‘John was the true son of the king who devised writs to bring business to the royal

court of justice, who watched over the Exchequer, and supervised the justice his judges

administered in the shires…. Like his father, John kept watch on the Exchequer officials,

sometimes sitting at the Exchequer board, sometimes ordering special inquests

[investigations] into moneys owed to the Crown. No king has ever known England

better than John, for no king has ever been so continuously moving up and down its

roads’.