great seal and great seal register

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great seal and great seal register [S]. A mark of sovereign authority, the great seal was appended to crown charters as a means of authentication. The appendage marked the final stage of a long bureaucratic process known as ‘passing the seals’. The register of the great seal is a record of crown charters granted under the great seal, and is printed in eleven volumes dating from 1306 to 1668. Unfortunately, it is an incomplete record. Crown charters were originally recorded on charter rolls, many of which have since been lost or destroyed. Many more charters were simply not recorded.

Pamela E. Ritchie