archbishops, bishops, and abbots; that is, of all the great
landholders holding directly from the Crown. The Great Council
usually met three times a year,--at Christmas, Easter, and
Whitsuntide. All laws were held to be made by the King, acting with
the advice and consent of this Council,--which in the next century
first came to be known as Parliament (1246, 1265, 1295),--but
practically the King alone often enacted such laws as he saw fit
(SS213, 217).

When a new sovereign came to the throne, it was with the consent or by
the election of the Great Council, but their choice was generally
limited to some one of the late King's sons, and unless therer was
good reason for making a different selection, the oldest was chosen.
Finally the right of imposing taxes rested, theoretically at least, in
the King and Council, but, in fact, the King himself frequently levied
them. This action of the King was a cause of constant irritation and
of frequent insurrection.

145. The Private or King's Council.

There was also a second and permanent council, called the King's
Council. The three leading officers of this were: first, the Chief
Justice, who superintended the execution of the laws, represented the
King, and ruled for him during his absence from the country; secondly,
the Lord Chancellor (so called from cancelli, the screen behind which
he sat with his clerks), who acted as the King's adviser and
confidential secretary, and as keeper of the Great Seal, with which he
stamped all important papers;[1] thirdly, the Lord High Treasurer, who
took charge of the King's revenue, received all moneys due the Crown,
and kept the King's treasure in the vaults at Winchester or