CURIA REGIS
Curia regis: translation
Lit. 'the king's court'. The successor of the AS *witan, this court saw the meetings of the king's tenants-in-chief, i.e. the *baronage and the Church. William I, the Conqueror, held this court three times a year, at Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide. The curia regis was the forerunner of what we would recognise as the court in all the splendour and magnificence at the king's disposal. It became the centre of government and the gathering place of the country's magnates. From it evolved the various departments which were established and maintained as need arose. -
Cf. Constitutio Domus Regis; Common Pleas, Court of; Coram rege