Page:Englishhistorica36londuoft.djvu/498

 490 'ADVENTUS VICECOJ^ITUM 1258-72 October Easter 1266, the exchequer was obliged to move to St. Paul's on account of disturbances in the city of London, and in the follow- ing year (1266-7), the exchequer still being apparently at St. Paul's, no business was again transacted in Easter term until the Wednesday before the feast of St. John the Baptist, on account of the disturbance of the realm through the earl of Gloucester. 3 So far only accounts rendered at the upper exchequer have been considered ; no attention has as yet been paid to the atten- dances at the exchequer of receipt, or lower exchequer, nor to the amount of money which the sheriffs paid in there. But at such a time a full treasury was far more important than an accurate account. It is conceivable, therefore, that the exchequer officials, realizing this, permitted the sheriffs considerable latitude in the latter respect, so long as they did not fail to pay in the usual sum of money at the lower exchequer. Moreover, at such a crisis the presence of the sheriff in the county was an essential of good government. Is this the real explanation of the apparent break- down at the upper exchequer during the Barons' War ? The truth of this hypothesis can be tested by an analysis of the sheriffs' attendances at the exchequer of receipt along the same lines as those already given in the case of the exchequer of audit. At this point, a word of explanation is necessary as to the nature of the evidence and its relation to the figures for the attendances for purposes of account. The accounts as entered on the Pipe Roll represent the sheriff's year of office ; the entries on the Memoranda Rolls, on the other hand, were entered as each sheriff made his payment, the first payment entered being that of Michaelmas term, and the second his profer at Easter. If this order were taken here, it would make a difference of six months between the first set of tables and the second and third, besides which the latter would have no relation to the actual exchequer years. This point can best be illustrated by taking the year 43 Henry III as an example : Michaelmas term 42 Hen. Ill (1258) Sheriffs' payments entered i J. in Memoranda Roll 42 &  „* .„ , -m i av, ii xtx ncr^, * n xt xxx ohenfts accounts Easter term 43 Hen. Ill (1259) ) 43 Hen. III. I . p . R .. _ Michaelmas term 43 Hen. Ill (1259) Sheriffs' payments entered f „ *jL, L in Memoranda Roll 43 & Easter term 44 Hen. Ill (1260) J 44 Hen. III. ) If, therefore, we wish to take the figures for the normal exchequer year, i. e. the Pipe Roll year, it is necessary to take the details entered under the Adventus Vicecomitum heading for Easter term 43 Henry III from the Memoranda Roll 42 & 43 Henry III, and the corresponding facts for Michaelmas term 1 Memoranda Rolls 48 & 49 Hen. Ill, m. 2, 49 & 50 Hen. Ill, m. 10, and 50 & 51 Hen. Ill, m. 6 d, together with the Compoti Comitatuum for these years, contain the evidence on which the above account is based. ',