The Constitutions of Clarendon forced the bishops to accept that the law of the land was the King and not the church. Thomas Becket refused at the council held here.

The Constitutions of Clarendon were a set of legislative procedures passed by Henry II of England in 1164. The Constitutions were composed of 16 articles and represent an attempt to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and curb the power of the Church courts and the extent of Papal authority in England. In the anarchic conditions of Henry II's predecessor, Stephen, the church had extended its jurisdiction in the void. The Constitutions were claimed to restore the judicial customs observed during the reign of Henry I (1100–35), while in fact they were a part of Henry II's larger expansion of royal jurisdiction into the Church and civil law, which was the defining aspect of his reign.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutions of Clarendon
• Gordon, W. A., 2002, The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book, North Ridge Books, Lake Forest, CA, 272 p.