‘He never began a new campaign without forming alliances that might support him at each step’, says Philip’s modern biographer; and these allies were often the sub-tenants of large feudal estates to whom in the days of peace he had given his support against the claims of their feudal overlords. Sometimes he had merely used his influence as a mediator, at others he had granted privileges to the tenants, or else he had called the case in dispute before his own royal court for judgement. By one means or another, at any rate, he had made the lesser tenants feel that he was their friend, so that when he went out to battle they would flock eagerly to his banner, sometimes in defiance of their overlord. One danger to the crown lay, not in the actual feudal baronage, but in the _prévôts_, officials appointed by the king with power to exact taxes, administer the laws, and judge offenders in his name in the provinces. When the monarchy was weak these _prévôts_, from lack of control, developed into petty tyrants, and it was fortunate for Philip that their encroachments were resented by both nobles and clergy, so that a system of reform that reduced them again to a subordinate position was everywhere welcomed. Gradually a link was established between local administration and the king’s council, namely, officials called in the north of France _baillis_, in the south _sénéchals_, whose duty was to keep a watch over the _prévôt_ and to depose or report him if necessary. The _prévôt_ was still to collect the royal revenues as of old, but the _bailli_ would take care that he did not cheat the king, and would forward the money that he received to the central government: he would also hold assizes and from time to time visit Paris, where he would give an account of local conditions and how he had dealt with them. In these reforms, as in those of Henry II of England, a process that was gradually changing the face of Europe can be seen at work, first the crumbling of feudal machinery too clumsy to keep pace with the needs and demands of dawning civilization, and next its replacement by an official class, educated in the intricacies of finance, justice, and administration, and dependent not on the baronage but on the monarchy for its inspiration and success.