Paul Scofield’s Academy Award-winning screen portrayal of Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s conscience-wracked chancellor in 16th century England, actually began with Robert Bolt’s complex stage play.

The play’s provocation centers on Henry’s desire to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn. To overcome papal resistance, he arranges for Parliament to establish the Church of England with the king as its head. More, though a favorite of Henry’s, resists signing an oath that would subvert his Catholic faith; and through a series of contrived events, he is eventually tried and convicted as a traitor.

More’s steadfast belief in the rule of law, even in the face of his own execution, is its own answer to the palace intrigue that ensnares him. “This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast—man’s laws, not God’s,” More tells one of the conspirators. “And if you cut them down—and you’re just the man to do it—d’you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?”

NOTE: The BBC produced two early versions of Bolt’s play, first as a radio drama, then as a television special.