A new organization of justice and finance bound the kingdom more tightly together in Henry's grasp.

The Clerks of the Royal Chapel were formed into a body of secretaries or royal ministers, whose head bore the title of Chancellor.

Above them stood the Justiciar, or Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, who in the frequent absence of the king acted as Regent of the realm, and whose staff, selected from the barons connected with the royal household, were formed into a Supreme Court of the realm.

The King's Court, as this was called, permanently represented the whole court of royal vassals which had hitherto been summoned thrice in the year.

As the royal council, it revised and registered laws, and its "counsel and consent," though merely formal, preserved the principle of the older popular legislation.