The Probert Encyclopaedia of General Information

CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON

The Constitutions of Clarendon were a code of laws made by a general council of nobles and prelates, held at Clarendon in Wiltshire, in 1164 during the reign of Henry II, to check the power of the Church and restrain the prerogatives of ecclesiastics. There were sixteen ordinances defining the limits of the patronage and jurisdiction of the Pope. The power of the ecclesiastical courts was restricted, the crown secured the right of interference in elections to ecclesiastical offices, appeals to Rome were made dependent on the king's leave, ecclesiastical dignitaries were deprived of their freedom to leave the country without the royal permission, etc. Becket signed them, but retracted his signature on the refusal of the Pope Alexander III to countenance them. Becket's murder followed, and to effect a reconciliation with the pope Henry II promised the amendment of the Constitutions of Clarendon. They were accordingly modified in 1176 at Northampton in favour of the church, but they are not the less to be regarded as containing the germ of the ecclesiastical policy of Henry VIII.
Research Constitutions of Clarendon