ABSTRACT
A. THE KING ANY treatment of this subject that is to be in proper perspective must begin with the king; for it was agreed by all that it was the king’s right and duty to govern. Failure to govern efficiently was one of the grounds for the deposition of Edward II and Henry VI; and even when the king was subject to coercion in revolutionary situations, like those of 1311 or 1388, his opponents claimed, and may have believed, that they were merely getting rid of evil counsellors and officials, and making provision so that the king could in future govern better. Englishmen of this period would have heartily agreed with the dictum of St Isidore of Seville, “Reges a regendo vocati sunt”; rulers are so called because they rule-kings are so named because they govern.
