriage or the new laws enacting the English Reformation. Anne Boleyn and the royal secretary Thomas Cromwell, both favoring reformation, increasingly targeted More. After refusing an oath to support the marriage to Anne Boleyn and succession, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. After over a year of confinement, during which he continued to refuse to take the oath or to say directly why he would not, he was finally put on trial for treason. When he was executed on July 6, 1535, More told onlookers "to pray for him, and to bear witness with him that he should now suffer death in and for the faith of the Holy Catholic Church." (Roper, p. 50) Four hundred years later, in 1935, Pope Pius XI declared Thomas More a saint along with his fellow martyr St. John Fisher.

Even if Thomas More had not risen to high office or been martyred for his faith, he would still be famous today as a renaissance humanist and writer. He left behind political works such as Utopia as well as religious and philosophical writings, such as the Dialogue Concerning Heresies and the Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation. He was friends with the famous humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam, who remembered More after his execution as follows: " [...] Thomas More, who was the chief magistrate of his country, whose heart was whiter than snow, a genius such as England never had before, nor ever will have again, a country by no means lacking genius" (Erasmus’ Dedicatory Preface to Ecclesiastes, August 1535, online at The Center for Thomas More Studies).

Primary Sources:

• Utopia by Thomas More, ed. by Edward Surtz, S.J . (Yale Univ. Press, 1964).
• Final Letters by Thomas More, ed. by Alvaro de Silva (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2000)
• The Life of Sir Thomas More, Knight by William Roper - Citations above are to the edition published in Lives of Saint Thomas More, ed. by E.E. Nichols (J.M.Dent & Sons, Ltd, 1963). This is a short memoir of More by his son-in-law William Roper.
• The Center for Thomas More Studies: https://thomasmorestudies.org/index.html

Secondary Sources:

• Thomas More: A Biography by Richard Marius (Alfred A. Knopf, 1984).
• The King's Good Servant but God's First: The Life and Writings of St. Thomas More by James Monti (Ignatius Press, 1997).
• The Cambridge Companion to Thomas More, ed. by George Logan (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011) - Especially recommended is the essay, "Thomas More and the heretics: statesman or fanatic?" by Richard Rex .
• Reformation Divided: Catholics, Protestants, and the Conversion of England by Eamon Duffy (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017).
• The Reformation: A History by Diarmaid McCulloch (Penguin, 2004).

Movies:

• A Man of All Seasons (1967) - Highly recommended award-winning movie based on the play by Robert Bolt. (source for the quote, "This isn't Spain, this is England!" featured in the episode).

Image Credit: "Thomas More and His Family" (1592) - Rowland Lockey [Public domain]