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Exchequer
Exchequer. Financial institution. The term is derived from the chequered cloth, similar to a chess board, which was placed over a table to assist in the counting of sums due to the crown. Its function and organization are first described in the Dialogus de Scaccario (Dialogue of the Exchequer, c.1179): the Lower Exchequer received and issued money, the Upper Exchequer was essentially a court of account where royal revenue was managed, accounts audited, and disputes dealt with. The Exchequer thus exercised a judicial as well as financial competence. The origins of the Exchequer are not entirely certain, but it seems most likely that its institutional form dates from the reign of Henry I. The first surviving pipe roll for the financial year 1129–30 shows how the sheriffs and other royal officials were summoned to account at the Exchequer twice a year, at Easter and Michaelmas. By the later 12th cent., the Exchequer was no longer itinerant but permanently based at Westminster, the first of the crown's departments to acquire a separate existence, definite organization, and buildings of its own. Although there were reforms in procedures in the mid-13th cent., and other financial bodies, such as the wardrobe and chamber, were developed in response to the crown's changing needs, the Exchequer remained the linchpin and apex of the crown's financial administration throughout the Middle Ages. In the 16th and 17th cents., the Treasury developed as a separate department, so that the administrative functions of the Exchequer declined. It ceased to be a financial department in 1833 but its judicial functions continued until 1873–80. The Treasury is now a ministerial department headed by the chancellor of the Exchequer, although the prime minister is technically its 1st lord.
Anne Curry |
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JOHN CANNON. "Exchequer." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Exchequer." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Exchequer.html JOHN CANNON. "Exchequer." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Exchequer.html |
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exchequer
exchequer, the office headed by the treasurer which dealt with the receipt and payment of royal revenues and the auditing of accounts. First mentioned by name in 1200, in the following centuries it grew in size and complexity and came to consist of two departments. The exchequer of receipt dealt with sums paid in by officials and persons owing money to the crown, and with the disbursement of money on the king's behalf. After the financial scandals of the 1280s (see treasurer and treasury) it was reconstituted, with two chamberlains and the treasurer's clerk each keeping independent records of receipts and payments to obviate fraud. In the exchequer of account, accounts of sheriffs and other officials were audited by the barons of the exchequer and enrolled on the pipe rolls. The barons also heard pleas relating to royal financial interests and cases involving exchequer officials. Despite periodic attempts at reform, the barons were often occupied in the investigation of the misdeeds of other exchequer officials and of sheriffs and other local officers responsible for royal money.
In addition to the barons and chamberlains, the staff of the exchequer included clerks who wrote the pipe and memoranda rolls and other records; the chancellor of the exchequer who was responsible for the exchequer seal; and the marshal, to whose custody persons might be committed until they had made arrangements for the payment of money owing to the king. Philomena Connolly |
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"exchequer." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "exchequer." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-exchequer.html "exchequer." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-exchequer.html |
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Court of Exchequer
Court of Exchequer , in English history, governmental agency. It originated after the Norman Conquest as a financial committee of the Curia Regis. By the reign of Henry II it had a separate organization and was responsible for the collection of the king's revenue as well as for exercising jurisdiction in cases affecting the revenue. By the latter part of the 13th cent. a separation became discernible between the court proper and the exchequer or treasury, especially with the appointment of lawyers as barons (judges) of the exchequer. Its jurisdiction over common pleas now steadily increased, to include, for example, money disputes between private litigants on the assumption that the plaintiff was indebted to the crown and needed payment from the defendant to enable him to pay the king. A second Court of Exchequer Chamber was set up in 1585 to amend errors of the Court of the King's Bench. From an amalgamation in 1830, a single Court of Exchequer emerged as a court of appeal intermediate between the common-law courts and the House of Lords. In 1875 the Court of Exchequer became, by the Judicature Act of 1873, the exchequer division of the High Court of Justice, and in 1880 was combined with the Court of Common Pleas into the Queen's Bench. |
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"Court of Exchequer." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Court of Exchequer." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Excheque.html "Court of Exchequer." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Excheque.html |
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Exchequer
Exchequer Financial institution. The term is derived from the chequered cloth, similar to a chess board, which was placed over a table to assist in the counting of sums due to the crown. Its function is first described in the Dialogus de Scaccario (Dialogue of the Exchequer, c. 1179): the Lower Exchequer received and issued money, the Upper Exchequer was essentially a court of account where royal revenue was managed, accounts audited, and disputes dealt with. The Exchequer thus exercised a judicial as well as financial competence. By the later 12th cent., the Exchequer was permanently based at Westminster. In the 16th and 17th cents., the Treasury developed as a separate department, so that the administrative functions of the Exchequer declined. The Treasury is now a ministerial department headed by the chancellor of the Exchequer, although the prime minister is technically its 1st lord.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Exchequer." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Exchequer." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Exchequer.html JOHN CANNON. "Exchequer." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Exchequer.html |
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Exchequer
Exchequer in the UK, the former government office responsible for collecting revenue and making payments on behalf of the sovereign, auditing official accounts, and trying legal cases relating to revenue. The original sense was ‘chessboard’, and current senses derive from the department of state established by the Norman kings to deal with the royal revenues, named Exchequer from the chequered tablecloth on which accounts were kept by means of counters.
Exchequer Chamber any of a number of former courts of appeal whose functions were amalgamated in the Court of Appeal in 1873. Formerly also, an assembly of all the judges to decide points of law, defunct since the 18th century. |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Exchequer." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Exchequer." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Exchequer.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Exchequer." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Exchequer.html |
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exchequer
exchequer †chess-board XIII; department of state concerned with the royal revenues, so called orig. with ref. to the table covered with a cloth divided into squares on which the accounts were kept by means of counters XIV; court of law theoretically concerned with revenue; office charged with the receipt and custody of public revenue XV; pecuniary possessions XVII. ME. escheker — AN. escheker, OF. eschequier — medL. scaccārium chess-board, f. scaccus CHECK1; see -ER2. The form with ex- (from XV) is due to assoc. of OF. es- with EX-1, as in exchange.
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T. F. HOAD. "exchequer." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "exchequer." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-exchequer.html T. F. HOAD. "exchequer." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-exchequer.html |
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Exchequer
Exchequer A former English government department dealing with finance. The Normans created two departments dealing with finance. One was the Treasury, which received and paid out money on behalf of the monarch, the other was the Exchequer which was itself divided into two parts, lower and upper. The lower Exchequer was an office for receiving money and was connected to the Treasury; the upper Exchequer was a court of law dealing with cases related to revenue, and was merged with the High Court of Justice in 1880.
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"Exchequer." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Exchequer." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-Exchequer.html "Exchequer." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-Exchequer.html |
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exchequer
ex·cheq·uer / eksˈchekər; iks-/ • n. a royal or national treasury. |
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"exchequer." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "exchequer." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-exchequer.html "exchequer." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-exchequer.html |
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Exchequer
Exchequer The account held by the Bank of England for all government funds.
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"Exchequer." A Dictionary of Business and Management. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Exchequer." A Dictionary of Business and Management. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O18-Exchequer.html "Exchequer." A Dictionary of Business and Management. 2006. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O18-Exchequer.html |
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exchequer
exchequer
•alpaca, attacker, backer, clacker, claqueur, cracker, Dhaka, hacker, Hakka, knacker, lacquer, maraca, paca, packer, sifaka, slacker, smacker, stacker, tacker, tracker, whacker, yakka
•Kafka
•anchor, banker, Bianca, canker, Casablanca, Costa Blanca, flanker, franker, hanker, lingua franca, Lubyanka, rancour (US rancor), ranker, Salamanca, spanker, Sri Lanka, tanka, tanker, up-anchor, wanker
•Alaska, lascar, Madagascar, Nebraska
•Kamchatka • linebacker • outbacker
•hijacker, skyjacker
•Schumacher • backpacker
•safecracker • wisecracker
•nutcracker • firecracker • ransacker
•scrimshanker • bushwhacker
•barker, haka, Kabaka, Lusaka, marker, moussaka, nosy parker, Oaxaca, Osaka, parka, Shaka, Zarqa
•asker, masker
•backmarker • waymarker
•Becker, checker, Cheka, chequer, Dekker, exchequer, Flecker, mecca, Neckar, Necker, pecker, Quebecker, Rebecca, Rijeka, trekker, weka, wrecker
•sepulchre (US sepulcher) • Cuenca
•burlesquer, Francesca, Wesker
•woodpecker
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"exchequer." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "exchequer." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-exchequer.html "exchequer." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-exchequer.html |
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