The Machinery of Rule: The Rise of Administrative Capacity in Medieval England

Generations of scholarship have traced the origins of the modern state back to the late medieval period in Europe. In recent years, social scientists have gathered data on diverse aspects of state-formation in medieval Europe. However, there are currently no measures of administrative capacity, widely regarded as the cornerstone of state capacity. In this article, we compile a comprehensive dataset on administrative capacity in medieval England, drawn from the so-called Chancery Rolls, a detailed collection of administrative records. Our dataset comprises over 300,000 administrative instructions issued by the crown to royal officials across the English kingdom, covering the period from 1216 to 1516. We show an increasing trend in administrative instructions over centuries, identify the specific areas that experienced heightened administrative activity, detail the officials who received these directives, and provide insights into the types of administrative instructions issued. Additionally, we highlight the administration's efficiency through the average delivery time of royal instructions and trace its personnel development from churchmen to secular professionals. Our dataset reveals that the English medieval administration was far more sophisticated than suggested by previous social science work, exhibiting a remarkable level of complexity and efficiency that helped lay the foundation for modern state structures.