Writing in 1935, Barraclough observed, ‘Like all bureaucracies, the centralized Church of the fourteenth century was built up on rules and regulations; its strength as well as its weakness was system; its life-breath was order and method.’ The historian who seeks to examine the impact of papal policies in particular localities comes to realise the implications of the powerful force exercised by the curial bureaucracy. Under the Avignon popes, at least at levels below those of political ambition and high diplomacy, it was the system itself which held sway. Those who wished to avail themselves of its opportunities had to play by its rules; those who abided by the rules could expect at least a fair hearing and a fair chance of success.

In its broad outline, the system was universal. But its application was not. What the Papacy could do was partly influenced by political considerations, for the executive actions of the curia and its agents could be performed only with the consent of the secular authorities. The power of the English crown was sufficient to deter the popes from levying regular tenths, as too great a proportion of the proceeds went to the king as the price for the levy. In 1366 Edward III was strong enough to reject, once and for all, the demand for the arrears of the tribute. Intercalary fruits were collected only rarely in England after 1342.