Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England c.500-1066

This book is a study of the exercise of royal authority before the Norman Conquest.

Six centuries separate the 'adventus Saxonum' from the battle of Hastings: during those long years, the English kings changed from warlords, who exacted submission by force, into law-givers to whom obedience was a moral duty.

In the process, they created many of the administrative institutes which continued to serve their successors.

They also created England: the united kingdom of the English people.