| Revision as of 16:12, 14 July 2004 editFrancis Davey (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,274 edits The article muddled the exchequer and the exchequer of pleas, I thought it best to make a new article for the latter. The later history of the exchequer needs amplifying.← Previous edit | Revision as of 16:18, 14 July 2004 edit undoFrancis Davey (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,274 editsNo edit summaryNext edit → | ||
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Revision as of 16:18, 14 July 2004
The Exchequer was that part of the government responsible for the management and collection of the royal revenues of the King of England. At an early stage (certainly by 1190) it split into a purely administrative part (the Exchequer of Receipt) which collected revenue, and a judicial part the Exchequer of Pleas, which was a court concerned with the King's revenue.
Originally the Exchequer referred to a large table, 10 feet by 5, on which counters were placed representing various values. According to the Dialogue concerning the Exchequer -- an early Medieval work describing the practice of the Exchequer -- the name referred to the resemblance of the table with that of a chess board.
By extension exchequer has come to mean the treasury; and, colloquially, pecuniary possessions in general; as, 'the company's exchequer' is low.