Wardrobe (government)
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The wardrobe, along with the chamber, made up the personal part of medieval English government known as the king's household. Its chief officer went under the title of the keeper of the wardrobe. The office handled royal finances, and as such held great financial power. This was especially the case when the king was on military campaigns, and needed to bring great resources along with him. As a result, the wardrobe often appropriated large funds from the exchequer, the main financial government office. During the reign of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III, there were several conflicts over the confusion of authority between these two offices. The conflict was largely resolved in the mid-fourteenth century when William Edington, as treasurer under Edward III, brought the wardrobe in under the financial oversight – if not control – of the exchequer.
In the sixteenth century the wardrobe lost much of its former importance. This was due both to the growing sophistication and size of government making it less mobile, and to the lower frequency of military campaigns led by the king in person.
[edit] Further reading
- Tout, T. F. (1920-33). Chapters in the Administrative History of Mediaeval England: the Wardrobe, the Chamber and the Small Seals, 6 vol. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
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