ABSTRACT
In chapter 1 it was argued that when Fox returned to Winchester in 1516, England was increasingly afflicted by divisions and conflict in the royal court, the Church and society at large, and that these disorders coincided with his loss of political power and influence at court. After he left London, Fox turned his attention away from central government and attempted to influence institutions lower down the hierarchy, principally monasteries and universities, but also including schools confraternities, all institutions in which the proper exercise of personal authority by all members, each within their own sphere, however lowly, contributed to the efficient functioning of the entire community. At the very same time Richard Whytforde was writing, or at least drafting, about households as small perfect communities, and Thomas More was writing about his small fictional commonwealth in which similar ideas were being developed.
