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CHANCERY

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 961 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHANCERY .—The records of the chancery are here treated in two divisions, administrative and judicial. (i) Chancery Administrative.—These are either enrolments of letters issued under the See also:

great See also:seal, documents forming See also:part of the See also:process of issuing such letters, or documents See also:drawn up for the See also:information of the chancery. Enrolments.—The See also:Charter Rolls (1 See also:John to 8 See also:Henry VIII.) contain the enrolments of the most formal letters. The See also:Record See also:Commission published one See also:volume See also:folio containing a transcript of the rolls for the reign of John; and a badly designed and executed See also:calendar entitled Calendarium Rotulorum Chartarum. The Record See also:Office has published three volumes of a See also:complete calendar of the Charter Rolls from 11 Henry III. The Patent Rolls (3 John to the See also:present See also:day) contain enrolments of less formal letters addressed generally. The Record Commission published one volume folio containing a transcript of the rolls for the reign of John, with a valuable itinerary of that See also:king. The Record Office has also printed in fullthe rolls for the See also:period 1–16 Henry III. From this point over 3o volumes of a Calendar have been published, and the remaining gaps in the See also:series are being closed. For these gaps the Record Commission's Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium is still useful, but only refers to a small proportion of the See also:matter on the rolls. The rolls for the reign of Henry VIII. are calendared in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. The See also:Close Rolls (6 John to the present See also:time) contain the enrolments of letters directed to specified persons and also enrolments of deeds made according to See also:statute or for safe custody.

The Record Commission published two volumes folio containing a transcript of the rolls for the period from 6 John to 11 Henry III. The Record Office has also published several volumes of rolls for the reign of Henry III. From the. reign of See also:

Edward I. eighteen volumes of a calendar have appeared. The See also:Fine Rolls (1 John to 23 See also:Charles I.) contain the record of judicial writs issued under the great seal with a See also:note of the fine or See also:fee paid; also of letters of See also:appointment to offices and letters See also:relating to the See also:administration of the feudal incidents of See also:tenure. The Record Commission published a transcript of the rolls for the reign of John under the See also:title Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus; for the reign of Henry III. they also published two volumes of Excerpta e Rotulis Finium consisting of the entries relating to the feudal incidents. There were also other rolls containing letters issued under the great seal relating to See also:special countries and subjects. The most important of these are here mentioned. See also:French Rolls, Gascon Rolls, and See also:Norman Rolls See also:deal with the affairs of the See also:English dominions in See also:France and with relations with that See also:country. A See also:catalogue of many of the entries on these rolls down to the reign of Edward IV. was published by See also:Thomas See also:Carte in two volumes folio. Of the French Rolls (16 Edw. III. to 26 Charles II.) those for the reign of Henry V. are briefly calendared in the 44th See also:Report; and those for the reign of Henry VI. in the 48th Report. Of the Gascon Rolls (38 Henry III. to 7 Edw.

IV.) the earlier rolls have been printed in full in the Documents inedits published by the French See also:

government under the care of MM. Francisque-See also:Michel and See also:Bemont. Of the broken series of Norman Rolls (1 John to lo Henry V.) those for the reign of John and that for 5 Henry V. have been printed in full in one volume by the Record Commission; to the See also:remainder a calendar will be found in the 41st Report. The books here mentioned deal with some rolls now placed in other classes. Other rolls contain letters under the great seal relating to See also:Ireland, See also:Scotland and See also:Wales. Of these the Record Commission printed the Scottish Rolls (19 Edward I. to 8 Henry VIII.) in full, omitting the numerous letters of See also:protection contained in them. For the Welsh and Irish Rolls there is only a very partial calendar in Ayloffe's Calendar of See also:Ancient Charters. The See also:Roman and Almain Rolls have been used in Foedera, and many entries from the other chancery rolls will be found there. The Liberate Rolls (2 John to 14 Henry VI.) contain the enrolments of writs for the issue of See also:money out of the See also:Exchequer. The rolls for 2–4 John have been printed in full by the Record Commission. Documents forming Part of the Process of issuing Letters under the Great Seal,—These are known as Chancery warrants, and consist of Privy See also:Seals, Signed bills and other documents forming steps in the process. Series I. of these documents extends to the end of the reign of See also:Richard III., and Series II. to the end of the reign of Henry VIII.; Series III. ends with the reign of See also:Anne, and Series IV. with that of See also:William IV., while Series V. is still in progress.

Series I. and II. are arranged in See also:

chronological See also:order (Series I. being also classified); the remainder are in monthly bundles. The warrants for the reign of Henry VIII. are calendared in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.; those for the first seven years of Charles I. are calendared in the 43rd Report. With these may be placed the Inquisitions ad quad damnum. Of these the Record Office has published a descriptive See also:list (Nos. XVII. and XXII.) for the period 28 Henry III. to 2 Richard III. Documents drawn up for the Information of the Chancery.—The most important of these are the inquiries held under writs issued from the chancery. The first series of these (Henry III. to Richard III.) is now arranged in three classes, Inquisitions See also:Post Mortem including analogous documents relating to the feudal tenure of See also:land, Criminal Inquisitions and See also:Miscellaneous Inquisitions. The Record Office has published three volumes of a calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem. The Record Commission calendars refer to the old arrangements of these inquiries into two series, known as Inquisitions Post Mortem &Y. and Inquisitions ad quod damnum &c., a distinction of title which concealed the identity of the documents described. Both calendars contain many inaccuracies and omit much useful information. To See also:supply some of these defects for the period Henry III. to Edward I. the Record Office published the Calendarium Genealogicum, but this See also:work does not See also:attempt to deal with the lands mentioned in the inquiries. In the second series of these inquiries the three classes of inquisitions are all placed together.

One volume of a calendar to the Inquisitions Post Mortem for the reign of Henry VII. has appeared. Certificates of See also:

Gilds are returns made under the statute of 12 Richard II. Those in English have been printed by J. and L. Toulmin See also:Smith for the See also:Early English See also:Text Society. Charitable Uses: a list (No. X.) of all inquisitions and decrees of commissioners appointed under two statutes of See also:Elizabeth to examine and rectify abuses of charitable bequests has been published by the Record Office. Forests (Chancery) contain perambulations and proceedings before the justices in See also:eyre of the See also:forest. The perambulations for certain counties have been printed by G. J. See also:Turner in Select Pleas of the Forest (See also:Selden Society). Scottish Documents.—Five rolls relating to the policy of Edward I. towards Scotland. The first two contain the proceedings touching the claims to the See also:crown of Scotland and are printed in Foedera, vol. ii. p.

762 (Record edition) ; the remaining three, known as Ragman Rolls, contain in triplicate the submissions of the Scottish See also:

nobility to Edward I., and were printed by the See also:Bannatyne See also:Club in 18J4. Other chancery documents relating to Scotland are described in J. See also:Bain's Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland. Most of these together with the earlier Forest proceedings are included in the Miscellanea of the Chancery, which contains numerous other detached documents and rolls. Many of those relating to See also:foreign affairs are printed in the Foedera. (2) Chancery Judicial.—These may be divided into Proceedings, or Bills and Answers, &c., filed by the parties; Decrees and Orders of the See also:court; and Affidavits and other documents connected with the course of the See also:action. The series known as Early Chancery Proceedings (Richard II. to See also:Philip and See also:Mary), comprising documents of all three classes, is arranged roughly in chronological order. The Record Office has published three volumes of a descriptive list (Nos. XI I., XVI. and XX.) of the whole of this series; and the first two bundles have been printed in full in the Record Commission's Calendar of Proceedings in Chancery, Elizabeth; other specimens are printed in Select Pleas of the Chancery (Selden Society), edited by W. P. Baildon. For the reign of Elizabeth the Proceedings are arranged alphabetically under the See also:plaintiff's name in two series.

Series I. is calendared in the Record Commission volumes already mentioned for Series II.; the Record Office has published a descriptive list (Nos. V I I. and VIII.) covering the years 1558–162 i. To the Bills and Answers of the reign of Charles II. Messrs See also:

Phillimore and See also:Fry have published in the See also:Index Library of the See also:British Record Society an index taken from Topham's See also:manuscript index in the Record Office. The same society has reproduced in an alphabetical See also:form an index to the proceedings in Reynardson's See also:division for the years 1694–1714. These last indexes contain only the surnames of the parties, without reference to the nature of the suit. Decrees and Orders (36 Henry VIII. to the present time) are the entry-books of the orders of the court; with them may be classed the Reports and Certificates of the masters and See also:chief clerks. The Affidavits, &c., date from 1611. The See also:chancellor formerly had a See also:common See also:law See also:jurisdiction relating to certain matters touching feudal incidents and tenures, to repeals of letters patent, and to actions upon recognizances acknowledged in chancery or concerning See also:officers of the court. No printed means of referring to these records exist.

End of Article: CHANCERY

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