Editing Assize of Clarendon (section)

==Problems addressed by the assize==
In 1154, Henry II inherited the throne of a troubled England.  In full swing were the [[Crusade]]s, a military endeavour that kept noble landowners away from their castles for years at a time. Unoccupied and unclaimed land invited squatters; since there was no central recording office for [[real property]] in England at the time, and sorting out who owned what fief was entrusted to human memory, disputes arose when aristocrats returned or died thousands of miles from home.

Another, even more, serious was the aftermath of [[The Anarchy]], a disastrous civil war between King [[Stephen of England|Stephen]] and the [[Empress Matilda]]. The two factions had hired mercenary soldiers, and when there was no one left to pay them, many resorted to robbery and other forms of violence as a profession. Crime followed the breakdown of the local authority. The quarrel between the King and the Empress created more property troubles; as communities were divided, both factions were happy to reward their supporters with the lands of the local opponents. 

Finally, there was the long-standing difficulty involving the [[Catholic Church]], which culminated in the murder of [[Thomas Becket]], the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. The problem for the King was that the Church acted like an ''[[List of Latin phrases (I)#imperium in imperio|imperium in imperio]]'', a "kingdom within a kingdom", only partially, if at all, subject to Henry's laws.  The church operated its own court system, which answered not to Henry but to the Pope; it was a large landowner and a powerful vested interest.  Henry wished to establish a system of justice that would enlarge the power of [[the Crown]] at the expense of the clergy.