Another interesting characteristic of these ecclesiastical lands was that they invariably bordered on royal property. This close proximity of ecclesiastical estates to royal was to be found everywhere in Poland in the sixteenth century. This fact showed clearly that the ecclesiastical estates owed their existence to royal grants; that they had been carved out of the royal domain, and of the best portions of it.[318] For wherever the ecclesiastical estates were large and numerous, there existed also a corresponding diminution of royal property. In Great Poland, Mazovia, and in Little Poland the ecclesiastical property was twice as large as the royal. In the Palatinate of Łęczyce, where the church owned 22 per cent. of the land cultivated by peasants, the king owned only 9 per cent. In the Palatinate of Płock, where the bishop of Płock owned 71 villages, the king had only 12 villages.[319] In the Palatinate of Cracow the church owned 440-450 landed estates, while the king owned only about 240 to 250 estates in that rich and easily accessible section.[320] In the light of these facts it is not to be wondered at that the royal treasury found itself in the sixteenth century constantly embarrassed; that the szlachta demanded “egzekucji praw,” that is, the return of royal property illegally acquired; and that it was exceedingly jealous of the privileged position of the clergy and envious of its wealth. In this connection it is well to note that a similar proximity to royal lands characterized also the large estates of the secular aristocracy. In fact, the three groups of lands went invariably together. The natural inference, therefore, is that the estates of the secular aristocracy, as the estates of the clergy, were carved out of the royal domain. That this was actually the case there seems to be no doubt. This further explains the jealousy of the secular aristocracy of the clergy. It was a question of which class would be more successful in courting the favor of the king, and as a result of it could secure additional grants of royal land. And since the estates of the church already were disproportionately large, the magnates naturally kept a jealously watchful eye on the clergy.