Henry II's forest law and royal jurisdiction

Henry can compensate a ship's captain, an injured vassal, or a peasant harmed by a royal hunt while still enforcing exceptionally cruel forest laws. Those laws exclude local people from hunting, gathering fuel, and pasturing pigs in areas they had previously used. Here, a forest is defined by being outside ordinary jurisdiction rather than by tree cover, and some royal forests contain little woodland. The laws of vert protect the green grazing, while the laws of venison reserve animals for royal hunting. The distinction shows how royal privilege controlled land, fuel, pasture, and food as well as the chase itself.