Such statements extolling the advantages of the written record are quite commonly found in the proems of Anglo-Saxon charters, from the seventh century to the eleventh; nor should the fact occasion any surprise, for it is only to be expected that those responsible for drafting and writing the charters themselves would wish to advertize the benefits of their own labours. It is a different matter, however, whether this appreciation of the value of the written word extended into any of the other routine procedures of Anglo-Saxon royal government: one might ask, for example, whether written documents had a part to play in the formulation and publication of royal law, and more generally in the operation of legal processes; or whether kings came to depend to some extent on written documents for conveying messages and instructions to others, including their officials in the localities; or whether information was transmitted from one official to another, or from any official back to the king, by the same means; or whether use was made of the written word in such matters as the assessment and collection of taxes, the performance of military services and the administration of royal estates. In addressing some of these questions it might be useful to glance initially across the Channel, before proceeding to survey the evidence which bears more directly on the use made of the written word in late Anglo-Saxon royal government.