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What happened at the Council of Westminster in 1163?

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St. Thomas Becket Murder of St. Thomas Becket, illustration from an English psalter, c. 1200; in the British Library.

At the Council of Westminster in October 1163, the conflict between King Henry II and Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, intensified over the issue of "criminous clerks".1

During this period, accused clerics traditionally stood trial before a bishop in an ecclesiastical court rather than in secular courts, often resulting in milder punishments. King Henry II sought to curb these privileges, arguing that clerical crime was widespread and encouraged by the lack of severe penalties. Becket, however, maintained a rigid stance that a guilty clerk should not be punished twice for the same fault by lay authority.1

While the issue was joined at this council, the crisis reached a breaking point in January 1164 at Clarendon, where the king demanded formal assent to his royal rights regarding the church.1