The kings of France traditionally always sought the advice of their entourage (vassals, clerics, etc.) before making important decisions. In the early Middle Ages, the entourage around the king was sometimes called the "familia"; later the expression "hôtel du roi" or the "maison du roi" (the "royal household") was used for people attached directly to the person of the king, while (in the 12th century), those who were called upon to counsel the king in his administration of the realm took the form of a specific (and separate) institution called the King's Court (Latin: the "Curia Regis", later the "Conseil du Roi")), although by the middle of the 13th century distinctions between "hôtel du roi" and "curia regis" were less clear.