The constable organized the
bodyguard and escorts, arranged for the supply of castles, and
mustered the royal army. The offices of steward, constable,
chamberlain, butler were becoming confined to the household and
hereditary. The Justiciar, Chancellor, and Treasurer are becoming
purely state offices and are simply sold or rented, until public
pressure resulted in a requirement of ability.
Henry's council included all his tenants-in-chief, which included
archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, knights and
socage tenants of the crown, whether they made payments directly
to him or through a sheriff. The higher ones were served with a
writ addressed to them personally. Knights and below were summoned
by a general writ to the sheriff.
Henry brought order and unity by making the King's Royal Court the
common court of the land. Its purpose was to guard the King's
peace by protecting all people of free status throughout the
nation and correct the disparity in punishments given by local
courts. Heretofore, the scope of the King's peace had varied to
cover as little as the King's presence, his land, and his highway.
The royal demesne had shrunk to about 5% of the land. The Common
Law for all the nation was established by example of the King's
Royal Court. Henry erected a basic, rational framework for legal
processes which drew from tradition but lent itself to continuous
expansion and adaptation.
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