Papers on aspects of the growth of royal government during the century.The size and jurisdiction of English royal government underwent sustained development in the thirteenth century, an understanding of which is crucial to a balanced view of medieval English society. The papers here follow three central themes: the development of central government, law and justice, and the crown and the localities. Examined within this framework are bureaucracy and enrolment under John and his contemporaries; the Royal Chancery; the adaptation of the Exchequer in response to the rapidly changing demands of the crown; the introduction of a licensing system for mortmain alienations; the administration of local justice; women as sheriffs; and a Nottinghamshire study examining the tensions between the role of the king as manorial lord and as monarch. Contributors: NICK BARRATT, PAUL R. BRAND, DAVID CARPENTER, DAVID CROOK, ANTHONY MUSSON, NICHOLAS C. VINCENT, LOUISE WILKINSON

Why 1199? Bureaucracy and Enrolment under John and his Contemporaries - Nicholas C. VincentThe English Royal Chancery in the Thirteenth Century - David CarpenterFinance on a shoestring: The Exchequer in the Thirteenth Century - Nick BarrattThe Local Administration of Justice: A reappraisal of the 'Four Knights' System - Anthony MussonThe Mortmain Licensing System, 1280-1307 - Paul A BrandWomen as Sheriffs in Early Thirteenth Century England - Louise J. WilkinsonKing and Lord: The Monarch and his demesne tenants in central Nottinghamshire, 1163-1363 - David Crook