The accused person did not go through trial by jury; instead, he or she went through trial by ordeal. The accused person had their hands and feet tied together and then dropped in a lake. A person who sank was considered innocent, and a person who floated was guilty of the crime (McKay 413). .
By not letting barons collect taxes, Henry II removed the baronial power. Sheriffs took the place of the barons. This method was very effective. Henry II also used the 1/10 tax in 1188. This tax was placed upon Saladin to gather money for the crusades against the Mohammedans (Larned 116-117). .
Henry II sought to make an unambiguous definition of the individual powers of church and government; so, he drew up the Constitutions of Clarendon. It consisted of sixteen articles saying, "that the accused clergy could continue to be tried in church, but, if they were found guilty they would be turned over to the secular courts for punishment." The advantage of a person reading or speaking Latin was very great because he or she would be tried in church. The church usually was very lenient against criminals (Schultz 35). .
King Henry II filled the vacancy of the archbishop of Canterbury with his best friend Thomas Becket. Thomas Becket was a well-educated man, who accomplished many great tasks in his existence. Thomas Becket unwillingly took the archbishop of Canterbury seat. Thomas Becket warned the king that he was not going to be a puppet for him. King Henry II and Thomas Becket had a huge disagreement concerning criminals in the church. The knights of the king secretly went to the cathedral in Canterbury and murdered Thomas Becket on December 29. Henry II was disgusted with what his knights had done; he claimed that he did not advise them to kill Thomas Becket (Larned 112-115). .
King Henry II had two great achievements. One of his achievements was centralized government system. The system was actually handed down from King Henry I, the Curia Regis.