Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as a martyr and saint,[2] was an English lawyer, judge,[3] social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian and Renaissance humanist.[4] He also served Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor from October 1529 to May 1532.[5] He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, which describes the political system of an imaginary island state.[6]