“Equal Justice” present in the medieval court system of London

There is a central paradox in medieval English history evident in the contradictory conclusions drawn by historians of legal institutions and by historians of crime. While the sophistication of the common law administered through the royal courts is undeniable, the records those institutions produced show a society of violent disorder. Why was this centralized legal system, one based on the Crown's authority and operated by the governing estates, unable to maintain the peace? Legal treatises speak of the king's obligation to ensure justice for his subjects, and of the necessary participation of ...