INTRODUCTION -- Over the two centuries which separate the Norman Conquest from the accession of Edward I, the English realm developed two characteristics which chiefly distinguished it from the other polities in western Europe: a monarchy which enjoyed a high degree of authority throughout the realm and exercised that authority through institutions which were in general amenable and subordinate to the royal will; and a higher nobility which, unlike their French counterparts, did not so much aspre to a regional particularization but rather sought to exercise political influence directly over the king and his chief officers and ministers.