I Witness
The Firsthand Account of the Trial and Execution of Sir Thomas More
by
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The night is forever. I am dimmed and diminished in my purpose by the gentleness and peace of Sir Thomas and I realize that I cannot furtively go to the scaffold. But when I sleep I go. There is horror there – not at first because I am there without going and one of those small miracles Sir Thomas holds dear has come to pass and I have a saw and I fall to sawing through one of the corner posts, being mindful to stop with barely an inch left to go, so none will know. But Mr. Death rises out of the turf and the darkness and seizes my arm and the whole of me and throws me hard against the post. His face is like unto the god Thor and he breathes fiercely upon me like the wind as he utters curses cold with contempt while his breath turns hot and smothers me as we fall against the post. The weight of both of us strikes the post and there is a moment of warning sigh and the scaffold falls on both of us and the edge of the axe, which I have not seen before, pierces the skin of my throat as the timbers crash in a tangled mass.
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About the Book
Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in the household of someone famous - perhaps someone who achieved a place in history? What would you see? What would you hear? How would you feel as remarkable events enveloped your daily life?
In the historical novel I Witness, authors Charles W. Ferguson and Dede Weldon Casad, PhD. transport readers back to the 1530’s, the time of Sir Thomas More and his infamous clash with King Henry VIII. The book’s central character is Charles Bosworth, a young naïve Oxford student who unexpectedly finds himself privileged to be a personal servant in the home of Sir Thomas More. Bosworth witnesses and records More’s trial, imprisonment, and ultimate execution by King Henry VIII as the two former friends struggle mightily over the King’s demand the he become the supreme head of the Church of England. More’s refusal to endorse Henry’s plan to divorce Queen Catherine of Aragon and take Anne Boleyn as a new wife sets the stage for the battle of wills between two men convinced their vision for England is right. The most beloved man in all of England as well as one of the most learned scholars of his time, More’s determination to use moral and legal arguments to protect the integrity of the Church against Henry’s personal and lustful demands cost him his family, position, wealth and ultimately, his life. Bosworth’s day by day account chronicles the pain and joy of the last three years of More’s life, one of the most historically unique stories in all of British history.
About the Author
Charles W. Ferguson was senior editor at Reader’s Digest for thirty-four years. He is the author of Naked to Mine Enemies—The Life of Cardinal Wolsey. He stays true to the language of the time, resulting in a work that is always poetically enlightening and enormously satisfying.