Why did the Constitutions of Clarendon cause a conflict between Henry II and Thomas Becket?

The Constitutions of Clarendon, issued by King Henry II in 1164, were designed to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and limit the power of church courts, which had expanded significantly during the previous reign. This effort to define church-state relations in England directly challenged the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket.1

The conflict arose because the constitutions imposed strict controls on the church, including:
* Requiring royal consent for clerics to leave the country or for judicial appeals to be made to Rome.1
* Restricting the church's power to excommunicate or interdict individuals.1
* Reserving cases involving church debt, patronage, and land held in lay fee for secular courts.1

The most contentious provision was clause 3, which mandated that priests charged with serious crimes be subject to secular punishment. Becket vehemently opposed this, as it undermined the church's judicial autonomy over "criminous clerks". Although Becket initially promised to observe the constitutions, he soon repudiated his oath, leading to his six-year exile and eventually contributing to the tensions that resulted in his martyrdom.12