In 1534, Sir Thomas More refused to take an oath of succession, upholding King Henry's divorce to
marry Anne and repudiate the Papal supremacy."[More] had always refused to recognize the right of
an individual to put his conscience before obedience to authority; but now he would claim that his
conscience forbade him to obey authority" Statesman and Saint, Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Thomas More
and the Politics of Henry VIII, Jasper Ridley (1982). "On 7 February, 1978, the five-hundredth
anniversary of More's birth, the [London] Times leader-writer wrote: If the English people were to be
set a test to justify their history and civilization by the example of one man, then it is Sir Thomas
More whom they would perhaps choose After considering the rival claims of Churchill, Gladstone,
Dr. Johnson, Shakespeare, Elizabeth 1, and King Alfred to be the greatest figure in English history, the
leader writer expressed the opinion that none of them was as great as More." The Statesman and
Saint author questioned how "In the twentieth century even Churchill cannot compete with More."