Scattering landholdings across shires prevented vassals from consolidating power

Evidence

The Anglo-Norman kings saw to it that the manors of the feudal lords were in as widely scattered locations as possible; some of the most powerful vassals had their seats in from seventeen to twenty-one different shires each. Because of this principle of local distribution, the dominions of the crown vassals could not consolidate themselves into great sovereign courts as they could on the continent. — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 4614

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the theme of spatial dispersal as a control mechanism—echoes the ‘divide’ tactics in the Milgrom law-merchant reading about third-party institutions substituting for direct supervision.