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The Boke of Brut, attributed to Thomas Castleford and completed soon after 1327, was handed down in the form of a single fifteenth-century manuscript. It is in the long and flourishing Brut tradition, but has its own specific characteristics. One of the most interesting is its insistence on the idea of the law. This long text of 39,439 verses defines a good king, his political power, and the forms his action should take. It outlines what concerns he should have at all times – specifically the common good – and underscores the indispensable collaboration between royal and sacerdotal power. Castleford also concerns himself with the Breton/English people (the question of national identity features prominently in the chronicle), who are supposed to find peace and prosperity within their vast territory. This can be assured by each person respecting his position, observing the law and its rules and ensuring that one’s own rights as well as those of others prevail. In the view of Thomas Castleford, unity and a single authority were essential to avoid chaos. They justified a call for a nationalistic crusade, with Castleford taking up the idea of a just war, which several theologians had helped to define. “Faith, Law, Country”: this, it seems, was Castleford’s credo throughout the chronicle.