ENG 
dcred all the cattles, which wer erected fince the death 
of Henry the Firft, and we e become receptacles of ra. 
pine, to be demoliflied, except a few which he retained 
in his own hands for the protection of the kingdom. The 
adulterated coin was cried down, and new money (truck 
of the right value and ftandard. ^ He relumed many of 
thofe benefactions which had been made to churches and 
monatteries in the former reigns. He gave charters to 
feveral towns, by which the citizens claimed their free¬ 
dom and privileges, independent of any fuperior but him- 
felf. Thefe charters were the ground-work of Britifh 
liberty. The druggies which had long exifted, whether 
the king, or the barons, or the clergy, Ihotild be defpotic 
over the people, now began to att'ume a new afpeCt; and 
a fourth order, namely, that of the more opulent of the 
people, began to claim a (hare in adminiftration. Thus 
was the feudal government at firft impaired ; and liberty 
began to dawn more equably throughout the nation. 
In the mean time his brother Geoffrey, by the volun¬ 
tary eleftion of the inhabitants, had acquired the city and 
county of Nantz ; but dying foon after he had taken pof- 
fellion of them, Henry, as his heir, claimed thofe territo¬ 
ries. By a contrad: of marriage which he entered into 
between his foil, then only five years old, and a daughter 
of Louis VII. (till in hercradle, he prevailed on the latter 
prince not to oppofe his pretenlions; and eroding the leas, he 
entered Brittany with a formidable army. The able con¬ 
duct of Henry procured him (till more important advan¬ 
tages ; by his addrefs he concluded another marriage be¬ 
tween his third fon, Geoffrey, and the daughter and heirefs 
of the duke of Brittany : the duke of Brittany died loon 
after; and Henry, as the guardian of his infant fon and 
daughter-in-law, took poffeffion of that principality. 
The French king- had been a filent Ipectator of the pro- 
grefs of Henry in Brittany ; but he refitted his attempts 
to feize the country of Thouloufe. An open war was 
kindled between the two monarchs ; but it was produc¬ 
tive of no memorable event; and the differences of thefe 
potent rivals were accommodated by the mediation of the 
pope; upon which Henry did homage to the king of 
France, under the feudal fyftem, for all the territories he 
held on the continent. 
On his return to England, A.D. 1161, Henry directed 
]iis attention towards reftriCting the encroachments of 
Rome : thefe had grown with a rapidity not to be brook¬ 
ed by a prince of his high fpirit; and to facilitate his de- 
lign of fupprefting them, he advanced to the dignity of 
chief metropolitan, Becket, his chancellor, of whofe flex¬ 
ibility of temper he had made a very miftaken eftimate. 
That prelate had early infinuated himfelf into the favour 
of Theobald archbiftiop of Canterbury, and obtained 
from him conliderable preferment. This enabled him to 
purfue at Boulogne, the ftudy of civil and canon law ; 
and by gradual advances, he rofe to the dignity of chan¬ 
cellor of England. Being of a gay and fplendid turn, 
and apparently little tenacious of ecclefiaftical privileges, 
Henry thought him the fitted perfon, on the death of 
Theobald, for the high ftation of archbifhop of Canter¬ 
bury ; but no fooner was he inlialled in this dignity, than 
he altered his-demeanor and cotiduCt. He maintained in 
his retinue and attendants his ancient pomp and luftre; 
but in his own perfon he affeCted the greateft aufterity ;■ 
feemed perpetually employed in reciting prayers and 
pious ledtures ; and all men of penetration plainly forefaw 
that he was meditating fome political innovatu n. 
Henry, though he perceived that Beckct was wholly 
intent on promoting the interefts of his order, was far 
from relinquifhing his defign of retrenching the clerical 
ufurpations. The fchifm for the papacy which divided 
all Europe, afforded him an opportunity favourable to 
his projects. Among other inventions to obtain money, 
the clergy had inlifted upon the necellity of a fpecific pe¬ 
nance as an atonement for fin ; and the Aims of money 
that were received by the priefts in lieu of thefe penances, 
are faid to have exceeded the amount of the king’s r.eve- 
L A N D. 571 
nue. To eafe his people of fo heavy and impious an im- 
pofition, Henry demanded that a civil officer of his ap¬ 
pointment ttiould be prefent in all ecclefiaftical courts, and 
(hould for the future give his confent to every bargain 
which was to be made with finners for their fpiritual 
offences. The eccleliaftics in that age had renounced all 
immediate fubordination to the magiftrate ; and as many 
of them were of low character, crimes of the blacked: dye 
were committed with impunity by them. An hundred 
murders fince Henry’s accellion had been perpetrated by 
men in holy orders. A pried in Worcefterfnire, having 
debauched a gentleman’s daughter, had proceeded to 
murder the father; the general indignation againtt the 
crime, moved the king to attempt the remedy of an abufe 
which had become fo infamous; he required that the 
pried: ttiould be delivered up, and receive condign puni(li¬ 
me n t from the magiftrate. Becket in (1 fled on the privi¬ 
leges of the church, and maintained that no greater 
pumftunent could be inflidted on the criminal than degra¬ 
dation. Henry, exafperated, fummoned an aftembly of 
the prelates of England ; and demanded whether they 
were willing to fubmit the affair to the ancient laws of 
the kingdom : and though at firft they endeavoured to 
evade the queftion, by the exception of their own order, 
they yielded foon after to his menaces. Becket, how¬ 
ever, for a long time remained inflexible ; and at laft 
rather complied in confequence of the defires of the court 
of Rome, than of the threats of the king. But Henry 
was not content with a declaration in general terms : lie 
refolved to define exprefsly thofe laws to which he re¬ 
quired obedience; and in order to mark the limits be¬ 
tween the civil and ecclefiaftical jurifdiction, he fummon¬ 
ed a general council of the nobility and prelates at Cla¬ 
rendon ; when by his influence or authority, the laws fo 
favourable to prerogative, known by the name of the 
Conjlitutions of Clarendon, were voted without oppofition. 
Henry, by thus reducing the ancient cuftoms ol the 
realm to writing, endeavoured to prevent all future dif- 
pute on the fubjedts to which they related ; and thought 
lie had thus fully eftabliflied the fuperiority of the 1 eg;ifi¬ 
lature above all fpiritual canons. Apprehenfive, how¬ 
ever, that the biftiops might retradt their confent to thefe 
conftitutions, he required that they ttiould fet their feal 
to them. Becket, of all the prelates, alone oppofed his 
will ; but, finding himfelf deferted even by his brethren, 
he at length gave way, and engaged by oath, legally, with 
good faith, and without fraud or refervation, to obferve 
them. The ratification of the pope was (till thought re- 
quifite; but, though Alexander owed the higheft obli¬ 
gations to Henry, he rejected the conftitutions of Claren¬ 
don, which he plainly faw would render England inde¬ 
pendent of the papal power; and therefore offered, for 
the fake of peace, to ratify a few of the lead important - 
articles. Becket no fooner perceived the determination 
of the Roman pontiff, than he exprelfed the deepeft for- 
row for his compliance, and endeavoured to engage the 
other biftiops to adhere to their common rights, in which 
he reprefented the intereft and honour of God to be con¬ 
cerned. To make him feel his refentment, Henry infti- 
tuted againtt: him a profecution for fome land that he 
held ; and, when the primate excufed himfelf, on account 
of indifpofition, from appearing, that prince fummoned 
a great council at Northampton, in which Becket was ar¬ 
raigned as guilty of a contempt of the king’s court ; and 
being condemned, all his goods and chattels were confif- 
cated. Henry, not fatisfied with this fentence, however 
haftv and oppreffive, foon after required Becket to give 
in the accounts of his adminiftration while chancellor; 
and ellimated the balance in arrear at forty-four thoufand 
marks, for which he demanded fureties. In this emer¬ 
gency, feveral of the primate’s friends advifed him to re- 
fign his fee, on condition of receiving an acquittal ; but 
the daring fpirit of Becket rejected thefe timid counfels; 
and he determined to brave his enemies. After cele¬ 
brating niafs, where he had previoufly ordered that the 
entreii 
