HAVING NOW identified the various categories of ‘new men’ active in Edward III's reign, it would next be helpful to examine the system which allowed the king to distribute royal favour. Recorded originally in the Charter Rolls, Patent Rolls, Fine Rolls or sometimes the Close Rolls, the general form of official acts of royal patronage was more or less set by the fourteenth century – with most grants recording the date and place of the act, the name of the grantee, the terms of the grant, the authorisation under which the grant was made, and, at times, the witnesses present. Nonetheless, despite being mainly formulaic by this period, the details of Edward III's grants themselves are well worth examining. An analysis of the specific reasons used for acts of largesse, the durations for which grants were made, associated obligations, authorisations, and the protection and replacement of grants already given out will not only provide a firm foundation for understanding how Edward used the material resources at his disposal for the sake of his new men, but also perhaps help us to begin to understand the more general rationale behind those same grants.

Reasons for patronage in grants and associated documents

As it was perceived to be an integral part of the royal prerogative, prior to our period English kings rarely made a substantial effort to rationalise acts of patronage to their subjects.