Editing Henry I of England (section)

=== Government, law and court ===
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{{Further|Government in Norman and Angevin England}}

Henry inherited the kingdom of England from William Rufus, giving him a claim of [[suzerainty]] over [[Wales]] and [[Scotland]], and acquired the [[Duchy of Normandy]], a complex entity with troubled borders.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=224–225}}</ref> The borders between England and Scotland were still uncertain during Henry's reign, with Anglo-Norman influence pushing northwards through [[Cumbria]], but his relationship with King [[David I of Scotland]] was generally good, partially due to Henry's marriage to his sister.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=226–227}}; {{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=126}}</ref> In Wales, Henry used his power to coerce and charm the indigenous Welsh princes, while Norman [[Marcher Lord]]s pushed across the valleys of [[South Wales]].<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=226}}; {{harvnb|Davies|1990|pp=11–12, 48–49}}</ref> Normandy was controlled via interlocking networks of ducal, ecclesiastical and family contacts, backed by a growing string of important ducal castles along the borders.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=98, 105}}</ref> Alliances and relationships with neighbouring counties along the Norman border were particularly important to maintaining the stability of the Duchy.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=228}}</ref>

Henry ruled through the barons and lords in England and Normandy, whom he manipulated skilfully for political effect.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=232–233}}</ref> Political friendships, termed ''amicitia'' in Latin, were important during the 12th century, and Henry maintained a wide range of these, mediating between his friends in factions across his realm when necessary, and rewarding those who were loyal to him.<ref>{{harvnb|Mayr-Harting|2011|pp=47–48}}; {{harvnb|Green|2009|p=231}}</ref> He also had a reputation for punishing those barons who stood against him, and he maintained an effective network of informers and spies who reported to him on events.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=232–233}}; {{harvnb|Crouch|1986|p=17}}</ref> Henry was a harsh, firm ruler, but not excessively so by the standards of the day.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=314}}; {{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=332, 334}}</ref> Over time, he increased the degree of his control over the barons, removing his enemies and bolstering his friends until the "reconstructed baronage", as historian Warren Hollister describes it, was predominantly loyal and dependent on the King.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=329, 324–347}}</ref>

Henry's itinerant royal court comprised several parts.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=285–286}}; {{harvnb|Mayr-Harting|2011|p=69}}</ref> At the heart was his domestic household, called the ''domus''; a wider grouping was termed the ''[[familia regis]]'', and formal gatherings of the court were termed ''[[Curia regis|curia]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=285–286}}</ref> The ''domus'' was divided into several parts. The chapel, headed by the chancellor, looked after the royal documents, the chamber dealt with financial affairs and the master-marshal was responsible for travel and accommodation.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=286–287}}</ref> The ''familia regis'' included Henry's mounted household troops, up to several hundred strong, who came from a wider range of social backgrounds, and could be deployed across England and Normandy as required.<ref>{{harvnb|Chibnall|1992|pp=86–89}}; {{harvnb|Prestwich|1992|pp=102–103, 118}}</ref> Initially Henry continued his father's practice of regular crown-wearing ceremonies at his ''curia'', but they became less frequent as the years passed.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=289–290}}</ref> Henry's court was grand and ostentatious, financing the construction of large new buildings and castles with a range of precious gifts on display, including his private menagerie of exotic animals, which he kept at [[Woodstock Palace]].<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=294–295, 304–305}}</ref> Despite being a lively community, Henry's court was more tightly controlled than those of previous kings.<ref name=Hollister2003PP330>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=330–331}}</ref> Strict rules controlled personal behaviour and prohibited members of the court from pillaging neighbouring villages, as had been the norm under William Rufus.<ref name=Hollister2003PP330/>

Henry was responsible for a substantial expansion of the royal justice system.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=350}}</ref>{{refn|Geoffrey of Monmouth memorably likened Henry to the "Lion of Justice" in his ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'', in a section in which he recounts the prophecies of [[Merlin]]. Despite Henry not being named in the document itself, historians are broadly agreed that Geoffrey intended to refer to him, but there are differing interpretations of the simile itself. Judith Green, for example, argues that the description was a positive one; Alan Cooper is far more cautious, noting that, in this period, lions were considered to be strong but also brutal and cruel, and that the surrounding context in the section is certainly not flattering about its subject.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=239}}; {{harvnb|Cooper|2001|pp=47–51}}</ref>|group=nb}} In England, Henry drew on the existing [[Anglo-Saxon law|Anglo-Saxon system]] of justice, local government and [[Taxation in medieval England#Anglo-Saxon England (597–1066)|taxes]], but strengthened it with more central governmental institutions.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=351, 356}}</ref> Roger of Salisbury began to develop the royal exchequer after 1110, using it to collect and audit revenues from the King's sheriffs in the shires.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=356–357}}</ref> Itinerant justices began to emerge under Henry, travelling around the country managing [[Eyre (legal term)|eyre courts]], and many more laws were formally recorded.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=358–359}}; {{harvnb|Green|2009|p=319}}; {{harvnb|Newman|1988|p=24}}</ref> Henry gathered increasing revenue from the expansion of royal justice, both from fines and from fees.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=358}}</ref> The first [[Pipe Roll]] that is known to have survived dates from 1130, recording royal expenditures.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=356}}</ref> Henry reformed the coinage in 1107, 1108 and in 1125, inflicting harsh corporal punishments to English coiners who had been found guilty of debasing the currency.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=354}}</ref>{{refn|In 1124, Henry received reports from his soldiers that they had been paid in substandard English silver pennies. He instructed Roger of Salisbury to investigate, and ordered that any coiners found guilty were to have their right hands and genitals chopped off. The sentence was carried out at Salisbury by the Bishop. Contemporary chroniclers approved of Henry's firm action.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=188–189}}</ref>|group=nb}} In Normandy, he restored law and order after 1106, operating through a body of Norman justices and an exchequer system similar to that in England.<ref>{{harvnb|Haskins|1918|pp=86, 93, 105–106}}</ref> Norman institutions grew in scale and scope under Henry, although less quickly than in England.<ref>{{harvnb|Newman|1988|p=20}}</ref> Many of the officials that ran Henry's system were termed "new men", relatively low-born individuals who rose through the ranks as administrators, managing justice or the royal revenues.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=242–243}}</ref>{{refn|Historian David Crouch has noted that many of Henry's key advisers and officials later regretted their actions on behalf of the King, observing that "life at King Henry's court tended to put a burden on the consciences of its inmates".<ref>{{harvnb|Crouch|1986|p=3}}</ref>|group=nb}}