Wardrobe (government)
[2] In the Middle Ages persons of wealth and power often slept in a chamber (Latin camera), alongside which a secure room or wardrobe (garderoba) would be provided for storage of clothes and other valuables.Before long the Wardrobe emerged, under the auspices of the Chamber, to become an administrative body in its own right, providing secure storage for the robes, treasures, archives and armaments of the king.After 1200, however, the Wardrobe grew in activity and in prestige, partly as a result of King John's constant travelling of the realm, which required a more immediate source of funds than the fixed Exchequer.The administrative historian T. F. Tout has speculated that a reason for the Wardrobe's increasing influence was its "new and elastic" nature: it was not hidebound by restrictive traditions or customary ways of working.[1] It was by letters authenticated by this seal that officials across the Kingdom received their instructions, as did both the Exchequer and the Chancery (the two main offices of State outside the Household); those serving in the armed forces were paid through the Wardrobe accounts.In England, its business was restricted now to Household administration; and although it retained greater influence when accompanying the King and Court overseas, it did so only as a subsidiary arm of the Exchequer.)[9] With the Wardrobe under increasing scrutiny, the King began to look to the erstwhile-dormant Chamber as providing a more effective structure for overseeing his personal administration and finances.Nevertheless, storekeeping remained a practical necessity as the Wardrobe, along with the rest of the royal household, continued to travel with the King as part of his Court, accompanied by the goods and chattels for which it was responsible.[2] By the fourteenth century the Great Wardrobe had branched into manufacturing (in addition to its duties of purchase, storage and distribution of non-perishable goods) and numbered the King's Tailor, Armourer, Pavilioner and Confectioner among its officials.This was in part due to lack of space: the Tower was becoming a specialist store and manufacturing base for arms and armour (responsibility for which soon devolved upon a new branch, the Privy Wardrobe – see below).The property, a mansion set in its own grounds, which had formerly belonged to Sir John de Beauchamp, provided not only storage, office and meeting rooms, but lodgings for staff, a residence for the Keeper and space for several small manufactories.By the end of the 13th century, the same phrase clearly refers to a small organisation headed by a Clerk, within the main Wardrobe, which would travel with the Court and furnish the king with these and other personal items.The central Privy Wardrobe at the Tower of London, however, took on a new identity, and rose in prominence and power, becoming the main official repository and provider of arms, armour and ordnance in the Kingdom of England.[2] By the 14th century, the Tower of London had become well established as a convenient and safe place for storage of arms and armour, jewels and plate; so when the Great Wardrobe departed these items stayed put.Under Edward I the Controller was custodian of the Privy Seal and functioned as the King's private secretary; meanwhile his small department of clerks played a key part in the administrative oversight of the entire Household.In his own right he oversaw a small accounting office, staffed by the 'clerks of the Cofferer', who went on to play a key role in the financial oversight of the Household; this was a precursor to the Board of Green Cloth).
ChambermedievalEnglishKing's householdHenry IIICuria Regisblock grantsExchequerTower of LondonCivil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782King EadredBritish LibraryEadredHenry IITreasurer of the ChamberPrivy SealT. F. ToutRiccardiFrescobaldiG. M. TrevelyanEdward IGreat Seal of the RealmChancellorChanceryStewardWestminster AbbeyRichard Pudlicottcoronation regaliaEdward IIKeeper of the Privy Sealseries of OrdinancesEdward IIIWilliam EdingtonTreasurerBattle of Crécyprivy purseChamberlainRichard IITreasurer of the HouseholdController of the HouseholdCofferer of the HouseholdclerksPrior of St IvesSt Ives, CambridgeshirecaravansCity of LondonBassishawLombard StreetThe WardrobeBaynard's CastleSir John de BeauchampSt Andrew-by-the-WardrobeJewel TowerRemoving WardrobeOffice of ArmouryOffice of OrdnanceEleanor of ProvenceEdward of CaernarfonEdward VIclergyPeter de RivauxBishop of OssoryWalter of KirkhamBishop of DurhamRanulph le BretonPeter of AigueblancheBishop of HerefordPeter ChaceporcRalph SandwichMayor of LondonChancellor of the ExchequerAntony BekThomas BekBishop of St DavidsWalter LangtonLord High TreasurerJohn DroxfordBishop of Bath and WellsWilliam MeltonArchbishop of YorkRoger NorthburghBishop of Coventry and LichfieldRobert WodehouseRichard BuryDean of WellsArchdeacon of DurhamWilliam CusanceJohn BuckinghamThomas BrantinghamWilliam MoulsoeWilliam PakingtonSir John TiptoftRoger LecheJohn Stourton, 1st Baron StourtonJohn Sutton, 1st Baron DudleyThomas TuddenhamJohn FoggeSir John HowardJohn, Lord HowardRichard Beauchampcounter rollJohn BensteadLord Privy SealThomas CharltonRobert BaldockArchdeacon of MiddlesexNicholas HuggateWilliam de la ZouchDean of YorkComptroller of the Householdlocum tenensBoard of Green ClothJohn de CharnelesJohn NewburyRichard CliffordJohn SpencerJohn NorreysJohn WoodThomas VaughanJohn SaySir Andrew WindsorRalph SadlerEdward WaldegraveJohn Fortescue of SaldenGeorge Home, 1st Earl of DunbarRoger Aston