received many
ecclesiastical benefices, including the Archdeaconry of Canterbury. About
1155 he was appointed Chancellor, through the influence of Theobald, and
thenceforward, until he became archbishop enjoyed the most intimate
friendship and confidence of King Henry II. His magnificence and authority
during this period of his career exceeded that of the most powerful
nobles, and created much sensation in France whither he was dispatched to
demand the hand of the Princess Margaret for the king's infant son. When
offered the Archbishopric of Canterbury he is said to have warned the king
that his acceptance of the office would entail his devotion to God and his
order in preference to the interests of the king. He was however persuaded
to accept the primacy, and after being duly ordained priest was
consecrated archbishop by Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester.

From this moment onwards the entire character and attitude of Becket was
changed. He gave up his old pomp and magnificence and devoted himself to
monastic severity and works of charity: he furthermore insisted on
resigning his temporal offices, including that of chancellor, and engaged
on his lifelong struggle with the king on the subject of the privileges of
the clergy.

Since the separation of the bishops from the secular courts by the
Conqueror, a gross system of abuse had arisen under which all persons who
could read and write could claim exemption from the jurisdiction of the
ordinary secular courts, and insist on being tried only before their own
ecclesiastical tribunal. The spiritual courts could inflict no corporal
punishment, and the result was that many guilty persons escaped punishment
at their hands, and the benefit of clergy came to mean a practical licence
to commit crimes. This was naturally in radical opposition to the judicial
policy of Henry II., and matters were brought to a climax by the
scandalous case of Philip Brois, a murderer, whom Becket rescued from the
king's justice and condemned to a totally inadequate sentence. The king
determined to clear the question of all doubt, and to this end drew up
the famous constitutions of Clarendon in which the clergy was subjected
equally with the laity to the common laws of the land. The archbishop took
the oath, but refused to sign the constitution, as he insisted on the
immunity of the clergy from all secular jurisdiction. On retiring from the
council he sought and obtained absolution from his oat