What is “benefit of clergy” in medieval English law?

The story behind the answer

In medieval England, benefit of clergy shifted criminal defendants who qualified as clerics from the king’s courts to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, where canon law and typically lighter penalties applied. It upheld the Church’s claim to judge its own members, keeping them outside lay punishments such as execution.

Originally reserved for ordained men who could prove status by reading, it soon morphed into a literacy test—the famed “neck verse” (Psalm 51)—letting many literate laymen avoid the gallows. To curb abuse, offenders were branded to prevent repeat claims, and Tudor statutes barred it for serious felonies. It was distinct from sanctuary, which offered temporary refuge, not a different court.