the civil power; to oppose
his legal customs to their divine ordinances; to determine the exact
boundaries of the rival jurisdictions; and for this purpose he summoned
a general council of the nobility and prelates at Clarendon, to whom he
submitted this great and important question. [15th Jan. 1164.]

The barons were all gained to the king's party, either by the reasons
which he urged, or by his superior authority. The bishops were overawed
by the general combination against them; and the following laws,
commonly called the "Constitutions of Clarendon," were voted without
opposition by this assembly. It was enacted, that all suits concerning
the advowson and presentation of churches should be determined in the
civil courts: that the churches, belonging to the king's fee, should not
be granted in perpetuity without his consent; that clerks, accused
of any crime, should be tried in the civil courts: that no person,
particularly no clergyman of any rank, should depart the kingdom without
the king's license: that excommunicated persons should not be bound to
give security for continuing in their present place of abode: that laics
should not be accused in spiritual courts, except by legal and reputable
promoters and witnesses: that no chief tenant of the crown should be
excommunicated, nor his lands be put under an interdict, except with the
king's consent: that all appeals in spiritual causes should be carried
from the archdeacon to the bishop, from the bishop to the primate, from
him to the king; and should be carried no farther without the king's
consent: that if any lawsuit arose between a layman and a clergyman
concerning a tenant, and it be disputed whether the land be a lay or
an ecclesiastical fee, it should first be determined by the verdict of
twelve lawful men to what class it belonged; and if it be found to be
a lay fee, the cause should finally be determined in the civil
courts: that no inhabitant in demesne should be excommunicated for
non-appearance in a spiritual court, till the chief officer of the
place where he resides be consulted, that he may compel him by the civil
authority to give satisfaction to the church: that the archbishops,
bishops, and other spiritual dignitaries, should be regarded as barons
of the realm; should possess the privileges and be subjected to the
burdens belonging to that rank; and should be bound to attend the king
in his great councils, and assist at all trials, till the sentence