Introduction

Summary

‘Administrative history only becomes possible when an organised administrative system has been established.’ Since T.F. Tout first outlined this axiom in the 1920s, the study of administrative history has broadened. Much of this work has concentrated upon the thirteenth century, which was one of the most important and creative periods in the evolution of government and administration in English history. At the heart of the administration was a central bureaucracy that was organised around a series of departments, namely the chancery, exchequer and the curia regis. These departments were not recent innovations; many were already in existence when Richard I ascended the throne in 1189. Within a hundred years, however, they had been transformed in terms of size, professionalism and output. New administrative procedures were introduced as the government responded to changing needs and circumstances. Government became progressively more complex and bureaucratic, encouraging the emergence of an administrative caste of highly educated and professional administrators. The development of a more effective royal administration led to friction with those most directly disadvantaged by the growth of the crown’s power: the baronage. Two major civil wars and numerous political crises would temporarily disrupt the otherwise inexorable expansion of administrative government. Yet even these periods of political conflict could act as a spur to further growth, inspiring the reformation and overhaul of the administrative machinery. Sometimes a radical series of reforms were implemented, at other times the changes would be more gradual. After a century of expansion, the English government of Edward I’s reign was amongst the most bureaucratic and powerful systems then operating within Europe.

Underlying this burgeoning governmental system was a plethora of routine administrative records. Documentation was not a new phenomenon: Anglo Saxon monarchs had issued written charters while writs can be traced back to the late eleventh century. Under the Norman monarchy, there had been an increase in the range of material created and used by government. The royal administration’s use of written documentation continued to expand throughout Henry II’s reign. It was King John’s reign, however, that marked the turning point in the use of written documentation by central government. Royal charters were enrolled on the newly instituted charter rolls while letters patent and letters close were entered upon the patent and close rolls respectively.