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Why did Thomas More refuse the oath required by the Act of Succession?

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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.

Thomas More was willing to acknowledge the validity of King Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn, as required by the Act of Succession. However, he refused to take the oath as it was administered because the document also entailed a formal repudiation of papal supremacy.1

More’s refusal was rooted in his commitment to the unity of the church and his conviction that no temporal leader could serve as the head of the spirituality. By rejecting the oath, More stood by his conscience, ultimately leading to his imprisonment in the Tower of London and his subsequent execution for treason.1