1 Patourel, J. H. Le, ‘The Plantagenet Dominions’, History, 1 (1965), 296–8Google Scholar.

2 Studd, J. R., ‘The Lord Edward and King Henry III’, Bull. Inst. Hist. Res. 1 (1977), 4–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Studd, J. R., ‘A Catalogue of the Acts of the Lord Edward, 1254–1272’, unpublished Leeds University Ph.D. thesis, 1971, pp. 120–52.Google Scholar

4 Cf. Tout, T. F., Chapters in the Administrative History of Medieval England, i (1920), 206–7Google Scholar. Tout points out that there is no evidence that Henry III used a privy seal before 1230.

5 P.R.O., Ancient Correspondence III, no. 75; Rymer, T., Foedera, Clarke, A., Holbrooke, F., and Caley, J. (eds.) (4 vols. in 7, 1816–1869), 1, i, 417Google Scholar.

6 Cf. Jenkinson, H., ‘The Great Seal of England: deputed or departmental seals’, Arch. lxxxv (1936), 292–3Google Scholar.

7 Maxwell-Lyte, H. C., Historical Notes on the Use of the Great Seal of England (1926), p. 312Google Scholar. Edward's seal contrasts with his mother's which was oval in shape (Sir Christopher Hatton's Book of Seals, eds. Loyd, L. C. and Stenton, D. M. (1950), p. 45, no. 64)Google Scholar.

8 Cf. the seals of Richard de Clare, earl of Hertford (1184–1217) and Roger de Quincy, earl of Winchester (1252–7) (ibid., plate m), and th e seals, all dated 1301, of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, Henry de Percy, Theobald de Verdon and John de Warenne, earl of Surrey (Walden, Lord Howard de, Some Feudal Lords and their Seals MCCCJ (n.d.), pp. 3, 11, 43, 45)Google Scholar.

9 Jenkinson, H., ‘The Great Seal of England: deputed or departmental seals’, Arch. lxxxv (1936), 294Google Scholar.

10 Boutell's Heraldry, revised edn., ed. C. W. Scott-Giles (1950), pl. v and p. 119.

11 Jenkinson, H., op. cit., 297–8 and pl. lxxxivGoogle Scholar.

12 C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 106; Maxwell-Lyte, , The Great Seal, p. 317Google Scholar.

13 Roles Gascons: Supplément au Tome Premier, 1254–5, ed. Bémont, C. (Documents inédits sur l'histoire de France, Paris, 1896), no. 4501Google Scholar; Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, 1252–84, p. 73, no. 453.

14 P.R.O., Pipe Roll 125, m. 3.

15 There are exceptions to the poor quality of the majority of these fragments. British Library, Add. Charter 46918, retains only part of the equestrian figure on the obverse and the shield of arms on the reverse, but what remains is in a particularly fine condition, deeply cut, with evidence of surface texturing. British Library, Harleian Charter 43. C.42, still has a fragment of the lower half of Edward's seal with its legend (Sir Christopher Hatton's Book of Seals, p. 46).

16 The seal is illustrated by Barraclough, G., ‘The Earldom and County Palatine of Chester’, Trans. Hist. Soc. Lancashire and Cheshire, ciii (1950), 35Google Scholar.

17 P.R.O., Duchy of Lancaster, Royal Charters 109. The seal is appended on a parchment tag.

18 The charter issued by the Lord Edward for the men of Macclesfield in June 1261 also retains its seal bag (Davies, C. S., A History of Macclesfield (1961), p. 380)Google Scholar.

19 De L'Isle MSS., Kent County Archives Office, Maidstone, U1475/T264/342. I am grateful to Viscount De L'Isle for permission to consult his manuscripts.

20 British Library, Egerton Charter 2125. Egerton Charter 255 is an engrossment in identical terms but retains only a small fragment of the Lord Edward's seal in green wax.

21 There are eleven known instances of the use of green wax. The French terminology used here is that adopted by Sir Maxwell-Lyte, Henry after Giry's, A.Manuel de Diplomatique (1894) (The Great Seal, pp. 300–1)Google Scholar and is used as a convenient shorthand. Sir Hilary Jenkinson disliked the use of French names for English practices (A Guide to Seals in the Public Record Office, 2nd edn. (1968), p. 14 and notes)Google Scholar.

22 Maxwell-Lyte, H. C., The Great Seal, pp. 301–2Google Scholar. Among the Lord Edward's writs sealed in this manner: National Library of Ireland MS. D178; P.R.O. Duchy of Lancaster, Royal Charters 109.

23 P.R.O., Exchequer T.R., Diplomatic Documents 281.

24 Five instances of Edward's writs sealed thus occur: Nat. Library of Ireland MS. D178 (28th Dec. 1258); British Library, Harleian Charter 43.C.49 (21s t Jan. 1266); P.R.O. Wards 2/14/5 3D/ 27 (10th Mar. 1266); British Library, Harleian Charter 43.C.48 (6th Apr. 1272); P.R.O. Ancient Correspondence VII I no. 28A (10th July 1272).

25 Contemporary copies seem to have been treated in this manner in the royal chancery (Maxwell-Lyte, H. C., The Great Seal, p. 302)Google Scholar.

26 Jenkinson, H., Guide to Seals in the Public Record Office, p. 13Google Scholar.

27 Maxwell-Lyte, H. C., The Great Seal, p. 309Google Scholar.

28 British Library, Add. Charter 46918.

29 H. Jenkinson, loc. cit.

30 British Library, Harleian Charter 53.C.42.

31 Maxwell-Lyte, H. C., The Great Seal, p. 301Google Scholar.

32 Examples can be found as follows: British Library, Add. Charter 20442 (Charter dated 8th Aug. 1259); Warrington Borough Library MS. 896 (Charter dated 26th Oct. 1259); National Library of Ireland, Ormond Deed, D 209 (Charter dated 18th Sept. 1268); British Library Egerton Charter 255 (confirmation of a charter dated 15th Apr. 1269); British Library Egerton Charter 2125 (confirmation of the same charter, 15th Apr. 1269).

33 British Library, Add. Charter 46918 (charter of inspeximus, dated 19th Apr. 1250, with a seal of brown wax); National Library of Ireland, Ormond Deed, D 205 (charter dated nt 11th Oct. 1267, with a seal of green wax).

34 Lot, F. and Fawtier, R., Histoire des Institutions Françaises au Moyen Age, II, Institutions Royales (1958), p. 91Google Scholar, state that grants of perpetuities by the French crown were sealed with a great seal of green wax attached by means of red and green laces and that other grants were made under a seal of white wax attached either simple or double queue.

35 C.P.R., 1247–58, p. 475.

36 Ralph had served as the king's chancellor since 1249 (Richardson, H. G. and Sayles, G. O., The Administration of Ireland, 1172–1377 (1963), p. 92)Google Scholar.

37 P.R.O., Gascon Roll 2, m. 7; Roles Gascons, i, supplément, no. 4501; Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, 1252–84, p. 73, no. 453; C.P.R., 1247–58, p. 475;

38 See, for instance,Lydon, J. F., ‘Three Exchequer Documents from the reign of Henry III’, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, LXV, section C, 20–7Google Scholar. Other examples occur as follows, British Library Add. Roll 26515 (writ of allocate, 29t h Apr. 1263); Nationa l Library of Ireland MS. 1646, f. 190 (Gormanston Register) (writ, oipraecipe, 7th 04 1269)Google Scholar; National Library of Ireland MS. D 238 (letters patent, 24th Jan. 1270); British Librar y Add. MS. 4790, f. 195 (letters close, 22n d Oct. 1270).

39 Richardson, H. G. and Sayles, G. O., The Administration of Ireland, 1172–1377, p. 92Google Scholar.

40 Jenkinson, H., ‘The Great Seal of England: deputed or departmental seals’, Arch. lxxxv (1936), 316Google Scholar. But see also his work, A Guide to Seals in the Public Record Office, p. 42, where Great Seals for Ireland are said to survive from the thirteenth century to the present day.

41 Chaplais, P., ‘The Chancery of Guyenne, 1289–1453’, Studies presented to Sir Hilary Jenkinson, ed. Davies, J. C. (1957), p. 63Google Scholar.

42 Tout, T. F., Chapters) I, p. 292Google Scholar. on the occasion of his visit to the duchy in 1242 Henry III was accompanied by his Great Seal, but in 1253/4 he took with him a special sigillum parvum for use there.

43 P.R.O., Gascon Roll 2, m. 1; Roles Gascons, i, supplément, no. 4670 (Bémont's transcript is incomplete).

44 Chaplais, P., ‘Le Sceau de la Cour de Gascogne ou Sceau de l‘Office de Sénéschal de Guyenne’, Aunales du Midi, lxvii (1955), 19–20CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

45 Recueil d'actes relatifs a l'administration des rois d'Angleterre en Guyenne au XIII^e siécle, ed. Bdmont, C. (Documents inddits sur l'histoire de France, Paris, 1914), no. 197Google Scholar.

46 Roles Gascons, ii, no. 1032.

47 Trabut-Cussac, J. P., ‘Actes Gascons Dispersés émanant d'Edouard I^er pendant son séjour en France (1286–1289)’, Bulletin Philologique et Historique (jusqu'à 1610), Année 1962 (1965), p. 126Google Scholar.

48 Trabut-Cussac, J. P., L'Administration Anglaise en Gascogne sous Henry III et Edouard I de 1254 dà 1307 (1972), pp. 388–9Google Scholar, cites instances of the Lord Edward's seneschals using their personal seals to authenticate acts of the Gascon administration. But it is clear that in each instance this was done because expedition, or emergency, or else the seneschal's absence from Bordeaux, where the seal was kept, dictated that this should be the case. It would be of interest to know whether these were truly the personal seals of the seneschals or whether they had been given an official character by the inclusion of some badge of office upon them, as happened in Edward's lordship of Chester (see below).

49 Chaplais, P., ‘The Chancery of Guyenne, 1289–1453’, Studies presented to Sir Hilary Jenkinson, ed. Davies, J. C., p. 64Google Scholar.

50 Powicke, F. M., King Henry III and the Lord Edward, i (1947), p. 340Google Scholar.

51 Chaplais, P., ‘Le Sceau de la Cour de Gascogne ou Sceau de l'Ofice de Sénéschal de Guyenne’, Annales du Midi, lxvii (1955), 26 and platesGoogle Scholar; Jenkinson, H., A Guide to Seals in the Public Record Office, p. 2Google Scholar.

52 Chaplais, P., ‘The Chancery of Guyenne, 1289–1453’, Studies presented to Sir Hilary Jenkinson, ed. Davies, J. C., p. 64Google Scholar. Cf. Boutell's Heraldry, revised edn., p. 206.

53 Patourel, J. H. Le, The Medieval Administration of the Channel Islands, 1199–1399, pp. 43 n., 51–2, 97–8Google Scholar. The discovery of what is believed to be a fragment of the ancient register of writs relating to the Channel Islands referred to by Edward I in 1279 when he sent a seal to the bailiffs ‘to seal writs which heretofore the said men had to obtain in the Chancery of England’ seems to confirm this view of the practice there in the period 1254–72 (Haas, E. de and Hall, G. D. G. (eds.), Early Registers of Writs (Selden Society, vol. 87, 1970), pp. ciii–civ)Google Scholar.

54 Sharp, M., ‘Contributions to the history of the earldom and county of Chester, 1237–1399’, unpublished Manchester University Ph.D. thesis, 1925, p. 81Google Scholar.

55 British Library, Harleian MS. 2071, f. 46 d.

56 Cave-Brown, J., ‘Knights of the shire for Kent from A.D. 1275 to A.D. 1831’, Arch. Cant. xxi (1895), 203Google Scholar.

57 For other instances of heraldic badges of this kind See Hunter-Blair, C. H., ‘Armorials on English Seals from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Centuries’, Arch. ixxxix (1953), 18–19Google Scholar. As constable of Chester (c. 1300) Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln, had a counter-seal with a shield of arms between two garbs (Taylor, F., ‘Selected Cheshire Seals (12th-17th century) from the Collections in the John Rylands Library’, Bull. John Rylands Library, 26 (1942), 7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

58 This is the right-hand seal of a pair drawn by Randle Holme pendant from the foot of the same instrument. The writ is said to have been endorsed: potestatio Guncelmi de Badlesmere super cartas fundacionis domus Sancte Werburge. The lefthand seal wants identification. It shows a shield of arms barry with a label of five points and has the legend, Sigillum Secretum. But whose privy seal is it ?

59 Letters of protection were issued on his behalf (C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 440 ) and he himself nominated two attorneys to look after his interests during an expected absence of four years (Hid., p. 450).

60 For th e story of this incident See Powicke, F. M., King Henry III and the Lord Edward, ii (1947), p. 585et seq.Google Scholar, and D.iV.Z?., ‘Burnell, Robert’.

61 A fragment of the seal in natural wax is attached to the tongue of British Library, Harleian Charter 43.C.48, and another small fragment is extant appended to P.R.O., Ancient Correspon dence VIII, no. 28A. Both impressions are in natural wax.

62 Chrimes, S. B., An Introduction to the Administrative History of Medieval England (1961). 139Google Scholar. Willoughby was the keeper of the Lord Edward's wardrobe during the whole period of his absence overseas.

63 Rymer, , Foedera, vol. i, i, p. 484Google Scholar; Diplomatic Documents, i, 1101–1272, ed. Chaplais, P. (1964), p. 296Google Scholar.

64 He is first found acting with his fellow attorneys on 7th August 1270 (P.R.O., Exchequer K.R., Various Accts. 547/25). Walerand seems to have been busy on the king's business at this time.

65 Rymer, , op. cit., p. 484Google Scholar; Diplomatic Documents, i, 1101–1272, ed. Chaplais, P., p. 296Google Scholar.

66 P.R.O., Pipe Roll 125, m. 3.

67 e.g. P.R.O., Ancient Correspondence VIII, no. 11.

68 e.g. sigillum dicti domini nostri ad presens quo utimur ipso absente (P.R.O., Ancient Correspondence VIII, no. 9) or, sigillum eiusdem domini quo utimur in ipsius agendis eodem absente (P.R.O., Ancient Correspondence VIII, no. 10); Royal and other Historical Letters illustrative of the reign of Henry III, ii, ed. Shirley, W. W. (Rolls series, 1866), p. 346, no. DCLXXXIV:Google Scholar

69 supra, p. III.

70 De L'Isle MSS., Kent County Archives Office, Maidstone, U1475/T264/369.