Becket asserted that these secular courts had no jurisdiction over clergymen because it was the privilege of clergy not to be accused or tried for crime except before an ecclesiastical court .
The Assizes touched off a power struggle between the king and Thomas Becket , Archbishop of Canterbury .
Thomas Becket asserted that these secular courts had no jurisdiction over clergymen because it was the privilege of clergy not to be accused or tried for crime except before an ecclesiastical court .
The Assizes touched off a power struggle between the king and Thomas Becket , Archbishop of Canterbury .