He encouraged a
religious revival. Aristotle's position that virtuous men would
rule best is successfully debated against Plato's position that
intellectuals and philosophers would be the ideal rulers.
More believed the new humanistic studies should be brought to
women as well as to men. He had tutors teach all his children
Latin, Greek, logic, theology, philosophy, mathematics, and
astronomy from an early age. His eldest daughter Margaret became a
recognized scholar and translated his treatise on the lord's
prayer. Other high class women became highly educated. They voiced
their opinions on religious matters. In the 1530s, the Duchess of
Suffolk spoke out for reform of the clergy and against images,
relics, shrines, pilgrimmages, and services in Latin. She and the
countess of Sussex supported ministers and established seminaries
for the spread of the reformed faith.
More pled for proportion between punishment and crime. He urged
that theft no longer be punished by death because this only
encouraged the thief to murder his victim to eliminate evidence of
the theft. He opined that the purpose of punishment was to reform
offenders. He advocated justice for the poor to the standard of
justice received by the rich.
Erasmus, a former monk, visited the nation for a couple of years
and argued that reason should prevail over religious belief. He
wrote the book "In Praise of Folly", which noted man's elaborate
pains in misdirected efforts to gain the wrong thing.
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