had hardly taken his seat when a quarrel broke out between him and the
King. In his need for money Henry levied a tax on all lands, whether
belonging to the barons or to churchmen. Becket opposed this tax.[1]
He was willing, he said, that the clergy should contribute, if they
desired to do so, but not that they should be compelled to pay the
tax.

[1] See page 76, note 1, on Clergy.

The King declared with an oath that all should pay alike; the
Archbishop vowed with equal determination that not a single penny
should be collected from the Church. From that time the King and
Becket never met again as friends.

164. The Second Quarrel.

Shortly afterward, a much more serious quarrel broke out between the
King and the Archbishop. Under the law made by William the Conqueror,
the Church had the right to try in its own courts all offenses
committed by monks and priests (S118). This privilege, in time, led
to great abuses, since even in cases of the commission of the gravest
crimes the Church had no direct power to inflict the penalty of
death. On the contrary, the heaviest sentence it could give was
imprisonment in a monastery, with degradation from the clerical
office; while in less serious cases the offenders generally got off
with fasting and flogging.

On this account some criminals who deserved to be hanged escaped with
a comparatively slight penalty. Such a case now occurred. In one
instance a priest had committed an unprovoked murder. Henry commanded