In addition to these measures, any one of which was sufficient to arm all the forces of tradition and religious conservatism against the King, several important political Acts had been passed, which were scarcely more likely to be popular. Among these the three Succession Acts were the most important. The first declared the Princess Mary illegitimate and entailed the succession on the heirs male of the King and Anne Boleyn, or failing heirs male, on the Princess Elizabeth. All were to swear to maintain this act, under penalty of high treason[41]. The second Succession Act confirmed the first and supplied a form of oath to be taken[42], but this was superseded by the third, which has been described above. The Treason Act gave a new definition of high treason. It was declared to be high treason “if any person ... do _maliciously_ wish, will or desire by words or writing, or by craft imagine, invent, practise, or attempt any bodily harm to be done or committed to the King’s most royal person, the queen’s or their heir’s apparent, or to deprive them of their dignity, title or name of their royal estates, or _slanderously and maliciously_ publish and pronounce, by express wri. ting or words, that the King our sovereign lord should be heretic, schismatic, tyrant, infidel or usurper of the crown.”[43] This act was passed only after prolonged debate in the House of Commons, and the King was forced to permit the word “maliciously” to be inserted; this was done in the hope of saving those who could not conscientiously call the King Supreme Head of the Church, but did and said nothing to prevent others from giving him the title[44]. It was for offences against these statutes, the second Succession Act and the Treason Act, that Sir Thomas More and Cardinal Fisher were put to death in July 1535. Pope Paul III, roused at last by this deliberate defiance of his authority, prepared a bull of interdict and deposition against Henry in the autumn of the same year[45]. But he had not sufficient faith in his own curses to launch them at Henry without adequate secular support. If he had had the courage of a medieval pope, he would have published the bull with perfect confidence that it would accomplish its own work, without earthly aid; what is more, it would very likely have been effective, as will be shown hereafter. Paul III, however, endeavoured to back up his supernatural threats by physical force, and failed. Francis I protested vigorously against the publication of the bull, as he was Henry’s ally, while Charles V was not in a position to lend his aid, and the Pope suspended it for the time[46].