Robert Bolt's Man for All Seasons: Christian saint or “hero of selfhood”?

<p>In this bonus episode of Criteria, Thomas asks attorney and scholar Louis Karlin whether Robert Bolt’s play and film <em>A Man for All Seasons</em> accurately depict St. Thomas More’s views on the rights of conscience, and his motives for martyrdom.</p> <p>More’s involvement in the prosecution of heretics is also examined: even if More was a martyr of conscience, is it accurate to call him a champion of religious freedom? One thing is certain: the portrayal by Hilary Mantel and others of More as a torturer of heretics is false.</p> <p>Next on the Vatican film list is the first installment of <em>Dekalog</em>, a 10-part series of short films inspired by the Ten Commandments. See below for information on where to watch it.</p> <p><strong>Links</strong></p> <p>The Center for Thomas More Studies <a href= "https://thomasmorestudies.org/">https://thomasmorestudies.org/</a></p> <p>Lecture by Richard Rex critiquing the historical fiction of Hilary Mantel, “More the villain and Cromwell the hero?” <a href= "https://ionainstitute.ie/thomas-more-thomas-cromwell-and-wolf-hall/"> https://ionainstitute.ie/thomas-more-thomas-cromwell-and-wolf-hall/</a></p> <p>William Marshner, “<em>Dignitatis Humanae</em> and Traditional Teaching on Church and State” <a href= "https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=8778">https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=8778</a></p> <p>Thomas Pink, “Conscience and Coercion” <a href= "https://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/08/conscience-and-coercion"> https://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/08/conscience-and-coercion</a></p> <p>Louis W. Karlin and David R. Oakley, <em>Inside the Mind of Thomas More: The Witness of His Writings</em> <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Mind-Thomas-More-Writings/dp/1594173133"> https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Mind-Thomas-More-Writings/dp/1594173133</a></p> <p>Karlin, Wegemer and Kelly, <em>Thomas More’s Trial by Jury: A Procedural Legal Review with a Collection of Documents</em> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Mores-Tri