Modern leaders can draw on thousands of years of recorded experience, while a thirteenth-century official had access to a much narrower body of material. De Leybourne probably could read and had practical maritime and logistical experience, but he could not consult later theorists of sea power, leadership, or logistics. His family had suffered contractual problems linked to his father's inability to read, which may have given him a strong reason to master written administration. He had to turn experience into an institution while performing the job itself. The office was bestowed rather than inherited by blood, allowing it to continue as an instrument of royal administration.
Notable Point · 9:13-12:04
Building a naval office without doctrine or precedent
De Leybourne had to learn naval administration by doing it, without the accumulated doctrine, professional literature, or inherited staff system available to later leaders.