After
the death of Thomas Becket, royal authority to some extent dominated the
English Church between 1170 and 1189. While the death of Becket most certainly
resulted in a short-term strain in the relationship between Henry II and the
Church, and therefore affected the dominance of which royal authority could
have over the English Church, it was easily mended by Henry II’s actions in the
1170s which consolidated the Church as a firm ally and this effectively granted
him more control over the Church than he had ever achieved before. However, it
would be false to state that Henry II had complete dominance over the English
Church as there were some limitations put in place as well as cases whereby
Henry II’s decisions were overlooked.
Immediately
after the death of Becket, political pressure mounted on Henry II which led to
Henry II’s interdict on hides continental lands and on himself. William,
Archibishop of Sens, a papal commissioner had been given authority to impose an
interdict on Henry’s lands and this was eventually placed on all of Henry II’s
continental territories, signifying the lack of dominance which Henry II had
over the Church. Henry’s authority was further undermined when Pope Alexander
III, disgraced in Henry II’s association with the murder of Becket had further
extended the interdict to Henry II himself and this had acted as a short-term
humiliation for the king, demonstrating that the consequence of Thomas Becket’s
death wasn’t the dominance of royal authority over the Church, but was instead
the Church asserting its authority over the English king for being the cause of
Becket’s death.
After
the Church’s condemnation of both Henry II and the four knights which brutally
murdered Becket, this short-living tension between the Church and Henry II had
simmered as Henry II decided to rationally act upon the Church’s wishes as seen
by the invasion of Ireland. This could arguably have been said to be due to the
situation in which the consequence of the death of Becket had put Henry in as
well as the fact that Henry II had no real motive in undermining the authority
of the Church, which ultimately triggered his decision to immediately reconcile
relations with the Church. Having been issued a ‘Papal bul Laudabiliter’ by
Pope Adrian IV in 1155 and successfully reforming the Irish Church, Henry
quickly restored relations with the papacy. It was evident by May 1172 in
Normandy (Compromises of Avranches) where Henry II had presented himself as a
loyal servant who had fulfilled the Church’s request and it was evident by Pope
Alexander III’s approval of Henry where he lifted the suspension of Archbishop
of York and of the bishops of London and Salisbury. However, although the
English king may have portrayed himself as a worthy king, willing to make
amends, his royal authority over the Church had been undermined as he had to
agree to abolish the ‘evil customs’ introduced with regards to the English
Church, was also forbidden to block appeals made to Rome through Canon Law and
agreed that with the exception of treason, secular courts did not have
jurisdiction over the clergy. This disputes the statement that after the death
of Becket, Henry II had dominance over the English Church as he had to prove
himself a worthy member of the Church and had his authority undermined.
While
the Compromises of Avranches in 1172 appeared to mark a defeat for Henry II, in
reality, Henry II had instead exerted greater control over the English Church
than previously. Although, Henry couldn’t prevent bishops from travelling to
Rome, he was allowed to take securities for good behaviour from those he
suspected of malice against him, he was also able to assert the principle that
the Crown had the right to defend itself if the Church encroached upon its
authority or on royal government. The Constitutions of Clarendon was a prime
reason which deteriorated relations between the state, the king and the Church
as seen by the dispute between Becket and Henry II which ultimately led to
Becket’s death. However, Henry II asserted in the defunct Constitutions of
Clarendon, stating that cases involving ‘advowson’ and those conceiving lands
that Church held in return for secular services, remained in royal courts.
Petty assizes like ‘darren presentment’ remained in the king’s court but this
also indicates that whilst Henry II promised to abandon the ‘evil customs’, a
demand in the Constitutions of Clarendon maintained in demand and thus shows
that Henry II to some extent had dominance over the English Church, even after
Becket’s death.
After
reconciling with the papacy and the Church with the acceptance of Becket’s
canonisation in February 1173 and the humiliating public penance at it the
Canterbury cathedral in July 1174, it was clear that the Church supported Henry
II, becoming a firm ally. The English Church remained loyal to Henry II as they
refused to support the rebels of the Great Rebellion of 1173-74. At this point,
Henry II had effectively and dominantly controlled the appointments of bishops.
Henry II could get his way with appointments of bishoprics as the appointments
only proceeded after it became clear that Henry II was happy with it,
establishing the viewpoint that Henry II most certainly dominated his authority
over the English Church after Becket’s death. This is evident where many of
Henry II’s clerical allies were rewarded with promotion as seen by Richard of
Ilcester who was elected as bishop of Winchester in 1173 and in 1174, Reginald
FitzJoscelin who became bishop of Bath and more. The only scandalous case where
Henry had a personal desire to make his illegitimate son, Geoffrey, bishop of
Lincoln. Although Henry had initially succeeded in appointing his son as the
bishop because the Pope reluctantly agreed, he was neither ordained or
consecrated and thus was forced to surrender the see in 1182, demonstrating
Henry’s partial dominance over the English Church after Becket’s death. Whilst
the appointments of bishops demonstrated that Henry II had some dominance over
the English church, it wasn’t the entire case as the appointment of his
illegitimate son was reluctantly agreed with by the Pope but was later
dismissed. Thus, the death of Becket is viewed to have positively contributed
to Henry II’s dominance over the English Church as if Becket had still been
alive, he would have interfered with Henry II’s actions due to their clashing
personalities and ideologies; as well as the fact that without the death of
Becket, Henry II would not have gained himself a valuable ally and ultimately
to establish further control over the English Church.
Additionally,
in June 1176, Henry II reached an agreement known as the English Concordat with
papal legate, Hugh of Pierleone. Henry II had promised that clerks would not be
brought before royal courts for any offences except if they were accused of
forest offences or of failing to perform a lay service for lay fief, also that
clerks would not be forced to engage in judicial duels, and that there would be
severe punishment (capital punishment and family would suffer disinheritance)
to those that killed clerks and to promise to not exploit vacant bishopric and
archbishopric abbeys. However, despite agreeing to this, Henry II continued to
do so as he wished, evident by the archbishopric of York which remained vacant
from 1181-89, meaning that Henry II kept much of the legal jurisdiction he had
been seeking and also demonstrates his dominance over the English Church.
To
conclude, while the initial years after the death of Becket undermined Henry
II’s royal authority over the English Church, it was short-lived as Henry was
sharp in his decision to quickly reconcile with both the papacy and the Church,
making amends for the Becket ordeal. Although king Henry II’s intentions were
not to undermine the Church’s authority, he ended up exerting greater control
over English Churches than he had ever achieved before and had even maintained
a demand from the defunct Constitutions of Clarendon, demonstrating his
dominance over the English Church after Becket’s death.
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