Perhaps the most celebrated of all the Commons' early
Speakers, Sir Thomas More only held the post for six
months. But in that short time he defied both King Henry
VIII and the great Cardinal Wolsey, and established the
Commons' fundamental right to refuse the monarch
money if there was good reason for so doing.
Although appointed on Wolsey's recommendation, More's
conscience led him to refuse an enormous demand of 800,000
pounds for the French wars. The furious Wolsey burst into the
Commons to demand the money - only to be told by More that 'the manner of his coming thither was neither expedient nor agreeable to the ancient liberties of the house'. After he had left the Commons, More's defiance of the King led him to pay the ultimate price - imprisonment, trial, and beheading.