Though the triumph of Anglicanism brought about a certain eclipse of Thomas More, the publication of the state papers restored a fuller and truer picture of More, preparing public opinion for his beatification (1886). He was canonized (officially declared a saint) by Pope Pius XI in May 1935. Though the man is greater than the writer and though nothing in his life ābecame him like the leaving of it,ā his āgolden little bookā Utopia has earned him greater fame than the crown of martyrdom or the million words of his English works.
Erasmusās phrase describing More as omnium horarum homo was rendered later as āa man for all seasonsā and was given currency by Robert Boltās play A Man for All Seasons (1960). Monuments to More have been placed in Westminster Hall, the Tower of London, and the Chelsea Embankment, all in London. In the words of the English Catholic apologist G.K. Chesterton, More āmay come to be counted the greatest Englishman, or at least the greatest historical character in English History.ā