Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/341
up the great seal (F) which was committed to the custody of John de Offord, Keeper of the Privy Seal; and received in exchange the seal, "pro regimine regni Angliæ ipso Rege extra idem regnum existente ordinatum."[1] The king returned March 2nd, 1343, and two days after, the usual exchange of seals was made.[2]
In July, 1345, the king went to Flanders, having appointed his son Prince Lionel, guardian of the realm, and returned after a very short absence; on both which occasions the usual exchange is recorded.[3] In the following year, Lionel was again appointed guardian of the realm, by an instrument dated at Portchester Castle, June 25th; and on Sunday, July 2nd, the king being then in the Isle of Wight preparatory to his departure, John de Offord, Dean of Lincoln, then Chancellor, delivered the great seal F, by command of the king, into the hands of John de Thoresby, Keeper of the Privy Seal, in the chancel of the church of Fareham before the high altar; and received from him in exchange the seal E, which he carried with him to the place where he was then sojourning, the house which had been Godfrey de Raunvill's, near Southwick.[4]
We have now traced the seal E into the hands of the Chancellor, John de Offord, with Prince Lionel as guardian of the realm. It is obvious then that any document, sealed with the great seal, and attested by Prince Lionel, within the period of the king's departure in July 1346, and his subsequent return, must have been sealed with the seal E. The documents, to which these impressions are appended, correspond to these conditions, since they are so attested, and are dated October 5th, 1347. On that day the king was still in France, having just completed that glorious campaign, in which Crecy was won, and Calais captured. Instruments were sealed by the king himself, with his seal of presence (F) at Calais, on the 3rd, 5th, and 8th of October.[5] He left France, and landed at Sandwich on Friday, October 12th, and arrived in London on Sunday the 14th, and on the following day John de Offord brought to him the seal, which had been used in England during his absence; and dlelivered it to the Bishop of Winchester, the Treasurer, to be kept in the Treasury.[6]