ABSTRACT
The rudimentary formal structures of government were supplemented by more informal structures and mechanisms. Often these involved the exchange of favours, courtesies and rewards. The difficulty of securing favour owed much to the fact that the demand for rewards far outstripped the supply. The seeking and giving of rewards was an essential feature of what one might call a culture of reciprocity. The source of rewards was the king's court. There was an element of personal favour. Charles's mistresses and illegitimate children, together with close friends enjoyed more than their fair share of his bounty. Royalists who had suffered heavy losses felt that they had a claim on the king's gratitude, but many were reluctant to ask. The failure to establish by patent a system for licensing pedlars in part reflected the practical problems of regulating such mobile and solitary people, who clearly met an economic need.
