A brief discourse touching the office of Lord Chancellor of England written by the learned John Selden of the Inner Temple, Esq., and dedicated by him to Sir Francis Bacon ... ; transcribed from a true copy thereof, found amongst the collections of ... St. Lo. Kniveton ... ; together with A true catalogue of lord chancellors and keepers of the great seal of England, from the Norman conquest untill this present year, 1671, by William Dugdale, Esquire ...

A BRIEF DISCOURSE TOUCHING THE OFFICE OF Lord Chancellor of England, &c.

The Name and Office of Lord Chancellor of England under the Saxons.

THE eldest mention in good authority of the name of Chancellor of this Kingdom, is in Edward the elders time,* 1.1 about the year DCCCCXX. he made Turketill Abbot of Croyland his Chancellor. Cancellarium suum eum constituit, ut quaecunque negotia temporalia vel spiritualia, Regis Judicium expectabant illius consilio & de∣creto (nam tantae fidei et tam profundi ingenij tenebatur) omnia tractarentur, & tractata irrefragabilem sententiam sortirentur. This Abbot held the Office under Athelstan, Edmund and Edred succeeding Kings.

King Ethelred afterwards divided the Chancellorship be∣tween the Abbots of Ely,* 1.2 and St. Augustine in Canterbury, and of Glastenbury, who were to exercise it by turn. The words of an Old Monk of Ely are, Statuit atque concessit quatenus Ecclesia de Ely extunc & semper in Regis Curiâ, Cancellarii ageret dignitatem quod & aliis, Sancti viz. Augustini & Glas∣coniae Ecclesiis constituit, ut Abbates istorum Coenobiorum vi∣cissim assignatis succedendo temporibus annum trifariè dividerint,

cum Sanctuarii & caeteris ornatibus Altaris ministrando: So as the Abbot of Ely, or some Monk by him appointed, ex∣ercised the Office from Candlemas four moneths yearly, and the other two of Glastenbury and S^t. Augustines made up the twelve.

But there occurres not any subscription in Charters by that name, till the Confessor, in his Patent to the Church of West∣minster; after the King, Bishops, Abbots, and others, comes Ego Rembaldus Cancellarius subscripsi.

Yet in the ancientest Monument of a Grant by any King extant here, I doubt not but the Chancellor subscribed, though under another name.

The first Christian King of the Saxons founded and endow∣ed Canterbury Church,* 1.3 and in his Charter amongst the Earls, occurrs Ego Augemandus Referendarius subscripsi; where Refe∣rendarius may well stand for Cancellarius, the Office of both (as the words applyed to the Court are used in the Code, Novells, and Story of the declining Empire) fignifying an Officer that received Petitions and Supplications to the King, and made out his Writs and Mandates, as a Custos Legis: And though there were divers Referendarii, as 14. then 8. then more again, and so divers Chancellors in the Empire; Yet one especially here, exercising an Office of the nature of these many, might well be stiled by either of the names. These are testimonies of that time without exception, though Poly∣dore begin the Name and Office at the Norman Conquest.

II. Whether the Keeping of a Seal, were in the Chancellorship under the Saxons.

FOR that Principal part of the Office, or that other Of∣fice joyned with the Chancellorship, the Keeping of the Seal; If the common Opinion were cleer, that under the Saxon State no Seals were here used, then were it vain to think of it as of that time. But there is yet remaining an Old Saxon Charter of King Edgar,* 1.4 beginning, A Orthodoxo∣rum vigoris Ecclesiastici monitu creberrime instruimur, &c. to the Abbey of Persore, wherein divers Lands are given, and there remains in the Parchment plain signes of three Labells by the places cut for their being hanged on: and of the self∣same

Charter a testimony also as ancient, that the Seals were, one of King Edgar, the second of S^t. Dunstan, and the third of Alfer Ducis Merciorum. That testimony is in a Letter from Godfrie Archdeacon of Worcester to Pope Alexander III. writing of that Charter, and the Authority of it: Noverit, saith he, Sanctitas vestra, verum esse, quod conscripti hujus scriptum originale in virtute Sanctae Trinitatis sigilla tria, trium personarum autenticarum, ad veritatem, triplici confirmatione commendat; Est autem Sigillum primum illustris Regis Edgari; secundum Sancti Dunstani Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi; tertium Alferi Ducis Merciorum; sicut ex diligenti literarum impressa∣rum inspectione evidenter accepi. And it's reported by those which have searched the Records of S^t. Denys Church in France, there remain two Charters, the one of one Offa, the other of one Edgar, with Seals annext; the one of which I have seen cast off in Lead, and is about the breadth of a Shilling thick, and having a face on the one side. Likewise amongst the Chartae Antiquae, divers being reckoned cum Si∣gillo, others sine Sigillo; one is cum Sigillo of King Cnout, nei∣ther is there any colour of doubt but that the Confessor had his Seal, for the Print yet remains in part to be seen. But not∣withstanding these singular examples of Kings Sealing in the Saxons times, it's most certain it was not a thing common then; neither could any in the Chancellorship be denomina∣ted from Keeping the Seal, nor in any other Office. Cu∣riosity in some particular occasion swayed more in it, than any Custom;* 1.5 Although we admit those before mentioned for true, which may well be doubted, in regard of the frequent fraud and ignorance in committing it, which in the elder times possess'd the Church-men. But for the Confessor's Seal, that was without scruple certain, and thence may we confi∣dently derive the Great Seal of England.

III. Testimonies of the Chancellorship and Keepership joyned, in times neer after the Norman Invasion.

AS in the Monuments of the Confessor Rembald is na∣med Chancellor;* 1.6 so under the first William, Maurice Bishop of London, and in the succeeding times others. Old Stories of the Monks sufficiently mention them. But little

appears of the Office till the time of H. 2. under whom, one writing the life of Thomas Beckett that was Lord Chancellor, hath this most ancient testimony of it, and of Keeping the Seal also; Cancellarii dignitas est, ut secundus à Rege in regno habeatur; ut altera parte Sigilla regii, quod & ad ejus pertinet custodiam, propria signet mandata, ut Capella Regia in illius sit dispositione et cura, ut vacantes Archiepiscopatus, Episcopa∣tus, Abbatias & Baronias cadentes in manum Regis ipse susci∣piat & conservet; ut omnibus Regis assit consiliis, etiam non vocatus, accedat; ut omnia Sigilliferi Clerici regii sua manu sig∣nentur: Item ut suffragantibus, ex Dei gratia vitae meritis, nòn moriatur, nisi Archiepiscopus vel Episcopus si voluerit: Inde est quod Cancellaria non emenda est. And another of the same time, Cancellarius sicut in Curia, sic & ad Scaccarium mag∣nus est; adeò ut sine ipsius consensu vel consilio nihil magnum fiat vel fieri debeat: verum hoc habet officium dum residet ad Scaccarium: Ad ipsum pertinet custodia Sigilli regii, quod est in Thesauro; Sed indè nòn recedit nisi cum Praecepto Justiciarii, (that is Chief Justice of England that was a Viceroy) ab in∣feriore ad superius Scaccarium, à Thesaurario vel Camerario defertur ad explenda solum negotia Scaccarii; quibus peractis in loculum mittitur, & loculus à Cancellario consignatur, & sic Thesaurario traditur custodiendus. Item cùm necesse fuerit, signatus sub omnium oculis Cancellario offertur, nunquam ab ipso vel ab alio alias offerendus. Item ad ipsum pertinet rotuli, qui est de Cancellaria, custodia per suppositam personam. Another about the time of Edw. 1. Officium Cancellariae viro provido & discreto ut Episcopo vel Clerico magnae dignitatis debet com∣mitti, simul cum curâ majoris Sigilli regni, cujus substituti sunt Cancellarii omnes in Anglia, Hibernia, Wallia & Scotia. Omnesque sigilli regii custodes praeter Custodem Sigilli pri∣vati.

IV. Of the Division and Conjunction of Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper, till an Old Act made that they should be One.

BUT for that of Cancellaria emenda nòn est,* 1.7 an exam∣ple not long after was, not only in truth to the con∣trary, but entred also in Publique Records; For Walter de

Gray of the Family of the Greyes of Rotherfeld in Oxford∣shire, * 1.8 in 7th of King John, Dat. Domino Regi quinque mil∣lia Marcarum pro habendâ Cancellariâ Domini Regis totâ vitâ suâ; & pro habendâ inde Charta Domini Regis.* 1.9 So are the words of the Roll, and the dayes of Payment are set down also; and in the Rolls of the same year occurrs, Hic recepit W. Gray Cancellaria. Yet had he not alwayes the Custody of the Seal, for in the Charter Roll of that Year after the ta∣king his Chancellorship there is but one Patent or Charter dated by him, as the fashion then was, with Dat. per manum W. de G. Cancellarii nostri, or the like.

Those that both follow and precede,* 1.10 are Dat. per manum Hugonis de Welles Archidiaconi Wellensis, who, it seems,* 1.11 kept the Seal: and therefore he is expresly called the King's Chancellor in some Monks that writ of that time,* 1.12 as o∣thers are for the same cause: Neither was it ever heard of them to have the Chancellorship granted,* 1.13 yet the Seal still to Remain in another hand. For also while this W. de Gray was Chancellor, Richard de Marisco whom Matthew Paris calls Chancellor too, and others misreckon him for one had the keeping of the Seal, the Roll is nono die Oc∣tobris anno regni Domini Regis 15. Liberavit Magister Richar∣dus de Marisco Archidiaconus Richmond. & Northumbr. Domino Regi Sigillum apud Ospring;* 1.14 and then on the 22. of Decemb. following, apud Windlesores liberatum fuit Si∣gillum Domino R. de Nevill, deferendum sub Domino P. Win∣toniensi Episcopo, that was Peter de Roches or de Rupibus Chief Justice of England. But this here out of the infallible testimony of Records touching W. de Gray, differs not a little in time from the relation of the Monk, notwithstan∣ding the Seal thus committed to Ralf de Nevill who had it also under H. 3. in the beginning of his Raign, totius Regni ordinante consensu & consilio;* 1.15 yet the Patent and o∣ther Charters and close Letters of the time, are, for the most part, Per Rectorem Regni, or Teste P. Wintoniensi Episcopo, or T. H. de Burgo Chief Justice of England under H. 3. Per e∣undem; or Per P. Wintoniensem Episcopum, or the like. And yet also in Rolls of that time,* 1.16 where Nevill never at all makes the Teste, or hath his name added, mention is of him

for other uses as belonging to the Office of Chancellor∣ship, as the delivery of the Counterbriefs to him and Fines, &c. mittend' in Scaccarium, according to the use of that age. But although both Records and Story thus make R. de Nevill Lord Keeper from King John unto H. 3. yet had not he any Patent of either Chancellor∣ship or Keepership till 11. H. 3.* 1.17 where both a Patent of the Keeping of the Seal for life, either by himself or Deputy, and another of the Chancellorship of England toto tempore vitae suae, were made to him, both bearing the same Date.

Yet after this also,* 1.18 through divers oppositions in State against the goodness and Noble Carriage of this Ralf de Nevill, the Seal was after unjustly taken from him, and re∣stored again as his former right.* 1.19 And in 20 H. 3. the King would have had it from him, Sed idem Cancellarius (saith the Monk) hoc facere renuit, videns impetum Re∣gis modestiae fines excedentem; dixitque se nulla ratione hoc facere posse, cum illud communi consilio Regni suscepisset. Quapropter nec illud similiter sine communi assensu Regni alicui resignaret: Yet in 22 H. 3. the King violently took it from him, and committed it to one Godfrey a Templar, and John of Lexinton; Emolumentis tamen (so sayes the Story) ad Cancellarium spectantibus, Episcopo quasi Cancellario, redditis & assignatis. Afterward one Si∣mon Norman a Lawyer had it: and from him it was ta∣ken, and committed to Richard Abbot of Evesham, who kept it three years, and then resigned it in 26 H. 3. The Chancellor and Keeper (of right) Nevill was afterward reconciled to the King, and dyed 28 H. 3.

In the Acts of Parliament of which year, one is,* 1.20 That the Keeper of the Seal should be alwayes the Chancel∣lor, and that all things sealed otherwise should be voyd. The words are, Si aliqua interveniente occasione Dominus Rex abstulerit Sigillum suum à Cancellario, quicquid fuerit interim sigillatum, irritum habeatur & inane, Deinde Can∣cellario fiat restitutio. And it appears otherwise that they alwayes took it unjustly done, if the Chancellorship and Keepership were not in one: By Reason whereof, before that, in a Charter of King John's yet extant in some hands, of the Moderation of the Fees of the Seal, no person is spoken of but the Chancellor and his under

Officers; as if it could not have been but that who e∣ver had the Seal, the same should only bee Chan∣cellor.

According to that the Chancellorship and Keepership were joyned in all the Chancellors under Henry the 3 and Edward the 1. most of which being made Bishops, resigned their Seal and Office, although afterward under the succeeding Kings sometimes the Seal was committed to others hands upon some requiring occasions; and some Lord Keepers were created in later times before Sir Nicholas Bacon, in whose time that Statute of 5 Eliz. was made.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Temp. Edw. senioris & sequentium Regum. Ingulphus.
• * 1.2

  Temp. E∣thelredi.
• * 1.3

  Temp. E∣thelberti.
• * 1.4

  Edgar.
• * 1.5

  In the Regi∣ster of Croy∣land it ap∣pears that the Normans brought in the use of Seals to Charters.
• * 1.6

  Will. 1.
• * 1.7

  Cart. 14. Joh. dorso. Walt. deGray Cancellar. & alii missi ad Othonem Imp. nepo∣tem Regis Johannis.
• * 1.8

  In dorso sin. 7. Joh.
• * 1.9

  Pat. 14 Joh. m. 5. Carta Regis W. de Carrio de domo sua de Carrio &c. Teste Will. de Brewer apud Westm. 21. Maii. Carta Regis Joh. facta Mauricio de Gant de Ma∣nerio de 〈◊〉〈◊〉▪ Teste or Dat. per manum Radulphi de Nevill apud Buttevill 28 Julii an. 16. Pat. p. 2. m. 8. Et ibid. m. 4. Ric. de Mariscis Cancellarius.
• * 1.10

  Pat. 17. Joh. m. 2. ••. de Mariscis Cancellar.
• * 1.11

  28 Apr.
• * 1.12

  Et ib. in dors. idem Cancel∣larius missus Rom••m.
• * 1.13

  Cart. 18. Joh. Rex dedit Baldwino de Guisne Ma∣nerium de Benefeld &c. Dat. per ma∣num Magistri Ric. de Ma∣riscis Can∣cellarii nostri apud Nareas 30 Maii.
• * 1.14

  Pat. 15. Joh. p. 1. m 8. Et fin. m 5. Walt de Gray Cancellar. Ib. m. 5. Idem factus suit Episc. Wigor.
• * 1.15

  Pat. 18 Joh. m. 5. Ric. de Marisco Cancellar. 14 Julii.
• * 1.16

  Cart. 17 Joh. m. 3. Ric. de Mariscis Cancellarius.
• * 1.17

  Cart. 11 H. 3. p. 1. m. 28.
• * 1.18

  An. 13 H. 3. The King granted to R. Bishop of Chichester the Chan∣cellorship for life, 16 Nov.
• * 1.19

  And likewise to the same R. the same office, An. 16 H. 3. 14 Julii. And by ano∣ther Charter of the same date the Cu∣stody of the Seal for life also, to ex∣ercise that Keepership in person, or by an assig∣nee.
• * 1.20

  Vide etiam Cart. 17 H. 3. pro eodem Episcopo de eisdem Of∣ficiis pro termino vitae suae.