ANTIQUITIE
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EXCHEQUE
HUBERT AL
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ARTES
LIBRARY
1817
VERITAS
SCIENTIA
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
PLURIBUS UNUM
TUEBOR
SI-QUÆRIS-PENINSULAM AMŒNAM
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The Camden Library.
EDITED BY
G. LAURENCE GOMME, F.S.A.
AND
T. FAIRMAN ORDISH, F S.A.


T
The Chest
in which
Domesday Book
was hipt
DOMESDAY CHEST.
•
'One of these chests still survives, being, it is believed, that which used to
contain some portion of the regalia together with Domesday Book. This
chest was undoubtedly one of the receptacles of the old Treasury in the Abbey,
whence it was removed to the Public Record Office about the year 1857.'—
Page 50.
THE CAMDEN LIBRARY.
THE ANTIQUITIES
And Curiosities
OF THE EXCHEQUER.
BY
HUBERT HALL, F.S.A.,
Of H.M. Public Record Office, Author of 'A History of the Customs
Revenue,' 'Society in the Elizabethan Age,' etc.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY RALPH NEVILL, F.S.A.
AND PREFACE
BY THE
RT. HON. SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, BART., F.R.S., F.S.A.
LONDON:
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1891.
...

© 12-12-336K
+
Replace.
Harding
12-11-33
28385
PREFACE.
MR.
R. GOMME proposes, in conjunction with
Mr. Ordish, to issue a series of volumes
in illustration of Ancient English History, suited
to the ordinary reader as well as to the professed
antiquary, and he has asked me to write a short
preface.
I do not know why I should have been selected,
for, although I have no doubt taken a great
interest in archæology, it has rather been that of
pre-historic times. Perhaps, however, it is partly
because my friend, Mr. Gomme, knows that I
should wish to do anything he asks me, and partly
because I have been for many years a member, and
was for some time chairman, of the Public Accounts
Committee, and may therefore be supposed to
know something of the subject dealt with in the
first volume.
This, which is by Mr. Hubert Hall, of the
Public Record Office, is devoted to the 'Antiqui-
I
viii
Preface.
J
ties and Curiosities of the Exchequer.' It will be
followed by others on Old London Theatres,
English Homes in the Past, Camden's Britannia,
Monastic Arrangement, English Armour, Folk-
Lore, Church Plate, Manners and Customs of the
English People, Parochial Church-Life in Medieval
England, the Streams of London, Miniature Por-
trait-painting in England, etc.
The subjects chosen deal with the real history of
the nation, which, as is now generally recognised,
consists less of the struggles of war than of the
events of peace.
The records of the ancient treasury of the
kings of England are not only interesting to
the Financier, but are enlivened by some quaint
yet instructive stories.
<
For instance, a vivid idea of the primitive
British treasury is given by the legend of The
Thief and the Treasury,' of Edward the Confessor.
The national treasure, it appears, at that time was
kept in the royal bedroom. One evening, after the
king had gone to rest, the anxieties of state kept
him awake. Hugo, the chamberlain, comes into
the room, takes some money out of the chest, but
forgets to lock it up.
of the kitchen, in the
the royal bedchamber, sees that the treasury is
open, and, thinking the king was asleep, seizes
as much money as he can carry off. He comes
Shortly after, the scullion
course of his duties,' enters
Preface.
ix
back a second and even a third time, but then the
king heard Hugo, and warned the thief:
Fly, fellow, for well I know
That Hugo the Chamberlain is coming;
By the Mother of God, assuredly
He will not leave you even a halfpenny.'
Scarcely less curious is the story of the great
robbery in the reign of Edward I. by Podelicote
and the monks of Westminster, who became so
reckless that people passing the gates of the
Abbey actually picked up silver cups and dishes,
gold ornaments and precious stones, and the very
fishermen of Battersea brought up silver plate in
their nets.
The royal treasure consisted in those times to a
considerable extent in plate and precious stones,
which in the then state of the coinage could be
used in emergencies almost as easily as money.
Richard II. pawned the great crown to the City
of London for £4,000.
C
Mr. Hall gives an interesting account of the
famous exchequer table and the curious manner in
which the accounts were kept. If the proceedings
appear to us absurdly archaic, we must remember
that the wooden tallies,' on which a large notch
represented a thousand pounds, and smaller notches
other sums, while a halfpenny was denoted by a
small round hole, were actually in use at the
Exchequer until the year 1824.
X
Preface.
<
I have in my own possession a 'tally' represent-
ing a sum of £24,000, advanced to the Crown by
the East India Company.
I must not, however, enter into details, but if
the succeeding volumes are as well done as that by
Mr. Hall, the series will be both valuable and
interesting.
HIGH ELMS, Down, Kent,
July, 1891.
JOHN LUBBOCK.


AWA
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
ΤΗ
'HE Exchequer is in some respects the most
characteristic of all our national institutions.
It is certainly the stock from which the several
branches of the administration originally sprang,
and the same motive for its existence, namely, the
methodical collection and disbursement of money,
will probably be found to underlie the commercial
greatness of this country. Just as the Exchequer
was the earliest and greatest counting-house in the
kingdom, and the undoubted model of all financial
operations, baronial or municipal, so still more in
the exercise of its control of trade, in the regula-
tion of weights and measures, and, above all, in the
maintenance of an unrivalled standard of coinage,
it has contributed in an almost immeasurable
degree towards the making of England. -
It would probably surprise many people to
learn that the Treasury Board and the Bank of
England are the modern representatives of the
xii
Preface.
ancient Exchequer, the one representing the former
department of the lord high treasurer, whose hard-
worked deputy, with the successive titles of clerk,
under-treasurer, and secretary to the treasury, is
now one of the most responsible and indispensable
of all the permanent officers of the state; the
other as representing the clerical functions of the
Receipt and scriptorium, under the supervision of
the chamberlains and marshal. It is true that the
legal department of the Exchequer survives in the
title of a solitary Baron and of a Queen's Rémem-
brancer, who is also reputed the last of his race,
but with the extinction of these two offices of
state, few indeed will remain with an antiquity
earlier than the reign of Edward I., and of these
one is that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Enough has been said here to indicate the im-
portance and interest which attach to the Exchequer
as a national institution. It is in the hope of
drawing attention to the quaint surroundings and
mystical practice of this ancient court that the fol-
lowing pages have been written. This, it is need-
less to say, has no pretence to be an exhaustive
treatise on the subject of medieval finance or
legal antiquities. The history of the Exchequer
in this aspect has been already written with greater
show of learning than that bestowed on any single
institution of this or any other country, but at the
same time without being in the least degree intelli-
Preface.
xiii
gible to other than equally learned readers. It
has been attempted here to bring together a number
of original theories, announced at various times
by the author, for the purpose of a reconstruction
of the ancient Exchequer, its treasury and house,
with their chests and rolls and tallies; its chess-
board and game of counters wherein the annual
Budget was figured by rude and visible symbols;
its working staff, and all the chief appurtenances
of its mediæval existence. This account may not
be very complete nor its method very enlightened,
but at least it was urgently needed to remove the
long-standing reproach of a public ignorance of
an institution which was before Parliaments, and
which will endure after monarchy.
Suppleat igitur defectum meum quicunque voluerit,
et ignoscat.
H. H.
LONDON,
March 24, 1891.


HUC XUC TU HỌC TỐT 240 all
IT HOW IN ONE YOU TVO IN 192 900 110-111
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE ANCIENT TREASURY OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND -
CHAPTER II.
TREASURE AND RECORDS
-
PAGE
I
38
CHAPTER III.
THE EXCHEQUER HOUSE
62
CHAPTER IV.
90
THE OFFICERS OF THE EXCHEQUER
77
ภา
티스
​CHAPTER V.
THE CHESS-GAME
114
135
21
xvi
Contents.
CHAPTER VI.
EXCHEQUER PROBLEMS
CHAPTER VII.
THE MAKING OF THE BUDGET
للنج
1
-
PAGE
135
175


VERIVAS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
CHEST IN WHICH DOMESDAY BOOK WAS KEPT
·
PAGE
frontispiece
SKETCH-PLAN OF THE PALACE AND ABBEY PRECINCTS,
WESTMINSTER
A HANAPER OR HAMPER -
A SKIPPET -
SYMBOLIC DEVICES USED FOR DISTINGUISHING VARIOUS
CHESTS OF THE EXCHEQUER
-
THE CHESS-BOARD WITH THE PIECES 'SET'
EXCHEQUER TALLIES
COUNTERS
-
THE SYMBOLS OF THE EXCHEQUER
SEAL OF ALPHONSO OF CASTILLE
GOLDEN BULL OF POPE CLEMENT VII.
SEAL OF FRANCIS I.
NOTES TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS
31
52
52
- 55-58
115
121
128-129, 146
132
163
171
211
219

ANTIQUITIES OF THE EXCHEQUER.
CHAPTER I.
THE ANCIENT TREASURY OF THE KINGS OF
THE
ENGLAND.
HE author of the most exact and scientific
treatise on the revenue of this or any other
country, Richard Fitz-Neale, the king's treasurer,
and Bishop of London in the reign of Richard I.,
when asked by a youthful colleague to define the
term treasury,' replied, by the Scriptural figure,
that it would be found near the heart of its royal
owner. The saying was more literally true than at
first appears to us, not only on account of the reality
of the power of the purse, and of the responsibili-
ties which its possession entailed upon sovereigns
who were their own chancellors of the exchequer
and paymasters-general, but also because within
the strong doors of this jealously-guarded chamber
of the royal castle or abbey there were preserved
}
I
2
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
side by side with sacks or money-chests the legal
records of the kingdom, which every justice-loving
king valued at their true worth, the great seal
which has been found indispensable for any form
of government, even to an anarchy, and those
regalia, robes of state, and other apparatus, whose
appearance marked the welcome revolutions of the
three great yearly feasts.
Now, the interpretation of the good bishop's
parable is this, that the king's treasury would be
found constantly near his own person-that is to
say, within the recesses of his official residence-
only it is by no means easy to identify the par-
ticular residence in question before the end of the
twelfth century.
The confusion which has always prevailed on
this point is almost entirely owing to the practice
of old writers of employing the word 'treasury'
as a collective term. In truth they went so far
as to make treasury' and 'treasure' interchange-
able words,* or, rather, they used the latter word
exclusively in both senses. It is possible, however,
to differentiate the term so as to distinguish three
distinct receptacles. There was first the king's
chamber with its hoard,' which is the ancestor of
the modern privy purse. Secondly, there was the
state treasury, located at some official centre, such
C
* Quod Thesaurus interdum dicitur ipsa pecunia, inter-
dum locus in quo recipitur.'-Dialogus, i. 14.
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 3
as Westminster or Winchester. Thirdly, there
were several more or less permanent but wholly
subsidiary treasuries in several provincial towns,
and seemingly in the royal castles there. Of these
the chamber-treasury* naturally followed the king's
progress either abroad or from one hunting palace
to another, and although its operations were
frequently on a large scale, the bulk of treasure
was necessarily limited by the exigencies of medi-
æval conveyance, so that payments for the king's
service were usually made by an elaborate system
of assignment. This was effected in the following
way During the king's progress the personal
requirements of himself and his courtiers were
provided for by means of orders upon the pro-
vincial officers, who in turn were allowed upon
their annual accounts for supplying so many
quarters of grain or bacons, for clothing and
armour, and even for building operations or the
entertainment of royal visitors. Indeed, for half a
century after the Conquest there could have been
very little need of a central treasury at all, since
the greater part of these provisions formed an
intrinsic portion of the revenue itself—that is to
say, the beeves and bacons and corn which main-
tained good cheer at the court, and thus accounted
for a large part of the royal expenditure, were not
paid for by the sheriff or bailiff, but collected or
* Camera curiæ.
I-2
4
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
}
advanced as an instalment of the revenue, which
was still payable in kind. This point is both im-
portant and interesting, and has been hitherto
somewhat overlooked by economic writers. The
fact (which is probable in itself) rests on high
authority that of the famous treasurer of the
first two Plantagenet kings; but when the utmost
allowance has been made for the consuming powers
of the royal household, it will be evident that
the surplus revenue must eventually have been
amassed and dealt with in some other way. It
is at this point that the central treasury in the
principal palace of the Saxon and Norman kings
comes into play, supplemented for convenience
of collection or distribution by the provincial
treasuries before alluded to.
The king's Palace of Westminster appears to
have possessed such a central treasury even before
the Conquest. There is no official record of this
fact, but the descriptive hints gathered from the
work of a monk of Westminster, writing within
a century of its reputed existence, may be fairly
held to have been inspired by a local tradition.
The writer in question is Osbert, Prior of West-
minster in the reign of Henry II., whose 'Life and
Miracles of the Confessor' formed the basis of the
better-known work of Ailred of Rievaulx, and
the metrical Life' of the next century. In the
version last named we have several most interest-
C
A
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 5
ing notices of a treasury at Westminster. There
was here a 'hoard,' situated, according to a custom
which long survived, in the actual bedchamber of
the sovereign. A good idea of the extent and use
of this primitive department may be obtained
from the following legend of The Thief in the
Treasury:'
LEGEND OF THE THIEF IN THE TREASURY.*
'One day it came about by chance,
After much counsel and care,
Lying on his bed he could not sleep,
Nevertheless he reposed himself,
And supported his drooping head.
Now arrived Hugelin
The chamberlain, who takes some money,
Carries off as much as he wished
To pay to his seneschals,
To his caterers and marshals,
But in his haste he forgets
That he shuts not the chest.
The scullion of the kitchen
Goes to do his office,
Well believes that asleep is
The king, and seizes the money.
He goes to conceal them, and then returns,
And takes as much and conceals them at once.
And a third time, for he had no fear
Of Hugelin, who delays for long,
He desires to take a large portion of the money.
The king sees all, who is not asleep,
Who in spirit sees that quickly
* From Dr. Luard's translation in the Life of Edward the
Confessor' (Rolls Series).
•
6
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
}
Afterwards there the officer would come,
And says, “Fly, fellow, for well I know
That Hugo the chamberlain is coming;
By the Mother of God, assuredly
He will not leave you even a halfpenny."
He departed without speaking a word;
The king gives him leave to go in peace.
The chamberlain afterwards returns,
And sees at a glance the theft,
By a great mark which he finds there,
Proves that the injury has been done there.
He sees the diminution,
And perceives that the king is awake;
Then like one astonished he cries out
"Harro!" but the king rebukes him.'
Besides this treasury of the chamber, there is
evidence of a regular treasury also, apparently, at
Westminster. Another legend of the Confessor's
life describes his inspection of this chamber under
the guidance of his treasurer, and mentions 'large
and full barrels' of money ranged round the walls,
on one of which the king perceived a devil seated,
a sight which confirmed him in his dislike of those
financial processes which were even then beginning
to lay the foundations of the power of the purse.
Therefore, he remitted the Danegeld; but even
without this source of revenue, we read that:
With gold and silver he was provided,
And thus was much more feared.'
Harold, on the other hand, is described, charac-
teristically, by the monkish biographer as delighting
in this increase of the revenue:
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 7
Money he amasses like a usurer,
To despoil his people he ceases not.
Like a justice at the treasury
He sits to count the money.'
This last picture of the royal treasury as an
organized department of the state is very striking,
and it may fairly be compared with the similar
practice in vogue during the reign of Henry I.,
or even earlier, when the sheriffs' accounts were
audited, and other business transacted, at the
central treasury, as distinguished from the peripa-
tetic curia.
One more passage of this metrical history may
be quoted in proof of the official importance of
Westminster, as well as for the sake of the sugges-
tion contained therein that this central treasury
may have been situated in the abbey rather than
in the palace itself.
'And the church at Westminster,
Which has no equal in the kingdom
*
*
*
And it has the dignity of the regalia,
Whence I say it has no equal.'
Westminster appears thus early as the official
residence (so to speak) of the English kings, and
this position was improved rather than diminished
during the next century. The Confessor's palace,
itself an innovation upon native architecture, was
extended by the ambition or policy of his Norman
successors, and it is important to notice that this
8
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
extension took the form chiefly of apartments of
state, the great hall of Rufus, that is to say, and
those buildings adjacent which have been used
from time immemorial for official purposes. Of
course it is quite possible that this official aspect
of the ancient palace may be a purely secondary
one; that the great hall was designed simply as a
banqueting-house, and that the exchequer-house
(if it then existed at all) was a lean-to structure in
the nature of a domestic office. In any case the
treasury would at first have been situated within
the interior of the palace, or, according to an alter-
native theory, within the cloisters of the adjacent
abbey.
Although Westminster possessed an irresistible
attraction to a pious sovereign through the
vicinity of a favoured church,. Norman kings
engrossed in the pleasures of the chase, and
constantly embroiled in Continental wars, found
the ancient Saxon capital of Winchester better
adapted for the pursuit of sport as well as for
the maintenance of their foreign communications
through the proximity of the great mediæval sea-
port, Southampton. It is probable, therefore, that
for the next fifty years at least the royal treasury,
with the regalia and records, were deposited here
more or less permanently in the treasury of the
royal castle. There was formerly a tradition of
this treasury having been situated in the church,
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 9
chiefly owing to the fanciful derivation of the title
of 'Domesday Book' from Domus Dei, this
national record having been always preserved in
the royal treasury. It is certainly true that the
word is once written thus by a twelfth-century
scribe, but the church in question would more
probably have been that of Westminster, and in
any case the etymology is a false one.
A very
interesting narrative of a trial which took place in
the treasury at Winchester Castle is preserved in
the chronicle of Abingdon, which clearly proves
the existence of a central department of revenue
there between the years 1108 and 1113.
*
The tradition of an earlier age has fixed the site
of the treasury of the kings of England at West-
minster equally with Winchester, and with this
treasury the same tradition connects the first germ
of an audit of the revenue. The subject is one
of great difficulty, arising from the obscurity of
description which characterizes contemporary re-
ferences to date and scene of action, but it is at
least possible to evolve a reasonable theory in
explanation of the conflicting evidence of a
treasury existing at more than one centre during
the reign of Henry II.
In the first place we must remember that the
treasury as a department of the re-organized
* Chronicles of Abingdon,' ii. 115-6, quoted by Mr. J.
H. Round in the Antiquary, July, 1887.
IO Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Exchequer was nominally bound to follow the
king's progress from one city or hunting-palace to
another. We actually find the chief contents of the
treasury-bullion, plate or regalia, and records—
moved, on several occasions, with great labour
and at a heavy expense, from Westminster or
Winchester to the temporary abode of the court,
or even beyond sea.
The explanation of this inconvenient practice
is, probably, to be found in the purely personal
nature of this establishment, which, like the king's
court, had, as we have seen, its first origin in the
informal session of the household officers in the
very chamber of the palace. In the course of a
century, however, this crude system had been so
far refined upon that the treasury had now an inde-
pendent existence at two permanent centres. The
court or Exchequer, being unincumbered with
official baggage, could meet in one palace as well
as another, while the personal or immediate wants
of the king were supplied out of the chamber-
treasury, as of old. But it would still happen on
certain occasions, usually connected with warlike
operations, and as late as the reign of the third
Edward, that the whole plant' of the Exchequer
and the treasury with it was removed to some
distant city. Otherwise, however, the royal
treasure was both hoarded and audited at West-
minster or Winchester, and the only important
C
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 11
point is which of these two cities should be
regarded as the official seat of the central treasury.
As the question which arises here can only be
decided by reference to contemporary notices
gleaned from the few surviving records of the
period, it will be more convenient to arrange
these brief entries in tabular form, so that the
reader will be able to see at a glance the normal
position of the treasury down to the close of the
reign of Henry II.:
NOTICES OF THE POSITION OF THE KING'S TREASURY BEFORE
AND DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY II.
1052-1066. Legends connected with the life of the Con-
fessor, surviving from the twelfth century,
which refer to a treasury at Westminster.
1066-1154. Tradition pointing to the existence of a trea-
sury in the palace and abbey there.
1066-1154. Archæology of the above buildings confirming
the statement as to their antiquity.
1066-1154. William I., Henry I., Stephen, and Henry II.,
crowned at Westminster.
1100-1154. The king's treasury at Winchester in 1100,
1108-1113, and 1135.
1130. The ministry of the king's treasury at Win-
chester held by Geoffrey de Clinton.
1141. Siege of Winchester during the civil wars.
The treasure and records probably conveyed
to Westminster for safety.
1155. Repairs to the Exchequer houses at West-
minster.
1155. Grant of office and payments to Roger, Usher
of the treasury at Westminster.
1155. Pardon to Gervase of the treasury at Winchester.
12
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
1156. Treasure conveyed to Cricklade and beyond
sea from Winchester.
1156. Treasure conveyed to Shoreham and beyond
sea from Westminster.
1157. Regalia conveyed to St. Edmunds and beyond
sea from Winchester.
1158. Treasure conveyed to Carlisle and beyond.
sea from Winchester.
1158. Regalia (and tallies) conveyed to Worcester
from Winchester.
1158. Wax conveyed to Clarendon from Winchester.
1158. Tallies conveyed to Westminster from Win-
chester.
1159. Treasure conveyed beyond sea from Winchester.
1160. Treasure conveyed (from the Exchequer) to
Winchester.
1161. Record chest conveyed to London from Win-
chester.
1161. Treasure conveyed beyond sca from Win-
chester.
1162. Treasure conveyed beyond sea from Win-
chester.
1162. Payment to Roger Usher of the treasury at
Westminster.
1162. Records conveyed from Hertford to West-
minster.
1162. Treasure conveyed to Southampton and London
from Winchester.
1162. Wax for the summonses provided at Winchester.
1162. For conveying the Danegeld to or from Win-
chester.
1163. For conveying treasure to or from Winchester.
1163. Plate conveyed to Berkhampstead for Christ-
mas from Winchester.
1164. Record chest conveyed to London (Easter)
from Winchester.
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 13
'
1164. Record chest conveyed to Northampton
(Michaelmas) from Winchester.
1164. The Exchequer held at Westminster (Michael-
mas).
1165. Treasure conveyed to various places from
Winchester.
1166. Treasure conveyed to various places from
Winchester.
1169. Treasure conveyed to Southampton from Win-
chester.
1170. Treasure (and regalia) conveyed to South-
ampton from Winchester.
1170. The treasury chest conveyed from Wycombe
to Westminster.
1170. Treasure, records, tallies, and regalia conveyed.
from Winchester.
1170. The Exchequer held at Winchester.
1171. Treasure chests conveyed from London to
Winchester.
1172. Treasure conveyed during the whole year from
Winchester.
1173. Treasure conveyed back to Winchester from
Southampton.
1173. Treasurer's clerk sent abroad with treasure.
1173. Treasure conveyed to Normandy and back.
1173. Treasure conveyed to Winchester and else-
where from Westminster.
1174. Treasure conveyed to Winchester and else-
where from Westminster.
1174. Treasure (and hawks, etc.) conveyed during
the whole year from Winchester.
1174. The clerk of the chamber and sergeants of
the treasury sent abroad with treasure from
Winchester.
1175. Treasure conveyed to Gloucester from West-
minster.
14
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
1176. Treasure returned to London.
1176. Charter dated at the Exchequer at Westminster.
1177. The treasury and records established at West-
minster.
1177. Treasure conveyed from London to Winchester,
and from Winchester to Clarendon and Por-
chester and back to London.
1177. Easter Exchequer at Westminster.
1177. Treasure conveyed to Winchester and back
to London.
1177. Treasure conveyed to Winchester from West-
minster.
1177. Treasury at Winchester repaired.
1179. Treasure conveyed to London from Winchester.
1179. Treasure conveyed to Winchester from West-
minster.
1179. Plate conveyed to Southampton from Winches-
ter.
1179. Treasure conveyed after the king from West-
minster.
1180. Treasure conveyed to Woodstock from West-
minster.
1180. Dies conveyed from Westminster and returned.
1180. Treasure conveyed to London from Winchester.
1180. Treasury implements purchased at Winchester.
1180. Exchequer at Westminster, Michaelmas.
1180. Treasure sent out from Westminster to different
mints throughout England to be recoined and
returned there.
1181. Plate sent out from Westminster.
1181. Treasure conveyed to Winchester, where the
•
king kept Christmas.
1183. Exchequer at Westminster.
1184. Exchequer at Westminster.
1184. Charter dated at the King's Chapel at West-
minster.
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 15
1185. Treasure conveyed throughout England from
Westminster.
1185. Plate conveyed throughout England from West-
minster.
1185. Treasure now sent direct to Southampton.
1186. Treasure now sent direct to Southampton.
1186. New furniture for the Winchester treasury.
1187. The swords of the Winchester treasury fur-
bished.
1187. Treasure conveyed abroad from Winchester.
It is evident from the description of the author
of the Dialogus, himself the king's treasurer, that
the Exchequer and the treasury were both at one
centre. In the first place, this treatise was written
in a certain apartment of the king's palace at
Westminster, close to the site occupied by the
Exchequer from time immemorial. In the second
place, there are numberless allusions in the body
of the work to a treasury situated in close proxi-
mity to this Exchequer. Thirdly, we know that
there were Exchequer houses at Westminster so
old as to be in need of repair at the accession
of Henry II. Finally, there is the unique
evidence of a suitor of the period, verified by
the Pipe Rolls, that he paid certain sums into
the Treasury of the Receipt of the Exchequer
in the eleventh year of this reign, and it can be
shown by a curious coincidence that he made
these payments at Westminster; while only a
few years later we find in the Pipe Rolls
{
?
16
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
•
the first of a regular series of payments for
furniture for the Exchequer out of the farm of
London.
Moreover, this Westminster treasury was no
secondary or temporary structure, but the fixed
receptacle of the treasure-chests, records, and
great seal, therefore obviously the principal
treasury of the kingdom. It is necessary to
enlarge upon these simple facts, because the very
existence of this early treasury has been absolutely
and authoritatively denied.
It will be gathered from the above table that
there was undoubtedly a central treasury still
existing at Winchester. The Dialogus informs
us that tellers of the treasure were constantly
employed there. In fact, they were merely
summoned to Westminster during the sessions of
the Exchequer to assist the resident staff in the
work of counting the incoming revenue, their
services being subsequently required at Winchester
for the purpose of paying out the large drafts.
transmitted thither for the expenses of the court
or camp. Winchester may thus be regarded as
an emporium in connection with the transport of
bullion (and especially of the regalia and plate),
as well as other supplies, via Southampton or
other seaports, to the Continent, during the almost
incessant wars of the first twenty years of the
reign. After the great rebellion of 1173-4, how-
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 17
ever, a change of practice seems to have taken
place, coinciding with the reorganization of the
Curia and Exchequer in the interests of the crown,
and the prominence of the official element, with
its permanent head-quarters henceforth at West-
minster. Similarly, with the renewal of the war, at
the close of the reign, the treasury at Winchester
was once more largely utilized; but, having fallen
into decay, it required certain structural repairs
and a new plant, while the treasury swords
actually required to be cleansed of the rust which
they had contracted during the ten years or more
that the chamberlains and clerks had been in
permanent residence at Westminster.*
<
It must be remembered, in connection with the
term treasure,' that two different species of
bullion were included therein, namely, coin and
plate, including regalia and jewels. It is most
probable, therefore, that both species were separ-
ately hoarded (as they undoubtedly were a century
later), and that the Winchester treasury was
specially designed to accommodate the latter, until
the close of the twelfth century, after which date
à permanent repository was provided for them in
* These swords, which were used on occasions of state,
may have been returned from Westminster after the corona-
tion of the younger Henry, in 1170, to Winchester, since they
were preserved there in 1187. The same remark applies to
crowns and plate, etc.
2
18
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
the Abbey of Westminster. The coined treasure,
on the other hand, was throughout received and
hoarded at Westminster, in the treasury of the
Receipt of the Exchequer, in company with the
great seal and records, being drafted thence as
required into the local treasuries, the king's
chamber, or, a generation later, the Wardrobe.
This will account for no mention being found of
regalia or plate in the treasury described in the
Dialogus, and agrees with the notices of regalia
issued from and returned to Winchester in the
Pipe Rolls. We shall see presently that the
entire contents of the treasury of the Wardrobe
in Westminster Abbey, later, in the reign of
Edward I., consisted of regalia, plate, and jewels.
During the king's absence in Scotland, in the
years 1301 to 1303, the royal palace seems to have
been left, as usual, in the custody of a caretaker,
who, according to a custom at least as ancient as
the beginning of the reign of Henry II., was also
the keeper of the Fleet Prison. There should
also have been the ushers of the two Exchequer
houses in residence during the vacation or absence
of the court, for we know on the authority of a
record of a few years' later date,* that the Barons
formally committed the custody of these premises
to the above subordinate officers at the end of
every term, with directions for the safe-keeping of
* L. T. R. Memoranda, 5 Edward II.
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 19
their contents.
In the present instance, however,
owing to the transfer of the Exchequer to York,
the keeper of the palace, with his servants, was in
sole charge. Now, the treasury of the Receipt
containing the chests of coined money and records
being, as we have seen, attached to the Exchequer,
the remaining treasure, which comprised an accu-
mulation of historic jewels, the regalia, and the
sumptuous plate used for the service of the king's
chapel and table, seems to have been deposited in
another treasury, situated within the precincts of
the adjacent abbey. Possibly, indeed, some such
treasury had been in use for a similar purpose
since the days of the Confessor. About four years
previous to the date of the following narrative
an ugly rumour had been spread of an attempt
to break into this treasury, an incident which
was further reported to have been hushed up
through the intercession of the abbot. No more
was heard of the matter, and the king seems to
have set out from London in August of the
year 1302, leaving a treasure valued at more than
£100,000 virtually in the custody of the monks
of Westminster, whose late abbot had, it is only
fair to say, held the post of treasurer. What
occurred during the next eight months will never
be precisely known, but some time in the month
of May following it began to leak out that persons
whose business or curiosity took them within the
2-2
20
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Re-
gates of the palace and abbey had for some time
past been picking up silver cups and dishes, gold
ornaments and precious stones, round the walls of
the palace, and in the cemetery adjacent to the
chapter-house and to St. Margaret's Church.
The very fishermen of Battersea brought up silver
plate in their nets. These lucky finds were passed
from hand to hand, often for a few pence.
ceivers of such treasure-trove have never been
wanting in any age, and soon the stores of half
the goldsmiths in London were glutted with what
were discovered by inquisition to be the principal
contents of the royal treasury. At length news
of these strange proceedings reached the ears of
the king, who was then at Linlithgow. He at
once despatched a writ to four trusty officers to
inquire into the circumstances of the robbery,
secure the treasure-trove, and arrest the guilty
persons. This was on June 6, 1303.
The com-
missioners set to work without delay, and an
inquiry was commenced on a more extensive scale
than probably was ever attempted in a criminal
case during the Middle Ages.
In the first place, on Wednesday after the
Octave of St. John the Baptist, ten juries from the
wards of the City were assembled at the Bishop of
London's hospice, and stated their knowledge of
the matter on oath. On the same day a jury of
goldsmiths and the aldermen of London were
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 21
As
assembled at the Guildhall for a similar purpose.
On the Friday following six juries of the county
of Middlesex and two juries of Westminster made
similar presentations in Westminster Hall. Seven
juries of Surrey were assembled at Southwark on
the following day, together with the boatmen of the
Thames. Other juries from the neighbourhoods
of Westminster and Fleet Street were convened at
the Temple at Lammas-tide. The palace officers
were also separately examined at a later date.
the result of these presentments, a large number of
persons were committed to the Tower and other
prisons, on grave suspicion of complicity with the
perpetrators of the robbery, including a certain
pedlar believed to be the principal culprit, the
keeper of the palace, the subprior, cellarer and
sacristan of the abbey, seven monks, six lay
brethren, ten merchants of London, and several
women of ill-fame. In addition to this the abbot,
with other officers of the abbey, and several others,
were compelled to find sureties. The broken
plate and jewels already recovered were scheduled
and placed for safety in the Tower, Guildhall, and
Wardrobe.
In accordance with a further mandate of the
crown, dated November 10, a final inquiry was
held by several of the king's justices, and the
several juries already convened were once more
brought up in January of 1304.
22 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
•
Their presentments were very much to the
same effect as on the former occasion, revealing an
almost incredible state of corruption and laxity of
morals on the part of the king's officers and of the
monks.* The jurors promptly convicted the
pedlar above-mentioned, Richard de Podelicote by
name, a desperate character, in whose possession a
large part of the stolen treasure had been found.
They also grievously suspected the monks of
Westminster and the officers of the palace of being
accessories to the deed. Moreover, they by no
means neglected this favourable opportunity of
getting rid of a number of bad characters in the
neighbourhood without any further presumption
of guilt than that such persons were quite capable
of any crime.
The theory of the robbery of the treasury as it
was painfully, not to say enigmatically, expounded
by these honest lieges is briefly this:
The monks of Westminster, and more par-
ticularly certain domestic officers of the abbey, had
for long past designed this robbery, as was proved
by the attempt previously hushed up, and the
theft of a large sum deposited in their hands in
connection with the obsequies of the late queen.
* The best account of these proceedings is given in his
admirable History of Crime,' by Mr. L. O. Pike, the present
learned editor of the Year Books,' or Law Reports of this
period.
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 23
1
Having tampered with William of the palace, the
keeper, and his fellow officers, a deep-laid plot
was successfully carried out for preventing inter-
ruption or subsequent discovery. The gates of
the palace and Abbey precincts were closed
before the usual hours, and public traffic was
stopped on frivolous pretences. A daring ruffian
(Podelicote) had been secured, and provided with
tools by a friendly mason. They had even taken
the precaution to sow the ground near the point of
attack with hemp, to conceal the traces of their
operations, and secure the plunder until such time
as it could be safely removed. Many of the
neighbouring residents could bear witness to the
strange proceedings within the palace walls. The
keeper, deserting his wife and home at the Fleet,
revelled late at night in the palace grounds in the
doubtful companionship of the daughter of Nicholas
the cook, while not a few of the good fathers were
reported to have kept him company, and ladies
were certainly of the party. At the end there
was a general scramble to conceal the booty.
Monks were seen dropping down their abbey
mill-stream with a boatload of mysterious hampers.
Hosts and courtesans and usurers were freely plied
with cups and platters of silver. An immense
quantity of treasure was buried in the cemetery
or concealed in the convenient hemp-bed. Some
pieces were even found lying beneath the palace
}
24
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
walls, and a small quantity fell into the hands of
the deserving poor of St. Margaret's. Even the
cross of Gneith (a relic which the king regarded
with superstitious reverence, and which had a
keeper assigned to it from the royal household)
was not spared. The subjects whose money had
for the last ten years been squeezed from them by
the royal exactions now got it back with in-
The beginning of the end seems to have
been the discovery made by a worthy chaplain of
derelict plate in the very yard of the palace. Then
the final scramble took place, and William of the
palace had barely time to conceal his share of the
plunder under his bed before he was arrested with
the other suspects.
terest.
The several juries are so unanimous in the
above version of the affair that it is scarcely
possible to doubt their verdicts, especially in view
of the declared ill-fame of certain of the monks,
and the lamentable dissensions and recriminations
that prevailed in the monastery a year or two later.
Another version, however, exists, which is
nothing less than the confession of Podelicote
himself. His narrative, which is singularly ex-
plicit, completely exonerates the officials, equally
with the monks, from any active participation in
the robbery. It will be observed that the case
against the supposed accessories really amounts
only to a charge of unlawful possession, and as
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 25
the annals of crime present us with numerous
instances of successful enterprises of this kind
having been effected single-handed by very daring
and skilful felons, there is nothing to prevent us
from giving a certain credit to his statement, pre-
mising, however, that facilities were afforded by
the cynical indifference of the officials, who, in the
spirit of the wreckers and treasure-seekers of a far
later age, thought it no sin to profit by the mis-
adventures of others, especially when the crown
was the sufferer.
THE CONFESSION OF RICHARD DE PODELICOTE.*
'He says that he was a travelling merchant of
wools, cheese, and butter, and was arrested in
Flanders for the king's debts in Brussels, and
there was taken from him xivl. xviis. in pollards
for wools taken for the king's use, for the which
he sues in the court of the King of England, at the
beginning of August, in the thirty-first year [of
Edw. I.], at Westminster; and at that time he espied
the state of their refectory of the abbey, and saw
betimes how the serjeants there carried in and out
hampers of silver, and dishes, and mazers.
thought he then how he might come at the goods
that he saw, for that he was poor through the loss
he had in Flanders. So he spied about the pre-
mises of the abbey everywhere. And on the same
*
So
The narrative is translated here from the Norman-
French of the original record.
26
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
day that the king departed thence where he tarried
towards Barnes, the night following the said
Richard-according to what he had espied—found
a ladder standing against a house, which was being
roofed, close to the palace-gate, over against the
abbey, and put this ladder against a window of
the chapter-house that opened and shut by a cord,
and entered, swinging himself down by the same
cord, and from thence went to the door of the
refectory and found it close-locked, and with his
knife opened it, and entered within, and found six
hampers of silver in an aumbry behind the doors,
and dishes of silver (thirty or more) in another
aumbry, and the hampers containing drinking-
cups beneath a bench, all packed together, and
carried them all off, and closed the doors after
him without locking them. Then of the feet of
the cups, and the dishes, and hampers of silver
he made his sale, and spent that, even before
Christmas next following, and then his money
failed, so thought he how he might come to break
into the king's treasury. And for that he knew
the premises of the abbey, and where the treasury
was, and how he might come at it; so he began
eight days before Christmas to enter to make a
breach there with implements which he had provided
for that purpose; that is to say, two tarriers (one
large, the other small), and knives, and many other
engines of iron. And thenceforth he was engaged
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 27
·
.
in breaking in under cover of night, whenever he
could discern and see his point, from eight days
before Christmas to the Quinzime of Easter
following. That then for the first time he entered
on a Wednesday night, the Eve of St. Mark, and
the whole of St. Mark's Day he remained inside,
and arranged that which he wished to carry away.
And that which he carried away he carried the
night following outside, and of this he left part out-
side the breach till the next night following, and the
remainder he carried with him as far as without
the gate behind the Church of St. Margaret, and
placed it beneath the wall without the gate, covered
with a heap of earth-about twelve pitchers, and in
every pitcher he put some jewels, and cups standing
and covered. Besides this, he put a great pitcher
with precious stones and a cup in a wooden shrine.
Besides this, he put three pouches full of jewels
and vessels, whereof one was filled with cups, as
well whole as broken. In the other was a great
crucifix and jewels, a case of silver, with gold
dishes. In the third, cups, plates, and nine saucers,
and an image of Our Lady of silver-gilt, and two
little pitchers of silver. Besides this, he carried
to a ditch outside the mews a pot and a cup of
silver. Besides this, he carried away with him.
dishes, saucers, plates of silver for spices, a crown
cut up, rings, clasps, precious stones, crowns, belts,
and other jewels, which afterwards were found in
28
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
เ
his possession for the most part. And this same
Richard says that, when he took these out of the
treasury, he carried them straightway without the
gate, close to the Church of St. Margaret, in the
cemetery of the Church of St. Margaret, without
leaving anything behind him within that gate.'
There are probably few subjects of archæological
interest upon which such absolute misconception
has hitherto prevailed as in respect of the identity
of the treasury mentioned in this robbery. In the
first place, older writers, from the sixteenth century
onwards, were under the belief that the robbery
was committed in the treasury of the Receipt,
situated on the east side of the palace, and that the
rebuilding of the Exchequer houses in this reign was
due to that outrage. Modern writers, on the other
hand, have ignored the existence of the Exchequer
treasury entirely, supposing that the abbey re-
pository was alone used for the custody of treasure.
Thus, Mr. Harrod* missed the point of his
strongest argument by insisting that the Exchequer
treasury could not have been exposed to attack
during four months, since the officials must have
been in the habit of visiting it almost daily. As
a matter of fact, the king's great treasury in the
cloisters (now the Chapel of the Pyx) was not the
working treasury of the Exchequer, which was
* Archæologia, vol. xliv., part 2.
1
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 29
situated in the Exchequer buildings beyond the
palace; and, in any case, it is well known that the
Exchequer was at York during the whole of the
period. Neither is it sufficient to assume, as Mr.
Harrod has done, that the treasury of the Ward-
robe was normally situated beneath the chapter-
house. It was there undoubtedly in the nineteenth
year and later, but the older and more important
treasury of the Wardrobe was still existing in the
Tower, while there was certainly another in the
palace itself. The greater part of the crown jewels
can be traced, in course of frequent transfers from
one treasury to another, between the king's de-
parture for Scotland and the commission of the
robbery. The real proof of the identity of the
treasury of the Wardrobe with the treasury robbed
in 1303 is found in another document, the narra-
tive of the first discovery of the crime by the
keeper of the Wardrobe himself. This worthy
had been absent since August in the king's busi-
ness-that is to say, he was apparently employed
in negotiating loans with foreign merchants or
religious houses on the security of the crown
jewels and plate in his custody. On June 20,
1303, he arrived in London on important business,
which seems to have had reference to an intended
pawn of plate with the Friars Minors. The
robbery had just then been discovered, and was
reported to him, whereupon, after submitting his
30
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
keys of office in their sealed pouch to the scrutiny
of the king's justices, he proceeded in company
with the latter, the lord mayor, the warden of the
Tower, the prior of Westminster, and several
monks, and the cofferer of the queen's Wardrobe,
to the scene of the crime. The doors of the
treasury were opened, and the damage was at once
revealed. Now, this narrative affords positive
proof that the treasury in question was not the
Exchequer treasury, the keys of which were in the
custody of the treasurer and chamberlains. More-
over, the description of the contents of this
treasury points to the Wardrobe, and not to the
Exchequer, as the department in charge.
On the other hand, we have the positive state-
ment in the official inquiry that this very treasury
(Mr. Harrod has not observed the identity) was
broken into on a former occasion from the cloister
side, and this would seem to indicate the Chapel
of the Pyx, which might easily have been attacked
from the close without disagreement with the
several surroundings mentioned in the record of
inquiry, such as the cemetery of the monks, the
hemp-sown grass-plot, the monk's lodging over
against the breach, the passage of the bell-ringers,
etc. However, it is possible to explain this
apparently conflicting statement by the supposition
that the vault of the chapter-house was attacked at
the threshold of the door leading to the cloisters.

PRIOR
KITCH
CUEST
REFECTORY
ABBOT
CLOISTER
CARTH
INFIRMARY
BA
TR
CHAPTER
HOUS
CEMETERY
"
ABBEY CH:
MARCCH
A.CHAPEL OF
THE PYX
B. UNDER
DORMITORY
i
CATE TO CITY
CATE
OLD PALACE YARD
THE KINGS
HOUSE
FRIVER
CHAPEL
NEW PALACE YARD
THE KINGS
HALL
TOWER EXCHEQUER
HOUSES
CARDEN
THAMES
KINCS:
BRIDGE
Fig. 1.-Sketch plan of the Palace and Abbey precincts,
Westminster.
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 33
One peculiar circumstance has hitherto escaped
notice, namely, the close connection between this
outrage and the rather discreditable methods
adopted by the king for raising money. It will
be observed that Podelicote himself was a victim,
and it is just possible that the wrongs of other
merchants and mortgagees may have had more to
do with this unexampled contempt of majesty
than we are yet aware of.
The result of the inquiry held by the king's
officers (Podelicote's confession being apparently
ignored) sealed the fate of the principal suspects,
several of whom were hanged, while others
remained in prison for several years, and among
these the monks of Westminster, whose treatment
was loudly denounced by contemporary historians
of their own order.
It would seem that after this deplorable incident
the royal treasury in the cloisters of the abbey was
henceforth used as the principal depository of the
plate and regalia, which, however, were sometimes
lodged in the Tower, and to a less extent in the
Wardrobe, while not long afterwards a new
department was erected for their better custody,
the Jewel-house, which still had one of its centres
within the abbey precincts, in a tower situated
at the south-western angle of the palace, and
which was acquired by the crown from the
abbot and convent for this purpose.
3
34
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
From this time onward it is possible to dis-
tinguish four separate treasuries at Westminster,
all of which were appropriated for the custody of
coined money and records. The chief of these
was still the great treasury within the cloisters of
Westminster Abbey. Here the king's crowns,
four in number, and the other regalia, were usually
deposited, together with many valuable jewels
and records, certainly as late as the reign of
Henry VI. Before the close of Elizabeth's reign
the jewel-house in the Tower had become the
official repository of the regalia and the historic
jewels of the crown, being also at this time in
the custody of the master of the jewel-house and
his subordinates, instead of in that of the treasurer
and chamberlains of the Exchequer.
The second treasury was one perhaps equally
ancient, but probably less suited for the safe
custody of a mass of uncoined treasure. This
was the treasury of the Receipt of the Exchequer,
and was situated apparently in the lower part of
the Exchequer-house, on the east side of the new
palace. In the reign of Elizabeth, however, after
many additions had been made to the original
structure, we learn that a considerable amount of
treasure was allowed to lie in chests in the upper
part of a building which was now exclusively
devoted to the business of the receipt and issue of
the revenue.
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 35
The third treasury, which was of more modern
date, was situated over the little gatehouse of
the new palace. The fourth treasury was in the
refectory of the abbey, and was probably the
private treasury of the abbot and convent, and
identical with the strong-room broken into by
Podelicote in August of 1302.
From the end of the sixteenth century the four
treasuries at Westminster were chiefly used as
repositories of records. In fact, the great treasury
in the cloisters was frequently termed the treasury
of leagues, because the ancient diplomatic records
of the kingdom were preserved there. Moreover,
all these treasuries were fitted with presses for the
records, and the old money-chests were utilized
for the same purpose, but the contents of the
treasury of the Receipt seem to have remained the
same as they were in the time of Richard Fitz-
Nigel, and here the keys of the treasury in the
abbey were always deposited. The latter cham-
ber is well known to visitors of the abbey as a
vaulted room or chapel beneath the old dormitory
of the monks, in the cloister next the chapter-
house.
The ancient treasury within the Tower of
London may fairly be reckoned as a fifth reposi-
tory of plate, jewels, and records. There was also
an inner chamber here, "next the Black Hall,' and
under the Great Hall,' which was used for the
•
3-2
36
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
same purpose from the reign of Edward III., or
even earlier.
It is probable that a considerable amount of
bullion was periodically stored in the mint, both in
the central mint, in the Tower of London, which
was erected as a distinct department from the
treasury, in the third year of Elizabeth, and in
several provincial cities. Still larger sums must
have been received in another fiscal department,
the Wardrobe, during the period of its greatest
activity, between the reigns of Henry III. and
Henry VII.
The history of the mint is a subject of inde-
pendent interest and almost equal magnitude with
that of the Exchequer itself, while the ministry of
the Wardrobe is for the most part connected with
constitutional history. It may be noticed, in
conclusion, that although the royal treasury con-
tinued to be fixed at the five centres previously
mentioned down to the present reign, a complete
revolution was effected in the procedure of this
branch of the Exchequer by the rise of the modern
Treasury Board in the seventeenth century. The
Treasury, from the Restoration at least, became in
common parlance the state department situate,
then as now, in Whitehall. Finally, with the
foundation of the Bank of England, and the use
of Exchequer bills, the last days of the ancient
treasury were at hand. Its sole remaining
Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England. 37
+
<
functions, the custody of the regalia and records,
have at length been assigned to other departments.
The Tower alone, though shorn of its lions' -
and its mint, retains many vestiges of its fiscal
guardianship, with a respectable antiquity of some-
thing more than six hundred years.
"


TH
CHAPTER II.
TREASURE AND RECORDS.
HE oft-quoted 'hoard' of the West Saxon
kings may
be supposed to have contained a
very miscellaneous assortment of treasure. Only a
century later this was held to include not only coined
money or bullion, but also rich vestments, jewels
and plate of every description, and even books or
records. These, in fact, continued to form the
normal contents of the treasury down to our own
day, but many other articles of quasi-intrinsic
value or imperial interest may be conjectured, and
are sometimes enumerated, including relics and
money-dies, regalia and rusty armour.
The money-treasure itself was the chief object
of attention at the hands of the officials of the
Receipt of the Exchequer, in the treasury of which
department it will be remembered that the in-
coming revenue was hoarded. In Saxon, Norman,
and early Plantagenet times, we are told, 'money
and 'penny' were interchangeable words, and as
Treasure and Records.
39
C
the only legal tender at the Exchequer was by
weight, a pound of silver pennies was as readily
accounted for as any other denomination. At
first, indeed, it seems to have been the custom to
receive several branches of the revenue by tale,
namely, by telling over the incoming treasure at
the rate of 240 pence to the pound. The revenue
in question having been only recently realized by
the commutation of a fixed tribute of oxen, sheep,
and grain for bullion, the quality of the latter was
not at first examined too closely, but the condition
was soon imposed that all payments should be
tested by the Exchequer scale, sixpence on every
pound being exacted to trim the balance.' This
calculation was, however, found to be unduly
favourable to the accountants in an age when
clipping and sweating were reduced to fine arts.
Moreover, the lowness of the assessments, and the
enormous profits gained by enterprising sheriffs,
made it only reasonable that the stipulated sums
should form a nett revenue, apart from the com-
mercial importance of maintaining a pure currency.
Therefore, it was next decreed that all the king's
farms should be accounted for by the actual weight
of the sum required, a deduction of one shilling in
the pound being allowed in most cases as an
equivalent.
This official sharp practice was met by the ten-
der of debased coinage, so that another sweeping
40
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
regulation was enforced in the case of the chief item
of the revenue, the royal farms. By virtue of this
innovation, which is ascribed to Roger, Bishop
of Salisbury, himself, the farms rendered by the
sheriffs were, with few exceptions, subjected to an
assay, the treble deficit in number, weight, and
purity of the coinage being borne by the accoun-
tant. Besides these silver pennies, all kinds of
obsolete or outlandish coins were occasionally
received at the Exchequer from distant and un-
civilized countries, from foreign merchants or
Jewish usurers, and even in the shape of treasure-
trove. These were either used as 'counters,' or
converted with other condemned pieces into plate
for the service of the king's hall or chapel.
Spurious coins were carefully preserved for the
sake of example, or as curiosities, and some of
these exist in the present day. It is scarcely
necessary to observe that the denominations mark
and half-mark, so often met with in old accounts,
had no real existence either in gold or silver
currency.
•
· For a considerable period after the institution
of a specific currency, payments in kind were still
accepted at the Receipt of the Exchequer, usually
in cases of fines or oblations offered to obtain
the king's favour or pardon, or from tenants by
serjeanty. Thus palfreys and hawks were con-
stantly accounted for and consigned to the king's
Treasure and Records.
41
stables and mews respectively. We have rare
notices of perfumes, jewels, plate, and furs or
vestments being received in the same way, though
often directly by the Chamber or Wardrobe
treasuries.
The coined treasure, when paid in at the Receipt,
was counted, weighed or assayed, as the case might
be, and arranged in convenient rouleaux, by means
of turned boxes or canisters of several sizes, for
five pounds or one hundred pounds. These were
then deposited in sacks or chests, securely fastened
and sealed. The coins selected for the assay, to
the value of forty-four shillings, were placed in a
particular box, which has given its name to the
trial of the Pyx.
In addition to money and the apparatus con-
nected with its due receipt and custody, the most
valuable portion of the occasional contents of the
treasury remains to be noticed, namely, the regalia,
crown jewels, and plate. These seem to have
been especially costly in early times, both on
account of the natural propensity of a rude age to
indulge in displays of barbaric riches, and also in
conformity with the economic theory of the period,
whereby wealth was regarded only as a tangible
possession. It is probable, in fact, that a surplus
revenue was systematically converted into plate or
jewels, in which form it was realized with equal
facility, and with a possible appreciation in value
42
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
due to religious or personal associations and excel-
lence of workmanship. Throughout the Middle
Ages, and, indeed, on certain occasions in far later
times, the regalia were systematically pawned, at
one time with foreign usurers, and at another
with the corporation of London, or a more than
half-unwilling baron. In the year 1385, with ill-
success abroad and disaffection at home, and the
spending power of the crown threatened by appro-
priation of supply, we find in a contemporary
record that Richard II. came suddenly to London
from Eltham, dined at his Palace of Westminster,
and thence proceeded to the royal treasury to view
the jewels there. Not long afterwards the king's
great crown was pawned to the City of London
for £4,000.
In fact, the redemption of the
regalia, or, at least, their necessary repair and
purification, formed an incidental expense of the
coronations of most English kings.
The regalia are frequently described in ancient
inventories of the treasury, and among other items
are mentioned the four crowns-the great crown
of King Edward, the second and third crowns
and the chaplet-the ampulla, several sceptres—
whereof two were called the rod of Moses and
the rod of Aaron respectively-spurs, bracelets,
and robes of red velvet. At the coronation of
Richard I. the regalia were borne in the procession
on a chequered table. As early as the reign of
1
Treasure and Records.
43
Henry II. we find notices of the swords of state,
three in number, which form as it were the link
between the regalia proper and the relics deposited
in the treasury. These swords were in all prob-
ability the legendary weapons, known as the
sword of Athelstan, which cleft the rock of
Dunbar, the brand of Welland the smith, cele-
brated in Scandinavian sagas, and the sword of
Tristan, which may also be identical with the
'pointless curtana.' Besides these there was the
inlaid sword of Edward the Black Prince, the
poisoned dagger with which Edward I. was stricken
at Acre, and the gauntlet worn by John, King of
France, at the battle of Poitiers, with other ancient
armour of historic interest.
Amongst the relics proper may be noticed the
cross of Gneith (St. Neot's) and the black rood of
Scotland. The former of these, as already men-
tioned, was highly prized by Edward I. A special
keeper was assigned to it when it followed the
king in his Scotch wars, it being used, like the
black rood, for the purpose of administering the
oath of fealty to the Scottish barons. It was kept
in a separate case, which was broken open by the
robbers of the treasury in 1303. Perhaps this
was the great jewelled crucifix described by
Podelicote in his confession as being among the
contents of the three great pouches buried by him
near St. Margaret's Church. It may have been
1
44
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
mutilated at this time, for we read some years
after of a new foot being made for it by the king's
goldsmith in the Tower. There was another cross
preserved in the treasury which had once belonged
to St. Louis of France, and to the same period
belonged the 'golden rose' bestowed upon Ed-
ward I. by the pope. It is well known that
a similar honour was conferred upon Henry VIII.,
together with the present of a two-handed sword
inlaid with gold. A less orthodox relic was the
magic sapphire ring supposed to render the wearer
invincible in battle. Many other relics might be
enumerated before the Reformation, and even in
the reign of Henry VIII. seven valuable crucifixes
were still in existence. Tabernacles were also
much in fashion, and from the fifteenth century
onwards 'images' of St. George abounded. Among
the more national trophies of the latter half of the
Middle Ages may be mentioned the gold sword of
Spain and the tablet of Spain, which may have
been obtained through the Black Prince or his
younger brother, John of Gaunt. Other historic
jewels are spoken of, as the tablet of Burgoigne, the
tablet of Bourbon, the tablet of England and
France, and the tablet of Lancaster. All these
were of gold, richly ornamented with precious
stones.
Although the greater part of the five coffers,
filled with relics, which existed in the abbey in
1
1
1
1
Treasure and Records.
45
Saxon times, has been lost or dispersed, several of
the articles enumerated above may be referred to
this period. For instance, the pieces of the true
cross and the tunic without seam appear as late as
Henry VI.'s reign, being first mentioned in the
enrolment of the Confessor's charter of founda-
tion.
A very fair idea of the contents of the medieval
treasury may be found in Podelicote's confession,
printed in the preceding chapter. At the close of
the Tudor period we are struck with the pre-
ponderance of precious stones, elaborately cut and
set, over the cumbrous metal-work of an earlier.
age. Elizabeth in particular was a great collector
of precious gems, profiting by her interest in the
adventures of the English privateers. Perhaps
the most remarkable of the many fine jewels pre-
served in the Tower in the reign of her successor
was the Mirror of Great Britain,' a gold jewel
set with a very large diamond, a ruby to match,
and two other diamonds, one being known as the
stone of Scotland. From this time onwards great
demands were made upon the jewel-house in con-
nection with the diplomatic service and the private
munificence of the sovereign. The auditors' privy
seals and jewel office warrants of the seventeenth
century furnish information parallel with the
ancient inventories of the Plantagenet kings, but
rather in the direction of spending than of hoard-
C
#
46
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
1
ing. Later still the patronage of the turf made a
fresh outlet for the stock of royal plate, but even
by the commencement of the seventeenth century,
these portions of the king's treasure had ceased to
be included amongst the contents of the treasury
of the Receipt.
From the earliest times the royal seal appears
to have been preserved with the greatest care in
the treasury, where it is described in the reign of
Henry II. as the inseparable companion of Domes-
day Book. In the reign of Edward III. several
distinct seals are enumerated, and these were then
preserved with the regalia. Besides the Great
Seal of England, used in the chancery, there was a
great seal of the English possessions in France, the
seal of the principality of Wales, that of the
chancery of Ireland, and, during the vacancy of the
see, of the bishopric of Durham. There was also
the seal of Calais, which was deposited here in the
twenty-ninth year. During the king's frequent
absence abroad, his son Lionel, as guardian of
England,' used a privy seal, which was afterwards
cancelled, and a new one struck for Thomas of
Woodstock. The two seals in use in the Courts
of King's Bench and Common Pleas for the
despatch of judicial writs were deposited in the
treasury, and the great seal of the Receipt of the
Exchequer, mentioned in the Dialogus, was in
existence here down to the seventeenth century.
}
{
、
Treasure and Records.
47
All the above seem to have been made of silver.
There were many private seals, from that of
Lancaster down to a simple knight's; also the
leaden or golden seals affixed to papal bulls or
diplomatic documents. The great seal was not
infrequently counterfeited, and one of these coun-
terfeits was formerly preserved in the treasury.
RECORDS.
It has frequently been remarked that from the
earliest times the practice obtained of deposit-
ing the national records for safety in the king's
treasury. We might even go so far as to suggest
that the official preservation of the records takes
precedence in certain aspects of the custody of the
treasure. Thus the house of the rolls in Babylon
contained the treasure of the Assyrian kings,
and the temple-treasuries of ancient Greece and
Rome were equally dignified as receptacles of
records. In Western Europe the same practice
prevailed after the Christian era, the king's chapel
or some church of royal foundation being the
chosen repository of the regalia, jewels and relics,
which are rightly described in the most ancient
inventories as being without price.' The records
which bore them company were at least equally
priceless in the estimation of their ancient and
modern custodians alike. From the lowest point
of view these evidences of the king's title to lands,
48
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
revenues or taxes, records such as Domesday
Book, the Exactory Roll, and the Red Book of
the Exchequer, were, like the rod of Aaron, and
the consecrated oil of the ampulla, part of the
stock-in-trade of royalty during the Middle Ages.
It is obviously fitting that the custody of the
records should have been confided to that class
which alone was skilled in their compilation or
use. In this country, however, a dual control
existed from very early times, in the best interests
of the royal service-on the one hand the house-
hold thanes, chamberlains, marshal and constable,
with lay underlings, as ushers and serjeants; and
on the other hand the household clerks, chancellor
and treasurer, with their clerical staff. But whether
clerks or laymen were most in favour at court at
particular times, nothing is more striking than the
elaborate precautions taken for the safety and
accessibility of the records by successive genera-
tions of officials.
It was an ancient rule of the treasury of the
Exchequer, that no treasure or records could be
removed without the authority of the king's writ.
In fact the receipt or issue of records were subject
to precisely the same conditions as prevailed in the
case of money, regalia, plate and jewels, a note
being made of their number and description, from
whom they were received or to whom issued, and
the exact place of their deposit in the treasury, with
Treasure and Records.
49
the respective dates. In spite of this excellent
regulation, it was found necessary before long to
establish further precautions. The multiplication
of legal departments in the reign of Edward I.
was followed by a corresponding division of con-
trol over the records at large. The barons in
their new court had still constant need of many
different records for inspection, and these could no
longer be simply brought up from the lower
Exchequer beneath the same roof. The Wardrobe,
which had usurped many of the functions of the
treasury, claimed equal access to the rolls of account.
The Chancery had formerly been regarded as the
clerical department of the Exchequer, and its
authority in this matter could scarcely be gainsaid,
and finally privy councillors or other ministers of
the crown seem to have been constant offenders
by virtue of their familiarity with the king.'
Therefore in the year 1327 a mandate was issued,
at the instance of Bishop Stapleton, then treasurer,
in accordance with which the entire contents of
the record repository were arranged, classified, and
numbered, especial pains being taken to affix to
each record a distinctive label, so that it might be
produced without difficulty and replaced in its
proper position.
The records deposited in the royal treasury were
preserved in similar receptacles to the bullion,
namely, in large chests and smaller coffers, boxes,
4
50
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
1
f
and hampers. These chests and coffers were very
massive, being bound with iron and secured with
three separate locks and keys, according to the
usual practice of the period. One of these chests
still survives, being, it is believed, that which used
to contain some portion of the regalia together with
Domesday Book (see Frontispiece). This chest is
3 feet 7 inches in length, 2 feet 3 inches wide, and
2 feet 3 inches deep. The woodwork is 2 inches
in thickness, sheeted with iron within and without,
and strengthened by iron bands fastened with iron
nails, the heads of which are each more than an
inch in breadth. There are three massive locks,
and an inner compartment, probably for the recep-
tion of the crown or of the great seal. This
chest, which must weigh at least 5 cwt., was
undoubtedly one of the receptacles of the old
treasury in the abbey, whence it was removed to
the Public Record Office about the year 1857.
The locks have been forced open at some remote
period, possibly in the robbery of the treasury
under Edward I. It should be added that in the
earlier period these chests were frequently con-
veyed, with their contents, to some distant city or
palace. On these occasions they were described
as the arks or hutches of the treasury, the latter
term being possibly derived from the frequent
practice of including the king's hawks in the
treasure-train. Coined money was also frequently

Fig. 2.-A Hamper.
13/5
Fig. 3.-A Skippet.
Treasure and Records.
53
}
conveyed in wine-casks. The smaller boxes were
of wood, often turned in the lathe. There were
also hampers in common use, beautifully woven of
willow twigs, in somewhat round or beehive shape,
together with leather or canvas bags, some of
which were curiously painted in oil colours. These
bags or pouches, with the turned boxes, or 'skip-
pets,' were placed several together inside a larger
case, or 'pyx,' or in a hamper, which in turn was
deposited in one of the chests or coffers. The
following notice, being one of many hundred
similar entries in the memoranda of the treasury,
describes the nature of several of these receptacles.
'Be it remembered, that on the 20th day of
May, in the 42d year of King Edward the third
since the Conquest, there were delivered into the
King's Treasury, to be preserved [there], one
hamper covered with black leather, and bound
with iron, and sealed; and one small bag of canvas
with sealed muniments contained within the same;
and one pyx with the Treaty of Scotland, made
the first day of September, in the 41st year, con-
tained within the same. And they are placed in
the lesser chest with three locks above the Receipt,
with this device-S.'
In course of time the number of these record-
chests was greatly multiplied. In the reign of
Henry II. they contained already, besides Domes-
day Book and the great year-rolls of the Exchequer,
1
54
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
·
<
a vast number of charters and other title-deeds;
and these were being constantly added to by
escheats or surrenders in favour of the crown.
More space was fortunately made for their recep-
tion by the removal of the Exchequer court a
century later. It is probable that the place of
their deposit, so frequently mentioned as above
the Receipt,' refers to the chamber formerly used
for the session of the court, and that the tellers'
chamber, in which records were occasionally
stored, was the inner or council chamber, on the
same floor, usually known from the sixteenth
century onwards as the Tellers' loft.'
adjacent chapel of St. Stephen's was also utilized
for this purpose, but in the course of the next two
centuries this pressure was relieved by the estab-
lishment of two new treasuries, one in the gate-
tower of the new palace, and the other in the
chapter-house of the abbey.
<
The
It will be gathered from the above entry that a
private mark or cipher was employed to designate
the nature of the contents of the various chests.
This, indeed, was nothing less than a rude form of
symbolism, often extending no further than picture-
writing. Thus, the letter S, in the passage quoted
Initial
above, evidently stands for Scotland.'
<
letters were frequently used for this
purpose, often
in a hieroglyphic form as monograms. The un-
equalled collection of papal bulls in the treasury of
Treasure and Records.
55
the Receipt were arranged by Bishop Stapleton
under the letters of the alphabet. In many cases
the names or subjects were written in full, but most
frequently of all a rude but characteristic drawing
was made upon the label, doubtless to assist the
operations of unlettered ushers or serjeants.
Specimens of some of these symbols are given
below. It should be observed that, in addition to
the inscription on the label, its exact counterpart
was entered in the margin of the inventories of
the treasury, of the rolls of the court, and of every
other record in which the subject-matter was cited
from time to time. Many of them were also more
elaborately executed in the several entry books of
the Exchequer, such as the Liber A and Liber B.

I
Fig. 4. An Acquittance.

Fig. 5.-A Coronation.
Fig. 6.-A Cardinal.
56
Antiquities of the Exchequer.

Fig. 7.-Church Reform.

Fig. 8.-The Abbot of Peterborough.

Fig. 9.-A Bishop.

Fig. 10.-A Charter surren-
dered to the Crown.
•
Treasure and Records.
57

Fig. 11.-Oath of Fealty, etc.

Fig. 12.-A Royal Marriage.

Fig. 13.-An Usurer.

Fig. 14.-John, Earl of Holland,
Richard II.'s half-brother, and a
fashionable Courtier.
×ë
จุ
Fig. 15.-Alice Perrers, Edward III.'s
mistress.
58
Antiquities of the Exchequer.

Fig. 16.-Westminster Abbey.

Fig. 17.-The town of Yarmouth.

1
J
Fig. 18. Wales a Welsh
Mercenary.
The records which figured most conspicuously
round the Exchequer tables, or which were in daily
use in the Barons' chamber, or in the Receipt,
comprise several of the most ancient and valuable
classes extant. Besides Domesday Book itself and
Treasure and Records.
59
<
<
the various other compilations intended to discover
the liabilities of the military tenants of the crown,
such as the Red and Black Books of the Exchequer,
the Testa de Nevill,' the Book of Aids,' and
similar feodaries, there were precise statements of the
royal farms payable by the sheriffs in every county,
namely, the Exactory Roll (now entirely lost to us)
and the assessments drawn up in the fourteenth
century for a like purpose. The treasurer's great
roll (better known to us as the Pipe Roll) and the
chancellor's counterpart formed the ledgers of the
Exchequer, wherein the results of the audit of the
sheriffs' particular accounts were tabulated. Day-
books of receipts and expenditure were also kept
—the Issue and Receipt rolls of the two Remem-
brancers—which show the exact amounts paid into
the Receipt and issued thence from day to day.
The results of the barons' deliberations in their
council-chamber were recorded in the Memoranda
rolls. The king's writs received at the Exchequer,
or made out there, for money to be paid over and
for other necessary purposes, form a distinct class
of records. Just as nothing of importance could be
transacted without this authority, so nothing could
be undone without a like warrant to stay the
inexorable processes of this court. It was only
after a wearisome contest that the king's writ was
allowed to be presumed in favour of the barons.
themselves and others, like the knights of the
60
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Temple and of St. John, who were notoriously
exempt from general taxation. These writs were
not only imperatively required for every fiscal
transaction, but were also closely examined in the
course of the half-yearly audits, and therefore
were in constant evidence at every stage of the
proceedings. A vast number of miscellaneous
instruments, such as charters, chirographs, and
particulars of accounts, complete the list of official
documents most frequently in use for the ceremony
of passing the sheriffs' accounts.
crown.
In addition to the above characteristic records
of the Exchequer, the repositories within the
treasuries at Westminster contained many others
officially consigned to the treasurer and chamber-
lains by the Common Law courts, to a certain
extent by the Chancery, and quite systematically
by those entrusted with the management of the
personal expenditure and correspondence of the
Of the former class, the custom of
depositing fines for conveyance of land for safe
custody in the king's treasury is believed to be
more ancient than the Conquest, and for several
centuries the judges were in the habit of deliver-
ing in their rolls and receiving them back when-
ever needed for temporary reference. Of the latter
class, the diplomatic correspondence, including
treaties and papal bulls, royal wills and marriages,
etc., was in all times very highly prized and
Treasure and Records.
61
jealously guarded. Many of the most ancient of
these instruments, some enriched with golden seals,
have disappeared long since, but others still sur-
vive, such as the three golden leagues' of
Alphonso the Wise, Francis I., and Pope Cle-
ment VII. These diplomatic instruments may be
further considered as the nucleus of our unequalled
national collection of state papers, but besides the
records of the Curia itself, those of many other
departments were deposited here in the ordinary
course or from special considerations: the accounts
of the army and navy, of the royal household, and
of the customs, etc., statutes of Parliament, and
others too numerous to mention.


AFARJAR YA
A
CHAPTER III.
THE EXCHEQUER HOUSE.
LTHOUGH the Exchequer, as a member of
the king's court, is in some respects the
oldest judicial assembly in the kingdom, there are
good reasons for believing that its functions were
performed in the earliest times following the Con-
quest by one of its departments alone, the treasury.
Here, then, it will be seen that history has once
more repeated itself, since the latter department
has practically since the Restoration, and definitely
since the reign of William IV., taken the lead in
the financial administration of this country.
It is true that ancient writers, followed by more
recent authorities, have claimed for the Exchequer
an antiquity considerably greater than that which
is usually assigned to it, the reign of Henry I.;
but the scanty evidence that exists points to the
employment of a much more primitive expedient
for auditing the revenue during the reigns of
the first two Norman kings. As the Exchequer
The Exchequer House.
63
of Normandy was of later date than the similar
institution in England, the tradition of its intro-
duction by the Conqueror will not bear inspection.
Neither is it possible, as some have suggested,
on the authority of certain passages in Domesday
Book, wherein mention is made of fixed farms
rendered to the crown, to connect the Anglo-
Norman Exchequer of the twelfth century with
the financial organization of the eleventh.
Of course Saxon kings possessed crown lands,
and considerable sums were levied at times by the
state, notably the Danegeld, which must have
been accounted for; but the only trace of a
revenue department before the beginning of the
twelfth century is found, as has been stated, in
connection with the royal treasury. The evidence
in question is clearly unsatisfactory, but it is better
than the confused and purely conjectural account
given of the origin of the court itself by writers
who lived within one generation of the received
date of its establishment. There is only one posi-
tive statement which can be depended on, and
this is to the effect that the audit held in the
latter part of the twelfth century at the Exchequer
formerly took place at the Tallies.' This expres-
sion in itself denotes the actual place of receipt
and issue of the revenue rather than a court or
council chamber.
Our first intimate acquaintance with the posi-
64
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
tion, contents, and machinery of the court of
Exchequer is formed through the notices contained
in the Pipe Rolls of the reign of Henry II., and
the still more detailed description furnished by
the author of the Dialogus de Scaccario about the
year 1177.
But previous to this we have positive know-
ledge of the establishment of a royal Exchequer
early in the reign of Henry I., under the auspices
of the great Bishop of Salisbury, Roger le Poer,
with whose family its organization is exclusively
associated down to the close of the twelfth
century. We have seen that during the first half
of this century the king's treasury had the Castle
of Winchester for its principal centre, and in the
same way tradition has assigned the king's Palace
of Westminster as the site of the contemporary
sessions of the Exchequer. The Exchequer, indeed,
is more closely connected with the archæology of
Westminster than any other secular institution
before the reign of Edward I. It is true that
from this date the ancient palace was the fixed
seat of the law courts, in which the Exchequer
court was thenceforth merged; but so long as the
king's court and Exchequer were distinct, though
parallel departments, the latter really monopolized
the official establishment at Westminster. It may
be urged, however, that in this archæological aspect
the king's court is the older institution, held here
The Exchequer House.
65
possibly in King Edward's day, in the White
Hall or Painted Chamber, and transplanted by
the Red King to a more dignified habitation in the
Great Hall, with which it has ever since been
associated. But it is obvious that this view of
the matter entirely assumes the permanent or
official establishment of the king's court at any one
centre. In truth, it had no such establishment,
but followed the king from one palace to another,
its members being for the most part household
officers as expert as any barons of the Exchequer,
but differing from the latter in this important
particular, that they had no impedimenta-in the
shape of a chequered table, a score or so of iron.
chests stuffed with rolls and books of reference,
an equal number of bins full of tallies and writs
for every English county, and a smelting furnace
-but could assemble anywhere and decide off-
hand a knotty point of law.
Therefore the Great Hall of Rufus must not
be looked on as the home of the king's court
before the thirteenth century, for it was not neces-
sarily used as a court-house, even when the court
happened to be at Westminster, at the feast of
Pentecost, or for any other purpose than a council,
a coronation feast, or some other imposing cere-
mony. In any case, however, when the king,
after a few days' stay, had recommenced the
round of his more favoured hunting-lodges, West-
1
5
66
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
minster knew the court no more until the next
fitful visit of royalty, and absolutely no trace of
its official existence was left behind, except the
records of the court, bundles of rolls, and bales
of writs, which appear to have been deposited in
the treasury of the Receipt of the Exchequer.
Now, it is the existence of the latter as an
essential department of the Exchequer which con-
stitutes the difference between the two great
courts, and explains the existence of a permanent
financial staff under the treasurer and chamberlains
of the Exchequer at Westminster. The barons of
the Exchequer themselves were scarcely distinguish-
able, in the time of which we treat, from the
justices of the king's court.
Both were equally
courtiers, and the members of one department were
equally versed in the routine of the other up to a
certain point. It is only here and there that an
expert stands out as a specialist in jurisprudence
or finance-a Glanvile or a Fitz-Nigel. These
barons made little longer stay at Westminster than
their brethren of the king's court, though the
period and scope of their work were rigidly
marked out for them; but at the end of the short
session they left behind them all the apparatus
of their office in charge of deputies, the clerical
staff of the Receipt. The president and constable
and courtiers of the pattern of Master Brown
went to follow the court, the treasurer and
The Exchequer House.
67
chamberlains to hover between the king's chamber
and treasury, while the legal barons went on
circuit in the provinces for the nice adjustment
of scutages and assarts. The marshal only was
left with his prisoners and tallies to dispose of.
But in the lower Exchequer, or Receipt, the deputy
chamberlains, the treasurer's clerk, and divers
clerks and serjeants, would be found hard at work
on occasion long after the barons had adjourned.
It is true that during the recess, the majority of
these clerks would return to their normal employ-
ment, being paid only for the session, those detained
on the king's business being recognisable by the
extra allowances awarded them, but even so some
regular official must have been in constant residence
at Westminster. Therefore, when the final act of
the session was accomplished-that is to say, when,
after compiling and checking (with much wrang-
ling in their respective master's honour) and sealing
the summonses to the sheriffs against the next
session, the clerks and scribes of the chancellor
and treasurer had returned to the chapel or scrip-
torium; when the four tellers had started in charge
of a treasure-train of lumbering carts and great
wooden hutches, that there might be no mysterious
leakage of silver pennies, and the deputy chamber-
lains had donned armour and mounted horse as
their escort to scare away marauders according to
the terms of their office, and the remaining officials
5-2
68
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
had taken a holiday like their betters, and finally
the marshal, after having seen the usher of the
barons' chamber safely on his way with the
summonses to be served upon the debtors of the
crown in every shire, had himself departed to
change the air of vaults and gaols for the breezes
of the Wiltshire Downs-even then the permanent
establishment of the Exchequer was represented
by the usher of the Receipt, who kept the keys,
and went the rounds of the building night and
morning, while the domestic servants of the absent
usher of the barons' chamber gave heed that there
was no leakage through the tiles upon the chequered
table, and that the moth and rust were excluded
from the hangings of the walls and the linen blinds
of the windows, being overlooked in turn by the
keeper of the king's palace, who was also warder
of the Fleet Prison.
So far the permanent existence of the Exchequer
appears to be established, and these contemporary
indications are confirmed by the unbroken evidence
of its later history since the beginning of the thir-
teenth century. A difficulty now arises, as we
have seen, in locating this permanent establish-
ment, at Westminster itself in the first instance,
and furthermore at any particular site within the
confines of the royal palace there.
The original position of the Exchequer chamber
seems to have been on the north-east side of
The Exchequer House.
69
<
Westminster Palace. There is, indeed, nothing
to prove this, except the immemorial tradition of
the position of the Receipt in that quarter, the
existence of ancient foundations alluded to by
Stowe, and the fact of the later transfer of the
Exchequer court to the north-west side of the
Hall of Rufus after the incorporation of the
Exchequer chamber with the common law courts.
We may assume, however, that the house of
the Exchequer' was situated in the river-garden of
the old palace. The new palace was admittedly
an abortive product of regal ambition, extending
no further than the Great Hall; but before long
other buildings of an equally official character were
grouped round it, including, in the middle of the
twelfth century, a state chapel and the Exchequer
house. On the west side of the Hall of Rufus
there may have been some temporary buildings,
though it is difficult to conjecture their official use,
for the constabulary and the more domestic offices
of the household dignitaries were probably located
in the basement of the old palace. There was
one other building within the precincts of the old
palace which has a greater interest than any other
in connection with the Exchequer. This is the
specula, or watch-tower, 'near unto the river
Thames,' in which the king's treasurer sat when
he was "in residence' at Westminster in the year
1177. This tower may be with some confidence
70
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
as
identified with the Norman structure which
formerly abutted on the east side of the Great
Hall. It may possibly be further identified with
certain chambers' which we know were provided
for the convenience of the barons in the reign of
King John. This tower, communicating directly
with the official staff of the king's chapel or
Chancery, and also with the king's chamber in
the interior of the old palace, and directly over-
looking the Receipt with its precious contents,
is the real key to the position of the ancient
Exchequer. The description of this tower
'near to the river' may have been necessary to
distinguish it from another tower at the south-
west angle of the old palace walls, being, indeed,
the point furthest removed from the river, and
which might be described in contra-distinction to
the other as 'near to the church.' The com-
munication between the old and new palaces was
apparently by a path from the north-east side
of the White Hall. This gave access to the
gardens and the river equally, or (by passing
through the doors of the chapel) to the watch-
tower and Exchequer house, and the south-east
side of the new palace yard. But whatever may
have been the exact situation of the Exchequer
house, we are enabled to form a fairly good idea
of its interior plan from the description in the
Dialogus.
The Exchequer House.
71
C
Here we have an upper and a lower Exchequer,
both apparently contained in the same building;
for though this appellation may have been merely
used to designate their respective importance, we
cannot ignore the descriptive sense of those terms
where greater and less would otherwise have
seemed more appropriate; and, indeed, we find
that the upper Exchequer is called the greater
equally with its officers when it was desired to
describe its importance rather than its position.
There are, however, several other references to
Exchequer houses. In the account of the
trial of the pyx given in the Dialogus we find
that the assayer carried the box containing the
sample coins selected by him from the heaps
undergoing the process of counting and weighing
in the Receipt from the lower to the upper Ex-
chequer, and after the coins had been examined,
and the pyx sealed by the Barons, he returned, as
it would appear, accompanied by the overseers
nominated on both sides, once more to the Receipt,
where the smelter, 'forewarned' of their approach,
had fanned the furnace to the necessary heat.
Then as soon as the operation was fairly accom-
plished, the party returned to the upper chamber
to weigh the molten silver in the presence of the
Barons. It is just possible, of course, that this opera-
tion was really carried out in the treasury of the
abbey, where the trial of the pyx was held down
72
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
<
to recent times. Each Exchequer was probably
divided into two chambers, the upper containing
the court-room and council chamber, and the lower
a counting-house, also used as a scriptorium, and
a treasury. This treasury, however, is described
by Elizabethan writers as adjoining the Receipt.
There were two ushers or door - keepers, the
principal one of whom held a quasi-hereditary
office in the upper Exchequer. It was his duty
to admit only those who had business to the
outer chamber,' and none but the Barons to the
'inner chamber.' It is significant that throughout
the reign we find this officer paid out of the
farm of London. The usher of the Receipt was
specially charged with the custody of the treasury
door, and he also provided all the necessary
implements at a fixed rate, including ink, pur-
chased by him from the sacristan of Westminster.
Especial emphasis is laid in the Dialogus on the
fact that, unlike every other member of the Ex-
chequer, the usher of the upper or Barons' chamber
(who was employed at the close of the session in
serving the new summonses on the sheriffs)
was employed as a permanent domestic servant
of the treasurer and chamberlains. This is
proof that the Exchequer treasury
formed a
permanent department at Westminster, and this
disposes of the suggestion that after the session
the officers of the Exchequer were transferred to
.་
The Exchequer House.
73
Winchester, together with the contents of the
treasury. It was probably also the duty of the
senior usher to see that the Barons' chambers were
duly swept and aired during the recess, for we
read that he was assisted in his duties by the
servants of his family. Finally, we have seen that
at the beginning of the fourteenth century the
barons sent for the two ushers of the Exchequer at
Westminster before the recess, and directed them
as to special precautions to be taken for the
custody of its contents, and this later notice may
be fairly considered as explanatory of the earlier
practice indicated in the Dialogus.
From the end of the thirteenth century onwards,
owing to disastrous fires and ambitious schemes of
reconstruction, the external position and internal
arrangements of the ancient houses were changed
beyond all possibility of recognition. The nature
of the principal changes that were made in the
official economy of the royal Exchequer can, how-
ever, be roughly ascertained, and will be found to
consist in the complete separation of the Barons'
chamber, now dignified with the real, instead of
the honorary, appellation of a court, from the
lower Exchequer, and its removal to more com-
modious premises on the opposite side of the
Great Hall. The Receipt, however, still retained
its ancient site until comparatively recent times,
now occupying, apparently, both floors of the
74
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Exchequer house, and administered by an augmented
and more dignified official staff, but retaining with
the new establishment all the ancient usages and
practice of the old.
Although the Exchequer was usually held at
Westminster, yet, like the king's court and the
treasury itself, it was occasionally located in some
other place, though rarely for more than the
duration of a single session. In the stormy reign
of King John the Exchequer was twice removed to
Northampton, in the 10th and 11th years. In
the 18th year of Edward I. it was ordered to be
held at the Husting in the City of London. In
the 26th year of the same reign, and again in the
15th year of Edward II., the Exchequer, including
the Receipt and all the treasure, rolls, tallies, etc.,
was moved bodily to York, owing to the exigencies
of the Scotch war. Here a council chamber or
court was specially prepared for the Barons within
the castle, the accounts being taken in the great
hall of the castle, while the Receipt department
found accommodation in the castle tower, which
was newly furnished with bolts and bars for the
safe keeping of the treasure. The records were
then transferred with every precaution, and under
the personal supervision of the sheriffs of the
several counties to be traversed. We read in a
contemporary chronicler that they filled twenty-
two carts, though the official return only gives
The Exchequer House.
75
eighteen. It is curious to find here already an
elaborate division of the Exchequer into official
departments, to each of which one or more carts
was assigned. The sessions of the Exchequer were
so frequently held at York at this time that an
alternative scale of allowances or journey money
for the sheriffs was prepared according as the
Exchequer happened to be in London or at York.
During the whole of the earlier period of its
existence the Exchequer was sometimes supple-
mented by local Exchequers which might or might
not be permanent. Such apparently were the
Exchequers held at Salisbury, Oxford, Northampton
and Winchester. There was an Exchequer for
Wales at Carnarvon and Chester, besides those at
Carlisle and Berwick, presumably for Scotland,
under Edward I.'s protectorship, while the Ex-
chequer at Dublin was very perfectly elaborated.
The Exchequer of the Jews formed a parallel de-
partment to the central court, and there was also
an Exchequer in the Tower in connection with the
mint, and another, doubtless, in the Wardrobe.
There seems to have been a private Exchequer at
one, at least, of the king's hunting palaces, Wood-
stock. The great Bishop of Winchester had an
Exchequer of his own at Wolverley, with machinery
capable of producing miniature Pipe Rolls of bailiffs'
accounts, and this Exchequer was utilized by the
crown during the vacancy of the see.
76
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
The last removal of the Exchequer for reasons
of state took place in the year 1643, when it was
established at Oxford together with a royalist
Parliament. It was, however, revived at West-
minster in 1654 by the lord protector, and
quickly adapted itself to the new methods of
finance which arose from the ruins of the old
feudal revenue of the crown.
In September, 1666, the Exchequer was once
more removed, this time only as far as Nonsuch,
in the time of ye late dreadful fire in London.'
The removal, which was by water, occupied
several days. Seven barges were pressed for the
purpose by the troops who were employed in
guarding the treasure and records, which lay
scattered in process of packing from Monday to
Friday. At the same time the goods and furniture
of the several resident officers were also removed.


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CHAPTER IV.
THE OFFICERS OF THE EXCHEQUER.
HE clerical establishment of the Exchequer as
TH
it existed in the latter part of the twelfth
century will be found to have undergone very few
changes during the seven hundred years which
elapsed since its first institution. Just as there were
two distinct departments of the Exchequer house—
the upper and the lower-so each had its appropriate
staff of officers. In the case of the lower Exchequer,
however, it was laid down, as early as the twelfth
century, that here the barons or clerks of the
upper house were directly represented by their
respective deputies or subordinates, and the cor-
rectness of this assertion may to some extent be
realized by the following classification of the offices
in existence during the reign of Henry II.:
UPPER EXCHEQUER.
President.
Treasurer.
*Treasurer's scribe.
*Clerk of the rolls.
LOWER EXCHEQuer.
Treasurer's clerk.
78
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
UPPER EXCHequer.
LOWER EXCHEquer.
Chancellor
Chancellor's clerk.
*Chancellor's scribe.
Constable.
Marshal.
*Constable's clerk.
Deputy chamberlains.
Chamberlains.
*Cutter of the tallics.
*Knight assayer.
*Melter.
Usher.
Tellers.
Weigher.
Watchman.
Clerks, Serjeants, Porters,
Messengers.
Of the above officials, the president was nor-
mally the justiciar, who represented the sovereign
in this as in other capacities. He had the exercise
of patronage from the appointment of an usher to
the farm of a manor, held Exchequer pleas, and
supervised the issue of writs of allowance, etc., to
accountants on behalf of the crown.
The chancellor represented the equitable power
of the Curia in the Exchequer. There he was the
nominal custodian of the great seal, and he checked
the accuracy of the treasurer's records in the com-
position of his own rescripts. At his disposal was
a scribe, who copied the great roll, word for word,
from the treasurer's clerk, to form the antigraph
known as the chancellor's roll. Together with
this scribe, the chancellor owned a clerk, whose
chief duty it was to overlook his brother of the
The Officers of the Exchequer.
79
1
!
pen to ensure additional accuracy, for such was
the authority of the great roll that its dictum
would have been maintained in spite of manifest
right and equity, were it not possible to check its
accuracy by means of this careful rescript. Then,
if the chancellor challenged the authority of the
leading record, the question at issue was argued
before the Barons and decided by them.
The constable was actively employed, with the
assistance of his clerk, in paying stipends out of
the Receipt of the Exchequer to royal officers and
other claimants, after duly investigating their
claims. He was also called upon to attest writs
with the justiciar.
The marshal's duty was to keep the writs
and the returned tallies of the sheriffs' creditors
in bundles for each county, to take charge of
offenders committed to his custody for contempt
of the court, and to take the accountants' oaths.
It was also his privilege to pay the salaries and
allowances of Exchequer officials; but as these
latter were experts, and the coinage of the period.
none of the finest, it was found necessary to
ordain that, if any official noticed a wrong amount
or indifferent coinage in the payment made to him
(on the spot) he might seek redress, but once
beyond the door none of his money was ever ex-
changed.
The tallies proper were made by a regular
80
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
•
'cutter,' the chamberlain's serjeant. It will be
seen in the next chapter that the system was
identical with that of the Exchequer table and the
Exchequer dots, holding the middle place in point
of financial development between the two, between
picture-writing, that is, on the one hand, and
shorthand on the other.
The chamberlains were two highly-dignified
officials, who assisted the treasurer in his arduous
labours and shared the responsibilities of his office.
The clerk of the rolls provided suitable scribes,
and superintended their labours in the scrip-
torium.
The office of the treasurer was the most im-
portant of any. He had the superintendence of
every department, but his especial care was in the
matter and composition of the great roll. This
was written by his clerk on sheep-skins specially
selected. Each single roll was usually composed
of two large membranes, and had lines ruled on it
from top to bottom. The headings and entries.
were made at regular intervals, and according to
established form and order. In case of a clerical
error, no erasure was ever permitted, but an inter-
lineation was made when necessary, to which regu-
lation the use of sheep-skins is attributable, these
being most sensitive to erasure.
Besides these important officials, there were two
other fiscal experts nominated by the justiciar
The Officers of the Exchequer.
8r
or treasurer-the master of assays and the assayer
---whose duties will be explained in another place.
The four tellers, though here in a subordinate
position, became officers of considerable dignity in
Tudor and Stuart times, when, in fact, their duties
were performed by deputies.
The deputy chamberlains were the most charac-
teristic officers of the Receipt, where, with the
treasurer's clerk, they superintended the entire
operations connected with the housing of the
treasure and records and, under the direction of
the treasurer and chamberlains, of the payment of
money-orders.
The office of usher was in reality a place of
considerable importance and profit. It was granted
by Henry II., early in his reign, to Roger of
Wallingford, or Roger of the Exchequer, in
whose family it was long continued. This office
was held by serjeantry, and several of the duties
belonging to it were performed by deputies.
There were numerous clerks or serjeants of the
Receipt who were employed both in manual opera-
tions, such as packing and carting the treasure, and
also as messengers.
It is to be observed, however, that those officers
marked with an asterisk in the above list were
properly members of the Receipt, or of the depart-
ment known as the scriptorium. These, then,
by a military figure of speech, were designated as
6
82
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
the soldiers' of the superior officers, just as
'pawns' were employed in the chess-game itself.
Most of these offices, indeed, were held in fee, or
by the performance of some serjeanty, in the same
way that so many household offices were held dur-
ing the Middle Ages. Thus the famous Countess
of Albemarle, Isabella de Fortibus, was a cham-
berlain of the Exchequer, and appointed her own
seneschal, Adam de Stratton, as her deputy. It was
difficult in any case for the great officers of state
to give a regular attendance at thé Exchequer,
on account of their necessary attendance on the
king's person.
Thus, in course of time, the
chancellor, chamberlains, constable, and marshal
ceased to attend, and new clerical officers per-
formed their duties. The office of justiciar was
extinct before the reign of Edward I., and the
practical administration of the revenue fell into
the hands of the treasurer and barons.
Between the reign of Henry II. and that of
Edward II. the establishment and constitution
of the Exchequer were permanently settled, several
important administrative changes being rendered
necessary by the continued non-residence of certain
officers of the upper chamber. The close connec-
tion which existed, in the days of Richard Fitz-
Nigel, between the clerks of the king's chapel and
the scriptorium of the Receipt, had come to an
end with the erection of a chancery department

The Officers of the Exchequer.
83
at the close of the twelfth century. The chan-
cellor, with his vigilant clerk and skilful scribe,
being now employed in other business of state, it
was necessary that their places should be filled by
other officers in order to continue the control of
the treasurer's department, which the crown had
from the first so jealously exercised. From this
time onward, therefore, the duties hitherto per-
formed by the chancellor's staff and special com-
missioners, like Richard of Ilchester and Master
Thomas Brown, were assigned to a new sub-
division of the Exchequer itself. In appearance
the change was only in name. The comptroller
of the Pipe was the new title of the old scribe of
the chancery, while the chancellor's clerk became
dignified with the familiar title of chancellor of
the Exchequer, just as new offices had formerly
been created for the deputies of the king's con-
stable, marshal, and chamberlains. A little later
still another officer, called the clerk of the writs,
was added to the ex-chancery staff. At the same
time the treasurer himself, being now more
seriously engaged with state affairs, delegated a
large part of his personal duties to his own clerk
and scribe, who were henceforth better known as
the under-treasurer of the Exchequer and the clerk
of the Pipe respectively. The real significance of
these official changes lies in the fact that the whole
staff was for the first time united under the direct
6—2
3
2
84
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
control of the treasurer, the audit of the revenue
being checked in the department itself by a simple
process of account.
Other material changes in the establishment of
the Exchequer were due to the great expansion of
its duties at the beginning of the fourteenth
century. In the reign of Henry II. it had been
the custom for the barons to reserve certain points
of daily practice for consideration until the close
of the audit, which memoranda, as they were
termed, were entered upon a separate roll. In
course of time these legal notes were considerably
augmented through the rapid expansion of the
revenue and the increased difficulty of collecting
it. To facilitate this work a new officer was
appointed in the reign of Henry III., called the
Remembrancer. This officer kept the Memoranda
Roll, issued processes for the recovery of the king's
debts, and acted, in fact, as the solicitor to the
treasury. As was usual at this time, the office
was executed by two separate clerks, each of
whom checked the other, and who were styled
respectively the lord treasurer's and the king's
Remembrancers. There had also been in use, from
the reign of Henry II., a systematic registration of
every sum of money received at the Receipt in the
roll kept by the treasurer's clerk. It is probable
that a similar record was preserved of the sums
disbursed there. In any case the two rolls, called
The Officers of the Exchequer.
85
1
respectively the receipt roll and the issue roll,
were made up daily, for each term, from the
reign of Henry III., the officer in charge of them
being thenceforth styled the clerk of the pells.
This was the origin of the Pells Office of the
Exchequer. The customary check
upon the pro-
ceedings of the clerk of the pells was furnished
by the appointment of a new officer, the auditor
of the Receipt, who recorded in duplicate the
several receipts and issues.
It was already found difficult at the end of the
twefth century to include the entire statement of
account prepared by the treasurer every Michael-
mas within the compass of the Pipe Roll, and it
was not long before a change of practice was
made in the preparation of the annual rolls, which
gave rise to several new offices. These were the
auditors of foreign accounts (every source of revenue
not included in the Pipe Roll being called 'foreign'),
the clerk of the Estreats, the foreign apposer, and
the clerk of the Nichils, the nature of whose em-
ployment will be described in another place.
The following notice of the establishment of
the Exchequer in the fifteenth year of Edward II.
is interesting, not only on account of its probably
unique character, but also for the mention it con-
tains of the germ of certain offices which were
not previously known to have existed at this date.
The occasion of the return was the removal of
86.
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
J
the Exchequer from Westminster to York before
alluded to, when the barons who had met to
arrange the details of the removal assigned the
provision of carts made for this purpose in the
following proportions:
The office of Adam de Lymbergh, king's Remem-
brancer
The office of William de Fulburne, treasurer's
Remembrancer
The office of William de Everdon and R[obert] de
Wottone
The office of John de Catfelde
The office of W. de Bereford, justice of the bench
The office of Adam de Herewyngtone
The office of the chamberlains of the Receipt
The same for the counter-tallies
-
2 carts.
3 carts.
2 carts.
I cart.
-
2 carts.
3 carts.
2 carts.
2 carts.
Now, although only two Remembrancers are
known to have existed at this date, it is a curious
fact that both William de Everdon and Robert de
Wotton were admitted and acting as such, though
apparently in a subordinate position, and it is pro-
bable that we see here the germ of the later office
of secondary of the Remembrancers. John de Cat-
felde probably represented the Pells or Auditors
departments; William de Bereford was evidently
responsible for the Records of the King's Bench
and Common Pleas; Adam de Herewyngtone was
deputy chamberlain, and doubtless had charge of
the furniture of the office, or perhaps of the
treasure-chests; while the remaining contents of
The Officers of the Exchequer.
87
the Receipt, including the marshal's tallies, were
included in the last two entries.
This, indeed, was the age of reorganization at
the Exchequer, as we know from the several
statutes and ordinances which were framed, doubt-
less at the instance of energetic treasurers like
Bishop Stapleton. But although the Exchequer
attained its highest perfection as a court of
revenue long before the close of the Middle Ages,
its establishment did not reach its greatest dimen-
sions until the close of the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth, as may be readily gathered from the following
instructive table of offices and fees in the year 1593:
Lord High Treasurer, £368, and his robes.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, £113 6s. 8d., and his livery.
Lord Chief Baron, £100, and £20 as justice of assize, and
his livery.
Barons, £40 13s. 4d., and livery.
Queen's Remembrancer, £55 14s. 4d., and livery.
Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, £64 2s. 1d., and livery.
Clerk of the Pipe, £65 4s. 2d.
Comptroller of the Pipe, 15 2s.
Five Auditors (each), £10.
Foreign Apposer, £16 13s. 4d.
Clerk of Estreats, £15.
Clerk of the Pleas, £5.
Two Marshals (each), £2 10s.
Clerk of the summonses, £4.
Two Deputy Chamberlains (each), £5.
Two secondaries of the Queen's Remembrancer, £4.
Three secondaries of the Pipe, £15.
Pipe office clerk for offering amercements, £9 13s. 4d.
Queen's Remembrancer's clerk for writing fines and
amercements to crown, £7 13s. 4d.
88.
1
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer's clerk for affeering
amercements, £22 10s.
Clerk of the Pleas, £61.
Ushers of the court, £140.
Eight porters (each), £4, and livery.
Two chamberlains (each), £52 3s. 4d., and livery.
Under-treasurer of England, £173, and livery.
Clerk of the tallies, £41 13s. 4d., and livery.
Clerk of the Pells, £61 16s. 8d.
Four Tellers (each), £31 13s.
Two joiners of tallies (each), £10.
Clerk to write tallies of comptrolment, £9.
Porter of bags and treasurer's keys, £6 6s. 8d.
Four messengers (each), 41d. per diem.
Writers of the declaration of revenues of court, £30.
1
Grooms of the Receipt, £2, and allowance for parchment.
Ushers of Receipt for all extras, paper, wax, etc., £206.
Nearly a century later the composition of the
Exchequer staff is found to be almost exactly the
same. It appears, however, by a return of the
state of the civil list in 1679 that the salaries of
all the officers had been largely augmented. On
the other hand, they were considerably in arrears,
though to a less extent than those of most other
public offices-that is to say, only some two years
all round instead of eighteen years. The later
establishments, from Anne to George III., exhibit
few changes, though from the latter reign, of course,
the suppression of the more ancient and useless
offices proceeded very fast. The chamberlains.
were abolished in 1782, and in 1784 the appoint-
ment of commissioners for auditing the public
The Officers of the Exchequer.
89
accounts paved the way for greater changes.
Finally, in 1833, the account side, or the Barons'
chamber, was swept away, and the lower house, or
Receipt, shared the same fate. The office of Queen's
Remembrancer alone survived, with the exception
of the now obsolete functions of the chancellor of
the Exchequer as a baron of the court.
The
practical work of the Exchequer was henceforth
performed by the modern departments of the
Paymaster-general and Treasury itself, whilst the
place of the Receipt was more commodiously occu-
pied by the Bank of England.
From very early times the officers of the
Exchequer had enjoyed complete immunity from
ordinary taxation and other liabilities of the sub-
ject, and this privilege was guarded by them with
great jealousy and remarkable success. Thus in
all returns for scutage, Danegeld, or other general
assessments, they were specially excepted by name,
and these exceptions form a principal means of
identifying the members of the court.
As late as
the year 1690 a special representation was made
by the lords of the treasury for the exemption of
Exchequer officials from service in the militia on
the ground of their immemorial privilege. This
was based on the ancient liberties and customs of
the court, whereby its members could not be
called away to answer any civil action while they
were engaged in the king's service. The great
90
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
$
precedent book of the Exchequer is full of cases
in point carefully entered by the officials for their
own protection. These privileges gave great
offence to less favoured servants of the crown.
The author of the Dialogus relates an anecdote
of a scene which took place at the Exchequer under
Henry II., when the barons were in danger of
losing their immunity from taxation owing to the
representations made to the king by certain jealous
courtiers. Contemporary satirists were also fond
of drawing attention to the pedantry and exclusive-
ness of the official staff, who neglected the service
of the altar, to which they were professed, for the
rites of the Exchequer table, and who were better
versed in the mysteries of the Great Roll than in
the teaching of the Scriptures. There is certainly
a spirit of professional pride, and a callousness to
the sufferings and wrongs of an overtaxed people,
observable in the financial administration during
the Middle Ages, together with a strong suspicion
of personal corruption, and the popular feeling
expressed on this subject by the early satirists
found some justification in the scandals, punished
from time to time by the crown or Parliament, to
say nothing of the terrible outbreaks of popular
indignation connected with the names of Wat
Tyler and Jack Cade.
The official life and surroundings of an officer of
the king's Exchequer during the Middle Ages
The Officers of the Exchequer.
91
differed little from that of any other trusted
courtier or learned priest, or skilful scribe in a
country which has been well described by a great
historian as a 'paradise of clerks.' The early
training in schools and scriptorium was the same,
for all alike a dreary curriculum. The practice in
the Exchequer and the course of promotion were
equally unvarying. Literature was a real solace
to some few, while others rose or fell in the
slippery ways of politics. The typical official,
however, like Alexander de Swereford, the arch-
deacon, and Bishop Stapleton, had no thought or
interest outside their allotted or self-appointed
tasks. During the sessions and terms of the
Exchequer they devoted their whole attention to
the financial interests of the crown. In their
leisure hours they arranged the records of the court,
or compiled monumental works of official reference.
They lived and died in harness, and their autobio-
graphy may be found in a crabbed official hand
covering the surface of a thousand parchment rolls,
the record of a life's work at the Exchequer.
With the beginning of a new era of personal
monarchy and social interest the officers of the
Exchequer appear in a more humane aspect. Men
like the two Fanshawes were at once skilful officials
and shrewd men of the world, the personal friends
of statesmen like Winchester, Mildmay, and Cecil.
Their official correspondence is infinitely varied, and
}
92
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
<
admits us behind the scenes of many an episode
of Elizabethan statecraft. The semi-official corre-
spondence is even more interesting, illustrating
the relations which existed between Elizabethan
ministers and permanent heads' of departments.
If Burleigh's coal-merchant is arrested for debt in
the act of delivering his lordship's winter supply
of fuel, Mr. Fanshawe is requested to settle the
matter by an official stroke of the pen. If another
honest tradesmen has been informed against for
unwittingly breaking the statute by wearing a silk
nightcap, he is sent, cap and all, to the obliging
Remembrancer, with his lordship's private request
that he will end the matter with the Customers
and let him go.'
The private correspondence is the most valuable
of all for our present purpose, and throws a strong
light upon the domestic life of a Tudor official.
Two letters have been selected for this purpose.
The first is one of many similar epistles, written by
the wife of one of Fanshawe's colleagues to her
husband during his absence from his country-seat
on the business of the Exchequer. The other is ap-
parently written by the mother-in-law of a famous
Exchequer lawyer.
MR. GAMAGE,
After
my
verie hartie commendations unto
you, you shall understand that I haue sent in the
The Officers of the Exchequer.
93
basket a copple of henes, a chesse, a dussen of
puddinges, fortie egges, and some apples to fill
upp the basket. Also there are iiij puddinges for
Edmond Wright out of the bagge. Goodman
Birche hathe appointed wth one to paye you
certayne money at London; whether you haue
receavid it or not I know not. The small hogges
that Hewet had are come home little or nothinge
the better for their goinge. If Balstons prove no
better, we shall haue no porkers, except we feed
them with beanes. Bigge Fridaye's wif hathe
caused the corne to be thresshed out which was
distrayned for the debte due to Harrise, and
Harise prayeth you if you may speake with
Mr. Cirsten to geve him knowledge thereof and
see what remedie there may be had against them
that thresshed it. I thank you for your orrenges
wch
you sent me, but they were verie muche brused.
Thus wth my hartie commendations to my brother
and sister I leaue to troble you at this present.
From Kingsey this second of February.
Your lovinge wif
DOROTHE GAMAGE.
MY BEASSE,
I prethe commend my kind love to Kitt,
and tell him yt I am nowe at Hartingfordburye soe
I cannot speake wth my aunt tell Saterdaye consarn-
inge ye cloke: but if he have a desier to make it
94
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
up before ye time he maye do it for I am suer she
will sell it and I thinke her prise will be reason-
able and especially to his frind. Ye next time
Hale cometh after I have spoken wth her he shall
knowe ye prise. I have sent the a letle provision
agen this time, but I cold wish it were much
beter. Ther is a goose pye, a netes tounge pye,
and a mutton pastie for standers for thy table this
Crismas, for a nede, I knowe they will last tell
twelftide for they ar now newe baked. I have
sent the a goose and ij capens alive for feare they
wold not last tell ye holy daies if they had bin
killed, but I wish the to kill them on Saterday at
ye furdest lest they growe worse. I hope they ar
fatt nowe therfore it were pitye they should fall.
Ther is ij cheses, such as I have, and a pott of buter
to make thy pyecrust because thou shalt spare thy
firkin still tell Lent. If thou be wise perswade
Kitt to make no more doings then neds must this
Cristmas because of sparinge of his purse for ye
first daye of ye terme. I prethe doe soe much as
bestoe for me vjd or viijd in sume oringes or lemons
or ij poun siterns and sende them downe nowe by
Hale. I wold have them to give to my La: Per-
nerton wth sum other things (capens) for a New-
yers Guift
Guift. I mene to give it nowe before I ge
backe. I have nowe sent the my best fine sheete
because thou hadst a mind to it for thy Newyers
Guift I wold I wer able to give the and Kitt as
The Officers of the Exchequer.
95
good a Newyers Guift as I cold wish but as thou
lovest me send me none but this that I desier the,
a pair of cut fingred strong longe gloves, not
white, to wer every day, of viijd; and I prethe send
me a mask for my selfe for I was dreven to send
away my setten on to Nan Darnall for a token and
my other is verye bad; and so wth my best wishes
to thee & Kitt I rest
Thy Mother S. D.
I prethe good Bes have a good sisterly care over
Mall for nowe she is in ye makeng or marring.
Make her goe clenly & nete in her clothes, and
call on her for reding and writing, and locke what
nesaries she doeth want let her have them: when
I com I will recken with the for all. I prethe let
her goe abrod wth the whene it is fitt she may goe
yt she may lerne howe to behave her selfe by seing
of others. And so agen far well Comend me to
my pretye boyes and give them ther aple pastis
from me.
I am sorrye I have no beter thing to
send my prety knaves. I pray God in Heaven
blesse them and all our postrity. Amen.
Ther is
for every on a pasty, on for the. I have sent up
thy fether for she if thou thinkest good, if hats be
in fashon, or els twill do her no good.
I have sent the a rabet for thy super for it will
not last, thou sholdes have had a cople if I cold
got them.
96
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
I
protest to thee I have not had an egge ilaied
of my owne hens since thou wentest to London;
nor I thinke shall not till Shrovtide, nor we can
scerse get any here or els I wold send L mor then
I doe.
Ye capens fed themselves, they were not cramed.
[Endorsed] TO MRIS VERNON.
This be
d.d.
It would appear from the above and many
similar letters of the period that the new school of
clerks were more occupied in the pursuit of
private wealth than in the scientific investigations
of their mediæval predecessors. There were, of
course, others whose duties necessitated a perma-
nent residence at Westminster, and whose every-
day life is faithfully described in the curious and
unique document which is printed below.
R
RIGHT HONOURABLE AND MY SINGLER good Mr
My humble duetie withe weepinge teares
remembred. It may please yo' honoure to under-
stande that on Frydaye beinge the xxth of this pre-
sente Marche all the tellers and other officers of the
Receipt were in their severall offices, where they
contynewed till xj of the clokke of the same daye,
at whiche tyme they breake uppe, leavinge their
The Officers of the Exchequer.
97
/
offices in safetie (as they have ben accustomed) to
my custodie and chardge; so departinge they went
their waies: after whose departure I shut the dores,
barringe and lockinge the same and brought the
kaies therof into my kitchen, where I hanged the
same upon an yron hooke appoyncted & dryven
into one ende of the mantel-tree of the same
kitchen chymeney. In the whiche kitchen I with
my wief and famylie have used to make our most
abode bothe at worke dyner and supper. And at
night afore wee goe to our beddes I with some of
the rest of my servauntes haue used to take the
same kayes and to open the dores of the same
Receipt to viewe the same under the bordes &
all other corners, whiche doone I haue likewise
used to locke the same and so to bringe the kaies
therof into my bed chamber where also uppon a
like nayle or hooke I hange the same untill the
next morninge. This notwithstanding my right
honourable & singuler good Mr. I consideringe
this myssehappe and most unfortunate chaunce to
come onlye throughe myne owne faulte and more
then beastly neglygence in so lewdelye abusinge
my self, neyther wayeinge myne allegeaunce whiche
I owe to my moste gratiouse soveraigne the
queenes royall matie, neither ponderinge myne othe
whiche I tooke at my first cominge to the same,
neyther yet consideringe the greate credite comytted
unto me of so great a make of tresere, of all others
7
98
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
..
moste unworthy the same, all whiche considerations
(right honourable) dryve me to bewaile my
wretched fortune and happe to come from God
onelie most justelye for my neglygent servinge of
God, whiche is the utter undoinge of me my poure
wief, child & famylie for ever. For the whiche
I am moste hartelie sorry euen from the verie
bottom of my wretched & myserable hart
(Almightie God is bothe witnes and judge of the
same, bedewed withe salte & wepinge teares
daye & night). But alas this sore can nowe in
no waies bee salved, consideringe my poure estate
and lacke, but onlye by the queenes highnes most
mercifull pardone and forgyveness of the same.
In liewe whereof I confesse myself to deserve her
highnes most grevous and hevie displeasure. The
remembrance therof considered dothe and shall
greeve me dueringe my lief. And furder waigh-
inge the haynous offence by me commytted against
my verye good lord, my lord threasurer, whome
God longe preserve, whose great goodness both I
and myne have often felte to our great comforte.
Moreover the consideracon whiche I nowe see and
fele in abusinge the great goodnes of yo honoure
extended towardes me dyverse tymes in callinge
upon mee to looke warelie and carefullie to my
chardge, office and servauntes, all whiche con-
siderations advertisementes and good wareninges
mought have sufficed enoughe and to to well, if I
The Officers of the Exchequer.
99
myserable wretche had not been to to forgetfull,
lewde and neglygent. And lastelie when I con-
sider that I stande bounde unto S Percivall Harte,
Knight, gentleman Hussher of the Receipt and
Starchamber in the some of 500 to save him
harmeles ageinst the queenes highnes for his said
offices (unles I maye taste the compassion of my
said good lord threasurer's helpe and your honours)
I certeynely know and shall assuredly feele the
utter destruction of mee and myne in this world
for euer. But alas why doe I thus longe trouble
your honoure whereas I ought rather go too the
matter, namelie where how and when I withe
my evell servauntes haue bestowed our selfes ;
from Friday firste mentioned untill the Mondaye
then next following, at whiche tyme about ix
of the clocke the same mysfortune was first
espied.
For true declaration wherof it may please your
honour to understand that the same Frydaye in the
afternoone I withe other the hed boroughes of West-
minster did attend on Mr Hodgeson for the survey
of the commen sewer of Westminster by comande-
ment of my said good L. Treasurer. In the same
present tyme I sent Wm Marshall to Mr Taillo
withe a byll obligary for xli to be repayed at the
feast of Pentycost next, whiche money the same
Marshall brought me about vj of the clocke at
night. And for bycause my other ij servauntes
7-2
100
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
were appoyncted to receyve the holly comunyon
on the morrowe, being Satterday and Easter even,
withe my ij mayd servauntes, I commaunded theym
to prepare theym selfes, their clothes and neces-
saries for the worthy and decent receyving of the
same; so that during that tyme I requered of
theym no manyer attendaunce nor service. The
next day being Satterdaye they and my said mayd
servauntes did receyve the same holly communyon,
whiche done they came home and dyned wt me at
myne owne table, and after dynner walked abrode
till evening prayer tyme where they abode in the
churche dureing the same, which finisshed they
went into Westminster Hall and there played
secretlye by the space of one houre or thereabout,
I and my wief standinge by and beholding the
same. And then the night approaching I com-
anded theym to leave of their playe and to shutt
and barre and locke the dores of the Receipt: and
broughte the kaies into my chamber and hanged
theym upon the nayle dryven into a post fast by
my beddeside, where they remayned till the mor-
rowe being Easter daye and about vij of the
clocke Will Marshall tooke the same bunches of
kayes sayeing, 'Sir, I will looke into the Receipt
to se if all thinges bee well,' and retorning brought
the same kayes and placed theym as before uppon
the same post, sayeing 'All is well.' That same
daie I and my wief receyved the same holly com-
m
;
The Officers of the Exchequer.
IOI
munion; my said servauntes attending on us brought
us to the paroche church where duering dyvine
service I thinke they remayned also, for at our
departure from the said churche about x of the
clokke we came home where I leaving my wief
and mayd servauntes I and my men servauntes
went ageyn to the Colledge and parisshe churche
where also we contynewed till xj of the clokke.
At which houre we tooke our dynner accompanyed
with iij or iiijor poure old women, the whiche
receyved the same day also. In the afternoone of
the same daye, ymediatly after dynner, I with my
wief and my mother, my doughter and Edmund
Gilbert, went into St Georges Field by the bote of
one Roger of Wastminster, waterman, and return-
inge backe went to the Churche to eveninge
prayer; whiche fynished I with other hed boroughes
went into the vestrie to heare and ende a matter in
travers between the wiefes of Wattes and Wheatley
complaynauntes, and the wief of Darloe defendaunt,
whiche wee could not ende at that tyme. And
from thence I went home to supper and so by
daye lyght to our beddes. The next morning
being Easter Mondaye, about vj of the clok I sent
my servaunt Marshall to Mr Hodgson for the
same survey according to his owne appoynetement
made the Satterday before, whiche survey at his
first comyng was not done; whiche fynisshed he
brought unto me in the churche, and being perused
I02
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
*
over wee founde the mystakinge of one some,
wheruppon it was agreed that Mr John Dodington
& I should in the afternoone of the same daye
meete together at his house for the new wryting of
the same warrant and survey. All this afternoone
Marshall attended upon me. And being ap-
poyncted the next morninge to send ageyne for
the same survey, being Tuysdaye, about vj or vij
of the clok in the morning I sent William Mar-
shall ageyn, appoincteinge him to mete M' Baylief
of Westminster, Mr Dodd and my self at the iij
Cranes in the Vintrie. In the meane tyme we
lerned that my lord threasurer and my lord of
Leicester should dyne at Mr Clarencieulx, wher in
the said after noone we wayted on his lordship
from whome wee receyved order to bring the
Surveiour unto his lordshippe, during which fore-
none Edmond and William wayted on mee, but in
the after noone Wm Marshall wayted on me alone
and Edmund and Gilbert remayned at my house
at the Receipt. The same Tuisdaye, at night,
William Marshall desired leave of me to lye that
night at his owne house in Longdiche. The next
morning being Wensdaye the same William cam
about vij of the clock into my bedchamber saye-
ing, Sir I will goe see if all things be in safetie and
well in the Receipt, taking the ij bonches of Kaies
withe him. And, as he sayed, founde all thinges
well; wheruppon he retorninge withe the same
The Officers of the Exchequer.
103
r
Kaies hanged theym uppon the same nayle nighe
my said bedside. In the meane while I comanded
him to dresse and bring myne apparell that I
mought rise and go to the churche being our Lady
daye, whiche thing he did accordingly; duering
whiche tyme my other men servauntes made theym
redye to wayte on me to the churche, about viij of
the clokke, where I remayned sitting withe M¹ Bil-
lesby till about ix or neare x of the clokk, at
whiche tyme Mr Hogeson came and requested the
openyning of the Receipt dores, whiche were
opened unto him, sayeing to William 'Have you
not a bolt to this dore' who answered, 'No.'
'Give me then ye kayes and I and my man Piers
wilbe occupied her this houre.' But as sone as he
came to the toppe of the Tellinge Lofte he spied
duste in Mr Freakes office, and going a litle
furder towardes his owne office, spiede his owne
chiste to be spoyld and broken and a great hole
over Mr Freakes office, whiche so amased him that
he came runnyng downe the Tellinge loft stares
and sent his man to the churche for me in all the
haste; and sent also for Mr Petre, untell whose
comyng he wold not approche nere his said cheste.
Thys if it may please yo honour is the whole
some of my knowlege towching this my mysfor-
tune to the utter undoinge for ever bothe of me
and all myne if my good lord Treasurer and yo
honour have not pitie on me whiche I desire for
104
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Christe Jesus sake who long preserve yor honoures
in good healthe wth the encrease of muche honour.
Written in the Marshalsie, this xxix of Marche
1573
By yo' most humble wretched
[To St Wa. Mildmaye.]
Servaunte
W. STANTON.
-
The following report of the ceremony of the
installation of the lord high treasurer throws
much light on the internal economy of the Ex-
chequer in the reign of Queen Anne. It is printed
here from the Black Book of the Exchequer :
Monday, the 11th day of May, 1702, the
Right Hon. Sydney Lord Godolfin having had
the staff of Lord Treasurer delivered to him by
Queen Anne, on Sunday the 10th instant, on the
11th he came, about the hour of 10 in the morning,
to the house of Lord Halifax, the Auditor of the
Receipt of the Exchequer, where he was attended
with many Earls, Barons, Privy Councillors, the
King's Attorney and Solicitor, and other persons
of quality; they being assembled in the two great
rooms were treated with chocolate, etc., by the
said Lord Halifax. The proceedings began from
thence; a great number of gentlemen in swords
and coats, pell mell, the Clerks of the Treasury,
Auditors of the Exchequer, Secretaries, Officers,
The Officers of the Exchequer.
105
etc., and amongst them the officers of the Ex-
chequer, having no gowns (who should have
marched in their proper places if they had gowns);
then the Usher of the Exchequer in his gown, the
Clerk of the Pells, Clerk and Tally-writers' Clerk
in gowns, the Tally-cutter, the Deputy Clerk of
the Pells, the two Deputy Chamberlains, the
Marshall of the Exchequer, the Auditors, viz., the
Lord Halifax on the right hand of Mr. Lownds,
the Secretary to the Lord Treasurer, the Lord
Treasurer's Sargeant-at-Mace, the Lord Treasurer;
on his right and left and behind several Lords, as
the Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy
Seal, etc., all pell mell. Thus they proceeded
along the Inner Court up the Great Stairs of the
Exchequer in the corner of the Palace Yard, by
the Talley Court, down the Stone Steps into
Westminster Hall, by the Common Pleas Bar,
where my Lord Treasurer made his obeisance to
the Judges of that Bench, so up towards the
Chancery Bar, and about the middle of the Hall
made two obeisances, one to the Lord Keeper
sitting in the Court of Chancery, the other to the
Court of Queen's Bench, whence they proceeded
up the Hall into the Court of Chancery, the officers
filing off at the bottom of the steps, except the
Marshall of the Exchequer and the Sargeant-at-
Mace, with the Lords, where he took the oaths to
the Queen, after which he came back, with the
多
​106
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Lord Keeper on his right hand, and the said
officers before him by the Common Pleas Bar,
where they both made their reverences to the
Judges, so up the Stone Stairs into the Exchequer.
The Barons being sat, my Lord Keeper went into
the Court, placing himself on the right hand of
the Lord Chief Baron; the Lord Treasurer was
by the Marshall, and his own Sargeant conducted
to the outside of the Bar, with the Sargeant-at-
Mace on his left, when my Lord Keeper made a
neat speech, signifying his Lordship's great abilities
-that he had two offices, that of Lord High
Treasurer by delivery of the Staff, and that of
Treasurer of the Exchequer by Patent; after
which my Lord's Patent was read by one of the
Clerks of the King's Remembrancer's Office.
Then his Lordship was conducted into the Court,
where was a cushion provided, on which he knelt
whilst the oaths of his respective officers were
administered to him by the Lord Keeper. After
which he was conducted to his place on the left of
the Lord Keeper, and his patent delivered to him
by the Lord Keeper; which done, the Lord
Keeper departed the Court, and the Lord Treasurer
sat to hear motions some little time, after which
he departed the Court, when he should have taken
possession of the King's Remembrancer's Office,
Treasurer's Remembrancer, Pipe, and other offices
on that side of the Exchequer before he walked
The Officers of the Exchequer.
107
thence; but he was conducted in the same order,
accompanied to the Talley Court, where were
placed cushions for him in the middle thereof, and
two for the Chamberlains on each side by the
Block, the two Deputy Chamberlains in each
corner, the Lord Halifax, Talley-writer, and his
Clerks on the right hand below the Senior Deputy
Chamberlain; the Deputy Clerk of the Pells, and
his Clerk below the Junior Deputy Chamberlain ;
then the Usher of the Exchequer just within the
door, and the Talley-cutter without the Court,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Lord
Treasurer's left, several Dukes and Earles round
the Court, the Barons of the Exchequer on the
outside of the Bar with the Attorney and Solicitor-
General. When all were come in, a Bill was
thrown down from the Tellers' offices, a Talley
prepared, writ on, struck, and examined by the
proper officers; then his Lordship withdrew thence
after having had the great keys of the Treasury
presented to him by the Auditor, and he delivered
them to him again; then he went into the
Auditors', Pells', and Tellers' offices, and viewed
the cash in the last of them, the Barons of the
Exchequer, Attorney and Solicitor, with the Dukes,
Earles, etc., attending him to each office; after
which he went back again to the other side of the
Exchequer to take possession of the several offices
there, which he should have done before he came
108
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
to the Receipt side, and after returned to his
house.'
In the middle of the eighteenth century we find
the duties and the manners and customs of the
Exchequer officials still unchanged. They were
now somewhat given to political discussions
amongst themselves, and they were even con-
tributors to the ministerial press. Naturally they
shone in the clubs of the coffee-houses, and they
were still more at home in those of the taverns of
the later Georgian period. In most cases they
were the deputies of the holders of political sine-
cures. They had no interest in, or responsibility
for, their official work, except as a means of
accumulating fees, and they openly devoted them-
selves to the pursuit of trade as their serious
occupation.
There exists a collection of official and private
papers for this period, of the same nature as the
Fanshawe correspondence, already described, and
ranging in date between 1735 and 1770, which
give much curious information on the subject of
official life at the Exchequer. Indeed, the papers
in question once belonged to two generations of
officers, and contained drafts of their political and
poetical effusions (the latter being mostly designed
for convivial occasions), and accounts of their
private speculations.
Sometimes these rough drafts are merged in the
1
The Officers of the Exchequer.
109
accounts in a way that is rather compromising to
their former owners. In one case an official writes
to his departmental chief to excuse himself from
attendance on the ground that he has been 'ever
since ye frost not able to get rid of a painfull
rheumatism in my arm wch has now gradually
weakened it and such an attendance under
my own present disorders, together with my own
dayly sittings, would really be too much for me.'
This draft contains the following remarkable en-
dorsement :
2 quarts wanting.
* melted in each barrel.
2 gallons and 3 quarts of
Taken out of both barrels-2 gallons, which filled 9 bottles
and a 1, and 2 gallons filled 2 French ditto, and 3 gallons
which filled 13 bottles and above an
19 gallons and .
Rum
Oranges
Sugar
£
I I
s. d.
2
6
I
1 6
I I O
13 5 0
9 15 O
3 10
O
In fact, however, this liberal provision of wine
and punch was not intended, as might at first
appear, as a cure for the rheumatism. One at
least of these dignified public servants combined
the business of a wine-merchant with his official
* Illegible.
ΠΙΟ
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
employment, and the accounts and memoranda
relative to his transactions are highly interesting,
and even instructive, for economic or statistical
purposes.
The officer in question, and one of
his colleagues with whom he was related, were
burgesses of a small Essex seaport, doubtless in
connection with their wine-business; but their
official residence was at Westminster, where Mill-
bank also afforded facilities for the unshipping of
pipes of claret and awms of old hock, hogsheads
of cider, and, above all, casks of rum for the
manufacture of shrub, which seems to have been
their speciality. The extent of their business may
be gathered from the fact that they provided three
gross of
quart bottles at one time.
Two more documents may be cited here in
support of this view of the jovial period of the
Exchequer in the last century. The first of these
is a card of invitation in the following terms:
'Mr. Goff and Mr. Pearce, Chief Burgesses of
Westminster for the year ensuing, present their
Compliments to Abraham Farley, Esq', and Hope
to have the Honour of his Company to Dine with
them and the Burgesses at the King's Arms Tavern,
in New Palace Yard, to-morrow the 15th Inst., it
being the Day they are Sworn into their Office.
'Dinner to be on Table at 3 o'clock.
<
April 14, 17-:
The Officers of the Exchequer.
III
The
guest whose pleasant company was solicited
by the worthy burgesses on this occasion was a
deputy chamberlain of the Exchequer, and a well-
known, though apparently very convivial, antiquary,
since the next document under notice appears, from
external evidence, to allude to his promotion. It
is curious in itself as indicative of the social tone
of the Exchequer officers at the time, a curious
contrast to the reliques of medieval clerks, such as
the Dialogus and the Red Book on the one hand,
and to the dignified and practical character of the
Elizabethan correspondence on the other.
'Remonstrance of the Lower House of the Exchequer
Feast to the Upper House.
'Forasmuch as the Gentlemen of the Upper
House have of their own meer motion thought
fit to call one of our Brethren up to their own
Right Worshipfull House, and have thereby given
occasion to very great Heart-burning and discon-
tent amongst us; the whole body of the Lower
House being justly alarm'd at so partial and
unprecedented a proceeding, highly injurious to
our Honour, as well as destructive of our rights
and privileges, do, with all humility, take the
liberty to remonstrate against such an extra-
ordinary stretch of the Prerogative, and,
Ist. We beg leave to observe that the said
proceeding is unprecedented, and utterly contrary
II 2
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
to ancient usage, there never having been an
instance of a person thus called up, but where he
happened to be distinguished wth the Honourable
office of Justice of the Peace for the City and
Liberty of Westminster.
'2dly. That it deprives the Lower House of a
most facetious and witty Member, which is greatly
detrimental to Us, and can be of little advantage
to the Upper House, wch so notoriously abounds
with men of Wit and Humour.
<
3rdly. That it robs us of the almost only
wealthy member of our body. And here we
must crave leave to represent that tho' we have
peaceably and wth a becoming Resignation sub-
mitted to the ordinary endeavours which have
been used that there might not be a wealthy person
among Us, yet in Duty to the Upper House who
may in consequence be affected hereby, as well
as in justice to ourselves, who are immediately
so affected, we can by no means neglect to warn
them of the fatal effects which we dread from such
an extraordinary step.
<
4thly. That some of our body have absented
from the Feast for several years past, on Account
(as there is Cause to suspect) of ill Usage from
particular Members of the other House, who in
Despite to them, have lived to a very unreason-
able Age, and we have great reason to apprehend
that many others will withdraw themselves on
The Officers of the Exchequer.
113
this occasion to the Utter Ruin and Depopulation
of the Lower House.
เ
'5thly. That if this shou'd be the Consequence
(as seems to Us unavoidable) we shall be thereby
render'd incapable of supporting the necessary
expence of Our Meetings, which will deprive the
Upper House of that homage wch we at every
such time so cheerfully pay them, unless they
shou'd please of their wonted generosity to bestow
upon us the Charity that has hitherto been so
constantly apply'd to the putting poor Children
out Apprentices. We entreat your Permission,
Most Grave Chiefs, to offer this our Humble
Remonstrance to your serious Consideration, not
doubting but you will of your profound Depth,
very weighty Judgment and unsearchable Wisdom
provide for the safety and emolument of your
Faithful Vassals.'
Abraham Farley was the last Exchequer official
of the old school whose name and occupations
are entered in the Black Book of the Exchequer,
the second of the two great precedent books of
that ancient court. A transition period follows,
characterized by reforms in its establishment and
procedure, which culminated in the sweeping changes
of the first years of the reign of William IV.
8
:

Ο
CHAPTER V.
THE CHESS-GAME.
N the morrow of the Close of Easter, or on
that of the Feast of St. Michael (the open-
ing days of the working terms of the always short
official year), the business of the Exchequer was in
full operation.
If any modern could have peered through the
woollen hangings or the flaxen drapery of the
mullioned windows, into the great chamber where
the barons sat as arbiters of the mimic warfare
between treasurer and accountant, the strange
sight would have been presented to his eyes of
a score or so of grave and reverend officials, for
the most part ecclesiastics, seated on low benches,
round what might at first sight appear to be a
billiard-table, with a dark cloth curiously pat-
terned. In this last object he would have recog-
nised the famous Exchequer-table, which has
given its name both to the apartment and to the
revenue, much as the decorated ceiling of another
The Chess-Game.
115
chamber is supposed to have suggested the name
for a later tribunal-the Star Chamber.
The central object of the chamber, then, was a
table ten feet long by five in width, bordered by
a ledge four inches high and covered with dark
russet cloth, divided into squares by intersecting
lines, probably marked out with chalk, forming
columns and spaces of account, within each of

+
+
+
+
+
•
Fig. 19.-The Chess-board with the Piecesset.'
which a sum deposited had a certain numerical
value according to its position towards the left
hand of the reckoner, the column furthest to the
right being for pence, the next shillings, the next
pounds, and the remaining spaces scores, hundreds,
and thousands of pounds respectively.
Around this chess-board sat the officials and
their subordinates. At the head of the board, in
the middle, the president or justiciar. To his
8—2
116
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
left the chancellor, by virtue of his office. Beside
him the constable, next the two chamberlains,
according to seniority, and last of this bench the
marshal.
On the second bench, along the left side of the
table, sat first the clerk of the chamberlains, with
the counterparts of the tallies ready for use.
Below him a few subordinates, and such courtiers
as might attend by the king's wish. At about
half-way down the table's length sat the calcu-
lator, and at the end of the bench the clerk of the
rolls.
On the third bench to the president's right sat
usually the treasurer, below him his scribe with
the great roll; next the latter the chancellor's
scribe with the counterpart of the great roll, and
at his elbow the chancellor's clerk, or his deputy.
The fourth bench was usually reserved for
accountants and their suites, who thus faced the
president. On settles round the walls were
grouped the accountant's debtors or creditors, as
the case might be, armed with their private
vouchers for the debts paid by them at the
Exchequer through its officer (in case the latter
should attempt to shift the responsibility for some
deficit upon them), together with any other per-
sons interested in the proceedings.
In one aspect these bishops, knights and
chamberlains, in their robes of scarlet or black,
The Chess-Game.
117
with their subordinates grouped round them,
might be taken to represent the greater pieces of
the game with their attendant pawns, and this
resemblance has had an undoubted share in
suggesting an allegorical description of the pro-
ceedings. But apart from this similitude, a more
immediate likeness to the chess-game was apparent
in the arrangement of the board itself.
(
The game of chess at the Exchequer, according
to its most approved etymology, is clearly not
named after a ludus scaccarii,' the game, that is,
played on a chequered board, but from the ludus
scaccorum sive latrunculorum,' from schach-a
dummy or counterfeit presentation-in the Ger-
man, whence, coming West, it found its way into
our vocabulary through the neo-Latin and official
Norman-French, adopting later still a classical
form.
(
It is most essential to grasp the significance of
this origin of the word 'Exchequer,' which may,
in the widest sense, be interpreted as the chamber
wherein stood the table employed for the ludus
computatorum,' or 'game of money-counters.'
The form of this table having been already de-
scribed, it remains now to give some account of
the 'men,' or counters, which supplied the material
for that mimic contest which was waged between
the treasurer, with his staff, and the sheriff, or
other accountant.
:
118
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
The chessmen of the Exchequer game were in
one aspect the counters or dummy coins which, in
their different sizes, colours, and combination,
represented the actual specie coming into, or
disbursed at, the treasury; just as the bishops,
knights, and pawns of the chess-game proper took
the place of actual combatants, having certain
strategic parts assigned to them, defined and
limited by the laws of the play. The bullion
actually received, or which remained to be ac-
counted for, was also represented by a subsidiary
set of chessmen, so to speak; namely, by the
tallies which stood for the cash payments already
made upon his account by the sheriff, and by the
vouchers or receipts which represented other sums
disbursed by him on account of the crown, together
with the corresponding warrants or mandates by
which such disbursements had been authorized or
allowed respectively, as the case might be.
The tallies proper in use at the Exchequer were
a primitive form of chirograph or indented writing,
recommended by their superior durability, from
being composed of seasoned wood instead of
parchment or paper, an advantage fully borne out
by the perfect condition of such as have survived,
on which every mark made by the knife stands
out as clean and true as on the day when it
was cut by the chamberlain's sergeant more than
600 years ago.
1
The Chess-Game.
119
These rude memoranda were indeed invaluable
auxiliaries of the hard-worked official staff of the
Exchequer of Receipt. The high-born or well-to-
do, yet often illiterate, sheriff of the crown, who
came before the barons with his profer during
Easter term, had but to pay in his treasure and
take an acknowledgment in the shape of a small
piece of wood inscribed with a figure-writing
intelligible at a glance to the meanest comprehen-
sion. Then when he returned at Michaelmas to
conclude his annual account, this indestructible
voucher was readily forthcoming from his wallet
to be compared, or rather matched, with its official
counterpart. Or the same process was continued
lower down the scale, the sheriff delivering to the
king's debtors a tally of receipt on which he was
bound to acquit them at the Exchequer.
Usually, however, tallies proper were only
'struck' at the Exchequer, and against the
principal accountants; the subsidiary or provincial
' tallies' being indented writings of receipt such
as were delivered by agents of the crown to local
producers, whose corn or cattle had been bought'
or taken for the king's use. It sometimes
happened, too, that tallies came into the Exchequer
through the department devoted to the financial
superintendence of the Jews, the most ancient
specimens surviving being of this nature.
The official definition of a tally was as follows:
120
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
A narrow shaft of box, willow, hazel, or other
hard wood was shaped more or less square with
the knife, and cut to the length of eight or nine
inches, being allowed to taper somewhat at one
extremity. On the obverse of this shaft was cut
the principal sum in one bold notch, and no
more. Then on the reverse surface were cut
the subsidiary numerals of the sum required to be
inscribed, with a suitable interval between each
denomination. Moreover, the notches which re-
presented figures of greatest value were always
cut at the thickest end of the shaft; those of least
value towards the thinnest end.
Thus £1,000 was cut in one deep notch, of
the width of a man's palm, along the upper side of
the tally; £100, when that was the highest figure
present, was likewise cut alone on that side, but
with a notch no wider than a thumb-mark; £20
was cut in the same way as broad as the little
finger; and I with as deep a notch as would
contain a barley-corn. Shillings and pence, on
the other hand, were either cut on the lower side,
when the above figures were present, or they might
be placed on either side, when the sum was below
the value of a pound.
It was permitted, however, to cut half of the
value of any sum above one pound on the same
side with a single deep incision, that is to say,
without removing any of the wood; or it might
The Chess-Game.
121
be set forth at length, if preferred, on the other
side.
On the two remaining faces of the shaft was
a superscription setting forth the object and nature
of the tally, and sometimes even its amount.
A very perfect specimen of a tally is figured
here with twelve slanting notches (not unlike the
teeth of a saw) cut from right to left, beginning at
the bluntest end of the shaft. Each of these
Fig. 20.


Fig. 21.
Exchequer Tallies.
notches represents a pound, and they are followed
on the reverse side by the residue of the sum,
consisting of 4s. 4d. The superscription states
that this is a tally against the receiver of the
royal manor of Ledcombe (Berks) for rent due
at Lady Day in the fifty-sixth year of Henry III.
It is possible to pronounce this to be the official
counterpart of the original tally, because the
remaining half, handed to the accountant, would
have possessed a handle,' or undivided base,
I22
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
since all tallies were cut down to a cross section,
where they were divided into two unequal halves,
the longer one called the 'stalk,' and the shorter
one the leaf.' It is well known, of course, that
when the accountant presented his 'stalk,' or
'counterfoil,' at Michaelmas, it was spliced on to
the leaf or foil' in official custody, and carefully
preserved by the marshal. Though in the days.
of Richard, Bishop of London, nine inches was
length enough to enable any reasonable account to
be entered on a tally, yet in later times the size of
the shafts was increased in proportion with the
revenue of the crown, till the tally of the present
century had attained the dimensions, and presented
somewhat the appearance, of one of the wooden
swords of the South Sea Islanders.
<
In a typical case, therefore, the sheriff who paid
in advance at the Receipt of the Exchequer upon
his account, received credit for the same by a
tally' delivered to him then and there, with the
amount of his advance duly recorded upon it.
At the same time the officials kept in hand the
'counter-tally' in the shape of a symmetrical half
of the whole tally, which had been cleft for that
purpose, in the same manner as a chirograph, or
indented writing. It is worth notice that the
technical name of the accountant's indenture was
'schacchia''scaccus' or 'scach,' that is the
dummy of the mass of silver now finally deposited
—
The Chess-Game.
123
in the treasury, or consigned to the Mint if occa-
sion required.
Of course, if the accountant were allowed for a
sum not actually paid into the Receipt in specie,
but disbursed instead by him in the king's service,
the voucher produced by him, that the assignment
in point had really been concluded, should corre-
spond with the mandate authorizing such assign-
ment, which latter record, laid up with the tallies
themselves amongst the archives of the marshal's
department, already represented so much more
specie, here supposed only to exist, and which
would eventually, through other channels, find its
way into the treasury, or go to balance the rolls
of the issue and receipt sides of the revenue.
fact, there can be but little doubt that these
dummies, whether counter-tallies or mandates pre-
ponderated amongst them, formed the chief assets
of the sheriff when he stood before the barons
with the sum of his reckoning on the morrow of
St. Michael.
In
Just as the tally stood for money in this official
chess-game, so the paper denominations of pounds,
shillings, and even marks, both of gold and silver,
were in themselves dummies of the single coin in
general use during the halcyon days of the Ex-
chequer. That coin was the silver penny, described
therefore, with equal justice, either as denarius'
or nummus,' and it was an obvious convenience
<
'
124
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
to be able to denote its aggregate value by a single
symbol for each of the unwieldy sums that were
commonly presented upon the board; especially,
too, when such symbols needed only to be multi-
plied within themselves to discover the value of
any inclusive sum.
The counters in use at the Exchequer were
coins of a size and appearance easily distinguish-
able from current sterling money. For this
purpose besants, or the depreciated solidi' of
the Eastern Empire, were in requisition at an
early date. These Byzantines' were frequently
received at the Exchequer in the fines paid by the
alien merchants, and were sent either as bullion to
the Mint, or retained for use as counters. Their
intrinsic value for the latter service was estimated
in the early part of the thirteenth century as equal
to Is. 9d. sterling. Besides these there was
another gold counter available, the 'obolus,' which
might be either a weight equal to twelve grains,
or a half-noble when these were coined. In reality,
however, the obolus was the specific half of some
current denomination, without itself possessing any
recognised circulation. This fiction has given
rise to several difficulties in the study of early
finance. Madox, for instance, confesses him-
self unable to comprehend the meaning of the
entry 'unam marcam auri de obolo Musce' in
the fine of a Jewish merchant. But it is quite
•
The Chess-Game.
125
clear that this fine of some £6 sterling is
an equivalent for half a pennyweight or twelve
grains of musk (that most costly of perfumes)
bargained for by the crown, just as it accepted
falcons, or hunting-dogs, or furs under special
circumstances.
It is evident, then, that a half-pennyweight
might be recognised at the Exchequer, and at the
same time could be conveniently employed for
ordinary purposes ´as a counter. At any rate, no
'noble' was in existence at the date when the
Dialogus was written, and that treatise makes
particular mention of an 'obolus auri' used as a
counter. It seems, indeed, that in the time of the
good Bishop Richard, of London, both a gold and
silver obolus were used as official ready-reckoners,
the former standing for 10-that is, for 2,400
pence-the latter for 10s., or 120 pence. Naturally,
the silver obolus, weighing but twelve grains,
would appear only half the size of the sterling
penny of twenty-four grains, and would thus
escape confusion with it, just as silver-metal coins
of about half the size of a threepenny-piece are
often used as counters in round-games at cards;
and as, per contra, the use of the 'Hanover
sovereign' for a like purpose once gave rise to
such serious abuses.
Still later in the reign of Edward II., besides the
Byzantines' already mentioned, we find Venetian
126
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
<
shillings' in chief favour at the Exchequer as
counters, on account of their superior size and
weight. The intrinsic value of these coins was
estimated at Is. 6d. sterling. The distinguishing
feature of counters was therefore, now, an ex-
aggerated instead of a minute size. Let us sup-
pose the onus of the accountant's charge to amount
to £199 13s. 4d., it may be assumed that some
100 of this has been already paid in, say, in six
tallies, or allowed for, perhaps, by an equal
number of mandates. These tallies and mandates,
as we have seen, are so many dummies marshalled
on the accountant's side, not actually placed on the
board; but, from their evidence, the counters are
arranged in the requisite numerical combination,
as a counterbalance to the treasurer's statement,
within the space nearest to the computator. When
the whole sum of the sheriff's assets is at length
exhausted, there is a pause, whilst the evidence in
his favour is being further scrutinized: the tallies
produced by his servants are compared with the
authentic foils, and his vouchers with the mandates
filed among the marshal's county collectanea. All
these proving satisfactory, or satisfaction being
exacted in default, a series of rapid exchanges
(in chess parlance) follows, or, in the concise
language of the Dialogus, 'fit simplex subtractio,'
and the game is won and lost, or left merely
drawn.
The Chess-Game.
127
To explain the rationale of this conclusion we
must refer to the problem figured at p. 115. In this
diagram the treasurer's counters are arranged in the
upper spaces to represent a sum of £374 10s. 6d.,
the column furthest to the right representing pence,
the next to the left shillings, the next pounds, the
next twenties of pounds, and the last hundreds of
pounds. In the same way, in the lower spaces the
accountant's principal assets are shown in the usual
combinations, the result being a deficit, as figured
on the bottom line, of £14 17s. 4d.
We will now search for the key to this formid-
able looking cryptogram. In the first place, we
must premise that the system in question is a
decimal one.
We were prepared for this discovery
by the statement made in the Dialogus with refer-
ence to the practice of placing a counter in every
tenth place for intervening units in the second and
third columns or principal columns of account.
For odd units the early computator would have
recourse to sterling coins, either separately or in
combination. But at a comparatively early period
it may be clearly gathered that counters only in
combination were exclusively used.
To begin with the pence column. As by far
the majority of sums in the addition of these
denominations, owing chiefly to the conventional
quotation of marks, left a remainder over of
8, it is unusual to find any other combination of
4 or
128
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
'dots' to express pence to the amount of II or
less. These, then, were figured by four dots at
the angles of a square, and three dots at the
points of a triangle, respectively.
The units above 8, however, might be figured
on occasion by dots placed below the base of the
triangle, as
for 9;
for 10; and
for II.
Remainders of pence under 8 were easily repre-
sented by an aggregation of dots' in the usual
way, as exemplified in the following method of
figuring numbers from 1 to 20:
One
Two
Three
or
Four
= unit.
= I + I.
=2+ I.
=2+ I.
= I + I + I + I.
or
=3+1.
I.
=3+2.
Five
Six
= 3 +3.
or
=2+2+2.
Seven
=3+3 +1.
The Chess-Game.
129
or
| ||
=2+5.*
3 +5.*
=4+5.*
Eight
Nine
Ten
= 5 + 5.*
Eleven
=6+5.*
Twelve
=2+10.t
Thirteen
=3+10.t
Fourteen
=4+10+
Fifteen
=5+10.t
Sixteen
=6+10.t
Seventeen
=
=7+10.t
Eighteen
Nineteen
=3+5+10.‡
4+5+10.
* Semi-decimal point to the right above the unit line.
† Decimal point to the left above the unit line.
Decimal and semi-decimal points combined above the
unit line.
9
130
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
It will be obvious what an economy of time and
labour was effected by this simple expedient. In
the case of £18, for instance, the 4,320 pence
contained therein were actually pictured on the
board and accounted for to the dullest of account-
ants by the clearest ocular demonstration. and
yet, by means of the admirable system of the
Exchequer, not one of these 4,320 coins needed
to be produced, their existence being satisfactorily
proven by the comparison of two little bits of
notched stick, and their sum counted, as it were,
on the fingers, by the combination of five metal
counters in duplicate.
The reader will understand that 20s. was figured
in the third column as a unit; and £21, £101,
£1,001, £10,001, in the same way, in their
respective columns, also as units. Given this
key, the inquiring spirit will readily be enabled
to work out any possible combination that could
be presented upon the Exchequer chess-board.
<
The further question certainly arises as to the
connection of these later pen and ink dots' with
the counters of the early Exchequer. Here we
are confronted with an absence of early instances,
due, no doubt, to the employment of actual
counters down to a comparatively late date.
Therefore, it is not till the Tudor period that
we meet with the later system, though isolated
instances are reported from records of the fifteenth
>
1
·
The Chess-Game.
131
century. On this account, perhaps, there has
been some disposition evinced to assign these 'pen
and ink dots' to the period of the general intro-
duction of Arabic numerals, coinciding, perhaps,
with the use of the Eastern 'abacus.' But, on
the other hand, we may suppose that such sym-
bolism by the way of picture-writing was practised
amongst most nations at an early age of official
development. At least, we know that this was
the case in England, and the connection between
the game of counters' played at the Exchequer
in the days of the author of the Dialogus, and the
later pen and ink dots' of the fifteenth or six-
teenth centuries, is obviously complete from the
description of the treatise in question. Moreover,
both systems were exclusively used in the Exche-
quer, a fact which may be illustrated in a some-
what remarkable manner. 'Pen and ink dots
sometimes occur amongst the state papers of the
sixteenth century, but in every case the calculator
has been found to be an official of the Exchequer.
Thus Lord Treasurer Burleigh sometimes made
use of them, by, force of habit, for the purpose of
checking a commercial schedule in his other
capacity of prime minister. The latest instance
of these 'pen and ink dots' that has hitherto
been found is of the somewhat abnormal date of
1676; here again in an Exchequer account, and
~
7
9-2
132 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
carefully preserving the system described in. 1177.
The entry is as follows:
= £4,438 10s. 4d.
Thus it may be safely concluded that the
system of reckoning by counters, as described in
the Dialogus, was consistently preserved down to a
comparatively modern date- Secundum consuetum
cursum Scaccarii, non legibus aritmeticis.'
-
And now the game' has been opened. The
treasurer speaking first, slowly and distinctly,
$
13


TT
Fig. 22.
Fig. 23.
The Symbols of the Exchequer.
asks his adversary if he is ready to render his
account. The latter replies in the affirmative,
and is immediately challenged upon the first item of
his reckoning. Hereupon a general commotion
The clerks turn the membranes of their
rolls to compare the entries of previous years, and
the chamberlains' serjeants heap upon the table
ensues.
The Chess-Game.
· 133
rouleaux of silver, counter-tallies, and warrants,
representing the accountant's credit in the
treasury. Then the calculator, rising in his
place, prepares to make the moves of the game
as they are dictated. from the contents of the
great roll.
The sum of each separate entry of the farm of
the county being announced, he leans over and
arranges on the side farthest from him the amount
quoted, in specie or in counters, within the
appropriate columns. Next he sorts out the
credit before him into heaps in the same columns
below this dummy treasure, and, when everything
is complete, subtracts pence from pence, shillings
from shillings, and pounds from pounds, till the
corresponding pieces on both sides are exhausted
by the exchange. Then, unless the accountant is
quit, so much as is left on either side represents
the advantage or loss of each respectively, the
deficit being made good or the surplus being
allowed, as it might befall.
Meanwhile, the tallies held by the sheriff's
servants have been carefully compared with the
foils preserved in the Exchequer, to guard against
a forgery, or even a slip of the knife, and woe
betide him if any such flaw be discovered, for then
he would be forthwith handed over to the marshal
for safe custody in the Fleet, unless he could
fasten the fraud upon his deputy or attorney.
+
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
134
And so the contest is slowly waged, the piles
of silver, gold, and metal counters, sticks and
scrolls, being marshalled, advanced, and swept off
the board, just as the pieces or pawns of the real
game might have been played, till the account of
the farm is concluded, and the mimic warfare
terminates in a truce between the parties for
another six months at least.
1

1
THE
CHAPTER VI.
EXCHEQUER PROBLEMS.
I The Great Roll.
'HE Treasurer's Roll, which figures in the
above description of the Michaelmas audit
of the sum of the Sheriff's account, was that
commonly known as the great or annual roll
of the Exchequer. The still more familiar ap-
pellation of pipe roll is a later and less exact
synonym for the authoritative enrolment com-
piled by the treasurer's scribe. The etymology
of the word 'pipe' remains a subject of dis-
cussion to the present day among antiquaries.
The name may have been applied from the obvious
resemblance of these compact rolls to sections of
a tubular drain or pipe. Again, an origin can be
found for the simile in the favourite comparison of
the public treasury to a reservoir, into which every
branch of the revenue flows through one main
conduit-' quasi per ductum (seu pipam) aquæ'-
as described in the following curious notice:
t

136 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
"The Platforme of the Exchequer.
The best and comon received opinion is that
our Ancestors in the Institucon of this Court (for
the better and safe conveyance of the revenue into
his Mates Coffers) tooke their plott from an Aque-
duct. That as water is derived from many
springes to heades, and from heades guided into a
pipe, and by that carried into the Cesterne of a
greate house or pallace, where it is to bee expended
accordinge to the necessitie and use of every office.
Soe, this silver streame, growing out of divers
natures, might bee drawne from its springes, wch
are the severall Courtes from whence it ariseth, to
certaine heades, from thence collected into one
pipe, and by that conveyed into the Cesterne, wch
is his Mates receipte.
C
The conceipt of this was, that it might not
bee left in any man's curtesy to deceive the Kinge.
For if the pipe received in his due at the one
end, it would be easilie comptrolled, seeing the
Cisterne joyneth to the other.
'Hereuppon that office in the Exchequer, called
the Pipe, first obteyned and to this day holdeth its
name."
*
The great roll being, as we have learnt, the
official register of all debts of the crown answer-
able at the Exchequer (just as the Domesday
* From a MS. communicated by the late Mr. Walford Selby.
Exchequer Problems.
137
Survey was the unalterable evidence of the extent
of demesnes, from which this annual revenue of
the sovereign was mainly derived), a new edition
had to be annually prepared, embracing such
alterations as were necessitated by the varying
conditions of the county farms and the extra-
ordinary or casual revenue estimated for the
current year.
As the Exchequer itself was a court of supreme
jurisdiction in all matters relating to the revenue
of the crown, in which (technically speaking) the
king was plaintiff and his debtors defendants, the
greatest care was exercised from the earliest times
to ensure the infallibility of its decisions upon all
questions as to facts. The means to this end
were, firstly, the permanent appointment of a
great official, the treasurer; and, secondly, the
committal of the great roll and all its appurten-
ances into his sole custody. Thus the crown was
enabled to rely with almost absolute certainty
upon the accuracy of its official instrument in the
case of any financial detail in dispute, from the
knowledge that every part of it was compiled
from the dictation and under the immediate
supervision of an official who was also one of the
foremost scholars and statesmen of his day; for,
as we have seen, the scribe of the great roll was
seated at the Exchequer table by the treasurer's
side, writing at his dictation and under his im-
138 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
mediate supervision. Not only so, but a further
safeguard was employed by the crown in the
designation of its chancellor to represent the
equitable jurisdiction of the sovereign at the Ex-
chequer as a foil to official callousness or rapacity.
This latter official may have put in appearance
only on certain high days, but his watchful clerk
was always at his post, on the other side of the
scribe of the antigraph, who transcribed faithfully
from the treasurer's scribe, the last named now
working under the double check of his own chief
and of the chancellor's representative.
Not content with these precautions, an addi-
tional scribe sat, in the early days of the Exchequer,
with a third roll, under the direction of an extra-
ordinary representative of the king-the famous
'Magister Thomas Brunus,' a Sicilian refugee,
reputed to be without an equal in Europe for his
knowledge of statecraft. He, therefore, attended to
watch the proceedings on behalf of the king, while
his scribe made notes of the points affecting the
royal prerogative. The latter was present also at
the Exchequer of Receipt, to check the entries of
all returns and disbursements there made.
In reality, it was due to the active presence of
one and all of these great officials at the Ex-
chequer that the severity of its financial system
was acquiesced in by the nation during the reigns
of Henry II. and his sons.
Exchequer Problems.
139
For the preparation of the great roll, the
treasurer's scribe was required to provide himself
with suitable parchment out of the five shillings
annually allowed him for the whole service of his
office in this particular. The material, as we have
seen, was bound to be of sheep-skins, so selected
for their superior size that two membranes might
suffice for the length of each rotulet, while their
normal width was to be fifteen inches. On each
of these rotulets lines were ruled, ample space
being left between each, and also between the top
and bottom of the joint membranes. Then, on
the top line, were inscribed the names of the
shires or bailiwicks whose issues were first in order
to be answered, according to the groups under
which they happened to fall, and below these the
first name of the group was boldly written in the
centre of the membrane.
At the commencement of the following line the
accountant's name figured as rendering an account
of the farm of that shire. Then, at the end of
this statement, the words 'In Thesauro' were put
and a space left blank.
On the next line were entered the fixed alms in
like form. Next, the fixed disbursements made
by him, with their amount, together with the
lands granted by the crown within the county
proper, were entered in the same manner. Lastly
were entered the casual disbursements made by the
140
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
accountant out of his farm in the king's service,
as well as the necessary expenses incurred by him,
chiefly in the execution of his legal functions.
Thus :
A——— SHIRE, et B—— Shire, et C——— Shire.
A—— SHIRE.
The sheriff renders his account of the farm of A-
-shire.
In the Treasury.
And in fixed alms.
And in fixed tithes.
And in fixed payments.
And in lands granted.
And in payments by the king's writ or otherwise.
The whole of the above entries may be classified
thus:
(1) The farm of the county which forms the
accountant's charge.
(2) His allowance in the five subsequent
entries, subdivisible, as:
(i.) Fixed allowances, namely, alms, tithes,
liveries, and lands.
(ii.) Casual disbursements (authorized by the
king's writ).
(iii.) Casual disbursements (authorized by the
custom of the Exchequer).
Below this statement of the charge and allow-
ance for the farm of the county was entered that
relating to the farm of purprestures and escheats;
the state of the sheriff's account herein being
Exchequer Problems.
14I
specified as for so much paid into the treasury,
and his quittance or indebtedness thereupon, as the
case might be, thus:
Of purprestures and escheats.
The same sheriff renders his account of the farm of the
purprestures and escheats
In the treasury; and he is
in debt, or is quit.
After this came the similar statement for the
issues of the royal forests, unless these were already
assigned for the fixed allowances in the body of
the county, thus:
The same sheriff renders his account of the rent of the
wood of or the forest of
In the Treasury.
Next were entered pleas and conventions of all
sorts; the former being nominally judicial fines or
amerciaments, and the latter oblations, tendered
usually for a specific purpose, the sheriff answer-
ing for all issues from the Danegeld, etc., or from
murders within the hundred; and as to the rest,
the individuals charged therewith, in their own
names, thus:
The same sheriff renders his account of the Danegeld.
The same sheriff renders his account of a murder-fine of
A. B. renders his account (or the same sheriff renders his
account for A. B.) of or for
In each of the above instances, the charge was
usually answered in one of the following forms:
142
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
(1) In the treasury—and he is quit.
(2) In the treasury-and he owes.
(3) Expended by the king's (writ or custom of the Ex-
chequer).
(4) Pardoned by the king's writ.
<
The statement of the sheriff's account usually
concluded with the entries of these pleas and obla-
tions, all the recent items of which were con-
solidated under the comprehensive title of New
Pleas and New Conventions' as a distinct head-
ing. Moreover, their position was somewhat an
anomalous one, the sheriff being responsible only
for the due collection of the sums in charge, and
each individual charged being severally allowed,
or continuing to be indebted in his own name.
Hence, these separate entries are more fitly
regarded as an appendix to the sheriff's personal
account, forming a register of the king's debtors
for whom collectively he answered.
As soon as the last entry of the assessed or
casual charges outside the 'body' of the county
had been filled in, and certified as acquitted, or
otherwise, the sum of the main account remained
to be taken in the manner before described-
namely, by a final test of the specie or credits paid
in, followed by a display of the result of the net
charge, and corresponding allowance, in counters
upon the board by the calculator.
<
Then a subtraction of the lower lines of chess-
Exchequer Problems.
143
men' from the top line left the result manifest to
the eyes of all present in the chamber. If the
charge and allowance balanced one another, the
scribe of the great roll, turning back to the initial
entry, filled in the blank left after the words
'In the Treasury,' with the amount paid into the
treasury, and wrote in bold characters at the end
of this first charge and allowance, that is to say,
below the allowance for customary disbursements,
the result as: And he is quit'; or, if the pay-
ment and allowances aforesaid did not satisfy the
charge, he wrote instead: 'And he is in debt
But if the accountant were actually to the good
on these transactions, the entry was made: And
he has a surplus of.'
In this latter event, however, the excess usually
arose from the payments to assignees of the crown
beyond the amount of the farm of the county, in
which case no payment whatsoever was made 'In
the Treasury,' the form in question remaining
blank, or being omitted entirely.
The above form of entry of the various items of
the sheriff's charge and allowance, whether within
or without the 'body' of the county, is, it must
be remembered, only the typical one in use at the
Exchequer in the early period. An examination
of the rolls will show that it varied, at times,
in many particulars; but these variations, on the
other hand, will be found to be due chiefly to
144
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
omissions of certain of these normal entries, and to
be in the main unimportant.
For example, an analysis of the Staffordshire
account in the great roll for the fifth year of
Henry II. shows as follows:
STAFFORDSHIRE.
Robert de Stafford renders his account for the
farm of Staffordshire, and pays into the treasury
£55 15s. 10d., blank, in two tallies, showing that
he has already made a profer to that amount in
cash at the Easter Exchequer, for which he will
now be allowed.
(1) But he has also disbursed, recently, in fixed
alms to the Templars 13s. 4d.
(2) [Here the entry for fixed tithes should have
been made, but none such had been disbursed.]
(3) He has also disbursed 30s. and 5d. for the
livery of the keeper of certain of the king's
houses. [This, apparently, should have been
specified as a fixed livery, and the entry should
also have been commenced on a separate line.]
(4) He also craves allowance for certain lands
granted out of his county, to the value of
£48.
(5) And he has disbursed, by the king's writ,
for work executed £25 2s. 4d., and as a gift to
Geoffrey Marmion 20 marks. [These entries for
disbursements by the king's writ should have been
Exchequer Problems.
145
commenced on a separate line, and at a slight dis-
tance below the preceding entries.]
(6) [Here should have followed the entries for
disbursements made by virtue of his office, but
none such had been made.]
The above entries constitute the charge and
allowance of the sheriff for the 'body' of his
county, and at the close of this, the principal
portion of his account, appears the certificate of
his quittance. We have now, therefore, to
ascertain how this result was arrived at.
year.
In the first place, the charge of the farm is
not specified, either for this or any preceding
We know, however, that the sheriff had
made a profer of £55 15s. 1od., blank; and we
also know that it was usual to pay in about half
the total amount of a farm on such occasions; and
we are able to calculate, further, that the total of
the charge amounted to £112 7s. 11d., blank, for
this and the following year.
Against this, he is allowed for 13s. 4d. in fixed
alms; for £1 10s. 5d. in fixed livery; and £48 in
lands granted; and for £38 9s. in disbursements
by the king's writ-making a total allowance of
£88 12s. 9d. But he is not actually allowed
for £30 of the £48 for lands granted, because
William de Beauchamp is charged with the same
(and has been so charged, we discover, by the
rolls since the beginning of the reign). This
ΙΟ
146
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
reduces the allowance to £58 12s. 9d., which
acquits the account. How? Because this latter
sum has to be blanched, being subject to a de-
duction of 12d. from a sum of £40 12s. 9d.
disbursed by the king's writs. When it has been
blanched the allowance should correspond nearly
with the other half of the farm already paid in the
profer, making two sums of £55 15s. 10d. and
£56 12s. 1d., which being allowed, the one in two
tallies, and the other in (supposed) dealbated
bullion, added together will balance the charge
of £112 7s. 11d. for the farm of the county.
Therefore, after each payment had been satis-
factorily proved, the calculator would have ar-
ranged on the side of the table opposite to him
the following combination in counters, and below
that its duplicate (each being made up from the
evidence of the Rotulus Exactorius), the former to
represent the charge, and the latter the allowance
of the accountant.
Thus :
£
£
s. d.
20
Exchequer Problems.
147
The remaining entries are those for Nova
Placita et Novæ Conventiones—that is, pleas and
conventions chargeable since or outside the last
account. These, it will be seen, are all acquitted
to the accountant as his summons is proceeded
with; and, except the last, they are all of the
nature of conventions, namely, voluntary oblations
as opposed to assessed issues of pleas. The last
entry is probably for the issues of pleas of the
crown, holden by Bertram de Verdun, whom we
know (from later pipe rolls) was a famous justice
of this reign. Here the sheriff pays in three
tallies for £12, which he has delivered into the
treasury in cash with his profer. He claims the
king's writ of Perdono, laid up in the Exchequer,
acquitting Bertram of twenty marks more, and he
is indebted for Bertram in two marks, which the
latter pays himself, and for which he is acquitted
in the roll of the following year.
At the same time it should be remembered
that the sheriff's allowance was also commonly
figured on the board by the several sums which
went to make up the total, these being added
together and then subtracted from the top line
of figures, or charge. It is also probable that a
much larger deduction may have been made from
every item of the allowance than has been here
provided for, since the combustions' of this and
the earlier years of the reign are no longer extant.
C
>
10-2
148
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
BALANCE-SHEET
Of the Staffordshire Account of the Great Roll, 5 Henry II.
DR.
Farm of the county
Blanching the allowances made to
the sheriff out of the farm
Issues of early pleas and conven-
tions
Issues of recent pleas and conven-
tions
£
s. d.
I 12
7 II
(blank)
208
26 13 4
I02
Profer of the farm made before
this account (represented by two
tallies)
Profer for the pleas of Bertram de
Verdun (represented by three
tallies)
-
6 8 Allowances out of the farm
Paid into the treasury in cash
Discharged by the king's writ
Total
243 8 7
Total
-
£
243
242
CR.
£ s. d.
55 15 10
(blank)
12 O O
58 12 9
99 6
8
16 6 8
242 I II
s.
d.
8
7
is ∞
I II
Total charge
Total allowance
Balance against the
accountant
1 6 8
Exchequer Problems.
149
2. The Summonses of the Exchequer.
In the Exchequer chamber were assembled, at
the opening of the two great sessions of the fiscal
year, both parties interested in the audit of the
revenues of the crown; one (as it were) on the
Bench, the other at the Bar. That is to say, the
periodical summons served upon the sheriffs and
debtors, at large, of the crown equally occasioned
the meeting of the Barons for the despatch of the
business in hand. The summons of the ac-
countants to answer for the issues of the king's
farms, debts, and casual revenue was thus the only
motive for the session of the Exchequer, and the
sole legal occasion for the same in early times.
Hence we may account for the circumstance that
only two sessions of the court were holden-
namely, for the terms of Easter and Michaelmas
-the two 'Exchequers,' as, in fact, they were
called, of those respective dates. But in the inter-
vening vocations, the official staff was not idle, being
engaged in the arduous work of preparing the
summonses of the sheriffs to the forthcoming
"Exchequer.'
For this purpose, the great roll was consulted
by the treasurer, or by his clerk for him, who
extracted therefrom, on the model of the entries
of the preceding year, the charge of each ac-
countant for the current financial period. These
150
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
headings, when taxed by the Barons, were en-
grossed by the chancellor's clerk, and were then
ready to be issued for service on the provincial
accountants.
The form of the summons was that of a missive
patent; on which account perfect accuracy of
detail and regularity of penmanship were essential,
to guard against evasion or forgery. Thus, no
cancelled or elided entries were permitted on the
patent, but all clerical errors were cleanly erased.
Still further to prevent the possibility of fraud, it
was the practice, at one time, to copy all sum-
monses in duplicate, so that when the sheriff re-
turned his summons at Michaelmas the latter
document might be compared with the rescript
remaining in the Exchequer, to make sure that it
had not been tampered with. In any case, how-
ever, the existence of the originals, from which
the summons was prepared, would have made the
destruction or forgery of the latter a suicidal act
on the part of the sheriff; for from the authority
of Exchequer records there was no appeal,
and any discrepancy in an accountant's warrants
or tallies was not only disallowed, but heavily
punished as a presumptive fraud.
The summons, then, of the Exchequer was a
schedule of the headings of entries composing the
whole of the sheriff's charge for the current term.
This was derived from two official records : the
f
Exchequer Problems.
151
great roll, and the rolls of the justices' itinerant
estreated into the Exchequer. In the first place,
the king sent greeting to the sheriff by name, en-
joining him, under certain pains, to be at the
Exchequer on the day specified, and to have with
him what was due from the farm of his county,
or from the debtors of the crown, whose names
were therein set forth, as recorded in the great
roll.
. Next, the debts assessed in the justices' rolls
were extracted in due order, and the summons con-
cluded with a fresh injunction to have all of the
above forthcoming in specie, tallies, warrants, and
vouchers, or any one of them. The summons
was then attested at the Exchequer by the justiciar
and constable, or two other officials, and delivered
to the marshal, to be handed over by him, in turn,
to the usher, for service in each county.
It was said that there were two sessions of the
Exchequer, each convoked by a summons of the
nature described above; but it should be added
that the form of the summons differed materially
in either case.
At the Easter sessions not the
account itself of the sheriff was taken, but the
view of his account only; that is to say, he was
summoned for half of his farm, and any other
accessible credits, at the discretion of the officials
or the pressing need of the crown.
The method by which these profers were
1
152
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
allowed to the accountant may be gathered from
the wording of the second or greater summons-
namely, that for the Michaelmas session. He is
required, as we have seen, to have with him in
money, tallies, or writs, etc., all the items of
charge specified in that summons. This plan of
payment supposes the existence of a previous
transaction, while at the same time superseding it;
for, otherwise, the sheriff would make his pay-
ments at Michaelmas in cash, and would, more-
over, having already answered the charge of the
Easter summons in like manner, have no further
concern on the score of the latter transaction. In
fact, his responsibilities were not laid aside till the
whole sum of his annual charge was acquitted on
the following grounds:
Supposing that the sheriff were summoned for
a view of his farm of £200 at Easter, this would
necessitate a profer to be made by him of £100.
This he makes accordingly at the Easter Exchequer
in cash; but is not yet acquitted for the same,
being only allowed for it by a tally struck for that
amount (the counter or foil of which is laid up at
the Receipt), or by the king's writ or writs
authorizing the disbursement of an equivalent
sum in the public service.
The sheriff having returned home with this
tally, receives shortly afterwards another summons,
that for the Michaelmas Exchequer, by which he
Exchequer Problems.
153
is required to answer the same sum of £200,
regardless of his recent proffer. At the opening
of the next term he betakes himself accordingly
before the Barons, and pays in, not the clear £200,
but £100 in cash and the other £100 in the tally
(or warrant) before delivered to him, as the receipt
for his profer (or disbursement), thus satisfying
the command of the summons for payment to be
made 'in money or in tallies,' etc.
It was expected of the sheriff, and so expressed
in his summons, that, if a debtor of the Crown,
for whom he was held to answer in his account,
had no lands or goods in his bailiwick, but was
known to have such in another county, a mis-
sive should be despatched by him to his brother
official and delivered in the County Court, or
some other public place, so that the debtor in
question might have no opportunity (through a
previous intimation) of fraudulently disposing of
his possessions, but might be attached then and
there where he stood in court to find security for
the debt.
So, too, it was always understood that, if the
fine or oblation, etc., of a debtor were assessed by
the justices at a lower sum than should have been
required of him, they were liable for the deficit,
and therefore were charged by name with all
such debts of the crown, in the first instance, in
the great roll.
154
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Thus we find A, the sheriff, answering for the
pleas of B, the justice, who assesses the fine of C,
the king's debtor, or the nominal defendant. Yet
here B is the immediate bailee for C, though A
renders the account for both.
A remaining point of procedure to be noticed
is that oblations, tendered by individuals in the
shape of hawks, were rarely entered in the Easter
summons of the sheriff, as it would have been a
useless expense to the crown to keep the birds in
mew during the moulting period of the summer
months, the royal hawking season extending from
November till March.
In order to comply fully with the wording of
the summons, the personal attendance of the sheriff
was requisite at the Exchequer. He was required,
also, to give notice by proclamation within his
bailiwick of the date and place of summons, that
his debtors might have an opportunity of watching
his operations. On the appointed day, therefore,
the sheriff appeared at the place where the Ex-
chequer was holden, and presented himself to the
president or treasurer. Then, saluting the Barons,
he withdrew, to put in a similar appearance each
day until his turn arrived for rendering his account.
In default of such appearance he might be fined
ICOS. for the first day, 10 for the second and
third days, and on the fourth was placed at the
king's mercy.
This meant that his goods were
Exchequer Problems.
155
answerable by distress for the charge of his farm
and debts, and his own person liable to be attached
by the marshal for contempt.
The absence of the sheriff might, however, be
excused on certain grounds on account of
sickness, for instance, which he must notify to the
Barons; or by virtue of the king's writ in his
behalf addressed to the treasurer or Barons. In
the former case he might despatch attorneys to
render the account in his stead, provided they
were qualified by relationship or rank. In all
other cases, only his eldest son might answer for
him, except by the king's writ. But in any
case the cause of his absence must be a valid
one.
3. The Writs of the Exchequer.
It was an accepted principle at the Exchequer
that no part of the sovereign's treasure might be
expended or allowed without the express sanction
of the king's writ.
The former of these restrictions was obviously
necessary to guard against the gravest abuses of
extravagance, or even of peculation; and hence no
moneys passed into a subject's hands at the issue
of the Exchequer without the authority of a royal
warrant, in the shape of a writ of Liberate, for
ordinary purposes tested at the Exchequer, to
distinguish it from writs made in the king's court
156 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
ว
-a distinction which was soon lost sight of.
The following is a rare example of a writ for
the issue of treasure' of the reign of Henry II. :
'Henry, by the grace of God, etc. To R., his treasurer,
and William Malduit and Warin, son of Gerold, his chamber-
lains, greeting. Deliver out of my treasure 25 marks to the
Brethren of the Charter House, being part of the 50 marks
which I do yearly grant to them by my charter.
'Witness, William, of St. Mary's Church at Westminster.'
For the purposes of allowance to an accountant
the existence of the king's writ was equally
essential, though here this might be expressed in
several different forms.
Thus, when the king's writ was made out at
the Exchequer directing the accountant's acquittal
for any sum expended by him in the public service,
the scribe always made a rescript of the same,
which was carefully laid up against the Michaelmas
audit. Then, when the sheriff or other debtor
of the crown claimed allowance for any item of
his charge, by producing the king's writ, either
directed to him, or issued on his behalf, before that
allowance was made, the rescript at the Exchequer
was compared with the original to guard against a
forgery.
But in most cases of disbursements by the ac-
countant, by the king's writ, a more complicated
process had to be gone through. As stated above,
the sheriff would claim allowance by producing
Exchequer Problems.
157
the king's writ directed to or made out for him,
but the nature of these two instruments differed
widely.
<
The writ directed to the accountant by name
was not an official, but an original writ, tested,
that is, by the sovereign himself, and simply com-
manding the sheriff to pay so much, or provide
such and such necessaries for the king's use' out
of his farm; adding at the close of the precept,
and it shall be computed to you at the Ex-
chequer.' Usually, too, he was required in this
writ to make the provision in question by the
view' of persons mentioned by name therein, who
were, in most cases, agents of the crown, royal
taskers, purveyors, and the like.
C
Now, when the sheriff cast the sum of his
account at the Exchequer, he was not allowed for
this disbursement or provision by merely pro-
ducing his precept. He had first to prove the
execution of the same, and also that he had done
it satisfactorily; for which purpose his viewers'
were examined before the Barons on their oaths-
an early form of sworn representation (for these
viewers were at times local jurats) for purposes
of imperial taxation which seems to have escaped
the attention of historians.
When these preliminary proceedings had termin-
ated successfully for the sheriff, he received his
allowance, not on his original precept, but by a
158
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
+
new writ tested at the Exchequer, thus fulfilling
the words of the royal guarantee, and it shall be
reckoned with you at the Exchequer.'
Find out of
'The King, etc., to William of Faleise, etc.
your farm that which shall be necessary by the view and
testimony of the lawful men for making mews at Fereforde,
and to repair the chimneys at Theok, and the windows, and
it shall be reckoned with you at the Exchequer.
<
Witness, myself at Winchester, the vij. day of May.'
When allowance had been thus made to the
accountant, both the writs in question, original
and official, were laid up in the marshal's county-
bags. If, however, the transaction were incomplete,
the sheriff was allowed de tanto, and permitted to
keep the original for the time being, though the
official writ was stored up.
Writs of allowance were, as a rule, of three
kinds, namely, Computate, Allocate, and Perdono;
which purported to express the king's wishes, as
communicated to the Barons, with respect to the
case before them. All of them were addressed
to the treasurer, or treasurer and Barons jointly,
authorizing allowance or discharge to be respec-
tively made, and were tested at the Exchequer
formerly by two of the greater officials. In the
later period dormant or permanent writs of allo-
cate, etc., were often made out for an accountant,
and kept on hand instead of being put aside on
the conclusion of an isolated transaction. So,
Exchequer Problems.
159
too, partial writs of alleviation might be author-
ized by the crown for a debtor to have respite or
attermination of his account till the following
term, or even still later.
were all made out at the
chancellor's scribe, who kept
on behalf of the crown.
These official writs
Exchequer by the
the receipts thereof
'The King, etc., to the Barons, etc.
Place to the account
of John de Builli, in his farm of Scarborough, that which he
has expended in the necessary repair of our houses of Scar-
borough, by the view and testimony of the lawful men,
according to the custom of our Exchequer.
'Witness, etc.'
It was held to be essential that all original
precepts should either express the amount of the
outlay authorized, or that the satisfaction of the
tenor of the precept should be proved on the part
of the accountant. In the same way all official
writs of allowance or discharge must absolutely
specify the sum allowed or discharged respectively.
Otherwise, the holder of them was not acquitted
at the Exchequer.
In case of the king's absence, the justiciar was
ex officio regent of the kingdom, and at such
times all writs, original or official, ran in his
name, and were then tested by him, and by the
treasurer and constable, for the two kinds re-
spectively. As long, however, as the king was
in England, original writs ran in his name, and
1
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
160
were tested by him alone; while official writs ran
also in his name, but were tested by the justiciar
and constable, or two other of the greater officials.
4. The Trial of the Pyx.
The lower chamber of the Exchequer of Receipt
was managed by certain officials who were both
subordinate and also subservient to the greater
officers, that is, the Barons of the upper chamber,
or Exchequer of state. Such were the treasurer's
clerk, the two knights of the chamberlains, and
the usher, who may be considered as the deputy
of the marshal in the upper chamber. But
besides these, the clerical officials of the staff,
there were others employed as experts in connec-
tion with the necessary manipulation of the
currency itself; to wit, a knight by rank-who
may be called the master of the assays*—his
working subordinate, the assayer, and four tellers.
The latter were solely occupied in counting the
silver pennies poured into the treasury in rouleaux
of £100, which were then placed in bags, sealed
and labelled by the treasurer's clerk. The only
test of the standard of the currency applied in this
numeration was, first, to mix the coinage impartially,
and then to weigh each counted pound separately,
sixpence each librate being allowed as the limit for
6
Literally, the knight-silverer.'
Exchequer Problems.
161
any deficiency in weight, under which standard no
receipts were admitted by tale.
We have seen that in the earliest times-pre-
viously, that is, to the reorganization of the
Exchequer under Henry I.-the revenue of the
sovereign was answered in two forms, namely,
in specie and in kind; the former drawn from
judicial fines and farms of towns, and the latter
rendered, at an arbitrary assessment, by the culti-
vators of the royal demesne. The ever-increasing
needs of the crown, however, together with the
temptation for official exactions, which was
offered by an arbitrary tallage in kind, caused
the latter plan to be commuted for by an assess-
ment, in specie alone, upon each of the king's
farms in demesne. Then all of these, being at
length consolidated into one farm for each county,
were entrusted to the administration of a sheriff
or custos, who answered for the same at the
Exchequer, as well as for the judicial issues of
his bailiwick.* At first this agent of the crown
paid in the revenue of his county by tale,
with the proviso added that he should make good
*Thus the simplest distinction primarily made between.
sheriffs, who rendered their accounts by tale or in blank,
respectively, was by taking into consideration whether the
issues of courts of justice, i.e., of the hundred, etc., were con-
solidated with the farm of the county, or retained in the
king's hand. In the former case the payment was in blank,
in the latter by tale.
I I
162
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
*
a presumed deficiency in weight on every counted
pound by a vantage-payment of sixpence. Later
this modest compensation was found inadequate to
protect the crown from loss through a depreciated
standard of currency; therefore, instead of making
such a payment ad scalam, as the vantage-money
system was called, the sheriff was now required
to account for the actual weight of every counted
pound paid in by him-which was known as the
payment ad pensum-or to compound with a
shilling in the pound for vantage-money in lieu
thereof. Later still, when not only the weight,
but even the fineness of the currency, had begun
to suffer a depreciation, Roger, Bishop of Salisbury,
the leading spirit of Henry I.'s financial innova-
tions, introduced the further expedient of blanching
the farms of the counties-that is to say, of re-
quiring them to be paid either in tested bullion,
or in specie which must be reduced to that con-
dition before it was admitted at the Exchequer.
This regulation was forthwith carried out, except
in the case of a few counties, privileged chiefly on
account of the non-existence or paucity of local
moneyers. Some time, however, naturally elapsed
before the reform could be carried into universal
effect.
* The payment ad scalam differed from that by tale, in
that the former was subject in all cases to the deduction of
sixpence on each librate.
-}

Fig. 24.—Seal of Alphonso, of Castille.
STRIS REGIS:CASTELL
TU U U
ག།.
STRIS REGIS:CASTELLE
GIONIS:S: ALFONSI
GIONIS:+S: ALFONSI

·
Exchequer Problems.
165
1
Thus in the thirty-first year of Henry I. we
find a dozen or so of the principal counties ac-
counted for in blank, and about the same number
by weight, with half that number by tale. Yet
some, such as Lincoln and Warwick, are answered
for both in blank and by weight; others—to wit,
Bucks and Beds-in blank and by tale; others,
again-for example, Kent-by weight and tale;
and one, Lincoln, by all three methods of account.
In the sixth year of Henry II., however, the
system had become far more uniform in favour of
payments in blank or, apparently, by its equiva-
lent of scale, when no other arrangement was
specified, which represented a uniform deduction
of sixpence from every pound. In some few
cases, however, as in that of Kent, the farm was
answered both in blank and by tale.
Whenever it happened that the treasure paid
into the Receipt fell below the standard of weight-
which deficiency was established by weighing every
heap of 1,200 pence in a wooden coffer, 30 pence
being thrown in to turn the scale if necessary-or
if it was paid in on account of a farm liable to be
blanched, the following ceremony was performed:
The master of assays, taking possession of a coffer
containing 44 shillings worth of coin chosen at
random out of the farm paid in by the sheriff, which
coffer was first sealed with the latter's seal, carried
it forthwith into the upper Exchequer, and emptied
166
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
its contents on the table. Then, the coin being
again mixed by hand, a pound's worth of the
whole was carefully weighed against a pound weight
of the realm in the Exchequer scale. This done,
the librate was counted to ascertain whether it con-
tained 240 pence. If the result of this scrutiny
were satisfactory, the sheriff was next required to
proceed to the assay, prepaying the assayer's fee of
twopence out of his own pocket.
Besides the sheriff and the master of assays,
with his subordinates, two other sheriffs, nomi-
nated by the treasurer, were present at the cere-
mony as witnesses. Together this party repaired
to the furnace, whither the assayer had preceded
them, to make the necessary preparations. Arrived
there, the coffer containing the trial librate was
once more emptied and counted afresh by the
expert, the rest standing by watching his opera-
tions. When counted, the coins were thrown into
the melting-pot, reduced to a liquid.mass, and the
dross skimmed by the assayer under the critical gaze
of the officials and the sheriffs, each side keen to
note, on behalf of its conflicting interests, whether
the metal were, on the one hand, insufficiently
purified, or, on the other, over-refined by the
negligence of the melter. But, as a rule, the
expert caught the pot from the charcoal at the
exact juncture prescribed by the rules of his art,
and emptied its contents into a vessel, which was
Exchequer Problems.
167
then carried by the master of assays, accompanied
by the rest of the party, before the Barons. If,
however, the expert declared the assay to have
failed, or if the experiment were challenged by
either party, the whole ceremony was gone through
again, with another librate out of the surplus
store, the assayer, however, receiving no fresh fee
in this case.
In the upper chamber of state the silver bullion
resulting from the assay was weighed in the scale
against the standard pound, and the loss by the
fire made up by the sheriff throwing in sufficient
pence out of the surplus in the pyx to turn the
scale. Thereupon the refined librate was put
aside, endorsed with the name of the county to
which it appertained, together with a certificate of
the number of pence which had been required to
make up the loss by the assay, whereby it was
established how many pence were to be deducted
from every pound which the farm contained before
it could be allowed as 'blanched'—a deduction
amounting on an average to five per cent. on the
whole sum paid in, whether in cash or tallies.
5. Foreign Accounts.
The great roll continued to be made up in the
same form until the end of the reign of Henry III.
Even in the earliest surviving specimens it can be
seen that this formula involved much repetition,
168
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
more especially in respect of individual debts of
which there was little chance of payment. These
tedious repetitions have also proved a fruitful
source of confusion to later students, as will be
evident from the following instance: In the Pipe
Roll of the fifth year of Henry II. there occurs,
under the county of Cambridge, the entry, 'The
sheriff renders account of 2 marks for Fugelmera.'
The same entry recurs in most of the year rolls
throughout this reign. In the ninth year, how-
ever, one mark was paid off. Somewhat later
another half-mark was paid, but the remainder
was still charged as a forlorn hope till nearly the
end of the reign, when the entry at last disappears.
But the worst was this, that the scribe occasionally
varied the monotony of the repeated entry by a
change of form, which made it appear at one time
as though it were a place under notice, at another
as a person, and yet again as a local tax or custom,
under all which heads it was indexed in turn.
Some persons even thought that this was the name
of a Saxon lady. It is clear, however, that Foul-
mire, in Cambridgeshire, is meant, which escheated
to the crown in 1158, with other possessions of
Earl Conan of Brittany.
In the fifty-fourth year of Henry III. steps
were taken to reform this troublesome procedure
by means of a distinction between good and bad
debts, and in the twelfth year of Edward I. a new
Exchequer Problems.
169
method of entry was established, by which the
sheriff's farms were to be entered in a separate
roll (just as they were formerly set out in the
great Exactory Roll under Henry II., no specimen
of which is known to have survived), and the bad
debts in the same way in another roll. Hence-
forth the sums mentioned therein were to be
collected by the sheriff as he was best able, and
were not to be entered in the great roll until
they were paid. As, however, a large proportion
of these bad debts was made up of dead farms,'
both items came to be written in the same roll,
which was called Exannual Roll.
6
But long before the date of this important inno-
vation it had been found impossible to find space
for the rapidly increasing casual revenue of the
crown in the Pipe Roll itself. It had, indeed,
from the first been usual to enter in the great
roll only the total allowance demanded by an
accountant for necessary or authorized disburse-
ments, the details of his account being contained
in a 'roll of particulars,' which was carefully pre-
served for further examination. In the same way
the details of the sums collected by such revenue
officers as Customers and others were also rendered
separately in the form of ledgers or rolls of
particulars, and the totals only were entered in
the great roll. In course of time all the rapidly-
increasing revenue derived from extraordinary
170
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
sources, such as the Customs, were now accounted
for in supplementary rolls, constituting, in fact, a
separate return. These were called the foreign
accounts, which comprised a great variety of
subjects.
The summonses of the sheriffs were originally
prepared by the chancellor's representative at the
Exchequer, and all other processes for levying the
king's debts also issued out of Chancery. When,
therefore, the Chancery was separated from the
Exchequer, at the end of the twelfth century, the
custom arose of 'estreating,' or extracting, all
notices of debts due to the king in respect of fines
or grants, etc., entered on the Chancery rolls,
which estreats were sent to the Exchequer in order
that they might be levied from the debtors. These
Chancery estreats were called Originals, and a
long series of Originalia rolls still exists. In the
earliest period the king's justices delivered into the
Exchequer rolls or lists of the fines and amercia-
ments levied by them in the king's courts, which
may be regarded as a form of estreats, since they
were evidently extracts from the formal records of
that court. When the king's court, like the
Chancery, became a distinct department from the
Exchequer, these extracts were known as the
foreign estreats in distinction to the originals
received from the Chancery. It is a curious fact
that this system of estreating has prevailed in most
PA
ORIOSI
SI· PRINCIPES·
PES: TERRAE
CLE
MENS
PP-VII
S.PE
Fig. 25.-Seal of the Golden Bull of Pope Clement VII.
:


Exchequer Problems.
173
of the administrative departments of the state for
other than financial purposes, but with the same
object-namely, to set the proper machinery in
motion for the furtherance of the king's service;
that is to say, whenever distinct departments of
the state have been created for special purposes,
such as the Admiralty, War Office, Treasury,
Foreign Office, Colonial Office, etc., extracts from
all despatches, or intelligence, or accounts received
by the Government have been transmitted to de-
partments in order that the technical steps might
be taken for appropriate action.
Towards the end of the reign of Edward I., the
system of returning the extraordinary or casual
revenue of the crown under a separate form of
account was still further developed by the institu-
tion of the Greenwax. The origin of this name
is found in the green wax used in the composition
of the seal appended to the summonses which were
now issued for payment of petty fines and amercia-
ments separately from the ordinary summonses to
the sheriffs. The greenwax was under the super-
vision of the clerk of the estreats and of the king's
Remembrancer, but in the reign of James I. a
surveyor-general of the greenwax was appointed.
It may be observed that this, like most other
casual sources of revenue, was frequently oppres-
sively enforced, and was highly unpopular.
Provision having thus been made for the collec-
$
1
174
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
tion of the extraordinary and casual revenue of the
crown, no longer included in the great roll,
further steps were taken for auditing the same
before the foreign apposer, who here took the
place of the Chancellor's clerk. The result of this
audit was entered in two separate rolls, one for
those debts which were paid, the other for those
which remained unpaid, according as the entries
were 'totted' or 'nichilled' by the accountant.

.

CHAPTER VII.
IT
THE MAKING OF THE BUDGET.
T would probably be found a very difficult
matter to compile a table of the revenue of
this country, distinguishing between the several
sources of income or profit enjoyed by the crown in
the several historical periods embraced within the
Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and Plantagenet dynasties.
With the close of the Middle Ages, many of these
sources had become dry, or else diverted from
their proper channels, so that a revolution in
financial practice was imminent, and was eventually
accomplished at the expense of most of the mediaval
theories which had survived the civil war of the
middle of the seventeenth century; but many
fictions lingered, almost to the beginning of the
present reign, as was only natural when the adminis-
tration of the national finances was carried on by the
same machinery that had been in motion for over
seven hundred years. It will be better, therefore,
to avoid the common view of a separate system of
!
176 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
national finance for each of the above epochs,
more particularly in the case of the Anglo-Saxon
and Norman periods. The following table may be
taken as fairly representative of the chief sources
of the national revenue during the greater part of
the Middle Ages, and the continuity of each of
these may be gathered from subsequent remarks:
I. ORDINARY REVENUE.
(i.) Crown lands.
(a) Royal farms.
(b) Casual farms, such as woodrents, etc.
Lands in the king's hands by escheat,
forfeiture, vacancy, etc.
(d) Feefarms of towns and gilds, etc.
(ii.) Casual revenue, including coinage, tolls and
markets, treasure-trove, wreck, royal
fish, deodands, waifs and strays, goods
of felons, usurers, fugitives, outlaws,
recreants.
(iii.) Control of trade.
(a) Purveyance or pre-emption.
(b) Prisage.
(c) Customs.
(iv.) Issues of justice.
(a) Fines.
(b) Amerciaments.
The Making of the Budget. 177
(v.) Feudal taxation.
(a) Aids (the three accustomed).
(b) Tallage.
(c) Scutage.
(d) Relief, marriage, wardship, etc.
II. EXTRAORDINARY REVENUE,
(i.) Danegeld.
(ii.) Aid (imperial; the Donum, etc.).
(iii.) Scutage and carucage or hidage (imperial).
(iv.) Subsidy on land.
(v.) Tenths and fifteenths (or other propor-
tion).
(vi.) Subsidy on wools, etc.
The story of the Teutonic migration relates that
the victorious leader of an invading tribe divided the
conquered territory between himself and his armed
followers, leaving certain tracts, unsuited for im-
mediate occupation by reason of their wooded or
marshy nature, for the constitutional requirements
of the embryo state.
From a very early date, the tendency had been
for the crown to treat the public lands as its own,
for purposes of the State at least. The sole check
upon this pretension existed in the supposed con-
sent of the Witan to every alienation of the pro-
perty of the nation.
Somewhat later it was found
that this new claim of the crown was neither
I 2
178
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
wholly interested, nor in itself disadvantageous to
the national cause. The king was no longer a
mere tribal leader, responsible, at most, for the
regulation of his household, great and small.
The national defence, the establishment of justice,
the maintenance of law and order by a strict
police to meet the immediate wants of a new-born
civil society, or the prospective wants of a mercan-
tile community, were now his care. The folk-
lands of the ninth and tenth centuries, stripped of
their fairer members by the appropriations or
feudal grants of previous sovereigns, consisted
mainly of forest, moor, and marsh, or those
narrower tracts of soil, including highways and
river-beds, which served as marshes or boundaries
-between sub-kingdoms, shires, and hundreds.
And so the change supposed to have been in
progress since the Battle of Ellandune is known to
have been accomplished before the Conquest by the
evidence of Domesday Book. Here we find the
crown actually in possession of the ancient folk-
land, which passes under the generic title of Terra
Regis. There is not much evidence to show to
what extent the latter benefitted by this appropria-
tion; and there is none to show when or how it
took place. We have merely, then, to accept
Terra Regis of Domesday as we find it, and to
follow the constitutional interest connected with
its enlargement or decrease during subsequent
The Making of the Budget.
179
reigns. At first we are presented with a steady
increase. The royal demesne of the Conqueror
must have been a large one, judging from the
entries thereof in Domesday Book, and the popular
impression expressed by the chroniclers; and this
territory was steadily increased by his sons,
especially in the direction of afforestation. For
this latter encroachment we should have been
prepared from our knowledge of the domestic
policy of Norman kings, who undertook the
administration of national resources for ensuring
law and order in return for a territorial enjoyment
and profit becoming more and more invidious and
absolute, and a territorial jurisdiction verging upon
tyranny, even as it is seen under the milder rule
of the first Plantagenet. However, these things
are as yet known to us mostly by capable con-
jecture.
The next piece of direct evidence which follows
Domesday is the surviving Pipe Roll of Henry I.
Here we find plentiful mention of crown lands
granted, sold, or given in exchange to vassals and
officials. In the Pipe Rolls of Henry II., which
succeed this isolated record, instances of such
grants are found in still greater abundance, and
made like the former to officials of the new school
created by Henry I., rather than on the principle
of feudal concession which characterized the aliena-
tions of a weak king like Stephen, and unpatriotic
12-2
180
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
rulers like Henry III., Edward II., Richard II.,
and Henry VI.
Although the tenants of folk-land under state
control formed a body of vassals ready made at
the period of the extension of the royal jurisdiction
over the ancient property of the nation, and pay-
ing, in the case of towns, at least, very substantial
rents in the shape of 'Gable' money, it is probable
that, previous to the reign of Henry I., the purely
agricultural rents of the crown lands were mostly
paid in kind, and that this inconvenient practice
was only abandoned after an agitation which
threatened, at one time, to become a prædial
war.
Richard Fitz-Nigel, treasurer of King Henry
II., gives, in his famous treatise on the Exchequer,
the following graphic account of this financial
revolution:
'In order that you may comprehend these things,
it is necessary to go back a little further. Accord-
ing to tradition of the time of our fathers, in the
primitive state of the kingdom following the Con-
quest, the kings received payment for their farms
not in weight of gold or silver, but in victuals
alone, out of which those things that were
necessary for the daily consumption of the king's
house used to be provided. And they knew-
they who were appointed for this purpose-how
much was forthcoming from every farm. For the
The Making of the Budget.
181
rest, to defray the pay or largesse of the soldiers,
and other necessities, coined money was provided
from the pleas and conventions of the crown, and
from the cities or castles which did not practise
agriculture. Therefore, during the whole reign
of King William I., and down to the time of
King Henry, his son, this practice prevailed,
so that I myself have encountered those who have
seen victuals conveyed to the court, at the times
appointed, from the royal farms, the officers of
the king's house being exactly informed from
which counties wheat, and from which the several
kinds of flesh, or the provender for horses, or the
other necessaries, were owing. Then, on payment
being made of these things, in manner appointed,
the royal officers entered them to the credit of the
sheriff, reducing their value into money—namely,
for a measure of wheat sufficient for the bread of
a hundred men, one shilling; for the carcass of a
grazing ox, one shilling; for a ram or sheep, four-
pence; for the provender of twenty horses, like-
wise fourpence. But in a subsequent period, when
this same king was engaged in foreign and distant
parts in suppressing the tumults of war, it became
desirable for him to have the requisite sum for
these exploits in coined money. Meanwhile, a
clamorous throng of countrymen had flocked to
the king's court, or, which he took more griev-
ously, even threw themselves in his way on his
182
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
progresses, bringing in their ploughshares as a
token of the decay of agriculture; for they were
oppressed by hardships unnumbered by reason of
the victuals which they used to convey from their
own abodes throughout divers parts of the
realm. Therefore, the king, giving ear to their
complaints, by the deliberate counsel of his great
men, despatched throughout the kingdom those
whom he knew to be most prudent and discreet
for that purpose, who, passing round and survey-
ing each farm, by the evidence of their own eyes,
an estimate being taken of the victuals that were
payable therefrom, reduced the amount to a money
sum. But for the total sum which arose from
all the farms in one county, they appointed the
sheriff of that county to be answerable at the
Exchequer.'*
The same author tells us in another place that
he had also conversed with old men who had
witnessed the vast herds of cattle and the heavily-
laden wains with which every road was choked in
the environs of the court on the eve of a great
festival or foreign expedition.
It is probable that the crown lands, like the
French possessions of this country, reached their
greatest extent in the reign of Henry II. From
this point, therefore, we are engaged in noting
their steady decline, in spite of certain arbitrary,
*
Dialogus, i. 7.
The Making of the Budget.
183
even desperate, attempts to expiate the evils of
voluntary or forced alienations.
<
From the very first we have seen that the
acquirement of an extensive royal demesne by the
crown was, in fact, the result of an indirect
bargain with the nation. The king took over
the residue of the folk-land, because he alone was
qualified by the possession of an equivalent terri-
torial jurisdiction to undertake their management
and order. So, too, with regard to the later
revenue which the crown derived, directly or
indirectly, from the soil, it had come to be re-
garded as an essential condition of its enjoyment
that the king should live of his own'; he for his
part undertaking the defence of the national inde-
pendence, commerce, and interests of every kind,
from harmful influences, particularly such as were
brought about by the growing competition of other
countries in fact, such a programme as is de-
scribed in the words of Edward I., ut terra de
bonis suis se illæsa conservaret.' Now, one of the
most baneful of these influences was favouritism,
or countenancing aliens. This anti-English policy
was truly the curse of Plantagenet kings. John
and Henry III. used it; so did Edward II.,
Edward III., Richard II., and Henry VI. Oppo-
sition to this new freak of the crown is the chief
explanation of popular discontent on many notable
occasions, and is easily identified as the main-
>
<
184
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
spring of the national policy formulated in 1258,
1297, 1312, 1340, and 1386. That is to say,
the royal demesne, under all the kings above
mentioned, was wantonly alienated for the benefit
of favourites, and these the vilest men in the
popular view. Stephen had already set an example
which had been deprecated by the thrift of his
successor, but all too readily followed out for a
still worse motive by Richard I. and John.
Thanks to a long and profitable minority,
Henry III. began his personal government with
sufficient resources for a constitutional programme;
but in his reign we have not only the most aggra-
vated instances of wasteful grants of royal property
(now, since Magna Carta, regarded as the property
of the nation, when the nation might no longer
be arbitrarily taxed in default), but the fatal
expedient of forced resumptions-the bankrupt
monarch's discharge through the good graces of
ministers or Parliament.
Of the remaining branches of the crown lands,
woodrents and other casual profits of the old
waste folk-lands were not, from the evidence of
the Pipe Rolls at least, of any special value during
this early period. The case was very different,
however, from the close of the fourteenth century
onwards, though there is reason to believe that
this portion of the revenue was very indifferently
administered by its local officers.
The Making of the Budget.
185
The case of the baronies or manors which fell
into the hands of the crown by way of escheat
or forfeiture was widely different. It is not too
much to assert that from first to last few estates
of importance escaped the consequences of the
feudal doctrine of survivorship, and it would be
probably impossible to form any approximate
estimate of the increase of revenue which might
have accrued to the crown from this one source.
Unfortunately for themselves and their heavily-
taxed subjects, the later Plantagenet kings
notoriously neglected their opportunities of ab-
sorbing overgrown peerages, for by a strange
fatality those opportunities most frequently arose
during the reigns of weak and improvident
sovereigns. Even so the rent-roll of honours,
bishoprics, or towns in the king's hand' during
the latter part of the twelfth and the whole of the
thirteenth century was very considerable. As
regards the remaining source of revenue under
this head, namely, that derived from the farms of
towns and gilds, it may be said that it formed a
welcome, though by no means ample, contribution.
to the royal treasury. Some cities, such as London,
paid their farms regularly down to recent times,
but others were compelled to seek relief on the
grounds of natural decay, or at one time of damage
from a foreign invasion.
The casual revenue of the crown was a still
186
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
more uncertain source of wealth. It was a point
of honour with a bold peasantry to simplify the
process of collecting treasure-trove or wreck of
the sea or waifs by leaving nothing to be collected.
Royal fish (whale, etc.), indeed, was readily pre-
sented, probably because it was unpalatable without
the resources of the royal kitchen; and deodands,
which were regarded with superstitious abhorrence,
being worth, moreover, some few pence only in
most cases, were promptly rendered to the crown.
The monopoly of coinage probably paid the work-
ing expenses of the Mint, while the more valuable
estrays were for the most part conceded by the
crown itself to local lords. Certainly long lists
of felons' goods, etc., appear in several of the
Pipe Rolls of the period; but the sums accounted
for were both trivial and with difficulty collected,
though the goods of usurers, whether Jews or
Christians, were at times very valuable acquisitions.
The revenue of the crown from its control of
trade was probably the most considerable of any
except the actual farms of the crown lands.
In the primitive idea of Teutonic kingship, the
possession of an imperial revenue, it is needless to
insist, is never entertained. The princeps, or
dux, attended by his following of elders or
warriors, has an instrument ever ready to his hand
for defensive or offensive action. Whether he be
a descendant of the demigods, or the hero of a
The Making of the Budget.
187
The
momentous crisis, it is equally obvious to his
followers that, as the leader of their choice, he
must receive something more than moral support
at their hands. His is no paternal government
which, backed by an ample Exchequer, can train
and feed men for home or foreign warfare. It
rests on nothing more than the influence of personal
prestige, and, from a worldly point of view, their
ruler is no better than primus inter pares. But
this penniless champion is one, they feel (the
history of their race is an oft-taught lesson to
them), who can lead them from victory to victory,
direct them to booty upon booty; who can
promote them from a province to a kingdom,
and exalt them from a clan into a nation.
tribesman, therefore, fights both for himself and
his chief; he for success and the glory which it
brings. The former provides the materials for
the enterprise-service at his own expense, and
contributions in kind to maintain the rude splendour
of his patron's state. The latter stakes the honour
of his family upon the results of his own wisdom
and prowess.
The fight is won. The chief
becomes king, his tribe a kingdom. He becomes
also a great landlord, with tracts of conquered
territory at his disposal. These he distributes
amongst his retainers, whose personal attachment,
now exchanged for a feudal obligation, is in no
way lessened by their altered circumstances, but
188 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
strengthened and multiplied infinitely by the
possession of individual power and patronage.
The king is now no longer a simple patriarch,
but a dread liege, a sovereign by Divine right and
human force. He is rich above his vassals; can
play the potentate, or the patron, at his good
pleasure. But with power comes either the sense
of its insecurity, or the fresh lust of conquest.
For now the kingdom is pitted against rival
kingdoms; the onslaught grows to an invasion;
the battle is lengthened into a campaign. The
direction of the ruler becomes more necessary,
his requirements more pressing. He must have
more steeds, more panoplies, more sheep and oxen
at his disposal. At last, he or his successors lead
their host to a crowning victory. Rival dynasties
are overthrown; scattered sub- kingdoms are
amalgamated. The victor finds himself upon the
throne of a great nation. Then at length his
kingship begins to assert itself. He is not only
the leader of his people in war, but their adminis-
trator in peace. He is the supreme landlord, the
origin of justice, the patentee of heaven for
honours and privileges and emoluments which he
alone of all others can aspire to; and this is his
prerogative-this distinguishes him from all the
rest, and is his guarantee for that supremacy which
is needful to the trust which has been imposed
upon him, the well-being of his subjects.
The Making of the Budget.
189
f
The latter have dispersed to take possession of
their lots, to map out, to build, and cultivate the
soil. Their great men remain a caste of vigilant
and restless warriors. The humbler sort become
a native peasantry, or turn their enterprise to the
pursuit of trade. The one great obligation of
self-defence is still upon them all. Each man
must hold himself ready, at his lord's call, in his
person, and with his labour and substance, in the
king's wars. With the latter there is no distinc-
tion between public and private emergencies.
What he sacrifices for the general good he equally
dispenses for his own personal advantage. He
represents the unity of the race, and his action is
only magnified in theirs. A danger is at hand,
and the nation must repel it at whatever cost.
Granting its existence, what that danger is, or
how or whence, is for the moment at least no
affair of theirs. Such is the position that they
have accepted by adopting a system which alone
has wrought their greatness.
Suppose, then, that an army of defence has
voluntarily assembled, equipped, and even pro-
visioned, for a certain space of time at individual
expense. But, except under the most primitive
conditions of warfare, a still greater outlay will be
needed to keep it under arms, to brace the slug-
glish mass with the sinews of war. Whence are
these funds to be procured? From the first it
190 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
was decided that all must contribute where the
safety of all was concerned. But now all are not
fit to bear arms; moreover, all are not now acces-
sible. The nation has shifted the responsibility of
its defence upon the king. He has resources of
his own, a revenue, such as it is, sufficient for the
expenses of state. The quarrel is his; let him
bear the brunt himself. That is what actually
came to pass, as, indeed, was inevitable in a state
pretending to civilization. In this aspect the king
was the state, and, it may be added, always has
been. The tribal warrior did not load his chief
with arms and necessaries for the latter's private
aggrandizement, but to qualify him for his post as
champion of the race; 'to do him honour,' we are
told, and also to relieve his necessities.'* Now,
this honour was essentially for the credit of the
community, and the necessity of the hour was
equally a concern of their own.
Thus we find that in the latter period to which
we were referring, the new nation endowed their
king with a prerogative derived apparently from
that early system of oblations of levying supplies
at discretion to meet his sovereign requirements;
in other words, the right of prisage, pre-emption,
or purveyance. The personal security or pre-
eminence of the ruler before the world was, in
those days, and for long after, the first object of
* Tacitus, 'Germania,' c. xiv.
The Making of the Budget.
191
statecraft. Next to this his dignity' and state were
of the most importance. Therefore, above all
things, he must be a victorious ruler; and he
must also be strong in justice and conspicuous in
splendour. He was paid to be efficient; but he
was not left to regulate the pay according to the
efficiency displayed. No such principle is even
yet consistently recognised; but at this point the
ruler is left to his own devices. Those are
various ; some creditable, others the reverse.
Here it concerns us only to trace the consti-
tutional origin and scope of one of them.
The king had, in Anglo-Saxon times, we may
believe, the prerogative of prisage or purveyance-
the admitted right to purchase, 'for his own use,'
stores or material at an official discretion with
regard to quantity or price. He represented the
glory of the nation, and his equipage, appoint-
ments, and hospitality, must be such as to magnify
the post.
Of what did this executive task consist?
If we reduced the expenditure incurred therein to
an average, it would be found to be two-thirds for
fighting, and the residue for dress and diet. There-
fore, for every charger or harness which the crown
required in the public service to grace some pomp
or ceremony, for every ox slaughtered for the royal
table, twice as many again would figure in the field
of war, or replenish the salting-tubs of a royal
garrison.
192
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Roughly speaking, the supplies of which the
king stood in need were of two kinds: (1) Pro-
visions for his household and retinue for every-
day consumption; for feast-days and ceremonies;
for journeys and expeditions at home and abroad.
(2) Dress and appointments for the same on like
occasions.
For three centuries after the Conquest there was
no limit finally established for the demand thus
created. If the king and his men were at home.
on any working day of the year, a comparatively
modest supply was sufficient for the requirements
of the royal household. On any festival day, and
especially those on which the king wore his crown,
according to custom, preparations on a much larger
scale were necessary. During a campaign or state
progress abroad, the ordinary arrangements of the
service underwent a complete change. The court
was now a camp, the retinue an army. There
were 10,000 mouths to feed instead of 1,000, and
a like increment in the expenditure requisite for
their equipment. It is true that under the Norman
kings this excrescence was not readily perceptible.
The vassal followed his lord at his own cost. The
executive had no responsibility as to whether or no
the militiaman starved in that service, and there-
fore it often happened that the men of his county
supplied him with funds sufficient for his support
during the campaign. With the Plantagenet kings
The Making of the Budget. 193
came the great change in feudal warfare-the com-
mutation of personal service for an assessment in
money or kind. Henceforth for the most part
the sovereign waged war at his own expense,
defrayed by the existing revenues of the crown.
The necessary supplies for the palace or the castle-
camp, the hunting excursion or the foreign progress,
for each and for all, were levied by the king's man-
date from his subject producers. The process was
as follows: The crown required oxen and sheep
and corn for the royal household or army—' ad
opus nostrum et nostrorum.' Then a writ of privy
seal was directed to its officers in the counties—
the sheriffs in most cases-commanding such pro-
vision to be made at the royal expense, for the
officer was allowed the nominal outlay incurred in
his account. If wine were lacking for a like
service, the king's chamberlains at London and
Sandwich, in early times, took from each cargo
landed in England, unfranked, one cask on each
side of the mast, at the most, for half its market
value. If this were not enough to furnish the
quota specified, part of the cargo was purchased at
a slightly higher rate. It even happened, by no
means unfrequently, too, that a ship, with all its
cargo of wine, was chartered by the crown, and
navigated forthwith to the required point; but it
seems to have been usual to subject only foreign
vessels to this exaction. In like manner clothing,
13
194
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
arms, horses, and miscellaneous stores were pro-
cured indiscriminately for the royal need or gratifi-
cation. Ad opus regis et suorum' was a password
that opened every grange or warehouse.
In the age of which we are speaking the king
had not only the prescriptive right to obtain relief
for the necessities of his person or of his state from
the products of the soil-lead, iron, tin, corn,
cattle, wool, and even articles of staple manufac-
ture-but he also acquired by means hereof a
species of vested interest in the prevailing distri-
bution of those forms of wealth.
In one aspect,
as the supreme landlord of the nation, he was im-
plicated in his tenants' welfare. Their prosperity
was the security for the strength and efficiency of
his rule, and he felt justified in insisting that the
security should be tangible. It is thus that we
arrive at the explanation of, the fact that the
crown, in the earliest period of our history, had
the absolute regulation of internal traffic, of sale
or barter between its subjects, in its own hands.
If a tenant's wealth, by his own simplicity or
negligence, became diverted into other channels,
this event, the economic importance of which was
so slight, was otherwise disastrous to the crown.
It had lost the efficient service of a fighting man,
and it had also lost an available contribution to
its own possible necessities. The spirit which
prompted the enactments preventing a freeman
The Making of the Budget.
195
from parting with his arms under any circum-
stances was the same with that which ordered the
form of his bargains with his neighbours, and
debarred him from the risks and profits alike of
international commerce. It is proper to insist
much upon this explanation of the undoubted
phenomenon of the crown alone possessing the
right to erect a market at large for the produce of
the land. Historians are apt to dwell upon the
necessity ever present to the chief magistrate, of
keeping the peace between his turbulent subjects,
as a readier solution of the problem; and in one
sense the suggestion is a reasonable one.
It was,
indeed, essential that each party to the primitive
bargains of the period should be convinced that
the other had a 'clean-back,' as their jargon went ;
but this theory will not explain the still wider
control of the crown for the commercial welfare
of the nation at large, exercised without question
into far later times. In any case, the fact remains
that under no circumstances was a subject of this
kingdom at liberty to absent himself beyond the
cognizance of the Government, even in the pursuit
of his lawful occupation. Neither might such a
one export or transport to a distant place any
commodity of the kingdom without the royal
license. Thus, he could not at his own will con-
sign a cargo of tin, wood, wool, leather, corn,
flesh, fish, or other staple articles to the order of a
13-2
196
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Flemish agent, or of a fellow-subject in one of the
French dependencies of the English erown. Nay,
more! It was an admitted fact that the sovereign's
prerogative was infringed, his state impaired, by
any such transaction, and amends must be made
on either score by the payment of a substantial
fine in consideration of a royal license to trade in
the way proposed. In the face of this fundamental
right, how are we to dismiss the notion of the
crown's proprietary interests in the products of the
soil from our minds? It would seem as though the
sovereign, holding that the entire native wealth of
the kingdom lay at his disposal for the relief of
those needs which were incurred by his royal state
or responsibilities, would suffer no portion thereof
to be removed beyond his reach without compen-
sating his revenue for the possible losses which it
might thus sustain.
It is far less probable that the crown, in its
infinite wisdom and justice and strength, should
have immediately arrived at the following compact
with its subjects in their interests, which the
orthodox sticklers for an illimitable constitution
have loved to suppose that it should, with the
consent of all, have been allowed to levy defi-
nite contributions from merchandise which passed
through the outports to maintain the safety of the
seas; from the inland carts and barges to main-
tain the king's peace upon the highways and
The Making of the Budget.
197
common rivers; and at the gates and quays of its
great cities to ensure the latter a decent provision
for an orderly municipal government, or for a
strong imperial occupation in the interests of its
own state and revenue.
It is true, however, that the latter object did
seemingly enter into the calculations of the Govern-
ment, and that the consideration which it received
from its subjects on such occasions was in view of
a twofold concession made to them on its own
part. Those who fined to the crown for a license
to traffic within the limits of its sovereign control
were not only acquitted of all claims to ordinary
prisage or toll, but received, at the same time, a
guarantee for the safety of themselves and their
property against any hindrance, seizure, or exac-
tion whatsoever. Safety to whom and from what?
we should ask. The question is not a needless
one, as we shall presently see.
The king's peace, except in the case of certain
remote franchises, reigned throughout the length
and breadth of the land. By a wise disposition, too,
the authority of the crown was nowhere so jealously
guarded, or so frequently exerted, as in the very
spots where the maintenance of peace and order
was most liable to be threatened. The waggoner
or packhorse-driver and his master reflected as
they plunged into the depth of a royal forest that,
thanks to their sovereign's hobby in the shape of
198
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
venery, not an outlaw dare make himself known
in a country where the very highroads were beset
with footpads, and paid their modest toll accord-
ingly with willing hearts at the forest-gate. So,
too, the wool-barge or hay-lighter which navigated
the upper waters of the Thames gladly submitted
to the avalage imposed by the king's bailiff or farmer.
It could scarcely otherwise have been a pleasant
passage for the market-boat of the reign of John
within the clutches of such governors as might be
in lack of stores in any royal castle from Windsor
to Oxford. But even the hardiest of public
robbers had a wholesome dread of poaching on
royal preserves, lest he should be invited by the
Exchequer Barons to fine for his acquittal in
thirty marks, or should receive the royal missive at
sight, of which he must surrender his command to
the bearer. But all men who were not out of the
pale of the law were entitled to the benefit of
the king's peace, and certainly no exception was
made to the disadvantage of the mercantile com-
munity.
Why, then, did the latter show themselves so
desirous of obtaining the king's letters patent?
The fact is that they were divided into two classes,
each trading under different circumstances. The
one was composed of native merchants, natural-
born subjects—indigena, as they were called-who
fined to the crown for license to export produce
The Making of the Budget.
199
of the kingdom to a foreign mart; or only to
transport it along the coast to one of the great
English fairs, such as Boston or Lenn (Lynn). The
other comprised foreign merchants, aliens, strangers,
or alienigena, who equally fined for liberty to
introduce themselves or their wares into England,
subject to existing regulations. The former class
received the king's protection from molestation,
not at the hands of their fellow-countrymen, for
the safeguard would have been needless, but to
pass them safely through the officious hands of the
royal Customers and bailiffs, who would otherwise
have made short work of their liberty and cargoes
by handing over the 'pirate' to the custody of the
sheriff to await examination and heavy fine or bail
in the Exchequer chamber, and by seizing and
disposing of his merchandise as forfeit to the
crown. The alien, on the other hand, did really
stand in need of a 'safe-conduct, in view both of
these official severities and still more of the jealous
hatred of their own hopeful Customers, the en-
lightened and protectionist natives of the land; for
to the custos at the outport, the river-side baron,
the wayside outlaw, and the town apprentice, the
Lombard or Flemish pedlar, appeared fair game
for violence and extortion in every form.
We have thus seen that the custuma, or practice
of the crown to levy a revenue from produce
exported from or imported into the kingdom, was
200
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
<
a gradual development of the earlier consuetudo, or
prerogative (for it was not from the first limited
by the constitution, as some have supposed, but
was the birthright of the sovereign from time
immemorial), by virtue of which the king took
prises of provisions or stuff to supply the exigen-
cies of the state or warfare from his own subjects;
and exacted the same with a still higher hand from
foreign traders, who might be both strangers' and
'foes,' according to the caprice of all rude nations,
The one was a caption in peace, the other a capture
of war, as the very etymology of the word suffices
to prove, interpreted as it has been by the pre-
scriptive usage of four whole centuries of recorded
history. We shall now, therefore, be able to
follow with a clearer understanding the following
outline of the process which is found existent in
very early times.
It would seem as though the first traces of the
system of collecting a certain or uncertain toll from
commodities of the land, or from foreign imports,
were connected with the office of chamberlain of
the king's household, or chamberlain of the cities
of London and Sandwich. With regard to this
appointment, it is important to note that the office
of chamberlain was in immediate contact with the
department of the king's wardrobe, which depart-
ment had the administration of all that revenue
(amongst others) which accrued from the royal
The Making of the Budget.
201
of
prerogative of prisage in every form, and which
(with the rest) was chiefly spent upon
the pay
retainers or troops, and the supply of household
provisions or munitions of war.
The remaining class of the Customs-revenue
mentioned in these early records is that of a per-
centage on general merchandise in part acquittance,
at least, of the old liability to prisage. The crown
had quickly made the discovery that a permanent
revenue was more easily raised from personal pro-
perty than from real estate, and of the latter in the
shape of a toll prepaid in hard cash, rather than of
a more or less vexatious tithe in kind. Naturally
the produce formally selected as the subject of this
organized taxation was that which chiefly repre-
sented the superfluous wealth of the country,
exported to foreign countries in payment of such
necessaries or luxuries as were required for home
consumption. From very early times this staple
export was recognised as consisting of wool, wool-
fells, and leather. Wool, then, and hides were
probably the chief source of Customs-revenue to
the crown at the time when it was also in receipt.
of frequent fines for license to export less tangible
articles of commerce.
Minerals, corn, cattle, and other produce did
not offer such facilities for traffic or taxation on a
twofold ground. In the first place, it was not
easy to ensure in a rude and unquiet age more
202 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
than a limited food-supply for the demands of the
population; neither was it expedient, on political
grounds, to risk denuding the latter of the neces-
saries of life in order to furnish forth possible foes
across the narrow seas. In the second place, the
difficulties of rating products of this kind were
admittedly great. In fact, until the problem was
partially solved by the institution of a poundage
on their intrinsic value only, such exports could
not have contributed largely to the revenue col-
lected from merchants by means of a disme or
quinzime. In the thirteenth century we find the
one-tenth, or other dividend, chiefly employed in
the assessment of a constitutional taxation of
property, the customary toll being fixed as a
rateage on the bulk of staple exports. This was
now practically reduced to the duty of 6s. 8d.
upon every sack of wool, or its equivalent in
300 fells, and 13s. 4d. upon each last of hides
exported. All other exports were either insignifi-
cant in amount, or were discouraged, and indeed,
for the most part, wholly forbidden by the crown
for motives of interest and policy. But when
permitted, such exports paid Custom rather by a
fine to the crown, or by suffering a heavy liability
to prise, than by a fixed tariff.
In the case of imports whose existence was
irksome to the patriotism as well as to the self-
seeking spirit of the times, though the necessity
1
The Making of the Budget.
203
for their toleration could not be denied, no scale
of charge on the same plan as that of the ancient
or great Customs of wools and leather was in
force previous to the beginning of the fourteenth
century. There was, it is true, a very ancient
prerogative of the crown, limited by common
law, though never by statute, for taking one cask
out of ten, and two out of twenty-one, that is, on
each side of the mast, from every cargo of imported
wines; but all other imports were, even more than
uncustomed produce, liable to prisage at the mere
discretion of the crown. In 1275 the rate of the
older Custom upon exports was fixed by statute;
and in 1303 the convention of the crown, with
alien merchants embodied in the Carta Mercatoria,
settled the rates chargeable upon the imported
wares of the latter.
These two enactments are the great landmarks
in the history of our Customs-revenue, and with
these that history properly commences. Mean-
while, neither such exports as were not included
in the Statute of Westminster, nor any imports of
native merchants, were subject to any fixed toll
whatever, but continued to lie within the crown's
prerogative of prisage. In spite of every opposi-
tion on the part of its subjects, that prerogative
was exercised by successive sovereigns in what
they took to be the kingdom's interests for
centuries before it became forcibly disused.
1
204
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
It is probable that long before the absorption of
the old folk-land into the royal demesnes it had
already threatened to become a source of danger
to the community. This was owing to its physical
character as a region of pathless forests and wastes,
the refuge of beasts of prey and of the chase; the
refuge also of still more dangerous marauders, out-
laws and robbers, who subsisted upon the spoils
less of nature than of the industry of man. Again,
the highways and the great rivers, which presum-
ably had been parcel of the public lands, were not
only a source of anxiety in the matter of repairs
and conservancy respectively, but were a positive
inducement to crime. Three centuries later we
find the crown still struggling with the evil,
clearing the woods from the roadsides that no
lurking-place might be afforded to highwaymen,
and arming the rural population in its own defence
against the daily commission of robberies and
murders.
The folk-lands appear to have become crown-
lands somewhere about the end of the ninth
century, in exchange for which not very solid
concession the sovereign was required to enter
into that constitutional contract with his subjects
which runs through our history as an expansion of
the Anglo-Saxon coronation oath, which guaranteed
the liberties of all in matters of religion, laws and
justice.
The
205
Making of the Budget.
Now, it was essential that the laws herein referred
to should be 'good laws.' Furthermore, the Anglo-
Saxon ideal of beneficent legislation was expressed
in the traditional ordinances of Edward the Con-
fessor, made with the approval of his wise men ;
and in these enactments it will be observed that
the theory of the king's responsibility for the pre-
servation of the peace is strongly expressed, this
peace being especially enjoined for the safety of all
highways and great rivers. We may assume, then,
that the vills, farms, forests, wastes, and highways
before mentioned, as forming the physical structure
of the folk-lands, were transferred to the crown as
their natural custodian by the name of royal
demesne in trust for the natural rights of the
subject, together with an absolute jurisdiction,
formulated at a later date as forest-law, conserv-
ancy and 'defence' of rivers and other highways,
and a more than feudal proprietorship of vills and
farms.
The profits of this new undertaking were
naturally a considerable inducement. There were
not only the farms cultivated or leased by the
crown, and the produce whereof, at this early
date, was rendered in kind by the farmers and
bailiffs, and the Gable' rents above mentioned,
but also there was the infinite vista of sport
opened up to the Saxon monarch, who loved the
chase within the forest glades of most southern
<
206
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
shires. Moreover, there was the ample reward of
a vigilant preservation of the peace upon the
avenues of commerce in the shape of tolls and
fines, paid willingly enough by the merchant in
requital of this supreme safe-conduct, which passed
him and his wares unharmed through the length
and breadth of the land. Lastly, the crown was
enriched by the net receipts from fines and
amerciaments, the facilities for enforcing which
were equally connected with this new jurisdiction
over the former harbourage of crime.
In another aspect the peace of the Church must
be considered in connection with the civil govern-
ment of the temporal ruler. Here the Churchman
appears as the skilled coadjutor of the rude tribal
leader, devising modifications of spiritual privileges
to meet the practical requirements of the lay sub-
jects. In the bulk of Saxon laws and customs
there is no idea more prominent than that of a
bond between Church and State to ensure the
preservation of peace, which was the first essential
of moral and physical well-being. The king and
the archbishop supported one another's dignity by
a primitive law of treason and sacrilege, and the
lives and property of their subjects and congrega-
tions by a penal code and ecclesiastical ordinances
framed to cover every interest worthy of pro-
tection; while the earl and the bishop sat together
in the local courts to expound as well the law of
The Making of the Budget.
207
God as the secular law,' and to administer a
prompt, yet pious, justice with the common assent
and assistance of the great body of Christian free-
men.
The progress of this idea may be traced in the
legislative memorials of Anglo-Saxon nations; or,
perhaps, to be more accurate in the retrospective
classification of English law, by Norman experts,
until the highest point has been reached in the
pretensions of the kingly state.
The following is the summary of the king's
claim to be regarded as the 'fountain of justice':
These are the prerogatives which the King of
England alone and above all men enjoys for the
preservation of peace and security: Breach of the
peace bestowed by his hand, contempt of his writs
or precepts, death or injury of his servants, in-
fidelity and treason, disrespect of his person, fortifi-
cations without license, false coinage, outlawry,
murder, robbery, burglary, assault with premedita-
tion, narrowing highways, wreck, treasure-trove,
forests, feudal incidents, Danegeld, fugitives from
justice or battle, false judgments, perversion of
laws, Churchmen, strangers, poor, needy, and
friendless men,' etc.
Such is the fair growth of the king's peace from
the germ of a patriarchal obligation tended by the
devotion of the Church to the overshadowing
expanse of a feudal prerogative trained by the
208
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
civil lawyers. But, in spite of the insignificance
of these feudal changes, they must still be regarded
as the secular means which were justified by a
spiritual end, rather than as a policy of mere self-
seeking. This old simplicity of purpose is best
seen in the coronation oaths and charters or other
manifestoes of later Saxon, Norman, and Plantagenet
sovereigns.
It was not long, however, before the purity of
this patriarchal policy was sullied by the imputa-
tion of interested motives. Henceforth the king's
peace was destined to become but another fiction
of the constitution. The sovereign was no longer
the leader, Rex Anglorum, the earlier Dux on an
imperial scale, but the feudal proprietor, Rex
Angliæ. The customary contributions of his sub-
jects had become assessed by Domesday Survey,
and commuted by scutage and carucage as forced
taxes, grudgingly rendered and scornfully accepted
as a scanty provision for the now extensive schemes
of the European potentate. To supplement this
meagre supply, the crown was now prepared to
coin all its old benevolent prerogative into hard
cash to meet the occasions of foreign war or
household pomp, and an unfailing mine of wealth
was opened in the dispensation of that protection
which was now so necessary to its industrial subjects.
The simplest and commonest form of the
king's protection was given under his hand, or,
The Making of the Budget.
209
rather, seal, to the subject petitioner. This was
the convenient charter which answered widely
different purposes under the new régime of in-
quisitorial officialism that flourished after the Con-
quest, serving alike as a title-deed and an exemption
from vexations, exactions, or litigation to those who
could pay for its possession. This selfish policy
was unfortunately facilitated by the administrative
machinery devised by the first Plantagenet king,
for the mere purpose, it seems, of being abused by
his degenerate successors. An official traffic was
carried on in charters, fines, and oblations, re-
gularly entered to the credit side of a now ex-
orbitant revenue.
The revenue derived from the issues of justice
is usually classified under the two heads of fines
and amerciaments, in which form they figure
largely in the Exchequer records of the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. A fine, as is well known,
was a fee taken by the crown in return for the
employment of its good offices on behalf of appli-
cants for offices, suitors for justice, or subjects
distressed by some untoward event. In form,
they were usually voluntary offerings to obtain the
goodwill of the sovereign, and they might be
tendered on occasion in kind as well as in money.
Moreover, there was this implied bargain between
the parties, that the fine could not be exacted until
the consideration had been realized.
In certain
14
210 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
·
(
In course
desperate cases the crown lent its assistance only
in return for a large percentage of the desired
concession. The greater part of these fines fall
under the head of law-proceedings—namely, to
procure the king's writ for the expedition of a
suit, or to have respite from sentence pronounced,
or even for absolute pardon or release.'
of time, however, the most valuable portion of
this revenue was derived from fines for protection
or license in respect of trade, and for commercial
or agricultural advantages interdicted by law. All
of these when entered in the Chancery were re-
turned to the Exchequer in due course to be
levied, or were estreated thither in the returns of
the king's justices.
of
Amerciaments were derived from the pecuniary
mulcts imposed on offenders before the king's
justices. Those who were convicted here were
in respect
supposed to lie at the king's mercy
their possessions, the penalty assessed being eventu-
ally the amerciament. The offences which figure
most commonly in the Exchequer records are in
respect of trespasses of various kinds, defaults,
false claims or judgments, contempts, etc.
was also the famous murder fine imposed by the
Conqueror on the hundred in which a presumably
political murder had taken place. The rate for
this alone is stated in the Dialogus to have been
£44, but it has been conclusively shown that a far
There
TA FIDE ÷ PLV RIM,

FOEDERE
INVI
Λ
Fig. 26.—Seal of Francis I. (See p. 61.)
SER
The Making of the Budget.
213
smaller rate actually prevailed.* The feudal
income of the sovereign was not only made up
from the royal demesnes, which were at the outset
an allodial, and eventually a purely feudal posses-
sion, but more especially from the returns due
from those portions which he had granted out to
his feudal followers in respect of military service,
or its equivalent money-value and certain recognised
claims and liabilities respectively, which are usually
known as feudal incidents. The nature of all of
these is too well known to need any further
explanation here. It will be enough to observe
that this portion of the royal revenue was for the
greater part of the thirteenth century in a transi-
tion state between a normal tax and an imperial
levy as far as those items known as scutage and
aid were concerned.
From the earliest times the king's personal
income had constituted the chief pecuniary re-
source of the Government, though it would not
be correct to say that the national resources were
entirely at the king's disposal, because the applica-
tion of this revenue from first to last has been
controlled, in however slight a degree, by the
counsel and consent of the subjects. In theory
truly the king was then, and for centuries after-
wards, the only authorized power for the collection
of the revenue and for its administration. More-
* Dialogus, i. 10, discussed in Pike's 'History of Crime.'
1
214
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
It
over, a considerable part of the revenue was
derived from the exercise of his mere prerogative.
But although the sovereign was in theory the
absolute owner of the land and the fountain of
justice and honours alike, the profits which accrued
to him from these sources were barely sufficient in
any period to enable him to live of his own,'
and do not seem to have excited the jealousy of
the peers or the discontent of the commons.
was the same with the remaining sources of his
income, the casual and feudal revenue. The king
was the natural recipient of such windfalls as
treasure-trove and the wreck of the sea, and this
branch of the revenue has survived unquestioned
down to our own times.
own times. Neither could it be
gainsaid that the king, having established his
title to the surplus land of the nation at the
Conquest, had a right to expect some reasonable
equivalent for military grants in the shape of
military service and its correlative incidents. It.
was only when the crown abused its sacred trust
that the necessity for drawing a sharp distinction
between the ordinary and extraordinary revenue
arose, the one henceforth a permissive enjoyment
within certain limitations in respect of the larger
items of purveyance, the Customs and fines of
justice, and the other entirely subject to the
control of Parliament through the power of the
purse and appropriation of supply.
The Making of the Budget.
215
So matters stood at the accession of Edward I.
The exactions of the crown were limited in the
case of the chief subjects of assessment, wools,
and leather and wine, but were unlimited with
regard to all other merchandise. This was especi-
ally the case in the time of the French and Scotch
wars, when the necessities of the crown compelled
it to resort to the extreme measure of maltolte
levied both in specie and kind. A climax was
reached in the year 1297, when, after enduring
the repeated and extortionate prises of the crown
during two whole years, all classes of its subjects
joined in the presentation of a statement of
grievances, and supported the aristocratic move-
ment which led to a coup d'état, and a solemn
declaration of reform embodied in the confirma-
tion of the charters and the articles thereto ap-
pended. From this time forward, then, the crown
abandoned its rights to unconstitutional prises,
and to extraordinary Customs, such as maltolte.
In future, therefore, it might take for its use only
such quantity of provisions as was absolutely
required for the royal household. So, too, it
might levy no Custom beyond the half-mark, and
mark upon wools and leather, without consent of
Parliament. The result of this constitutional
assay was that the prerogative claimed in both
directions by the crown was restored to political
currency with an altered denomination in either
216 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
case, and which henceforth obtained with few
interruptions. The modified prise became pur-
veyance,' properly limited to the requirements of
the royal household, while the arbitrary maltolte,
when granted by Parliament to relieve the crown's
necessities, became a subsidy, levied for long after
at the same rate as the imposition which it had
supplanted.
1
The subsidy was a Parliamentary grant in
excess of the Customs, levied by virtue of the
crown's prerogative from certain classes of
merchandise after the respective rates appointed
in every case. Therefore, just as the Customs.
proper were of a twofold nature, so, too, were the
corresponding subsidies. The ancient Custom on
wools and leather was linked with a subsidy upon
the same commodities, collected and answered at
the same places, in the same manner, and returned
in the same account as the other. The distinction
between the two was this: that the Custom of
wools and leather was derived from the ancient
prerogative of the crown, limited and renewed in
Parliament. The subsidy of wools and leather,
on the other hand, depended upon the grant of
Parliament, limited equally as to the rate, but
unlike the other, also limited as to its duration.
The second sort of subsidy was that which practi-
cally followed the details of the new Custom of
the crown, imposed, strictly speaking, upon aliens
The Making of the Budget.
217
only. The chief branches of this latter revenue
were derived respectively from wines imported,
and from cloths imported or exported, like the
above, only by aliens. If we add to this list the
supplementary toll in kind paid by denizens upon
wines in the shape of the prisage, the new Custom
of cloth paid by the same at a lower rate, and the
poundage, not lawfully due, upon their goods of
avoir-du-pois, but realized by the crown at its
best discretion, we shall perhaps complete our
examination of every article on which Custom in
any shape was chargeable. According to the pre-
cedent of the original subsidy, therefore, though at
an interval of thirty years, an increase of all these
Customs was made by grant of Parliament. This,
in its usual form, was the grant of tunnage, as a
subsidy upon every tun of wine imported by
denizens or aliens alike beyond the prisage and
butlerage; and that of poundage, or the subsidy
payable both by denizens and aliens upon every
librate of merchandise beyond the poundage already
paid by aliens.
Lastly there remains to be mentioned the Parlia-
mentary subsidies assessed on lands and goods in
excess of, or rather in lieu of, the ancient feudal
levies, which had become obsolete before the middle
of the fourteenth century.
These, then, were the subsidies raised in the
eighth year of Edward III., and continued down
218
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
to our own day as the land-tax and income-tax
respectively, the latter in a more rudimentary form
as the tenths and fifteenths of all movables, and
the former with little change either of form or
title. From this time we read no more of scu-
tages or carucages, or of halfs or fortieths. The
feudal incidents alone remained an odious and
obsolete liability down to the reign of Charles II.,
when their place was taken by the Excise, which
was destined to become the mainstay of the Budgets
of the eighteenth century, even as the modern
form of the income-tax has proved to be in our
own day.


JAN 14 NI HE
APPENDIX.
F
NOTES TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
A
RONTISPIECE.-Drawn from the original
chest in the Public Record Office.
view of this chest is given in the photozinco-
graph edition of Domesday Book, which, however,
affords a very inadequate idea of its contour. This
receptacle was one of many similar Arce which
are described in the Dialogus de Scaccario, and
notices of which appear throughout the ancient
calendars of the treasury of the Receipt.
measurement of this chest is given at p. 50.
The
Fig. 1, p. 31.--Sketch-plan of the ancient
Palace and Church of Westminster, showing the
probable position of the Exchequer buildings and
of the Tower mentioned in the Dialogus. The
date of this theoretical plan is the thirty-first year
of Edward I., subsequent, therefore, to the great
fire, and the removal of the Barons' Court to the
opposite side of the Great Hall. The Exchequer
itself was, however, at this time temporarily fixed
1
220
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
at York. From this time onwards the old site
was occupied by the offices of the Receipt (Pells
and Audit), while the Tower was eventually merged
in the structure of the Chapel of St. Stephen's, used
as the House of Commons. The ground-plan of
the Abbey precincts is intended to illustrate the
position of the treasury at the time of the robbery,
and the movements of the supposed thieves.*
Fig. 2, p. 52.—Drawing of a hanaper, or hamper,
used as a receptacle for loose records.
Fig. 3, p. 52.-Drawing of a skippet, or turned
vase of wood, used for a like purpose.
Figs. 4 to 18, pp. 55-58.-Symbols affixed to
Exchequer chests or other receptacles of records
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and in-
tended as a form of picture-writing for the purpose
of describing the contents. Some of these were
merely temporary in character, others more per-
manent, and probably utilized down to the present
century. Thus there is still a wooden box pre-
served in the Public Record Office, and recently in
use, which is marked with a star as a symbol for
}
* Since this was written, further excavations at Winchester
have disclosed a considerable portion of the old Norman
palace in or connected with which the Treasury was first
permanently fixed at the beginning of the twelfth century.
It should have been mentioned incidentally in Chapter I.
that another so-called 'confession' is preserved, namely, that
of J. de Rippinghall (T. of R. Misc. 24), but it throws not
light whatever on the mystery.
41
Appendix.
221
the Star Chamber, and some still earlier symbols are
preserved on record pouches. Most of these figures
explain at a glance the use they were intended
to serve. They are all drawn from the originals
preserved at the Public Record Office in Bishop
Stapleton's Calendar and the Liber Memorandorum.
Fig. 19, p. 115.-Diagram of the Exchequer-
table, showing the probable combination of the
counters used by the Calculator to mark the
state of the sheriff's account as described in the
Dialogus, i. 3. The several items of the farm of the
county are arranged here in order. The top row
of figures represents the amount of the farm as
ascertained from the Exactory Roll. The second
row shows the sums paid into the treasury by the
sheriff at Easter by tallies, and at Michaelmas in
cash, respectively. The rows below this represent
the several sums disbursed by the sheriff out of
his farm in the king's service, and allowed by the
barons. These being added to the second row,
represent the state of his indebtedness thus :
£
S.
I. 300+ 20 × 3+14
ΙΟ
d. £ s. d.
6=374 10 6
2. 300+15
14
= 315 14
3. 20+8
28 O O
4. 12
18
2= 12 18 2
5. 14
17 4= 14 17.4
£371 9 6
Balance against sheriff
£3
I O
222
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
<
Fig. 20, p. 121.-An Exchequer tally, drawn
from the original in the Public Record Office.
The Latin superscription records that Thomas
Godesire owes to Joscy, of Kent, the Jew, 30s.,
namely, a half at the feast of St. Michael in the
year of Grace 1229, and a half at the feast of
St. Martin next following, in accordance with the
chirograph-Surety, Andrew of Mikelgate.' This
tally, therefore, was probably preserved in the Ex-
chequer of the Jews.
Fig. 21, p. 121.
from the original.
<
Another tally, also drawn
The superscription is as
follows: Against the Reeve, of Ledecumbe, for
monies received of his farm to Lady Day, and
of the rent to Hock-tide in the 56th year [of
Henry III.], by the hands of John Squire and
Ralph Hare.' Very few specimens of these early
tallies now exist. The above and several others
were described by the author for the Pipe Roll
Society (vol. iii.), illustrated by a photographic
plate of six specimens.
Figs. 22 and 23, p. 132.-Two symbols of the
Exchequer, the first of which is interesting from
its very early date, and the virga or columns of
account partly shown on the margins. This figure
is drawn from the Memoranda Roll, L.T.R.,
19 Henry III. The second figure is drawn from
the Liber Memorandorum.
Fig. 24, p. 163.-The gold seal of the earliest
Appendix.
223
of the three famous golden leagues always preserved
in the king's treasury. This was the charter of
Alphonso the Wise, of Castille, dated November 1,
1254, in favour of Prince Edward. The gold of
this seal is very fine in quality, but the surface is
considerably worn. The lion and castle are
probably armorial emblems. A similar charter
of nearly the same date, but with a leaden seal
attached, is preserved in the British Museum, in
the case which contains Magna Carta.
Fig. 25, p. 171.-The gold seal of the second
of the golden leagues, being the bull of Pope
Clement VII., dated March 5, 1524, conferring
the title of Defender of the Faith on Henry VIII.
The design, unlike that of the ordinary leaden
bulla or seal, is highly ornate.
Fig. 26, p. 211.—The famous seal of Francis I.,
attributed by some good judges to Benvenuto
Cellini, is attached to the third golden league, the
Treaty of Peace and Alliance concluded between
England and France in 1527. The collar on the
reverse is that of the Order of St. Michael. This
figure, like the two preceding ones, is drawn from
the original preserved in the Public Record Office.
In the fourteenth century many other golden
leagues' were preserved in the treasury, but these
three alone survived at the end of the sixteenth
century.
4

મુખ
LIST OF AUTHORITIES.*
(i.) Manuscripts:
Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer's Me-
moranda Rolls.
Queen's Remembrancer's Memoranda Rolls.
Great Rolls (known as Annual, Pipe,
Treasurer's, or Chancellor's).
$
Receipt Rolls and Books (Pells or Auditor's).
Issue Rolls and Books (Pells or Auditor's).
Red Book of the Exchequer.
Black Book of the Exchequer.
Small Black Book of the Exchequer.
Libri Munimentorum.
Originalia Rolls.
Close Rolls.
Patent Rolls.
Treasury of the Receipt Miscellanea.
* The bibliography of the Exchequer is so extensive and so
widely distributed, that a complete list would form a work to
itself. The present list, however, will be found to contain
all the authorities required for practical purposes.
List of Authorities.
225
(i.) Manuscripts (continued):
Queen's Remembrancer's Miscellanea.
State Papers Domestic.
Treasury Papers.
(ii.) Printed Works:
Madox-History and Antiquities of the
Exchequer, 1769, 2 vols.
Thomas The Ancient Exchequer, 1848,
I vol.
Devon-Issues of the Exchequer (Record
Publications, No. 57).
Vernon The Exchequer opened, 1661,
I vol.
Historical View of the Court of Ex-
chequer, by a late Learned Judge, 1738,
I vol.
Treatise on the Court of Exchequer, by a
late Lord Chief Baron, 1758, 1 vol.
Palgrave Calendars and Inventories of
the Exchequer (Record Publications,
No. 53).
Printed Pipe Rolls in Record Publications,
and Pipe Roll Society's Publications.
Jones-Index to the Memoranda and
Originalia.
Liebermann-Einleitung in den Dialogus
(Gottingen), 1875.
15
226
List of Authorities.
(ii.) Printed Works (continued):
Pike-History of Crime (Longman's),
2 vols.
Cunningham-Growth of Industry and
Commerce, 1890, 1 vol.
Stubbs Constitutional History, vols. I
and 2.
The subject has been treated by the Author
in the Introduction to the Pipe Rolls (Pipe
Roll Society), Court Life under the Plantagenets
(1890), and in a number of articles contributed
at intervals during the last ten years to various
journals.
{


INDEX.
ABINGDON, Chronicle of, 9
Aids, Book of, 59
Albemarle, Isabella, Countess of,
82
Amerciaments, 210
Anne, Queen, 88
Avalage, the toll so-called, 198
Bank of England, 36
Barons of the Exchequer, 66, 198
Bedford, County of, 165
Berwick, Exchequer held at, 75
Boston, Fair of, 199
Brittany, Conan, Earl of, 168
Brunus, Master Thomas, 83, 138
Buckinghamshire, 165
Budget, Making of the, 174
Burleigh, Lord, 131
Cambridge, County of, 168
Carlisle, Exchequer held at, 75
Carnarvon, Exchequer held at, 75
Carta Mercatoria, The, 203
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 83
Chancery, The Rolls of, 170
Charles II., Commutation of the
revenue under, 218
Chess-game, Exchequer, 114 et seq.
'Chester, Exchequer held at, 75
Clement VII., Pope, Golden Bull
of, 171
Coinage, Debasement of, 39
Counters, used at Exchequer, 118,
124, 126, 221
Customs, Regulation of the, 215
Danegeld, 6, 63
Dialogus de Scaccario, 15, 64, 70
90, 125-127, 131, 132, 210
Domesday Book, 48, 53, 58, 63,
178, 179
Derivation of name of, 9
Chest for, 50, 219
Domesday Survey, 208
Dublin, Exchequer of, 75
Edward the Confessor, Great
Crown of, 42,
Laws of, 205
Edward I., 64, 65, 74, 82, 168,
173, 215
Edward II., 74, 82, 85, 183
Edward III., 183
Subsidies granted in the reign
of, 217
Elizabeth, Queen, 45
Eltham, 42
Estreats, Clerk of the, 85
Everdon, William de, Remem-
brancer, 86
Exchequer, The, 68, 69, 72-74
Early constitution of the, S2
Establishment of the, 64, S5,
36
Expansion of the, 84
Preparation of the, 139
Examples from the, 140-2
Etymology of the, 117, 135, 136
Sessions of the, 16, 64, 75
Reorganization of the, 17
Position of the, 34, 68, 70
228 Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Exchequer, described in the Dia- Exchequer, Green wax, 173
logus, 70-73
Divisions of the, 72, 75
under Henry I., 161
under Henry II., 165
in the reign of Elizabeth, 72,
87,88
in the reign of Anne, 104-108
in the eighteenth century,
108-113
reformed under William IV.,
113
held at Berwick, 75
Carlisle, 75
Carnarvon, 75
Chester, 75
removed to Northampton, 74
held at Northampton, 75
Oxford, 75
Salisbury, 75
Winchester, 75
Woodstock, 75
Officers of the, 77 et seq, 91, III
exempted from taxes, 89
Remembrancer of the, 92
Smelter of the, 71
Usher of the, 68, 72, 81
Attendance of sheriffs at the,
154
Bills, 36
Chamber, 199
Court, 54, 170
Pells Office of the, 85
Problems, 135.
of Receipt, 67, 73, 122, 138,
160
Records. See Records.
Treasury of the, 15, 16
Contents, 19
Robbery of, 19, 23, 25-
28, 45, 96-104
Upper, 165
Upper and lower, 71, 72, 77
transferred to York, 19, 74, Exchequer of Dublin, 75
86
Sessions held at York, 75
removed to the City Hustings,
74
removed during the Great
Fire, 76
Last removal of the, 76
revived at Westminster, 76
Houses of the, 15, 18, 62, 71
rebuilt, 28
apparatus or impedimenta:
Chess-game of the, 114 et
seq.
Counters in use at the,
118, 124, 126
Dots, 128-130, 132, 146
Foils of tallies preserved
in the, 133
Summonses of the, 149
Symbols of the, 55-58,
132, 220, 222
Table, 90, 221
Tallies, 63, 118, 119, 124,
222
Tellers' Chamber in the,
54
Writs of the, 155
Barons of the, 66, 198
Chancellor of the, 83
of the Jews, 75
of Pleas, 86
for Scotland, 75
in the Tower, 75
for Wales, 75
in the Wardrobe, 75
Fairs, Boston, 109
Lenn (Lynn), 109
Fanshawe, Sir Henry, 91, 92, 108
Farley, Abraham, 113
Fitz-Neale, Richard. See London,
Bishop of.
Fitz-Nigel, Richard. See London,
Bishop of.
Fleet Prison, Keeper of the, 18
Warder of the, 68
Foulmire (Cambridge), 168
Francis I., Seal of, 211
Gable money, 180
rents, 205
Gamage, Dorothe, Letter of, 92, 93
Mr., Letter to, 92
George III., Exchequer during the
reign of, 88
Godolphin, Lord Treasurer, re-
port of his installation, 104-108
Green wax, Institution of the, 173
Index.
229
Hanapers, Description of, 53, 220
Harold, King, 6
Henry I., Exchequer reorganized
under, 161, 162, 165
Pipe Roll of, 179
Henry II., 77, 81, 82, 84, 90, 138,
144, 165
Pipe Rolls of, 179
Henry III., 84, 85, 183, 184
Exchequer in the reign of, 167
Henry VI., 183
Houses of the Exchequer, 15, 18,
28, 62, 71
Ilchester, Richard, Archdeacon of,
83
Janies I., 173
Jewel House, Erection of, 33
Jews, Exchequer of the, 75
John, King, 183, 184
Kent, County of, 165
King's Court, Justices of the, 66
Ledcombe (Berks), Tally relating
to, 121
Lenn, Fair of, 199
Liberate, Writ of, 156
Lincoln, County of, 165
London, 193, 200
City of, Exchequer removed
to the hustings in, 74
See Exchequer, Tower, Ward-
robe.
London, Bishop of, 1, 35, 75, 180
Richard, Bishop of, 122, 125
Lynn. See Lenn.
|
Papal Bulls, Collection of, 54
Pells Office, Origin of the, 85
Pipe, Comptroller of the, 83
Etymology of the name, 136
Rolls. See Records of the
Exchequer.
Podelicote, Richard de, 23
Confession of, 25-28, 45
Privy Seal, Writ of, 193
Pyx, Chapel of the, 28
Sealing of the, 71
Trial of the, 71, 160
Records of the Exchequer, 209, 210
Black Book 59, 104, 113
Exactory Roll, 48, 59, 169
Exannual Roll of the, 169
Great or Pipe Rolls, 15, 53,
59, 64, 135, 167, 179, 184,
185
Memoranda Rolls, 84
Originalia Rolls, 170
Pipe Rolls of Henry II. in the,
179
Red Book, 48, 59, 90
Summonses, 150
Writs, 155
Regalia, Notices of the, 18
Inventories of the, 42
Relics amongst the, 43-45
Relics, Description of, in the trea-
sury, 43-45
Remembrancer of the Exchequer,
92
Remembrancer, Office of the, 84,
85,89
Revenue, Sources of, 176, 177
Richard I., 184
Coronation of, 42
Mildmaye, Sir Walter, Letter to, Richard II., 183
96-104
Mint, The, 36, 75.
his visit to the treasury, 42
Rievaulx, Ailred of, 4
Rolls. See Records.
i
Nichils, Clerk of the, 85
Nonsuch, Exchequer removed to, Saint John, Knights of, 60
for safety, 76
Normandy, Exchequer of, 63
Northampton, Exchequer removed
to, 74
Exchequer held at, 75
Oxford, Exchequer held at, 75, 76
Salisbury, Exchequer held at, 75
Roger, Bishop of, 40, 64, 162
Sandwich, 193, 200
Scotland, Exchequer for, 75
Seals, Uses of, 46, 47, 211
Seals of Golden Leagues, 61, 16
171, 211, 223
230
Antiquities of the Exchequer.
Sessions of the Exchequer, 16, 64, | Usher of the Exchequer, 68, 72, 81
75
Sheriffs, attendance at Exchequer,
154
Skippets, Description of, 53, 220
Smelter of the Exchequer, 71
Southampton, Port of, 8
Stafford, Robert de, his accounts
as sheriff, 144-148
Staffordshire, Sheriff's account for,
144
Stanton, W., Confession of, 96-104
Stapleton, Bishop, 49, 91
his calendar, 87
Stephen, King, Alienations by, 179
Stratton, Adam de, Chamberlain
of the Exchequer, 82
Subsidies, Grant of, 216
Swereford, Alexander de, 91
Symbols, Exchequer, 55-8, 132, 220,
222
Tallage, 161-
Tallies, Exchequer, 63, 118, 119,
121, 124, 133, 222
Tellers' Chamber in Exchequer, 54
Temple, Knights of the, 59
Terra Regis, 178
Testa de Nevilie, 59
Tower of London, Wardrobe in
the, 33
Black Hall in the, 35
Treasury in the, 35
Great Hall in the, 35
Bullion in the, 36
Jewels in the, 45
Exchequer in the, 75
Treasure, Removal of, 10, 16
Treasury, Position of the, 11-15
Contents of the, 17, 18, 19
Robbery of the, 15, 19-22, 96-
104
Swords of State in the, 43
Visit of Richard II. to the, 42
Treasury, Three Golden Leagues
of the, 61
See also Westminster
Winchester.
and
Vernon, Mrs., Letter to, 95
Wales, Exchequer for, 75
Wallingford, Roger of, 81
Wardrobe, The, 18, 33, 36, 48, 75,
200
Keeper of the, narrative of
the, 29, 30
Warwick, County of, 165
Westminster, Treasury at, 3-6, 9,
10, 17, 64, 72
Four treasuries at, 35
Contents of the treasuries at, 60
Legend of the treasury at, 5
Exchequer revived at, 76
Exchequer houses at, 15
The King's Court at, 65
Ordinance for Customs at
(1275), 203
Law Courts at, 64
Norman watch-tower at, 69
Palace of, 64, 65, 70
Sketch-plan of, 30, 219
Westminster Abbey, Monks of,
convicted of robbery, 33
Osbert, Prior of, 4
Plan of, 30, 219
Scriptorium of, 72
Whitehall, The treasury situated
at, 36
William II., his Great Hall, 8, 65,
69
Winchester, 8
Treasu y at, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17
Exchequer held at, 75
Castle of, 64
Trial at, 9
Winchester, Bishop of, his Ex-
chequer, 75
Wolverley, Bishop of Winchester's
Exchequer at, 75
Woodstock, Exchequer at, 75
Wotton, Robert of, 86
York, Transfer of Exchequer to, 19
Exchequer removed to, 74
THE END.
Elliot Stock, Paternoster Row, London.

Sv
187
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 01127 8309

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