Hello, welcome to history here at Oak National Academy.

I'm Mr. Newton, and I've got another great lesson lined up for you today, and I'm basically here just to simplify any tricky concepts we may encounter along the way.

Okay, let's get started.

During these lessons, we'll be thinking about our big inquiry question, how successfully did Henry reassert royal authority? In other words, how successful was Henry at showing he was still in power or in control of his land? When it looked like Henry's position was weak, was Henry effective at taking back control? This is what we mean by Henry reasserting royal authority.

We will continue to investigate Henry II through this inquiry question.

This is important because kings in mediaeval times are the ultimate rulers of the land, but kings face challenges to this power, and that's the case with Henry.

We've previously seen that Henry became king after the anarchy, a very chaotic period.

He began his reign trying to reassert his royal authority, trying to reassert control over the Angevin empire and expand it.

We've also seen how Henry used the (indistinct) to reassert his authority over the court system, which delivered a consistent law across England.

This contributed to the development of common law.

And taken altogether, these legal reforms are considered to be an important change in the English legal system.

So, how will Henry reassert his royal authority over the Church? How will he take control over the Church? By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain why Henry II came into conflict with the Church and how Henry's reforms reduce the power of the Church.

Before we begin, there are a few words we need to understand.

Clergy, spiritual, bishop, archbishop, and exile.

The clergy are religious leaders, especially priests, ministers, et cetera.

Spiritual is relating to deep feelings and religious beliefs.

A senior member of the Christian Church in charge of an area containing several Churches is known as a bishop.

The chief bishop of a large region is known as the archbishop.

When you are sent away from your home country, you go into exile.

This lesson has two parts.

In the first part, we will look at the struggle between Church and crown.

You can see the Church there is capitalised with a big C, and that means we're looking at the Church as a wider organisation rather than just one building on its own.

And the crown is just another way of saying the king or the monarchy.

The second part of the lesson is about Thomas Becket and the Church.

Okay, so let's get started with the first part of the lesson, the struggle between Church and crown.

As you'll remember, Henry had an energetic and hot-tempered character.

This was a mixed blessing.

It had both positive and negative effects.

His fierce personality was useful when Henry needed to reassert his authority after the chaos of the anarchy, enforcing his will across his empire and delivering a common law across the land.

However, Henry's temper could also land him in trouble.

On one occasion, he exploded into a fit of rage after someone dared to praise the King of Scotland, Henry fell to the floor, screaming, tore up his bedding, and chewed on the stuffing of his mattress.

This temper caused him great problems when he attempted to reform the English Church, which had grown even more powerful during the anarchy.

The Church was very powerful in mediaeval society.

What do we mean by the Church? Notice, it's not a church with a small C, the small C church is just a building.

For example, the Village church is at the top of that hill.

We, however, will be talking about the Church with a big C.

That is to say all the Church buildings across the country and everyone who works within them, the entire organisation of the Church.

So when we say the Church, we mean the wider organisation rather than just a building.

So the Church was very powerful in mediaeval society.

The Church owned up to a third of all land in England and built impressive structures, such as Churches and cathedrals.

For example, look at the image.

That is Salisbury Cathedral.

It's the tallest Church in the United Kingdom, amongst the tallest mediaeval Churches in the world.

Cathedrals were very expensive to build, and they were designed to be awe-inspiring, to be amazing to look at.

Try to imagine how a mediaeval peasant must have felt the first time they saw one of these mighty structures.

Cathedrals symbolised the power of the people who worked within them, the power of the Church, and the power of God.

Look at the pyramid on the left.

It's a simplified version of the feudal system.

The most powerful people are at the top, and those with less power are towards the bottom.

We can see the king is at the top.

Then below the king is the barrens, then the knights, then the peasants at the bottom.

Many of the high ranking clergy, those who work within the Church, were as rich and powerful as the barons, and this really shows how powerful the Church was with its high ranking members being as rich and powerful as the barons.

Almost everyone believed in God and depended on the Church for guidance for their soul to go to heaven.

This gave the Church spiritual authority over the people.

So what do we mean by spiritual authority? Well, people were happy to let the Church guide their actions as they would've felt that the clergy were the most educated people in their village.

They also provided a great deal of religious services, such as baptisms, marriages, and funerals.

The Church was at the centre of village life.

It hosted feasts and entertainment during important holy days.

If people took part in these services and followed the teachings of the Church, they were rewarded with paradise in heaven.

Those who did not were punished for eternity in hell.

This gave the Church huge influence over the people, spiritual authority over the people.

However, the person who wanted to have the most control over the people was the king, the crown.

The crown is the symbol of the king, of the monarchy, and monarchy just means the system of having a king or a queen.

There was a struggle between the Church and crown.

The Church's power and influence would conflict with the power and influence of the crown.

The Church was an organisation powerful enough to rival royal authority.

Throughout the mediaeval period, clashes arose between the king and the Church.

These clashes centred on how much power and control a monarch should have over the Church, and this was the case with Henry.

He was trying to increase his control of the Church.

However, the Church viewed the Pope and God as the ultimate authority.

So there was a benefit to being a member of the clergy.

By the 1160s, Henry tried to reform the Church.

In other words, he tried to make changes which would improve the Church.

Many judges complained that the clergy were breaking the law and not facing justice.

The clergy benefited from an arrangement where they were only required to appear in the Church's own courts and not the king's courts.

Henry thought this undermined the normal laws of the land.

As you may remember, at this time, he was carrying out legal reforms in an effort to centralise his control of the law.

Henry saw this as a challenge to his royal authority as priests could effectively escape his justice.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

A mediaeval king was much more powerful than the Church.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back.

Well done if you knew that was false.

So let's think about that a bit more deeply.

Why is it false? What is your justification for that? Was it because a, the Church was a charitable organisation, or was it because b, the Church owned a lot of land and was spiritually influential over the people? Pause the video.

Have a think.

Come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew the answer was b, the Church owned a lot of land and was spiritually influential over the people.

Okay, let's have another check here.

What's happened if a member of the clergy broke the law? A, they went to the king's courts like everyone else, b, they went to the Church's own courts, which were for clergy only, or c, they did not go to court because clergy could only be judged by God.

Pause the video.

Have a think.

Then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Yes, that's right.

They went to the Church's own courts, which were for clergy only.

Okay, let's move on to task A.

List two examples of the struggle between Church and crown.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay.

Welcome back.

Now, there are many ways that we could have answered this question, but let's check your answer with my examples below.

Firstly, the crown wanted control over the Church.

However, the Church viewed the Pope and God as the ultimate authority.

Secondly, Henry thought the clergy were avoiding his courts, and this undermined the normal laws of the land.

So to recap the lessons so far, the Church was very powerful in mediaeval society and Henry wanted to increase his control over it.

Now, let's move on to the second part of the lesson, Thomas Becket and the Church.

Henry thought his good friend Thomas Becket could help him with his problem with the Church by working with him on his reforms of the Church.

Perhaps Thomas could help him change the Church in some way.

Thomas Becket was an interesting man.

He was from a small land-owning family.

He had risen through the ranks of Church and legal offices, gaining a powerful position in Henry's government.

Becket's office issued the royal orders that went across the whole of the Angevin empire.

This meant that Beckett's office was important in helping Henry to reassert his authority across the empire, and that Henry was hoping that Becket could help Henry reassert his authority over the Church.

Henry and Beckett became close friends and enjoyed hunting and partying together.

The trust of this friendship was demonstrated when Becket was given responsibility for the upbringing of the king's son.

In 1162, Henry appointed Becket, his closest advisor, to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Now, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the title given to the most senior bishop in the English Church.

This meant they also held great power in England.

Henry believed that his loyal friend would support him in his decisions to change the Church.

And since the Church was so powerful, this would also enable Henry to gain greater authority over his kingdom.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

Which one of these is the best definition for the Archbishop of Canterbury? Was it a, the title given to the most senior bishop in the English Church, or b, the title given to the least senior bishop in a particular area, or c, the title given to the most senior bishop in a Church.

Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew the answer was a, the title given to the most senior bishop in the English Church.

Okay, let's have another check for understanding here.

Complete the following sentence using a person's name.

Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew the sentence should read, Henry II appointed his closest advisor, Thomas Becket, as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Let's continue the story.

Becket resisted Henry's Church reforms. Henry hopes that Becket would help him with the reforms. Surely his best friend Becket would see things the same way Henry did.

Unfortunately for Henry, upon entering his new role, Becket took things very seriously and became very religious.

He stopped partying and adopted a more spiritual lifestyle.

This made him more loyal to the Church.

When Henry proposed changes to the Church and their courts, Becket refused him.

In 1163, Becket refused to pay a particular tax which Henry considered charging.

This led to huge arguments between Henry and Becket.

Look at the mediaeval manuscript on the left.

It shows Henry II seated on the throne on the left, and then you have Thomas Becket on the right, wearing a bishop's hat and holding a staff with a cross.

The two are shown to be arguing.

We can imagine that this would've been quite an argument, given Henry's short temper.

In 1164, Henry introduced the constitutions of Clarendon.

These were legal reforms to the Church.

Essentially, these constitutions were a set of 16 rules, some of which dramatically reduced the power of the Church.

Bishops could now only write to the Pope with the king's permission, and the clergy found guilty of crimes were to be punished in the king's own courts, not those of the Church.

The Constitutions of Clarendon were Henry's way of reasserting his authority over the Church.

Look at the image on the left.

It is from a mediaeval manuscript.

It shows Henry holding a Church building.

We can imagine that this shows Henry taking control of the Church.

He was getting the Church to submit to his royal authority.

Becket was furious.

Henry had forced all the bishops of England to agree to the Constitutions of Clarendon.

Becket eventually escaped to exile in France.

Henry's religious reforms were controversial, even his own family had doubts.

Henry's mother, Empress Matilda, who had initially been against the appointment of Becket, now expressed dislike for the Constitutions of Clarendon.

Becket was outraged because he believed the Church should be free from the king's interference.

When further unreasonable demands were made of him, he rudely stormed out of the king's presence and escaped to exile in France.

If we look at the image on the left here, we can see Becket on a ship, making his way to France.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

What impact did the Constitutions Clarendon have on the Church? Was it a, they boosted the power of the Church, b, they restricted the power of the Church, or c, they restricted the power of Henry II? Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay.

Welcome back.

And well done if you knew it was b, the Constitutions of Clarendon restricted the power of the Church.

Okay, let's have another check here.

Why did Becket resist Henry's reforms of the Church? Select two correct answers.

Was it a, Becket became strongly religious, b, Henry became strongly religious, c, Becket believed the Pope should not interfere with the Church, d, Becket believed the king should not interfere with the Church? Select two correct answers and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew it was a, Becket became strongly religious, he became more spiritual.

D, Becket believed the king should not interfere with the Church.

Okay, let's move on to task B.

Starting with the earliest, sort these events into time order.

Pause the video and have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay.

Welcome back.

Let's check what the correct answers are.

So the first event was Becket becoming Archbishop of Canterbury, then Becket becomes strongly religious, then Henry introduces the Constitutions of Clarendon, and then Becket escapes to exile.

Okay, let's move on to the second part of Task B.

I want you to show me that you can take all the information from the lesson and summarise it to answer this question.

This will show me that you've really understood the story of Henry's Church reforms. Explain in a paragraph why Henry II came into conflict with the Church.

In your answer, include as many of the following words as you can.

Church courts, clergy, Constitutions of Clarendon, control, Archbishop of Canterbury, and interfering.

These words will help you to pick out the important points from the story.

Pause the video and have a go at the task.

Okay.

Welcome back.

Hopefully those words gave you a guide on the important points to cover.

However, there are many ways to answer that question, and you could have used different words.

But here's my example.

Henry II came into conflict with the Church because he felt that the clergy were undermining his laws.

The clergy benefited from an arrangement where they were only required to appear in the Church's own courts.

To reverse this benefit, Henry introduced the Constitutions of Clarendon, which gave him more control over the Church.

Henry and the Archbishop of Canterbury clashed over this because Becket believed the king was interfering in Church affairs.

Okay, let's summarise the lesson.

Henry II's Church reforms. The power of the Church often brought it into conflict with the king's authority.

If they broke the law, the clergy were only required to attend the Church's own courts.

Henry appointed Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to help him reform the Church.

Henry wanted to use the Constitutions of Clarendon to increase his control over the Church.

Becket argued with Henry and believed that the Church should be free from the king's interference.

Well done on a brilliant lesson, and thank you for joining me for this fascinating story of the struggle between the Church and the crown.

I will see you next time when we continue this story.

See you next time.