Page:Englishhistorica36londuoft.djvu/499

 1921 'ADVENTUS VICECOMITUM 1258-72 491 43 Henry III from Memoranda Roll 43 & 44 Henry III. Thus, the collection of the customary revenue for the year 1258/9 and its payment into the lower exchequer are taking place at the same time as the accounts for 1258 are being heard at the upper exchequer. But, for example, the sheriff of Kent who renders his account in that year is not necessarily the same man who is paying in money at the lower exchequer ; the former is accounting for the year 42 Henry III, the latter is collecting and paying in money for 43 Henry III. The adjustment is complicated but the advantage is obvious ; by this arrangement the close connexion which really exists between the three sets of tables is rendered apparent in a way which would not otherwise be possible. The fact that the date of the collapse is the same in both depart- ments, although the local officials were not necessarily the same, only serves to render the figures more significant. Another important point is that the totals, as given below, represent the amount paid in by the sheriffs ; no allowance is made for payments by towns responsible for their own ferms. To introduce the latter into the calculations would bring in a new and unknown factor, the attitude of the governing bodies in the towns towards the exchequer. Therefore, the annual totals do not represent the customary revenue of the Crown in any year, but only the total sum paid in by the sheriffs of normal shires, as defined at the beginning of the present article, a very different matter. If a sheriff attended, whether in person or by deputy, without making a payment, he has been counted as if he had not come. It was necessary to do this, in order to simplify the tables. Lastly, the tables compiled from the Adventus Vice- comitum entries ought theoretically to be checked by the Receipt Rolls, which are the exchequer of receipt's records of money paid in there. In practice, however, the difficulty of establishing the exact connexion between the two sets of records proved an insuperable obstacle. The payments entered in the sheriffs' totals may be, and often are, entered on the receipt roll under the names of several other people besides the sheriff. The Adventus Vicecomitum entries, however, cover the required ground, and are sufficient for our purpose. 1 The sheriffs' attendances at the exchequer of receipt may now be examined in detail. (See' p. 492.) The variation in the attendances is not so marked in the case of the payments as of the accounts, but the story which it tells is essentially the same. The truth of this story is finally estab- 1 The formula is ' Vicecomes venit (per clericum suum) et tulit £x '. The end of the entries varies : sometimes we find that the sheriff brought the writs and tallies, sometimes that he failed to do so, or again they may not be mentioned at all. The references to tallies are not numerous at this date.