Many people assume in medieval Europe that the crown is more powerful because it involves the king and the king rules everything. But however, it is very debatable by many historians who really took the win over who was most powerful. The Catholic Church has just as much and even more power than the government in Europe. This is demonstrated especially in the cases of Thomas Becket vs King Henry II, Pope Urban’s call for the crusade and Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV, in each case the Catholic Church won over the European government.
During the events of the tension with Thomas Becket and Henry II, the ultimate victory was the Catholic Church. This was because of the townspeople who were still viewing Becket as an important figure in the church, and Henry’s act of penance which included him having to take away the Constitution of Clarendon. No matter how Thomas Becket got murdered, he was still murdered as an archbishop in the Catholic Church. Even in months and years past, nobles, townspeople, and clerks still respected him and considered him part of the church. This shows how even though some power was given to the crown, Henry especially. Henry had to perform an act of penance by walking through the cathedral allowing monks to to flog him. Henry is a the king and he still performed the act of penance which is embarrassing as the king, the cross gained enough power upon him where he felt it was right to embarrass himself in respect of Thomas