Study In The Chancery Under Edward Ⅲ

This thesis, using rich materials, has made a systematic investigation on the Chancery of England under Edward III. It deals with several dimensions of the theme.First of all, it described the origin and evolution of the Chancery of England in earlier middle ages. It interpreted how the office of Chancery, in its origin as a royal secretariat, which kept the Great Seal, was endued with administrative function. It also introduced the origin of the extra judicial duty of Chancery, which was developed out of the administrative office.Secondly, it dissertated the separation between the Great Seal and the king, and the evolution of Chancery as a secretariat and an office of administration under Edward III, which meant ultimately a steady diminution in the importance of Chancery as a secretariat of the crown, and a gradual increase in the importance as the great co-ordination center for administration. With the development of the administrative function, especially with the rapid increase of judicial practices, the Chancery gradually evolved into the court of equitable jurisdiction.Thirdly, it introduced the organization and personnel of the Chancery under Edward III, including the main sub-offices: the Department of Rolls and the Hanaper department, chancellors, the clerks of the first and second grades.Finally, it summed up the feature of the Chancery under Edward III, and offered a brief evaluation, on which basis it discussed the rules of the evolution of the state machinery.By studying the development of the Chancery under Edward III, we can see that, the process of the evolution of the Chancery, on the whole, was the transition from being primarily the great secretariat of the royal household into being primarily a great office of state administration, and from an office whose main activities were expressing the personal wishes of the king to an office whose most important functions were carried out largely in independence of the crown. Further, the thesis concluded that the Chancery was an epitome of the elaboration of the machinery of the state, which substantially due to the transition of the prerogative of the crown to the privilege of the state government, and to the transition of the nature of the state machinery from being unspecialized to being specialized.