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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009
The term secretanus was employed in England from the beginning of the thirteenth century in the varying meanings of a confidential clerk, an ambassador, or a member of the king's council. This undifferentiated use of the word had, however, practically ceased by the reign of Richard II, if not earlier, and from 1377 the secretanus regis is the holder of a definite office in the king's household, the king's confidential clerk a whose primary function is the custody of the king's signet.
page 81 note 1 Dibben, , “Secretaries in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries,” in E.H.R., XXV.Google Scholar
page 81 note 2 In 1516 Pace was thought to be ill qualified for the position of principal secretary to the king, “for the name of secretary hath the foundation upon the knowledge of such thinggis as ought to be kept secret” (Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, II, 633).Google Scholar
page 82 note 1 See Tout, , Chapters in Administrative History, V, chapter 17.Google Scholar
page 82 note 2 The only secretary appointed between 1422 and 1437 seems to have been Hayton, William, who was dismissed in 1432, leaving no other trace of his activities (Nicolas, Acts of the Privy Council, V, 110).Google Scholar
page 82 note 3 Tout, , loc. cit., V, 207.Google Scholar
page 83 note 1 Rot. Parl., IV, 312Google Scholar; Ancient Petitions, 1210; Whethamstede's Register (Rolls Series), I, 162Google Scholar; Baldwin, , Select Cases before the King's Council, 128.Google Scholar
page 83 note 2 Issue Roll, 8 Henry IV (Mich.), m. 6; C.P.R., 1441–6, 252, 283, 314; 1446–52, 131Google Scholar; Great Wardrobe Account, 36–37 Henry VI, f. Iod.
page 83 note 3 See Plucknett, , “The Place of the Council in the Fifteenth Century” in Trans. R. Hist. Soc., Series 4, I, 182Google Scholar; Perroy, , The Diplomatic Correspondence of Richard II, xiiiGoogle Scholar; Galbraith, , The Public Records, 32.Google Scholar
page 83 note 4 Hist. MSS. Comm., 12th Report, Appendix I, 103. See also ibid., MSS. at Hatfield House, Part VII, 431. Some of the privy seal records which were deposited in the Exchequer have survived, and others were rescued from the fire—see Maxwell-Lyte, , The Great Seal, 31.Google Scholar
page 83 note 5 Nicolas, , Acts of the Privy Council, VI, 318–19.Google Scholar
page 84 note 1 Printed by Maxwell-Lyte, in The Great Seal, 122. The ordinance is here said to be probably the cause of the petition, but it can hardly have been more than the occasion.Google Scholar
page 84 note 2 Baldwin, , Select Cases before the King's Council, 128.Google Scholar
page 84 note 3 Nichols, , The Grants of Edward V, Camden Society, 1854.Google Scholar This contains only a small part of the MS. It is not very clear what Nichols did take the MS. to be. Sir Henry Maxwell-Lyte regards it as probably a privy seal register, although he expresses some doubt as to whether it was a register at all (The Great Seal, 27–8Google Scholar). The letters of Edward V which it contains are, however, almost without exception signet letters when the sealing clause is given, and when it is omitted deal with classes of business appropriate to the signet. On f. 107 there is a definite statement that the notes which follow refer to business under the signet of Richard III, and the correspondence of letters in this MS. with privy seal warrants preserved in chancery would follow equally if they were notes of the signet letters which authorised those warrants.
page 85 note 1 Faunt, , “Discourse touchinge the Office of principall Secretarie of Estate,” printed by Hughes, C. in E.H.R., XX, 499 ff.Google Scholar
page 86 note 1 See below, p. 97.
page 86 note 2 Gairdner, , Paston Letters, I, 315 (01, 1454/5).Google Scholar
page 86 note 3 Rot. Parl., III, 468b.Google Scholar
page 86 note 4 Cal. State Papers (Venetian), I, 583.Google Scholar
page 86 note 5 Foedera, XI, 847.Google Scholar
page 86 note 6 Ibid.(Record Edn.), II, ii, 1049–50.Google Scholar
page 86 note 7 Exch. Warrants for Issues, bundle 59 (The case of John van Stratesbourg, Nov. 26, 21 Henry VI); ibid., bundle 57; Nicolas, , Acts of the Privy Council, VI, 102.Google Scholar
page 87 note 1 Such documents were often further authenticated by the signet, affixed on the back of the Document, but not mentioned in it (Maxwell-Lyte, , The Great Seal, 155).Google Scholar
page 87 note 2 E.g. Rot. Parl., III, 471, 528–9. A frequent complaint is that the signet has been used to impede justice, but no evidence as to this is at present available, though it may appear when the series of Common Pleas Writs and Returns in the Public Record Office have been arranged.Google Scholar
page 87 note 3 See Plucknett, , The Place of the Council, loc. cit.Google Scholar
page 87 note 4 C.P.R., 1441–6, 312–13.Google Scholar
page 88 note 1 C.P.R., 1452–61, 143Google Scholar; Whethamstede's Register, I, 162Google Scholar; Paslon Letters, I, 315.Google Scholar
page 88 note 2 Warrants under the small seals, series I, file 1360, nos. 1–2.
page 89 note 1 E.g. ibid., 54/1363; 65/1363.
page 89 note 2 Rot. Parl., III, 572.Google Scholar See Maxwell-Lyte, , The Great Seal, 160. There is no evidence that this arrangement was acted on, but some warrants to the privy seal of an earlier date bear endorsements showing them to have been discussed by the council (Privy Seal Office, series I, files 1–4).Google Scholar
page 89 note 3 E.g. Warrants under the small seals, series I, 11/1370; 13/1370; 1/1371; 17/1375. See Maxwell-Lyte, , loc. cit., 121–2.Google Scholar
page 89 note 4 Warrants under the small seals, series I, file 1377, passim, 14/1379.
page 90 note 1 In All Souls' College, Oxford, MS. 182. I am indebted to the generosity of the Warden and Fellows of the College, who deposited the manuscript in the Public Record Office so that I might study it, and also to the late Miss M. V. Clarke of Somerville College, who in spite of her prior claim to the manuscript consented to my making use of it for this paper. An edition of the manuscript begun under her direction is being completed by Miss D. Legge of Somerville College.
page 90 note 2 MS. Royal 10 B. IX. This manuscript is of very mixed composition, but ff. 1–8 contain letters identical with, though less abbreviated, and in almost the same order as letters on ff. 207–12 of the All Souls' MS. This section and ff. 254–6 were evidently part of a much larger compilation of secretarial origin, but contain letters as late as 1411, while the secretarial portions of the All Souls' MS. are not later than the reign of Richard II. Although fragmentary in its present form, this formulary gives the sealing clauses which are frequently omitted, without which it is impossible to determine whether a letter was issued under the signet or under the privy seal.
page 91 note 1 A11 Souls' MS. 182, f. 211, and MS. Royal 10 B. IX, f. 1.
page 91 note 2 Sheppard, , Liters Cantuarienses, III, 50 (Rolls Series).Google Scholar
page 91 note 3 Cambridge University Library MS. Dd. III. 53, ff. 48d, 57, 79.
page 91 note 4 All Souls' MS. 182, ff. 209, 258, 363d, and see ff. 209d, 227d, 229; MS. Royal 10 B. IX, f. 4, and see f. 4d.
page 91 note 5 All Souls' MS. 182, ff. 237d-8.
page 91 note 6 Ibid., f. 265.
page 91 note 7 Ibid., f. 206d.
page 91 note 8 Ibid., f. 233d.
page 92 note 1 All Souls' M.S. 182, ff. 208d, 248–9d, 250d, 253, 255, 255d, 285d, 290d. Most of these letters have been published by Professor E. Curtis of Trinity College, Dublin, in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 37, section C, no. 14. The sealing clauses are not given, but they are undoubtedly signet letters, as the privy seal was not in Ireland.
page 92 note 2 See Tout, , Chapters in Administrative History, V, 222.Google Scholar
page 92 note 3 Ancient Correspondence, 43/2, 4, 6, 8.
page 92 note 4 All Souls' MS. 182, f. 210d, and MS. Royal 10 B. IX, f. 6.
page 92 note 5 Nicolas, , Acts of the Privy Council, I, 234Google Scholar; Sharpe, , London and the Kingdom, III, 373Google Scholar; Stevenson, , Wars of the English in France (Rolls Series), II, 465Google Scholar; Arnold, , Memorials of St. Edmunds (Rolls Series) III, 245Google Scholar; Council and Privy Seal, file 75.
page 92 note 6 Bird, , The Black Book of Winchester, 6Google Scholar; Monk of Evesham, , Vita Ricardi II, 171Google Scholar; Nicolas, , Acts of the Privy Council, II, 54Google Scholar; Cal. Close Rolls, 1402–5, 291Google Scholar; Harris, , Coventry Leet Book (E.E.T.S.), 282.Google Scholar
page 92 note 7 Ancient Correspondence, vol. 43, passim.
page 92 note 8 Hardy, , Rotuli Normannice, 329.Google Scholar
page 92 note 9 E.g. Sellers, , York Memorandum Book, I, 236–8Google Scholar; Bickley, , Little Red Book of Bristol, I, 134Google Scholar; Sharpe, , Calendar of Letter-Book K, 302Google Scholar; Benson, and Hatcher, , History of Salisbury, 130Google Scholar; Sheppard, , Literæ Cantuarienses, III, 183Google Scholar; The Coventry Leet Book and Gidden, Sign Manuals of Southampton, passim; MS. Add. 1250, f. 6; Add. 25288, f. II8d; Harl. 787, f. 10.
page 93 note 1 All Souls' MS. 182, ff. 205, 207, 220d, 228. This part of the formulary appears to have been taken from the archives of the bishop of Norwich.
page 93 note 2 Raine, , Historians of York (Rolls Series), III, 293.Google Scholar
page 93 note 3 Cal. Close Rolls, 1409–13, 183.Google Scholar
page 93 note 4 Delpit, , Collection Generate, vol. I, passim.Google Scholar
page 93 note 5 Coventry Leet Book, passim; Raine, , Historians of the Church of York, III, 337Google Scholar; Street, , Bishops and Citizens of Salisbury, 70; Add. Ch. 56425.Google Scholar
page 93 note 6 Coventry Leet Book, passim; Benson, and Hatcher, , History of Salisbury, 158–9Google Scholar; Paston Letters, II, 409Google Scholar; Kingsford, , Stonor Letters, I, 115.Google Scholar
page 94 note 1 Benson, and Hatcher, , loc. cit., 159, 173Google Scholar; Duke, , Prolusiones Historicæ, 323. 326.Google Scholar
page 94 note 2 Coventry Leet Book, 340Google Scholar; Sign Manuals of Southampton, II.Google Scholar
page 94 note 3 Ibid., 12; Coventry Leet Book, 424.Google Scholar
page 94 note 4 Ibid., 322.
page 94 note 5 Sign Manuals of Southampton, 6, 8.Google Scholar
page 94 note 6 Coventry Leet Book, 496.Google Scholar
page 94 note 7 Sign Manuals of Southampton, 10.Google Scholar
page 94 note 8 Davies, , York Records, 99.Google Scholar
page 94 note 9 Paston Letters, II, 281.Google Scholar
page 94 note 10 Coventry Leet Book, 422.Google Scholar
page 94 note 11 Raine, , Correspondence of the Priory of Coldingham, 228.Google Scholar
page 94 note 12 MS. Sloane 747, ff. 49d, 56, 57d, 58, 64d.
page 94 note 13 E.g. Coventry Leet Book, 345Google Scholar; Hist. MSS. Comm., Reports on Various Collections, I, 223.Google Scholar
page 94 note 14 MS. Harl. 78, f. 3d; Harl. 543, f. 149; Davies, , York Records, 33.Google Scholar
page 95 note 1 Harleian Miscellany (Ed. 1744), II, 265.Google Scholar
page 95 note 2 All Souls' MS. 182, ff. 207a, 240d, 250d; MS. Royal 10 B. IX, f. 2d.
page 95 note 3 MS. Cotton, Tiberius B. IX, ff. 157, I57d, and see ff. 121, 124, 150, 157.
page 95 note 4 See the document printed by Baldwin, in The King's Council, 533.Google Scholar
page 95 note 5 Davies, , York Records, passim.Google Scholar
page 95 note 6 Most of the diplomatic signet letters of the fifteenth century known to be in existence have been printed in Perroy, , The Diplomatic Correspondence of Richard IIGoogle Scholar; Hingeston, , Royal and Historical Letters of Henry IV (Rolls Series)Google Scholar, and The Diplomatic Correspondence of Thomas Beckington (Rolls Series). There are also some diplomatic letters which were not printed by Perroy, M. in All Souls' MS. 182.Google Scholar
page 95 note 7 See Nicolas, , Acts of the Privy Council, I and II, passimGoogle Scholar; Scott, , MS. Galba B. IGoogle Scholar; Hingeston, , Royal and Historical Letters, I, 348Google Scholar; Fædera, VIII, 232Google Scholar; IX, 345, 628; X, 161.
page 96 note 1 Calendar of Papal Letters, IX, 281.Google Scholar
page 96 note 2 Leathes, , Grace Book A, 97.Google Scholar
page 96 note 3 Zonta, and Brotto, , Graduum Academicorum Gymnasii Patavini, 1406–1452Google Scholar, Padua, 1922, nos. 1993, 2108, 2134; Epist. Acad. Oxon., II, 442. For this and other references to Courtenay's academic career in Italy, see a paper printed in this volume, below, pp. 101–17.Google Scholar
page 97 note 1 Churchill, , Canterbury Administration, I, 23.Google Scholar
page 97 note 2 All Souls' MS. 182, 1 217d.
page 97 note 3 Cal. Papal Letters, VII, 249–50, 282.Google Scholar
page 97 note 4 Ibid., X, 134.
page 97 note 5 Nicolas, , Acts of the Privy Council, VI, 220Google Scholar; Exchequer T.R. Household Books, E 36/206; the Liber Niger Domus Regis Angliæ, printed by the Society of Antiquaries in The Ordinances of the Royal Household (1790)Google Scholar; Gairdner, , Letters and Papers of Richard III and Henry VII, II, 67.Google Scholar
page 98 note 1 Tout, , Chapters, V, 77–81. Dr. Hubert Hall has, however, kindly suggested to me that on the analogy of the customs service the “wayters” may have been messengers, though the existence of subordinate clerks in the fifteenth-century signet office is demonstrated by other evidence.Google Scholar
page 98 note 2 Documents subsidiary to Wardrobe Accounts, E 101/409/3; Gt. Wardrobe Accounts, 17–18 H. VI, f. 43; 19–20 H. VI, f. 19; 22–3 H. VI, f. 81; 36–7 H. VI, f. 8.
page 98 note 3 C.P.R., 1436–41, 487; 1441–6, 354.Google Scholar
page 98 note 4 Ibid., 1477–85, 196.
page 98 note 6 See Baldwin, , The King's Council, 533.Google Scholar
page 99 note 1 Cal. Papal Letters, VI, 113.Google Scholar
page 99 note 2 Issue Roll, 7 Henry IV (Mich.), m. 10.
page 100 note 1 C.P.R., 1485–94, 457.Google Scholar