What judicial practice, introduced under Henry II, helped extend royal authority across England?

• A. Traveling judges
• B. Writs
• C. Parliaments
• D. Juries

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how centralized royal power was spread through the justice system. Henry II sent traveling judges, or itinerant justices, around the kingdom to hear cases and enforce the king’s law wherever people lived. This circuit system meant royal courts could extend uniform legal rules across England, reduce the influence of powerful local lords in dispensing justice, and establish the common law as the standard everywhere. In effect, the king’s authority was projected outward through these regular, on‑the‑ground judicial visits, making royal justice the norm across the realm.

Writs are royal orders that initiate cases and direct how the law should be applied, but they’re tools within this system, not the mechanism that extended royal authority itself. Parliaments are a separate council for advice and taxation, not the primary method of broad judicial reach. Juries are local fact‑finders, not the instrument by which the crown centralized control of justice across the realm.