In medieval
England, King
John in 1199 established a fixed rate of fees for the sealing of charters and
letters patent. It was to keep track of these fees that the first Charter Roll was started (as a fee book) in 1199, under the
Chancellorship of
Hubert Walter. The Roll thereby also kept track of all charters that had been issued by the government – the letters patent being swiftly hived off into the
patent rolls.
Minority hiatus During the minority of
Henry III of England, no perpetual grants could be made by the Crown, so that the Charter Rolls were in abeyance until 1227. ==Publication==