The question is the pursuit and arrest, and how much More was involved. He continued to have power and influence after leaving public office, and his initial arrest allowed him quite a bit of communication.
Phillips received his money and instructions sometime in late 1534, since he was in the Low Countries by December 1534. More’s close arrest began after that point, although he was in prison from April 1534. There are other candidates, but no concrete proof for any of them.
Was it More? I don’t know. He undoubtedly hated Tyndale, but if he actually played a role or not I do not know. I’m told there is a book that makes a case against him, but my Amazon.com budget is way overdrawn for October. As I said in my post, “There is conjecture there, since no one has established with certainty who paid.”
Tyndale had a surprisingly long imprisonment and trial, and it seems to have been a remarkably fair one by the standards of the day. He died well after More, but the crucial point would have been when Phillips received money and instructions.
Let's not forget that More had his own problems, which resulted in his death by decapitation.
Sorry, but your argument seems tendentious.
St. Thomas More had his hands full keeping [eventually unsuccessfully] from being imprisoned and murdered, himself.
It isn't likely that folks in the British government would act on the behalf of someone so deeply out of favor with the monarch. As well, it seems that you're multiplying causes needlessly. Henry didn't much like Mr. Tyndale, especially after Henry sought to immorally put away his first wife.
By your own admission, Mr. Phillips “received his money and instructions in late 1534,” by which time, St. Thomas had already been in the Tower of London for over six months. So now you're saying that St. Thomas was guiding a manhunt using British agents six months after being imprisoned by British officials in the Tower of London?
Sorry, Mr Rogers, but this looks like an argument of special pleading to relieve Henry Tudor and others from the burden of Mr. Tyndale's death, and to place it on a favorite Protestant boogeyman, St. Thomas More.
It's a silly argument. I'm almost embarrassed to have read it and taken the time to respond to it.
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