Ursulines A religious order for women founded at Bres-
cia in 1535 by St. ANGELA MERICI. Its primary purpose was
the education of women, and to this end it was intended
by the founder that members should live unenclosed. The
order was approved by Pope Paul III in 1544 but under-
went a radical change in 1572 when communal life was
introduced. In 1612 the Ursulines of Paris adopted strict
enclosure and solemn vows, following a version of the Au-
gustinian rule.
Utopia A social and political satire written in Latin by Sir
Thomas MORE, whose friend ERASMUSarranged its publi-
cation in Louvain in 1516. Part of Utopia was drafted
while More was on an embassy in Flanders in 1515, and
the book’s framework is the narrative of Raphael Hythlo-
day, a fictitious traveler whom More purports to have met
in Antwerp. In the first book Hythloday outlines the
shortcomings of English society and in the second de-
scribes the perfect society of the imaginary island of
Utopia (literally, “Nowhere”), which he visited in the New
World. The Utopians are ruled by a monarch elected for
life, hold all property in common, extend religious tolera-
tion to all, operate a system of universal education for men
and women, never make war except in self-defense, limit
working hours to six a day, and promote cultural activities
in the citizens’ leisure time. Wrongdoers are enslaved until
they amend, an aspect of the system that has been much
criticized. Public sanitation, hygiene, and housing are all
much in advance of those in 16th-century England.
Utopia spawned several later Renaisance imitations,
such as CAMPANELLA’s Città del sole, and has given its name
to political philosophies that insist upon the creation of a
perfect society. The popularity of the original Louvain edi-
tion of Utopia was such that other Latin editions quickly
followed: Paris (1517), Basle (1518), and Vienna (1519).
The Basle editions of 1518 and 1520 have illustrations by
HOLBEIN. It was translated into German (1524), Italian
(1548), and French (1550) before the issue of the first
English version by Raphe Robinson (1551); a Dutch ver-
sion appeared in 1553. A facsimile of the 1516 Latin edi-
tion was issued by the Scolar Press (Leeds, 1966) and a
facsimile of the Robinson version of 1551 was issued in
Amsterdam in 1969. In 1963 Yale University Press began
publication of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More, in
which Utopia, ed. E. Surtz and J. H. Hexter, comprises vol.
IV (1965). A handy modern translation is the Penguin
Classics version by Paul Turner (Harmondsworth, U.K.,
1965).
Further reading: John C. Olin (ed.), Interpreting
Thomas More’s Utopia (New York: Fordham University
Press, 1990).Utrecht, Union of See NETHERLANDS, REVOLT OF THEUvedale, John See MARPRELATE CONTROVERSYUvedale, Nicholas See UDALL, NICHOLASUUvveeddaallee,, NNiicchhoollaass 4 48811