in 1521, wrote his attack on Luther embodied in the
_Assertion of the Seven Sacraments_, Pope Leo X gave him the title of
"Defender of the Faith." Subsequently, when he appealed to the pope to
help him settle his marital difficulties, the pope refused to support
him, and finally excommunicated him for divorcing his wife Catherine.
This led to a break with Rome, and the Supremacy Act, which made the
king protector and only supreme head of the church and clergy of
England. This inaugurated the long struggle between Catholic and
Protestant, with varying fortunes to each side. The Tudor period
closed with the death of Elizabeth, in 1603, with a fairly
well-established conformity to the Anglican Church; but Puritanism was
growing slowly but surely, which meant a final disruption. From this
time on there was confusion of political and religious affairs for
another century.

In 1621 Parliament rebuked King James I for his high-handed proceedings
with protestation: "That the liberties, franchises, privileges, and
jurisdictions of Parliament are the ancient and undoubted birthright
and inheritance of the subjects of England, and that the arduous and
urgent affairs of the king, state, and defense of the realm ... are
proper subjects and matters of council and debate in Parliament." The
king tore the page containing the resolution from the journal of
Parliament; but this did not retard the struggle for the {397}
recognition of ancient rights. The strife went on throughout the reign
of the Stuarts, until Charles I lost his head and the nation was
plunged into a great civil war.

There finally appeared on the scene of action a man of destiny.
Cromwell, seizing the opportunity, turned everything toward democracy,
and ruled republicans, Puritans, and royalists with such an iron hand
that his painful democracy came to a sudden close through reaction
under the rule of his successor. The Stuarts again came into power,
and, believing in the divine right of kings--a principle which seems to
have been imbibed from the imperialism of France--sought to bring
everything into subordination to royalty. The people, weary of the
irregular government caused by the attempts of the different parties to
rule, and tired of the abuses and irregularities of the administration,
welcomed the restoration of royalty as an advantage to the realm. But
the Stuarts sought not only to rule with high hand, regardless of the
wants, desires, and will of t