PREFACE
A TEXT in English constitutional history which
•** is neither antiquated nor obscure has long been
needed. It has been the author's ambition to meet
this need. In preparing the present book, he has made
three main assumptions: that a college text in history
should be brief, and designed for the accompaniment
of much collateral reading; that it is impossible in the
medieval period, with which this volume is concerned,
to combine the narrative of English history and an
account of the making of the constitution; and that to
follow rigidly either the chronological or topical arrange-
ment in a constitutional history of England does violence
to the nature of the subject. It has been taken for
granted that the student will use some good text to
acquaint himself thoroughly with the general history of
a period before attempting to study its institutions;
and, in the matter of arrangement, it has been the aim
to show the general evolution of the English government
as a whole, without, at the same time, artificially divid-
ing the great topics into reigns or other time units. A
constant compromise between the demands of chronol-
ogy and the desire for continuity in the treatment of the
theme in hand has been found necessary.
The emphasis throughout has been upon evolution
rather than upon description. The purpose has been
to furnish a logically satisfying account of the genesis
of each institution as far as present knowledge permits—
to show exactly how it has become what it is. This has
made it necessary to hold steadfastly to a given line of
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