The King's Secretary and the Signet Office in the XV Century

Miss Otway-Ruthven examines the history of the office of the King's Secretary.

J. Otway-Ruthven (Author)

9780521088459, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 October 2008

212 pages
23.6 x 15.3 x 1.2 cm, 0.24 kg

Important as it is in the general political and diplomatic history of the times, the history of the office of the King's Secretary is often neglected. Miss Otway-Ruthven has therefore used the original documents and sources for her information. She traces the history of the office from 1377, the first appearance of a King's Secretary, to 1509, demonstrating its rise from the comparative unimportance of a confidential clerkship to a position worthy of the attention of a bishop and a fitting instrument of Tudor Government.

Foreword
1. The sources
2. Introduction
3. The Signet
4. The Secretary: duties
5. The Secretary: qualifications and position
6. The French Signatories
7. The Signet office
8. The clerks of the Signet
Bibliography
Appendices
Index.

Subject Areas: History [HB]