3 - BISHOP ROGER AND THE EXCHEQUER

Summary

After the Norman Conquest arrangements had to be made for the government of England during the king's often protracted absences abroad. Moreover, administration was growing more complex and needed supervision whether the king was in England or not. The official who emerged under the Angevin kings as the man who could act as the king's viceroy and supervise royal administration whether the king was in England or not, was the chief justiciar. In the Norman period various ways were tried of covering for the king's absences. Under Henry I Roger of Salisbury came to supervise much royal administration, basing himself on the exchequer. For one period at least he acted as the king's viceroy (1123–6), and the combination of viceregal authority and administrative supervision set an important precedent for the later office of chief justiciar. However, the precise nature of Roger's authority, and the significance to be attached to the first appearance of the word ‘exchequer’, have been very differently assessed by historians. The evidence is re-examined here; it will be suggested that Roger's influence developed gradually during the reign, and that although there may well have been some kind of treasury court auditing royal revenues before 1100, Henry's reign nevertheless was important in giving coherence and authority to that court, which represented the beginnings of a central administration distinct from the itinerant royal household.

So far as the need for a regent was concerned, Henry made arrangements to cover most of his absences from England, though he did not make corresponding arrangements for Normandy.