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How did Thomas More respond when England’s clergy accepted Henry VIII as supreme head of the church?

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Portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger, showing More in dark robes and a black hat, wearing a gold chain of office, seated against a green and yellow draped background. — Thomas More *Sir Thomas More*, oil on panel by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1527; in the Frick Collection, New York City.

When the English clergy acknowledged King Henry VIII as their supreme head in 1531—a concession they qualified with the phrase "as far as the law of Christ allows"—Thomas More attempted to resign from his position as lord chancellor.12

More’s opposition to the king’s assumption of spiritual authority deepened over time. By May 1532, when the church's governing body (synod) formally promised never to legislate or convene without royal assent, More again sought to be released from his office, citing health concerns as he begged the king to free him from the "yoke of office". Ultimately, his refusal to repudiate papal supremacy and his steadfast commitment to the unity of the Roman Catholic Church led to his imprisonment and eventual execution in 1535.1345