In every human relationship there is a tension, or perhaps better say a dynamic, between what is and what is desired by the parties involved, and in this the relations between medieval kings and the upper nobility were no different. When these factors coincided, the relationship tended to work well; when they did not, it could break down. To understand how this relationship played out between medieval English kings and their nobilities, we first need to understand how the structure of that relationship evolved. We can then examine how it manifested itself in areas such as the king’s role in maintaining the nobility, in service and cooperation between kings and his nobles, the interplay of ideas of wealth and power, favouritism, political instability and in some cases the removal of monarchs.

This section attempts to demonstrate the kind of administrative and legal documents that someone might encounter, or indeed be recorded in, during the course of his life. Here the example of Roger of Montbegon, one of the barons who was appointed to enforce the Magna Carta, is chosen to show how his marriage and his privileges and the estates he owned all over the country led to his name being recorded in a wide variety of different documents. This example should help those studying the period to see what documents need to be consulted to follow the biographical trajectory of individuals of the period.