Buy an essay: King Henry II legal reform and the Murder of Thomas Becket

The reign of Henry II Plantagenet was of great importance for the history of England. With the support of chivalry, the free peasantry and cities, Henry II Plantagenet suppressed feudal unrests, dissolved the mercenary detachments of barons, ruined their castles and thus created a strong foundation of centralized power. For the same reason, Henry II of England held a series of reforms (judicial, military, forestry). The arrangement of public administration has become the best in Europe due to the efforts of Henry II. However, this paper argues that the King’s reforms weren’t be implemented fully without the murder of Thomas Becket, inspired by Henry II. Further, we discuss the relations of Henry II and Thomas Becket, and the connection between the monarch’s legal reforms and his bloody policy.
According to judicial reform, every free man (for a fee) could get permission to transfer his case from the patrimonial court to the royal one, where it was investigated by the jury. Thus, the judicial reform, which culminated in Assize of Clarendon (1166), established trial by jury, streamlined court by curiae, set punishments for various crimes, procedures for resolving land claims. At the same time, the accountability of the royal administration was established (Duggan 380-82).
Regarding the Church, Henry II, continued his Norman dynasty predecessor’s policy. The Church was still considered an integral part of British government and was often used to replenish the royal budget. In 1159, in particular, the clergy were taxed to finance a major tax Toulouse campaign of the king. Henry II also fully supervised the procedure of the election of bishops and abbots, and kept church positions vacant for a long time to withdraw the income in his favor. One of the major conductors of this policy was the king’s chancellor, Thomas Becket (Barlow 106-112).
At the same time, the weakness of royal authority during the period of anarchy 1135-1154 and the rapid development of church law due to Archbishop Theobald, significantly expanded the scope of ecclesiastical jurisdiction due to prerogatives of the king. Ecclesiastical courts arrogated to themselves the exclusive right to judge the clergy, as well as a significant number of cases involving violation of obligations, including regarding the secular fiefs and the claims for recovery of debt. The situation was complicated by the fact that church courts usually punished the priests who committed crimes by only medium-sized fines. According to William of Newburgh (Staunton 79-80), since the crowning of Henry II until 1163 English priests committed over 100 murders.
Obviously, to put the ecclesiastical court system under the control of secular power and deprive the Church from privileges, after the death of Theobald, the king made Thomas Becket, who for many years was loyal and dedicated to the king chancellor and friend, elected as the Archbishop of Canterbury and primate of England in 1162 (Abbott 59-62).