Henry erected a basic, rational framework for legal processes which drew from tradition but lent itself to continuous expansion and adaptation. The Royal Court was chiefly concerned with 1) the due regulation and supervision of the conduct of local government, 2) the ownership and possession of land held by free tenure, 3) the repression of serious crime, and 4) the relations between the lay and the ecclesiastical courts. The doctrine of tenure applied universally to the land law formed the basis for judicial procedure in determining land rights. Those who held lands "in fee" from the King in turn subinfeudated their land to men of lesser rank. The concept of tenure covered the earl, the knight (knight's service), the church (frank-almoin [free alms]), the tenant who performed labor services, and the tenant who paid a rent (socage). Other tenures were: serjeanty [providing an implement of war or performing a nonmilitary office] and burgage. All hold the land of some lord and ultimately of the King. Henry was determined to protect lawful seisin of land and issued assizes [legal promulgations] giving the Royal Court authority to decide land law issues which had not been given justice in the shire or lord's court. These included issues of disseisin [ejectment] of a person's free tenement or of his common of pasture which belonged to his freehold. The writ praecipe directed the sheriff to order the overlord of any land seized to restore it immediately or answer for his failure in the royal court. Though this petty assize of disseisin only provided a swift preliminary action to protect possession pending the lengthy and involved action [grand assize] on the issue of which party had the more just claim or ultimate right of seisin, the latter action was only infrequently invoked. The temptation of a strong man to seize a neighbor's land to reap its profits for a long time until the neighbor could prove and enforce his right was deterred. Any such claim of recent dispossession [novel disseisin] had to be made within three years of the disseisin. An assize [now a judicial body] of recognition viewed the land in question and answered these questions of fact: 1) Was the plaintiff disseised of the freeholdin question, unjustly and without judgment? 2) Did the defendant commit the disseisin? Testimony of a warrantor (or an attorney sent by him in his place) or a charter of warranty served to prove seisin by gift, sale, or exchange. No pleadings were necessary and the action could proceed and judgment given even without the presence of the defendant. The justices amerced the losing party with a monetary penalty. A successful plaintiff might be awarded damages to compensate for the loss of revenue. Eventually royal justices acquired authority to decide the ultimate question of right to land using the grand assize and the alternative of an assize instead of the traditional procedures which ended in trial by battle.