medieval problems

     In medieval times, a king might have a problem with a noble subject. The noble subject--a duke, count or earl, for example--had access to travel, and perhaps a relationship with another royal house or government. This was particularly true in England, where many of the nobles had relatives among the French nobility. If the British king attempted to chastise a British noble, the noble might appeal to the French king, in hopes that he could exert pressure and the dispute would be settled in favor of the British noble, instead of the British king. It became such a problem that Britain passed a statute  ( law ) expressly forbidding this type of  appeal to a foreign power--the "Statute of  Praemunire". Subjects of the king of England were forbidden to bypass British courts to appeal to a foreign power, including the pope at Rome. England took the first step toward being a truly sovereign nation, instead of a nation ruled by a king who was actually a vassal of the pope.