Interference with the course of justice
was not committed only by lords on behalf of their retainers; men
of humbler station were equally prone to help their friends in
court or to give assistance in return for payment. Rural juries
were intimidated by the old baronage and their armed retinues.
Juries in municipal courts were subverted by gangs of townsmen.
Justices of the Peace didn't enforce the laws. The agricultural
work of the nation had been adversely affected.
Henry made policy with the advice of his council and had
Parliament enact it into legislation. He dominated Parliament by
having selected most of its members. Many of his council were sons
of burgesses and had been trained in universities. He chose
competent and especially trusted men for his officers and
commanders of castles and garrison. The fact that only the king
had artillery deterred barons from revolting. Also, the baronial
forces were depleted due to civil War of the Roses. If Henry
thought a magnate was exercising his territorial power to the
King's detriment, he confronted him with an army and forced him to
bind his whole family in recognizances for large sums of money to
ensure future good conduct. Since the king had the authority to
interpret these pledges, they were a formidable check on any
activity which could be considered to be disloyal. The earl of
Kent, whose debts put him entirely at the King's mercy, was bound
to "be seen daily once in the day within the King's house".
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