LORD CHANCELLOR

also called Lord High Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal British officer of state who is speaker of the House of Lords, head of the judiciary, custodian of the great seal, and chief administrator of the legal system and courts. He is a cabinet minister and has control of all judicial appointments in the country except those reserved to the prime minister. The office dates back to Edward the Confessor (104266), who followed the model of the Carolingian court when he appointed a chancellor. Until the 14th century the chancellor was invariably a priest and served as royal chaplain, the king's secretary in secular matters, and keeper of the royal seal. All of the secretarial work of the royal household was handled by the chancellor and his staff of chaplains; the accounts were kept under the justiciar and treasurer, writs were drawn up and sealed, and the royal correspondence was carried out. This combination of duties, characteristic of the primitive administrative systems of the early Middle Ages, has remained with the chancellorship in modern times, although most of the office's power, exemplified in the administrations of such great chancellors as Thomas Becket (d. 1170) and Thomas Wolsey (d. 1530), ceased to exist centuries ago. Much of the reason that the English chancellor did not develop into the head of government, as did his counterpart in the Holy Roman Empire, lies in the growth of his judicial duties. All petitions addressed to the king passed through the chancellor's hands, and by the reign of Henry II (115489) the chancellor's time was already largely taken up with judicial work. The office acquired a more definitely judicial character in the reign of Edward III (132777), when the chancellor's court ceased to follow the king. The chancellor's court was the direct precursor of the Court of Chancery, which was fused into the High Court of Justice in the Judicature Act of 1873. The Chancery Division of the latter is primarily responsible for equitable jurisdiction. The lord chancellor is nominally president of the whole court and of the Chancery Division; he is also a member of the Court of Appeal and presides over it when present. The important judicial work of contemporary chancellors is, however, almost exclusively confined to the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The position of the chancellor as speaker, or prolocutor, of the House of Lords dates from the time of the English Norman kings, when the ministers of the Curia Regis (King's Court) sat ex officio in the commune concilium (great council) and Parliament. When the other officials ceased to attend Parliament, the chancellor continued to do so. He now attends by virtue of his office, but since the early 18th century he has invariably been a peer. As speaker of the House of Lords, he differs considerably in his powers and duties from the speaker of the House of Commons. Although he puts the question (i.e., calls for a vote), he has no power to rule upon points of order. Unlike the speaker of the House of Commons, he often takes part in debates. When the chancellor is present in the House of Lords, he presides from the Woolsack, a seat introduced by Edward III and originally stuffed with English wool as a symbol of England's prosperity. (As a symbol of unity, the Woolsack was later stuffed with wool from countries of the British Commonwealth.) The responsibilities of the lord chancellor necessitate his frequent absence from the House of Lords, and on these occasions the house is chaired by a deputy speaker. Because of the weight of administrative business since 1939, modern chancellors have had less time for judicial duties. The chancellor also has certain powers of ecclesiastical patronage. Consequently there remains a statutory prohibition against the appointment of Roman Catholics to the office. It is the only office in England still restricted on a religious basis.