In 1618 his controversial "History of Tithes" was published. A first sign of the coming storm was the 1619 book controverting Selden, "Sacrilege Sacredly Handled in two parts; with an Appendix, answering some objections" by James Sempill. Selden hit back, but was soon gagged. The churchmen Richard Tillesley (1582–1621) ("Animadversions upon M. Seldens History of Tithes", 1619) and Richard Montagu ("Diatribae upon the first part of the late History of Tithes", 1621) attacked the work. There were further replies by William Sclater ("The Quaestion of Tythes Revised", 1623), and by Stephen Nettles ("Answer to the Jewish Part of Mr. Selden's History of Tithes" 1625). In it Selden tried to demonstrate that tithing depended on the civil law, rather than canon law. He also made much of the complexities of the ancient Jewish customs on tithes.