ABSTRACT
The prince stood at the heart of developments in war, politics, government and their administration, each was conducted in his name and each was affected by means of his authority. The custom had been institutionalised and territorialised which, if true, was a remarkable feat of administrative and governmental engineering. A descriptive term that recurs regularly in contemporary texts, the importance of the leading men is such that they probably had a significant impact on princely government and in the development of that government. The law, both native and borrowings from Angevin and later ‘English’ law, was taken in hand and fashioned to the needs of the princes thereby becoming an indispensable tool of government. Princely patronage represented a significant element in the church. Much of its wealth in land and privileges in law were as a result of munificent endowments and generous exemptions by kings and princes.
