that he would not suffer a penny to be taken off his lands for
the King's purposes. Henry was obliged to yield, and this is the first case
known of resistance to the royal will in the matter of taxation.

The case of clerical offenders, and the jurisdiction of the courts came
before a great council at Westminster in 1163. Henry declared that
criminous clerks should be deprived of their office in the Church courts,
and then handed over to the King's courts for punishment. Thomas replied
that the proposal was contrary to the religious liberties of the land, but
he met with little support from the rest of the bishops. "Better the
liberties of the Church perish than that we perish ourselves," they cried
in fear of the King. Henry followed up his proposal by calling on the
bishops to abide by the old customs of the realm, as settled by his
grandfather, Henry I., and to this they all agreed, adding "saving the
rights of our order."

A list of the old customs was drawn up, and sixteen _Constitutions_, or
articles, were presented to the bishops at the Great Council of Clarendon,
in January, 1164. To many of these Constitutions Thomas objected; notably
(1) That clerks were to be tried in the King's courts for offences of
common law. (2) That neither archbishops, bishops, nor beneficed clerks
were to leave the kingdom without royal permission. (This would not only
stop appeals to Rome, it would make pilgrimages or attendance at General
Councils impossible without the King's consent.) (3) That no member of the
King's household was to be excommunicated without the King's permission.
(4) That no appeals should be taken beyond the Archbishop's court, except
to be brought before the King. (This definite prohibition of appeals to
Rome left the King absolute master in England.) The last article declared
that neither serfs nor the sons of villeins were to be ordained without the
consent of the lord on whose land they were born. Against his own judgment
Thomas yielded to the entreaties of the bishops, and agreed to accept the
Constitutions of Clarendon, but no sooner had he done so than he bitterly
repented, and wrote off to the Pope acknowledging his mistake. Pope
Alexander III. was mainly anxious to prevent open hostilities between Henry
and the Archbishop, and wrote calmly that he was absolved, without
suggesting any blame to the King.

Henry now saw that the Archbishop, and only the Archbishop, stood in the
way of the royal will, an