Approaching Pipe Rolls The Thirteenth Century

This is the first study specifically concerned with thirteenth-century pipe rolls and shows how pipe rolls were compiled, what they contain, and how to read them. These records of English government finance were produced annually. They list debts owed to the government, by the sheriffs of each county, by manors and boroughs, and by individuals for taxes, fines and judicial penalties. They also list the payments made, sometimes in cash to the treasury, sometimes for building works, fees for royal employees and relatives, the provision of castles, and much more. The rolls are an essential source for administrative history, and provide detailed information for family and local historians. All the rolls are now readily available, either in print or online, but they are at first sight difficult to understand. This book shows how the rolls evolved in the course of the century and serves as a guide for beginners, armed with some basic Latin, who want to explore these records. As well as explaining the conventions of dates, numbers, abbreviations, monetary units and so on, it illustrates the material to be found in pipe rolls by a detailed examination of a single roll.

Contents Introduction Chapter 1. Pipe rolls for beginners What is a pipe roll? How to begin Language Abbreviations Headings Numbers Money Dates Chapter 2. The rolls system and background Historical background The rolls system Chancellor’s rolls Pipe rolls on parchment Pipe rolls in print Pipe rolls online Dialogue of the Exchequer Literature about pipe rolls Chapter 3. Pipe roll contents Debts and payments The sheriff’s account Farm, increment and profit Manors and boroughs Amercements Fines and offerings Taxes Introducing the foreign accounts What’s in the foreign accounts? What’s not in the pipe rolls? Chapter 4. An example: the 1259 pipe roll The example, and where to find it A county account: Northamptonshire Details of the county account The roll and revenue County farm and profit Fines in 1259 Profits of justice Pipe roll timetable Pipe rolls and receipt rolls Pipe roll and memoranda roll accounts The pipe roll and current events The pipe roll and local and family history Chapter 5. Pipe rolls in the thirteenth century Too much information Reducing new entries Reducing old entries Pipe rolls and other rolls Appendix 1. Transcription examples Oxfordshire account, 1237 pipe roll Oxfordshire account, 1293 pipe roll Appendix 2. Glossary References

Richard Cassidy has a PhD in medieval history from King’s College, London. He is the author of numerous articles on government finance and administration in England and Ireland in the thirteenth century. His edition of the 1259 pipe roll is to be published in 2024.