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Y303: English Government and the Church 1066–1216

Main features of central government: the household, Exchequer, chancery and justiciar

  • 1 thing to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on the royal household and its money, the Exchequer and its sessions, the Pipe Rolls, the chancery and John’s reign, and the office and holders of the justiciar.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Name three men who served as justiciar between 1100 and 1216.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was the royal household, and why did it matter to government after 1066?

    Model answer

    It was the permanent body of servants, clerks and knights who travelled with the king, and because kingship was itinerant the household was the government wherever the king happened to be.

  2. 2

    Which household department handled the king's money on the move?

    Model answer

    The chamber handled cash and day-to-day expenditure as the court travelled, and from the later twelfth century the wardrobe developed alongside it as a second household treasury.

  3. 3

    Explain how the Exchequer got its name.

    Model answer

    It was named after the chequered cloth spread over the accounting table, whose squares were used like an abacus to reckon the sheriffs' accounts in Roman numerals.

  4. 4

    How often did the Exchequer sit, and what happened at each session?

    Model answer

    It sat twice a year: at Easter the sheriff paid a preliminary instalment and received a tally, and at Michaelmas he presented his full account, which was audited and enrolled.

  5. 5

    What are the Pipe Rolls, and what makes them so valuable to historians of Angevin government?

    Model answer

    They are the annual enrolled accounts of the Exchequer, and because they survive as an almost unbroken series from the mid-twelfth century they allow royal income, debts and local officials to be tracked year by year.

  6. 6

    Outline the work of the chancery.

    Model answer

    It was the royal writing office under the chancellor, which drafted and sealed writs and charters and had custody of the great seal.

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