The Opening of the Great Seal of England

TO THE READER.

C Ourteous Reader, having copiously answered, refuted all Royalilists, Malignants, Papists, clamorous Objections and Primitive Exceptions, against the Proceedings of this present Parliament, in FOUR several Treatises, lately published, concerning The Sovereign Power of Parliaments and Kingdoms; which have given good satisfaction to many, and silenced the Penns, the Tongues of most Anti-Parliamenteers, who have been so ingenuous as seriously to peruse them: I yet find a New grand Objection lately started up, and much insisted on among these Opposites, by reason of the Commons late Order for making a New Great Seal (now almost finished) to supply the willful absence, defects, abuses of the old, to the extraordinary prejudice, damage, danger, of the Houses, Kingdom, and delay of public Justice; which, though sufficiently answered in the general by sundry passages and Histories scattered in the former Treatises; yet because not so particularly or fully debated, as the consequence of this extraordinary weighty Act, and the querelousnesse of the clamorous Opposites require; I have therefore (upon the motion of some friends) to stop up this New-Breach and Clamour, speedily collected and published by Authority, these ensuing Historical and Legal Observations, concerning the Original, Antiquity, Progress, Use, Necessity of the Great Seal of the Kings and Kingdom of England; with reference to Sealing of Charters, Patents, Writs, Commissions, other Processe; and given thee a summary account of the Kings, Kingdoms, Parliaments, several Interests in, and Power over the Great Seal, (and the Lord's Keepers of it too) both in respect of its New-making, Custody, Administration, for the better execution of public Justice, the Republic necessary safety and utility, clearing all contrary Objections of moment; which I here submit to thy charitable Censure and Acceptation; imploring thy Pardon and Direction, in case I have casually erred, out of Ignorance or Human Frailty, in tracing this Untrodden dangerous narrow Path, wherein I find no Footsteps, or only very obscure ones, to direct my course.

THE OPENING OF The Great Seal OF ENGLAND.

N Ot to enter into any impetinent tedious Discourse of the Antiquity or use of Seals in general, which were very anciently used both by the Nations and Kings of the Jews, Persians, Medes, Babylonians, and others, (as is manifest by sundry Texts of Scripture, to omit profane Stories;) it is a question much debated among Antiquaries, Historians, Lawyers, How ancient the use of Seals hath been among the Kings of England, & in what age, upon what occasion, by what degrees they grew to be absolutely requisite for the ratification of Charters, Patents, Writs, Commissions, and other Processes?

The first original, Antiquity of Seals among our Kings, is very uncertain; for it is apparent, past all contradiction, that our ancientest Kings Charters, Patents had no Seals at all annexed to them, being ratified only with the Sign of the Cross, (ofttimes in golden Characters) the subscription of our Kings names, with the names of divers Bishops, Abbots, Nobles, Clerks, and others, under them, as Witnesses; who all made the sign of the Cross, before or after their subscriptions; as is most evident by sundry ancient Charters of our English Saxon Kings, yet extant in old Leger Books of Abbeys, in Sir Robert Cottons Library, and by the printed Copies, of them in the Histories of Ingulphus, M • lmesbury, Howden, Matthew Paris, Matth. Westminster, Holinshed, Mr. Fox, M ^r Cambdens Britannia, M. Seldens Titles of Honor, History of Tythes, Notes to Eadmerus, Sir Henry Spelmans Councils and Glossary; Sir Edward Cooks Preface to his 4 and 6 Reports, his Institutions on Littleton, and Magna Charta, Joannis Pitseus, Relatio. Histor. de rebus Angl. Cl. Reynerus Apostolatus Benedictinorum in Anglia; M. Lambard his Perambulation of Kent and Archaion, Bishop Ushers Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, with others; which Charters, though without a Seal, have ever been reputed as valid, firm in point of Law from time to time, and so admitted by our Judges, Kings, Parliaments, as any punier Charters sealed with our Kings Great Seals. To give you some few instances of the ancientest Charters of our Kings before the Conquest, which I find not sealed, but thus subscribed. King Aethelbert, Anno 605. made two Charters, the first to the Church of Saint Pancras, the other to the Monastery of Peter and Paul to be erected at Canterbury; which are thus confirmed with the Sign of the Cross, not sealed;

After which follow divers other witnesses, who confirm it with the same sign. There is extant a Bull of Augustine, the first Bishop of Canterbury, of an exemption granted by him to this Monastery, with a Leaden Seal annexed to it, the form whereof you may view in Sir Henry Spelman, who suspects both these Charters, with Augustine's Bull and Seal, (the sealing of Bulls being not so ancient, and Leaden Bulls being first brought in by Pope Adrian, about the year of our Lord, 774. as Polydor and others observe) to be mere Counterfeits, upon good grounds. There is another Charter of the same King, of Lands given to the same Monastery, dated, Ar. 610. subscribed as the former. The next ancient Charter I find, is, that of Withred King of Kent, dated, An. Dom. 695. who the same year confirmed the great Council of Beca 〈◊〉 with the sign of the Cross, & such subscriptions as are aforesaid. To these I shall add the (suspected) Charter of King Kenred and Offa. Anno 709. with the Charters of Egwin Bishop of Worcester, Anno 709. The Charter of King Eth Ibald, An, 718. made to Saint Guthlar, and the Abbey of Croyland, with his General Charter of Privileges granted to all Churches and Monasteries, dated, Anno 749. The Charter of King Ina granted to the Abbey of Glasterbury, (supposed to be spurious) Anno 725. Of King Offa to the Abbey of Croyland, Anno 793. The Decree of Adardus Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Council of Clovesho. An. 803. The Charter of King Kenulphus to the Abbey of Croyland, Anno 8 • 6. The Decrees of the Synod of Clevesh • , under King Beornwulfe, Anno 824. and of the Council of London under King Egbert, Anno 833. The Charter of Witlasius King of M • rcia, to the Abbey or Croyland, Anno 833. The Charter of King Bertulphus to the same Abbey, An. 851. with the Canons of the Council of Kingesbury, confirmed and subscribed by this King, and others the same year, with the sign of the Cross. The Charters of Aeth Iwulphus to the Abbey of Croyland, Anno 855. and to all Churches and Monasteries, which he offered up to God upon the Altar of Saint Peter t Winchester, where the Bshop received it, and sent it to all Churches to be published. The Charter of B • orredus King of, Merciae, to the Abbey of Croyland. Anno 860. of Queen Aethelsw • th to Cuthwulfe, An. 868. of king Edmund to the Abbey of Glastenbury, An. 944. of king •• dred to the Abbey of Croyland, An. 948. the charters of king Edgar to the Abbey of Croyland, An. 966. 970. 974. to the Abbey of Glastenbury, An. 965. 971. and to the Abbey of Malmesbury. An. 974. his charter of Oswelds Laws, An. 964. his charter to his new Monestery of Winchester, An. 966. and another charter, Ar. 964. the charter of King Aeth • lred, An. 995. to Ulfric. with his charter of privileges granted to the Church of Canterbury, An. 1006. the charter of king Knute, or Canutus, to the Church of our Savior at Canterbury, An. 1018. and to the Abbey of Croyland, An. 1032. of Thorold to the Abbey of Croyland, An. 1051. and of King Edward the Confessor to the same Abbey about the year 1050. All these ancient Charters of our Kings before the Conquest had no seals at all annexed to them, but were only ratified with the sign of the Cross subscribed by the Kings themselves, and these who made them, together with their names, and with the names and crosses of the witnesses. And it is observable, that all or most of these ancient charters of our kings, which granted any lands or privileges to Abbeys or Churches, were made in full Councils and Parliaments, with the unanimous consent and approbation of the Bishops, Prelates, Abbots, Dukes, Earls, Lord's, and great men therein present, who commonly subscribed them; the reason was, because none of our ancient kings (as I have proved) had any power to grant or alien the lands of the Crown (which they enjoyed only in the kingdoms right, and for its use) to any, without the consent of their Nobles, and people in full Parliament: and in most of these Charters, Abbeys and Church-lands were exempted from all taxes, tallages, and temporal services whatsoever, except the repairing of high ways, bridges, and castles, for the common good: and thereby were anciently exempted from Danegeld, as I have elsewhere manifested.

Which of our kings first used a seal, is not certainly determined: Sir Edward Cook in his Institutes on Littleton, fol. 7. a. records, that the charter of King Offa, whereby he granted Peter-pence, doth yet remain under his seal; Now this charter, as Sir Henry Spelman, and our Historians generally in his life, record, was dated in the year of our Lord 793. or 794. and is the first charter scaled (if true) by any of our kings. There is another Charter of King Edwin, of certain land called Iecklea in the Is • le of Eli, bearing date Anno 956. sealed with his own seal, and with the seal of Elfwin Bishop of Winchester. I read in Francis Thinne his Catalogue of Chancellors, and in Sir Henry Spelman his Glossary, fol. 126. 132. that our Saxon kings Aethelstan, Edmund, Edred, Edgar, and Aethelred, had their several Chancellors; but whether they had any seals or not, is uncertain: if they had any, it is certain (writes Sir Henry Spelman) that they scarce used them at all, or very rarely, most of their charters having no seals at all, but only crosses, or subscriptions of these Kings names, and witnesses. The very first of all our Kings who used a large br • ad seal, was Edward the confessor, who, being brought up in Normandy, introduced that, with some other of the Normans Guises with him, and had three Chancellors: Under this seal he granted a Charter of sundry liberties and privileges to the Church of Saint Peters in Westminster, Anno Dom. 1066. which was sealed by his Chancellor Reynbaldus, as is evident by this his subscription to that deed; Ego Reynbaldus Regis CANCELLARIVS relegi & SIGILLAVI. This is the first Charter, for ought appears, that ever was sealed with a Royal broa • Seal, or by a Chancellor. But that all this good Kings charters, or any of his writs, or commissions were thus sealed by this great scale, or that the Chancellor then had the custody of the seal (which the Chancellors in the reign of Charles the great, and Ludovicus Pius, had not in France, as Sir Henry Spelman proves in his Glossary, p. 127. out of Capit. l. 2. c. 24. and Eg • lismensis in vita Caroli, p 15. and the passage of Ingulphus concerning the office of the Chancellor in his time, cited in Spelman, seems to disprove) is a non liquet unto me. The exact form of this Kings great seal you may behold in John Speed, together with the various effigies of all our succeeding Kings broad seals, prefixed by him before their several lives.

Two things there are, which in this enquiry after the original use of our Kings great seals, seem somewhat dubious unto me. First, when, how, and by what law or means it came to pass, that our Kings Charters and Patents ought of necessity to be sealed with the great seal, contrary to the primitive usage in former ages, or else to be reputed invalid, and mere nullities in law? Secondly, when, and by what law or grounds, and in what Kings reign, Writs, Commissions, and other Processe of law, began to be issued out under the great seal, or else to be disallowed as illegal? it being evident unto me, that Charters, and Patents were usually sealed by some of our Kings, before any of their writs, commissions, or legal process issued under their seals.

These two doubts, I confess, are beyond my skill exactly to assoil; yet this I conjecture as most consonant to truth; That Edward the Confessor being trained up in Normandy, and addicted to the customs of the French, which he introduced with him, did first of all bring in the sealing of deeds; which I gather from the words of Ingulphus Abbot of Croyland, who flourished in his reign, and writes thus of him: Coepitergo tota terra sub Rege, & sub aliis Normannis introductis, Anglicos ritus dimittere, & Francorum mores in multis imitare: Gallicum idioma omnes Magnates in suis Curits tanquam magnum Gentilitium loqui; CHART AS ET CHIROGRAPHA SVA MORE FRANCORVM CONFICERE, & propriam consuetudinem IN HIS, & in alius erubescere. Now the French Kings long before his days, used to seal their charters with golden Bulls, as Franciscus Rosierius, and Sir Henry Spelman testify; there being divers charters of King Dagobert, Sigebert, and Pipin yet extant under golden Bulls, as they record: and Charles the Great, descended of Pipin, was the first Emperor of the Romans which sealed charters with a golden Bull, as Polydor Virgil attests, Flodoardus also recording, that Charles the Bald An. Dom. 867. sealed with a Bull of his name, Bull a sui nominis sigillavit. In imitation of whom Edward the Confessor, as it is probable, caused a great Seal to be made (which none of his Predecessors used) and there with sealed two of his three Charters of privileges and Donations granted to the Abbey of Westminster (to which he was a special benefactor) the copies of which you may read in Sir Henry Spelman: witness this close of his second charter; Chartamistam conscribi, ET SIGILLARI IUSSI, & ipsam manu mea signo sanctae CRUCIS impressi, & idoneos te •• es annotari praecepi ad corraborandam: After which his own subscription with the sign of the cross follows, and the subscriptions and crosses of sundry Bishops and Abbots: after them, Ego Raynbaldus CANCELLARIUS ✚; then follow the subscriptions of Dukes, and other the Kings Officers, with this conclusion, Acta apud Westmonaster. quinto kal. Ianuarii, die sanctorum Innocentium, Anno Dominicae Incarnationis 1066. Indictione tertia. Anno Regni serenissimi Edwardi Regis 25. Swyergarius Notarius ad vicem Reynbaldi Regiae dignitatis Cancellarii, hanc Chartam scripsi & subscripsi, in Deinomine foeliciter, Amen. With this close of his third Charter dated the same year and day; Ut ergo hac auctoritas nostris & futuris temporibus, circaipsum sanctum locum perenniter firma & inviolata permaneat, per omnia tempora illaesa custodiatur atque conservetur, & ab omnibus Optimatibus nostris, & Iudicibus publicis & privatis, melius ac certius credatur, Manus nostrae subscriptione subter eam decennius roborare, & idoneos testes annotare, ATQUE SIGILLO NOSTRO IUSSIMUS SIGILLARI. • .

Ego Edwardus Deigratia Anglorum Rex, hoc privilegium jussi componere, & compositum, cum signo Dominicae CRUCIS confirmando impressi. ✚: then follow the subscriptions of divers Bishops and Abbots with crosses: next to them, Ego Reynbaldus Regis CANCELLARIUS relegi ET SIGILLAVI. ✚: next ensue the subscriptions of some Dukes, Officers, and Knights, with crosses: next the date of the place, day, year of Christ, and the Kings reign; with Ego Alfgeatus Notarius, ad vicem Reynbaldi Regiae dignitatis Cancellarius, hoc privilegium scripsi & subscripsi, In Dei nomine foeliciter. Amen.

From which Charters and Subscriptions we may observe,

First, That this King Edward, though he added his great Seal to his Charters, yet he retained the ancient form of confirming them with the sign of the cross, and the subscription of his own name, and the names of witnesses; which continued long after, till Edward the first his reign, if not longer, though since discontinued.

Secondly, That the Chancellor in his days, though he subscribed his name after Prelates and Bishops, yet he did it before Dukes, Earls, and all other temporal Lord's; therefore he was then, no doubt, the chiefest temporal Officer, and hath so continued ever since. What the dignity and office of the Chancellor was in this Kings reign and before, appears by Ingulphus his history of Turketulus Chancellor both to King Aethelstan, Edmund, and Edred successively, and the second Chancellor we read of in our Realm) who was then PRIMVM, PRAECIPWM ET A SECRETIS FAMILIARISSIMVM. This Turketulus (writes he) descended of the blood royal, being Nephew to King Edward the elder, who for his merits would have matched him to divers rich Noblemen’s daughters, but he refused them, leading a single life: After which he would have promoted him to a Bishopric for his learning and holiness, proffering him first the Bishopric of Winchester, and afterwards the Archbishopric of Canterbury very often, and to prefer him before all his other Clerks; but he rejected those dignities with various excuses, and utterly abhorred them all his life, tanquam tendiculas Sathanae ad subvertendas animas, As the snares of Satan to subvert souls: Such were Lord y Bishoprics esteemed, even in that blind age: which may be further ratified by this monkish story, related out of the Promptuary of the Disciple, and Arnoldus in the Flower of the Commandments of God; That a Monk of Clervaulx was chosen to be Bishop, the which refused it, against the will of his Abbot and of the Bishop, and soon after died: Who appearing after his death to his familiar, he demanded of him, if the disobeysance before said had noyed him? he answered, that nay, and afterward said, If I had taken the Bishopric, I had been damned; and said moreover an horrible word, The state of the Church is come

unto this, that she is not digne to be governed But of ill Bishops, &c. But to return to our story. Tarketulas refusing the glory of this terrene dignity and transitory honor of a Bishopric; the King at last made him his Chancellor: ut quaecunque negotia temporalia vel spiritualia Regis judicium expectabant illius consilio & decreto (tam sanctae fidei & tam profundi ingenii tenobatur) omnia tracturantur, & tractata irrefrag • bilem sententiam sortirentur Consilio ergo illius, multa bona opera &c. off • cis: After which he adds, he was a man of greatest power and authority with these three Kings, both for his incomparable wisdom and valor, he had sixty Manners of his own (six whereof he gave to God and the Abbey of Croyland where he became Abbot, and the residue to the King) and vast treasures of jewels and money, yet in all this greatness his Title of Chancellor was his highest dignity, as Ingulphus manifests: Therefore it was then, no doubt, the most eminent office.

Thirdly, that in those times it was one chief part of the Chancellors office, by himself or his Notaries and substitutes, to dictate and write all the Kings Charters, Patents, Writs, and to subscribe them as a witness: whence Turketulus when he was Chancellor, writ or dictated most of the Kings charters made to the Abbey of Croyland: Rex Edredus dedit Monasterium Croyland per Chartam suam, dictatam ab eodem Turketulo, writes Ingulphus, p. 874.

Fourthly, That the Chancellor in his reign, sealed the Kings charters with his seal; yet whether he only did it, or had the sole custody of the soale, is uncertain.

But though King Edward the Confessor first brought in the great seal; yet the custom of sealing charters, patents therewith, with other men's sealing Deeds, grow not common, universal, or necessary, till the latter end of the Conquerors reign; as Ingulphus in these direct terms avers, from his own experimental knowledge: Et non tantum hunc morem (of making Knights) sed alias etiam consuetudines (William the Conqueror and his Normans, of whom he writes) immutabant; nam chirographtrum consectionem Anglicanam, quae antea Usque ab Edwardi Regis tempora, fidelium praesentium subscriptionibus cum Crucibus Aureis, aliisque saerts signaculis firma fuerunt, Normanni condemnantes, chirographa chartas vocabant; Et chartarum armitatem cum cere impressione per untuscujusque speciale sigillum, sub instillatione trium vel quatuor testium astantium (whereas ancient charters had twenty or more witnesses) conficere constituebant. Conferebantur etiam prime multa praedia nudo verbo, absque scripto, velcharta, tantium cum Domini gladio, vel galea, vel cornu, velcratera; & plurima tenementa cum calcari, cum striguli, cum arcu, & non nulla cum sagitta. Sed haec initio Regni sui; posterioribus annis immutatus est isle modus. Tantum tunc Anglicanos abominanti sunt, &c. So that by this Historians express testimony (a man of great eminency in that age, being Abbot of Croyland, and much frequenting the Court, yea taking more pains to search out and preserve ancient Charters then any in that age) William the Conqueror and his Normans (who endeavored to reduce the English to the customs laws, and ceremonies of Normandy, especially in all matters of government, law, and justice, his charters being of far other tenor, form, and brevity, then those before or since in use) were the first who introduced, by insensible degrees, the French custom of sealing charters and deeds with seals; and this King, with his Officers (as all our Historians complain) being extraordinary covetous and oppressive, using sundry new d ••• ses to fill their own purses, by exhausting the people's; it is very likely (as Ingulphus words import, and others insinuate) that he and his Chancellors (of which I find nine in his reign) to make a benefit and project of his great seal, did in his latter days ordain, that all charters, patents should be thenceforth sealed with his royal seal, or else be reputed invalid in law. Three charters of his I find recorded in our writers: The first, made to the Abbey of Croyland at the suit of Ingulphus who registers it, subscribed by some witnesses, without mention of any seal of his thereto annexed. The second, to the Abbey of Battle, sealed with his great seal, and subscribed by four or five Bishops, which Patent & Seal to you may view in Mr. Seldens Notes on Eadmerus. The third, to the City of London, granted at the suit of William their Bishop, written in the Saxon tongue, confirmed with green wax, whereas the Saxons before used only to sign with gilt crosses; the copy whereof you may read in Lamberts parambulation of Kent, Holinshed, and Speed. As for that charter of his, recorded by John Stom, and Speed in his life, out of the Book of Richmond:

I deem it either a forgery, or a charter granted only in merriment; which Rast all in his Tearmes of the law, f. 80. attributes rather to King Edward the third, then to the Conqueror; concluding, that s • aling was not commonly used till the reign of Edward the third: which if true perchance of deeds between private persons, yet not of Royal charters. King William Rufus, Henry the first, Stephen, and Henry the second, had all their several great seals (the portraytures whereof you may behold in John Spreds History before every of their lives) and their several Chancellors too, whose names you may read i • 〈◊〉 Francis Thinns Catalogue, and Spelman; which Chancellors, as is most likely, kept their seals, sealing both Patents and charters with them.

I read, that King Henry the first, in the first year of his reign, granted a Charter of Liberties to his Subjects (according to his promise and Oath, before and at his Coronation) much like to Magna Charta, subscribed with Witnesses: ET SIGILLI SVI TESTIMONIO ROBORATVM, as Eadmerus, and others write: To this Charter he set both his hand AND SEALE, commanding as many copies as there were Counties in England to be transcribed, and kept in the Monasteries of every Province: he was made a King by right of Election, not of Succession, his brother Robert being right heir. In this Kings reign, I find one Writ to Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury (who used a seal wherewith he sealed his letters written to this King) with Teste Walricho CANCELLARIO apud Merlebergam. And another Writ directed to him, to respite the consecration of Thomas Archbishop of York till Easter, SIGILLO REGIS INCLVS AS; the first Writ I, to my remembrance, find sealed with any Kings Seal, though Patents were commonly sealed before this time. King Stephen, coming to the Crown by the Nobles Election, not by right of inheritance, as next heir, vowed to confirm their Liberties by his Charter and SEALE; which he did at Oxford in the first year of his Reign: this Charter you may read in the Marginall Authors, being like to Magna Charta in substance. That King Henry the second used to seal his Charters and Patents, I find apparent testimonies in our Historians. For his Oath of Purgation which he made concerning the death of Thomas Becket (registered at large by Roger de Howden) was put into writing in form of a Charter, and then sealed with his Seal, and the Seals of the Cardinals, as this Author attests. Et ut haec in memoria Romanae Ecclesiae haberentur, Rex Pater FECIT APPONI SIGILLUM SWM SCRIPTO ILLI, in quo superdicta capitula continebantur, una CUM SIGILLIS praedictorum Cardinalium (Theodine and Albert.) Atque ut in memoria Roman Ecclesiae sirmiter habeatur, SIGILLVM VESTRVM PRAECIPISTIS APPONI. Anno Dom. 1177. Sancho King of Navarre, and Alphonso King of Castile being at variance, about breaches of Articles in a former truce, referred their differences to the determination of King Henry the second: who calling his Nobles and Parliament together, made these kings Ambassadors to put their differences in writing, and then to swear to stand to his, and his Councils arbiterment: which done, he made a Charter of his award, subscribed with the names of many Bishops, Nobles, Clerks, & Laymen, as you may read at large in Howden, which Charter questionless was sealed with his seal, though it be not expressed. The same year, on the 7 day of October K. Lewis of France, and king Hen. 2. made a final concord and league for mutual offense and defense, which was put into writing, sworn to, subscribed by many witnesses of note and SEALED; witness the words of Howden (who records it at large.) Et ut hoc statut • firmiter teneatur, & ratum permaneat, scripto commendari, ET SIGILLI SVI AVCTORITATE CONFIRMARI FECIT. And the same year Audebert Earl of March selling his Earldom to King Henry, made a Charter thereof, registerd in Howden, which concludes thus: Ne autem haec mea venditi • solemniter celebrata aliqua posset in posterum malignitate divelli, EAM SIGILLO MEO MVNIVI: after which many Bishops, and other witnesses subscribed it. In this Kings reign it is apparent, that the great Seal remained in the custody of the Chancelor; for I read that this king making his Chancelor Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, he thereupon, An. Dom. 1162. (contrary to the kings good liking and expectation, who was then in Normandy) sent messengers over with the Seal, Cancellariae renuntians, ET SIGILLUM RESIGNANS, renouncing the Chancellorship, and resigning up the Seal unto him; Because he could not attend the Court and Church at once; so as the Chancellor then kept the seal of England with him here, when the King was absent in Normandy, for the better execution of public justice. This will yet more plainly appear by the ensuing passage of Howden, and Writ of King Richard the first;

By which passage and writ it is apparent: First, That the Chancellor in Henry the seconds Reign, had the custody of the great Seal. Secondly, That presentations to Churches, Archdeaconries, and Prebendaries, were then granted under the Great Seal. Thirdly, That Chancellors did sometimes fraudulently grant and seal Patents without the Kings privity; and that these Patents, when discovered, were reputed fraudulent and void. Fourthly, That writs at Common Law were usual in Henry the second his Reign; which appears most plentifully and irrefagably by Ranulphus de Glanvilla, chief Insticiar under this King, his, Tractatus de Legibus & consuetudinibus Regni Angliae, tempore Regis Henrici secundi compositus: wherein most Original Writs of the Common Law, and the Proceedings upon them, yet in use, are collected and registerd for the benefit of posterity. In this Kings time, I conceive, our Writs of Law were reduced by this Ralph Glanvill and his fellow Justices, into a set form, and began to issue forth under the Kings Seal, to avoid forgery; but whether under the Great Seal, or special Seal of every Court (as Sir Edward Cook in his Institutes on Magna Charta, pag. 554, 555, 556. conjectures) I cannot certainly define. In his Reign I first find, that the connterfeiting of the Kings Charter was reputed Treason; as Glanv • ll expressly declares it, lib. 1. cap. 2. & lib. 14. cap. 7. Illud tamen notandum, quod si quis convictus fuerit de Charta falsa, distinguendum est, Vtrum fuerit CHARTA REGIS, an privata, Quod si CHARTA REGIA, tunc is qui super hoc convincitur, condemnandus est, TANQVAM DE CRIMINE LESAE MAIESTATIS. Si vero fuerit charta privata, tunc cum convicto mitius agendum est. Now that which he terms counterfeiting the Kings Charter, Bracton, Briton, and the Statute of 25. E. 3. of Treasons, style, counterfeiting the Great Seal, or Privy Seal of the King: and therefore this of Glanvill relates principally to the counterseting of the Kings Seal annexed to his Charter. I find in Roger Howden, a Charter of William, King of Sicily, which he made to John daughter of King Henry, touching her Dower, dated Anno Domini 1177. Mense Februarii Indicti▪ decima, subscribed with the names of divers witnesses, Subjects to King William, and among others, Ego Mattheus, Domini Regis VICE-CANCELLARIUS: Which Charter concludes thus: Ad hujus antem donationis & concessionis nostra memoriam, & inviolabile firmamentum; privilegium praesens per man •• Alexandri, notarij nostri scribi, ET BULLA AUREA NOSTRO TYPARIO IMPRESSA, ROBORATUM NOSTRO SIGILLO, jussimus decorari. In quo familiares nostri, & aliae personae pr • ecepto nostro se scripserunt hoc modo; the Form of which Kings great Seal you may behold engraven in Howden. p. 553.

In fine, this Henry the second, being chosen King of Jerusalem (which Kingdom was wholly elective) and earnestly importuned by Heraclius Patriarch of that City, the Christians there, and by Pope Lucius his Letters, to accept that Honor; An. 1185. He thereupon summoned a Parliament as London on the 10. of April; wherein he charged all his Subjects with many adjurations, to advise and resolve him, what was best to be done in this case for the salvation of his sense; and that he was resolved by all means, to follow their advice herein; Whereupon the Parliament conferring on the premises, resolved; that it was much more wholesome for the Kings soul, that he sholud govern his own Kingdom with due moderation, and defend it from the eruptions of the Barbarous French, then to provide for the safety of those in the East in proper person. Which I only note in the by (having omitted it in its due place:) First, to manifest what high esteem our Kings have had of the resolutions and advise of their Parliaments, to which they wholly submitted their own judgments, acquiescing in their resolves. Secondly, to evidence the Soveveraigne power of Parliaments over our Kings then, who might not desert the Realm, not take any new honor or dominion upon them, without their previous consents and advice: Thirdly, to show the duty of Kings to their Subjects and Kingdoms.

King Richard the first succeeding his Father Henry the second, rather by Election, then Succession, (and not styled a King, by our ancient Writers, before his Coronation) was the first of all our Kings (as Our Writers accord) who sealed with a Seal of Arms, all our former Kings seals, being but the Picture of the King sitting in a Throne, on the one side of the seal, and on horse-back on the other side in divers Forms, with various inscriptions of their Names and stiles; which you may view in Speed; But this King bare two Lions Rampant combatant in a shield, in his first, and three Lions passant in his latter Seal; borne ever after by our Kings, as the Royal Arms of England. His first Chancellor, was William Longchamp Bishop of Eli, Legate to the Pope, whom he made his Vice-Roy and Iusticiar of England, when he went to the Holy Land against the Saracens, committing the Kingdom to his Government, chiefly; who infinitely oppressed and tyrannized over it, as all our Historians evidence: Matthew Paris give, this Character of him, Erat idem CANCELI ARIVS MAXIMVS inter omnes occidentales, REX ET SACERDOS in Anglia, qui omnia pro nihilo ducebat, cum Episcopali tantum dignitate non contentus nimis alta se sperare denotavit. In prima namque Literarum suarum front, vanitatem & elationem expressit, cum dixit. Wilhelmus DEI GRATIA commonly used before, in, and since that age by and to Bishops, Popes, Abbots, in public Writs, as well as Kings, as the Marginall Authors manifest) Eliensis Episcopus DOMINI REGIS CANCELLARIUS, totius Angliae Iustitiarius, & Apostolicae sedis Legatus, &c. Has autem dignitates, quos pretio obtinuerat, immoderato excessu exercuit, volens locellos, quas in earum impetratione evacuerat, reficere, &c. This Chancellor (as is probable) had the custody of one part of the Seal in this Kings absence, for the better administration of justice, though the King carried the other part of the great Seal with him into the wars, pretended to be there lost, as you shall presently hear. I find divers of this Kings Charters, Letters, Writs, before and after his voyage to the Holy-land, recited in Howden. These Charters, which questionless were sealed with his Seal, were subscribed by sundry witnesses; the Writs and Charters concluding with a Teste meipso apud Chinonem, &c. The Charter of the Manor of Sadburgh to Hugh Bishop of Durham, is thus dated.

King Richard being released this very year (which was the sixth of his reign) out of prison, and new crowned, among other oppressve projects to raise moneys to maintain his wars (which made him an extraordinary oppressiour of his people) caused a NEW BROADE SEALE TO BE MADE; (the portrayture whereof you may view in Speed) pretending that the old was lost, when Roger his VICE-CHANCELLOR was drowned before Cyprus, and that his CHANCELLOR during his imprisonment, had abused THIS SEALE, whereupon he took it from him: requiring and commanding, that all persons as well Clergy men as Lay men, who had Charters or confirmations UNDER HIS OLD SEALE, should bring them in to be renewed UNDER HIS NEW SEALE; and unless they did so, that nothing which had been passed BY HIS OLD SEALE, should be ratified, or held good in Law. By which device he drew a great mass of Money to his Treasury; subscribing his new-Sealed Charters thus: This was the tenor of our Charter under our first Seal, which because it was lost, and at the time of our being captive in Almayne, in the power of another, WE CAUSED TO BE CHANGED, &c. Which Howden thus relates, Et imputans Cancellario suo, hoc per ipsum fuisse factum, ABSTULIT AB EO SIGILLUM SWM & facit sib! NOVUM SIGILLUM FIERI; tum quia CANCELLARIUS ill operatus fuerat inde minus discrete, quàm esset necesse, tum quia SIGILLUM ILLUD perditum erat, quando Rogerus malus catul • o, VICE-CANCELLARIUS SWS submersus erat in maeri ante insulam de Cypro: & praecepit Rex: quod OMNES, tam clerici quam laici, qui Chartas habebant, venirent AD NOVUM SIGILLUM SWM ad Chartas suas renovandas: & nisi fecerint; NIHIL quod actum fuerat PER SIGILLUM SWM VETUS, RATUM HABERETUR. Praterea Rex statuit, torniamenta fieri in Anglia, & Chartasua confirmavit, &c. (making them also a money matter.)

By which passages it is apparent: First, that all these Kings Patents, Charters, were sealed with his great Seal. Secondly, that the abuse, loss or absence of the great Seal, is a sufficient cause to make a new one. Thirdly, that the profit made by the great Seal, and project of raising moneys by new Charters sealed with it, was the true original cause all sealing of Charters and Writs with his Seal, and making it simply necessary in Law; there being no public resolution or declaration declaring Charters or Writs not sealed with the great Seal, to be void in Law, (for ought I find) before this project; unless that forementioned, touching the Conqueror, pass for a Law, and judgment in this particular. Fourthly, that the Chancellor in this Kings reign had the custody of the Great Seal; the indiscreet use and abuse whereof, was good ground in Law to deprive him of its custody.

What the Office and dignity of the Chancellor really was in that age, appears by this description of it, written in or near that time. Cancellarii dignitas est, ut SECUNDUS A REGE in Regno habeatur; ut ALTERA PARTE SIGILLI REGII (QUOD ET AD EIUS PERTINET CUSTODIAM) PROPRIA SIGNET MANDATA. Vt capella Regia in illius fit dispositione & cura. Ut vacantes Archiepiscopatus, Episcopatus, Abbatias & Baronias cadentes in manum Regis ipse suscipiat & conservet. Ut omnibus Regiis assit consilis, etiam non vocatus accedat. Vt omnia SIGILLIFERI CLERICI REGII sua manu signentur, Item, ut (suffragantibus ex Dei gratia vitae meritis) non moriatur nisi Archiepiscopus, vel Episcepus si voluerit. And by the black Book of the Exchequer attributed to Gervasius Talburiensis. par. 1. c. 5. Cancellarius ficut in Curia, sic ad Scaccarium MAGNUS est: adeo ut sine ejus consensu vel consilio, nihil magnum fiat, vel fieri debeat. Verùm hoc habet officium dum residet ad Scaccarium. ADIPSUM PERTINET CUSTODIA SIGILLI REGII, quod est in Thesauro; sed inde non recedit nisi cum praecepto Justiciae; ab inferiori ad superius Scaccarium, à Thesaurario vel Camerario defertur, ad explenda solum negotia scaccarii. Quibus peractis in loculum mittitur; & loculus à Cancellario consignatur, & sic Thesaurario traditur custodiendus, &c. The custody therefore of the great Seal was then reputed an inseparable part of the Chancellors Office and honor.

King John succeeding his brother Richard, by the Nobles and people's election, rather then by descent, as Matthew Paris, with others observe; had both a great Seal and Chancellors who kept it, with which he sealed divers Charters. Among others one Letters Parents SIGILLO NOSRO MUNITAS to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Monks, and other Prelates persecuted by him, restoring them to their liberties and possessions, which was dated the 13. day of May in the 14. year of his reign. Another dated. 〈◊〉 15. of the same month at the house of the Templars near Dover (Chartam SIGILLO NOSTRO MUNITAM) of his most detestable resignation of the Kingdom and Crown of England to the Pope, delivered to Pandulph the Popes Legate (to whom he did homage for England and Ireland after this surrender) which Charter first sealed with Wax, and after delivered to Pandulph, was the same year, afterwards, in the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, before the high Altar, in the presence of the Clergy and people, AURO BULLATA EST, sealed with gold, and delivered to Nicholas Bishop of Tusculan, the Popes Legate, to the use of the Pope and Church of Rome, to whom he then did homage, to his eternal infamy; which so much discontented his Nobles, Prelates and people, that they took up Arms against him, and enforced him in an Assembly and Treaty at Running-mead, to grant them the great Charter of their Liberties, and Charter of the Forest, ratified with his SEALE, Oath, Witnesses, Subscriptions, the Bishops Excommunications, and Popes Bull; and then sent his Letters Patents to all the Counties of England, commanding the Sheriffs to swear all the men within their Bailywicks, to observe the said Laws and Liberties, thus granted and ratified, in the 17. year of his reign. In brief, the Charter of the truce between King John and King Philip of France, registered in Howden was sealed with his Seal, concluding thus. Qua ut perpetuum robur obtineant, prae sentem Chartam authoritate SIGILLI NOSTRI corrobora ••• , Anno 1200. mense Maii.

In this Kings reign the Chancellors place (through the benefit of the Seal) became so gainful; that Walter de Gray (afterward Archbishop of York) proffered the King 5000 Markes, pro habenda CANCELLARIA (which was then no Court, but the Office of making and sealing royal Writs and Charters) Domini Regis tota vita sua, & pro habenda inde Charta Dom. Regis; which great place he then obtained, or rather, purchased by his money, not merits.

King Henry the third, coming to the Crown (by the Lord's and Commons election, rather then by descent) when he was but nine years and some odd months old, in the ninth year of his reign, ratified Magna Charta, and the Charter of the Forest in Parliament, under His hand and Seal, with Witnesses thereunto subscribed; and commanding as many Charters to be engrossed as there were Counties in England, ET REGIO SIGILLO MUNITIS, and ratified WITH THE ROYALL SEALE, he sent one of the great Charters into every Shire, and one Charter of the Forest into every County where there were Forests, to be there reserved. But this inconstant King coming to age, within two years after, in a Parliament at Oxford (a fatal place for ill advice to our Kings) through ill Council, to the great discontent of his Nobles and Commons, annulled the Charter of the Forest, declaring it void, as granted in his non-age, when he had no power of Himself, NOR OF HIS SEALE, and so of no validity; and causing Proclamation to be made, that hath the Clergy and all others, if they would enjoy those Liberties should renew their Charters AND HAVE THEM CONFIRMED UNDER HIS NEW SEALE (which he had then caused to be made, only by way of project to raise moneys, as Richard the first had done;) For which they were constrained to pay, not according to their ability, but the will of the chief Justice, Hugh de Burgh, to whom was laid the charge of this mischief: which procured him the general hate of the Kingdom; and begat a new insurrection of the Lord's and Commons, who taking up Arms hereupon, enforced the King to call a Parliament, and therein to new ratify those Charters at his full age. In this Kings reign all Patents, if not Writs and Commissions too, usually issued under the Great or Lesser Seal, of which there are divers presidents extant in Matthew Paris, and in the clause and Patent rolls of this King, to which I shall refer you. And such notice was then taken of the dignity and necessity of the Kings Seal to Charters and Writs, that Henry de Bracton, a famous Lawyer in those days, writes expressly, That it was no less then Treason to counterfeit the Kings Scale. Est & aliud genus criminis lesae Majestatis, quod inter graviora numeratur, quia ultimum inducit supplicium & mortis occasionem; scil: crimen falsi, quod in quadam sui specie, tangit coronam Domini Regis. Ut si quis accusatus fucrit vel convictus FALSIFICATIONIS SIGILLI DOMINI REGIS, CONSIGNANDO INDE CHARTAS VEL BREVIA (Writs then were sealed with the Kings Seal as well as Patents) & apponendo signa adulterina; quo casu, si inveniatur inde culpabilis vel seisitus, si Warrantum non habuerit, pro voluntate Regis judicium sustinebit. How the Lord Chancellors were elected, and the Great Seal disposed of by Parliament in this Kings reign, I have elsewhere related, and shall touch again anon.

King Edward the first coming to the Crown, and proclaimed King during his absence in the holy Land, his

These are the first Statute laws extant, prescribing, that the Kings Charters, Patents. Commissions, Warrants, Writs, should issue forth under the Great or Pety Seals though they did so usually before his reign, rather through custom, which crept in by little and little by degrees, from Edward the Confessors days, unto this very Parliament, as the premises evidence, till it got the reputation of a received common Law and usage, and at last was thus established, as simply necessary, by these present Acts; which se • led the law in point of necessity of sealing all Writs, Charters, Patents, with the Great Seal, and added such Majesty to the Seal it self, that Briton, an eminent Judge and Lawyer flourishing in this Kings reign, (writing his book, as in this Kings name) reso ves expressly, c. 3. f. 10. &c. 8. f. 16. that the counterfeiting of the KINGS SEALE IS HIGH TREASON; and that the Justices ought to inquire concerning the falsifiers of THE SEALE: Not only whether any have actually connterfeited it? but also, whether any have hanged ANY SEAL by an Engyn to any Charters without license; or having stolen or taken away ANY SEALE, or otherwise finding it, HAVE SEALED WRITS without other authority. And Chap. 48. Exceptions aur Brefe. f. 122. He writes, It is a good exception to abato a Writ s • ule Brete ne fuit unques enseale de nostre Seal; ou si le Ordinance et le Seal de nostre Chauncery us s • it point contenu. And Andrew Horne, another great Lawyer, living in, or near this time; in his My • rour of Justices, cap. 3. sect. 6. p. 191. Among Exceptions to the power of the Judge, enumerates this for one: IF THE COMMISSION BE NOT SEALED WITH THE KINGS GREAT SEALE OF THE CHANCERY: Car all Privy Seal le Roy, ou all Sealed' l' Exchequer, ou Autre Seal, forsque Solement all Seals que est assign dee conud' le Cominalty del peopls, & nosmement en Jurisdiction, & Bres Originals, ne estoit a nul obeyer des letes & usages • el Royalme, st non solement pur le Roy. Du elle puira ee viciouse Pur le Seal counterfoit, ou anterment fausse: This falsifying of the Kings Seal to Writs, cap. 1 sect. 6. De Fansonners, pag. 28, 29. he makes a crime next to high Treason; which forging, he saith, may be indivers manners: As where a Writ is SEALED whereof the gross and matter, or the form is not avowable by the King, nor by the Law, nor by the rights and customs of the Realm. If a man seal after that the Chancellor, or other Keeper knoweth that he hath lost his Warrant, by death, or any other manner. When a Writ or Letter passeth the Seal against the Kings defense. When men seal with counterfeit Seals, or seal by ill art, or Warrants not avowable; and so it is falsehood in those who seal and have no authority. And Chap. 4. Sect. 2. p. 233. Thus OUR ANCIENTS ORDAINED A SEALE, AND A CHANCELLOUR FOR TO KEEPE IT, and to give remeliable WRITS to all persons without delay. Then describing what manner of Writs must issue, he concludes thus, And now may Justices, Sheriffs, and their Clerks withdraw, rase, amend, and impair them, without discerning or pain, for the Writs that are made close, to the abuse of right. Wherefore THE SEALE ONELY is the jurisdiction assignable to all Plaintiffs without difficulty. And to do this, the Chancellor is chargeable by Oath in allegiance of the charge of the King, that he shall neither deny, nor delay to render right or a Writ remediable to any one.

Thus have I given you a brief Historical and Legal Narration of the Original, Growth, Progress, Use, and Necessity of the Great Seal of England, and of the manner of making, subscribing, and sealing Charters, Patents, Writs, with other Instruments in our Realm, from King Aethelberts first Charter, Anno 605. till the end of King Edward the first his reign, when Seals and sealing grew more common, and our ordinary Law-books (which recite few or none of the premises) begin to make mention of Seals and sealing; of whose autiquity, kinds, and present use in point of Law, if any desire further satisfaction, let them consult with Polydor Uirgil, De inventoribus Rerum, lib. 8. cap. 2. Henrici Spelmani Glossarium title, Bulla, Rastals Exposition of the Termes of the Law, title: Faits, Sir Edward Corkes Institutes on Magna Charta, pag. 554, 555, 556. his 11 Report. f. 92. and Ashes Tables, title: Seals; it being not my intention to trouble the Reader here with trivial common things concerning Seals or sealing, but only with such Antiquities and rarities as are not commonly known, nor mentioned in our Law Books.

The VOTES of the House of COMMONS, together with their reasons for the making of a new Great Seal of England, presented by them to the LORD'S at a Conference, July 4. & 5. Anno 1643.

Resolved upon the Question. (June 14. & 26.)
• 1. THat the Great Seal of England ought to attend the Parliament.
• 2. That the absence of it hath been a cause of great mischief to the Common-wealth.
• 3. That a Remedy ought to be provided for these mischiefs.
• 4. That the proper remedy is, by making a New Great Seal.

Errata: & Omissions.

IN the Humble Remonstrance, p. 6. l. 2. 5, R. 2. c. 2, 3 10 E. 4. c. 3. omitted p. 21. l. 26. Sancitum, p. 25. l. 37. Acres, r. Hydes. p. 27. l. 21. And. p. 29. l. 9. Mariners. p. 31. l. 7. nec. In the Opening, &c. p. 5. l. 4. hoc, r. hanc.