Abstract

The article examines the reasons for silence in Thomas More, starting from his History of King Richard the III, considering then his actions as speaker of the House of Commons and later as Chancellor, and, finally, his refusal to take the oath to uphold the Acts of Succession and Supremacy. Another relevant subtopic takes a cue from Seneca's assertions about silence to allow the author, after careful reading of a paper published by F. Mitjans on Moreana, to correct an assertion made, in an earlier essay, in regard to the Seneca details in Lockey's copy of Holbein's More family portrait, as well as to present a more analytical assessment of the relevance of Seneca's presence in More's works. It turns out that More cites Seneca more often than has been thought, but with certain fairly crucial reservations, which should—at least in part—explain More's apparent reluctance to quote Seneca's name: another case of silence, which needs to be probed.