SECTION II
THE EXECUTIVE
rTfHE courts of law dealt with criminal charges and civil
A actions, and Parliament came finally to be the main
source of general legislation: of both courts and Parlia-
ment the king was a vital part, and their acts were expres-
sions of his authority. But outside of them there was a
large and not clearly defined sphere of action for the king—
for the king acting through his Council or some more
special organ of administration or some official. And
as an increasingly professionalised bench or an aristo-
cratic element in Parliament might more or less conscious-
ly contest the ground with the king for the substance of
power, so in this third sphere he had to meet a distinctly
baronial advance. This sphere is usually referred to
rather vaguely as the executive or administrative side of
government. These terms mean something in modern
political life and they probably mean something for the
period with which we are dealing. But, wrote Maitland,
they
suggest that the work in question consists merely In executing
or administering the law, in putting the laws In force. But in
truth a great deal remains to be done beyond putting the
laws In force—no nation can be governed entirely by general
rules. We can see this very plainly in our own day—but it is
quite as true of the middle ages:—there must be rulers or
officers who have discretionary coercive powers, power to do or
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