Sentence:  The canons , in a body , had tried to <WSD>force</WSD> him on his deathbed to let them give him the last rites of the Church , but he had died still proclaiming salvation by faith . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :"She forced him to take a job in the city"