BUNDLE 3: WARDROBE, HOUSEHOLD, WORKS

This subseries contains ledger books and subsidiary accounts of the royal Household and Wardrobe, mostly of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; accounts of minor royal households, including those of the queen and the king's children; and four rolls of new year's gifts of the reign of Elizabeth I. Other similar household documents of thirteenth and fourteenth century date have been included in C 47 under the headings of 'Army and Navy' and 'Scottish documents', according to the type of expenditure to which they relate, rather than taking account of their administrative origin.

Most of the records of the household and wardrobe in C 47 are of the reigns of Henry III and Edward I, but others are of both earlier and later date.

There are some related records, including some which may originally have been parts of the same rolls or files. The separation of the two major accumulations is an accident of archival custody, arising from the use of the Tower of London as a repository for records by both the Wardrobe of the Household and the Exchequer, see:

In the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, and most particularly under Edward I, the Wardrobe was a major department of state, receiving and dispersing revenues, having a critical role in the funding of wages of war, garrison expenditure and the expenses of fortifications, and with much responsibility also for the funding and administration of diplomacy. It was presided over by the Treasurer or Keeper, the controller, and the cofferer. In addition, at this early period, until late in the reign of Edward II, the controller served also as the keeper of the privy seal, with responsibilities including diplomatic correspondence and treaties.

Although the accounts of the Wardrobe were ultimately subject to Exchequer control and audit, it funded and audited a host of minor accounts that, at a later period, would be funded immediately from the Exchequer.