Anglo-Saxon and Norman kings travelled around their kingdoms meeting their counsellors, issuing laws, collecting royal revenue and dispensing justice wherever they were.
As government became more complex a central base was needed, and gradually the palace founded by Edward the Confessor at Westminster took on this role. During the 1300s the chief law courts and government offices such as the Exchequer (the royal treasury) began to settle in Westminster.
Parliament first met in Westminster in 1295 and, although it occasionally met in other towns, Westminster became its normal meeting place.
