Fiants of Tudor Monarchs

Fiants were warrants [orders] to the Court of Chancery, for the authorisation of letters patent under the Great Seal. The name derives from “Fiant literae patentes” which translates to “let letters patent be made”.

Fiants may be divided into three classes, those signed by:

• The monarch 
• The lord deputy 
• Various lower authorities, and 

The Fiants may then be further subdivided into four main forms of order:

• Privy Seals 
• Indentures
• Warrants for Grants (Pensions etc.) 
• Orders of the Council. 

The general procedure by which the Fiants were produced may be summarised briefly: 

The lord deputy of Ireland, upon their respective monarch’s or their own authority, issued a warrant to either the attorney general or solicitor general to initiate the issuing of a letter patent. Once received, the attorney/solicitor general drew up a certificate for a letter patent, otherwise known as a Fiant, adding his own instructions before sending it further down the line to the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper in Dublin Castle. This office oversaw the drafting of the corresponding patent letter, which was subsequently sent to the Chancery to be issued, and a copy of the fiant was enrolled in the Rolls Office as a clerical copy. 

The Tudor Fiants, to which this collection is dedicated, commences during Henry VIII’s reign in 1521 and ends with the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. The fiants corresponding to the reigns of Henry VIII (Monarch No. 14), Edward VI (Monarch No. 15), Mary I (Monarch No. 16) and Elizabeth I (Monarch No. 17), were calendered in the Deputy Keeper’s Reports, edited by James Mills. The fiants were primarily written in Latin, though those written in English have been noted.

Image of James Mills, RSAI (1914).

A copy of the Tudor Fiants were published in English summary (calendar) form in the nineteenth century by the Public Record Office of Ireland in the reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Ireland. Using these texts, the VRTI has curated an electronic version of the Fiants, creating structured metadata, converting text to a digital format (TEI-XML), and linking the new electronic version to a digital image from the corresponding report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records.

Excerpt from a report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records

About the Tudor Fiants:

The Four Courts Bombardment (1922) ©RTÉ Stills Library

All the original Fiant manuscripts were destroyed in 1922. The principal primary source for the reconstruction of the Tudor Fiants are a series of Latin calendars published by the Public Record Office of Ireland between 1875 and 1886 within the Deputy Keepers Reports, ed. James Mills. For further information see R.H. Murray, A Short Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents Preserved in the Public Record Office, Dublin. (London, 1919), pp. 35-6 and K. W. Nicholls, The Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns: During the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Philip & Mary, and Elizabeth I (1994), Introduction. 

Henry VIII (Monarch 14): ‘Calendar of fiants of King Henry VIII [nos. 1–548, 1522–47]’, ed. James Mills, in 7th rep. DKPRI (1875), appendix 10, pp. 33–87 (with index, pp. 88–110); ‘Calendar of fiants of King Henry VIII [supplement, nos. 6793–7, 1537–44]’, ed. James Mills, in 18th rep. DKPRI (1886), appendix 6, pp. 147–8.

Edward VI (Monarch 15): ‘Calendar of fiants of King Edward VI [nos. 1–1257, 1547–53]’, 8th rep. DKPRI (1876), appendix 9, pp. 27–161 (with index, pp 161–230); ‘Calendar of fiants of King Edward VI [supplement, nos. 6798–6807, 1547–50]’, ed. James Mills, in 18th rep. DKPRI (1886), appendix 6, pp. 148–50.

Mary I (Monarch 16): ‘Calendar of fiants of Queen Mary I [part 1, nos. 1–276, 1553–8]’, ed. James Mills, in 9th rep. DKPRI (1877), appendix 4, pp. 59–90 (with index, pp. 90–104); ‘Calendar of fiants of Queen Mary I [supplement, nos. 6808–11, 1554–8]’, in 18th rep. DKPRI (1886), appendix 6, p. 150.

Elizabeth I (Monarch 17): ‘Calendar of fiants of Queen Elizabeth I [part 1, nos. 1–1614, 1558–70 ]’, in 11th rep. DKPRI (1879), appendix 3, pp. 31–242; [part 2, nos. 1615–2935, 1570–6] 12th rep. DKPRI (1880), appendix 5, pp. 17–194; [part 3, nos. 2936–4253, 1576–83] 13th rep. DKPRI (1881), appendix 4, pp. 16–220; [part 4, nos. 4254–4935, 1584–6] 15th rep. DKPRI (1883), appendix 1, pp. 15–174; [part 5, nos. 4936–5973, 1586–96] 16th rep. DKPRI (1884), appendix 2, pp. 17–278; [part 6, nos. 5974–6564, 1596–1601] 17th rep. DKPRI (1885), appendix 4, pp. 29–276; [part 7, nos. 6565–6792, 1601–3] 18th rep. DKPRI (1886), appendix 6, pp. 27–146. Index [part 1], 21st rep. DKPRI (1889), appendix 3, pp. 33–254; index [part 2] in 22nd rep. DKPRI (1890), appendix 6, pp. 255–862.

Team:

• Sadhbh Dunne, Editorial Assistant, VRTI
• Dr Eamonn Kenny, Senior Software Architect, VRTI
• Dr Peter Crooks, Academic Director, VRTI
• Dr Neil Johnston, Head of Early Modern Records, The National Archives (UK)

Glossary:

• Fiant: Otherwise known as Fiant literae patentes, a fiant was an instruction, written on behalf of the monarch, ordering officials in Ireland to take certain actions.
• Monarch Number: VRTI has created a numerical sequence of English monarchs to allow browsing of our royal collections by reign. These monarch numbers will often be followed in their archival referencing by the corresponding regnal year.
• Regnal Year: Regnal years are used to calculate the length of a monarchic reign. Beginning on the date of accession, the number increases with each passing anniversary until their respective deaths.
• Calendar: In the historical and archival context, a calendar is a descriptive list of
  documents.
• Patent Letter: An order from an English monarch that confers a grant to a designated subject. Notably, letters patent are an open form document.
• Court of Chancery: Established in Ireland c. 1232, the Court of Chancery worked as a court of equity, and exercised jurisdiction over Ireland in support of the English monarchy.
• Rolls of Chancery: A roll is essentially a document – containing an official record. In this case, these records relate to the official dealings of the Irish Chancery.
• Great Seal: The Great Seal was used by sovereigns, and other high-ranking officials, to confirm their authorisations of formal documents, such as laws and fiants.
• Privy Seals: Akin to the Great Seal, the Privy Seal was the personal seal of a monarch, which was used to authenticate documents of a more private nature.
• Indentures: An Indenture refers to a legally binding contract made between two or more parties.
• Lord Deputy of Ireland: This office may be understood as the English monarch’s representative in Ireland, as it wields a similar degree of power, second only to their respective sovereign.
• Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper: A senior civil servant within the Irish
  administration, the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper created a corresponding patent letter to the official fiant, before sending it to the Rolls Office for enrollment within the Chancery.