Chancery

How it is used

In administrative history distinguish the writing office from courts or other bodies bearing the same name.

Example sentences

1. The chancery prepared copies of the ruler's instructions for provincial officers.

   Document production connects central authority to distant administration.

2. Changes in chancery formulas helped date the unsigned order.

   Institutional writing habits can become dating evidence.

Common collocations

• royal chancery
• chancery records

Related terms

• archiveA collection of historical records kept for long-term use, or the building or institution where such records are stored and made available to researchers.
• monarchyA system of government in which a king, queen, emperor or other hereditary ruler is head of state, or a country governed in this way.

More terms: Sources and Archives

• primary source
• secondary source
• manuscript
• bias
• census
• chronicle
• source criticism
• oral history
• inscription
• provenance
• archivist
• palaeography