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The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the lord president of the Council and above the lord great chamberlain. Originally, its holder was responsible for the monarch's personal (privy) seal until the use of such a seal became obsolete. Though one of the oldest offices in European governments, it has no particular function today because the use of a privy seal has been obsolete for centuries; it may be regarded as a traditional sinecure, but today, the holder of the office is invariably given a seat in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, and is sometimes referred to as a minister without portfolio.
A sinecure is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, where it signified a post without any responsibility for the "cure [care] of souls", the regular liturgical and pastoral functions of a cleric, but came to be applied to any post, secular or ecclesiastical, that involved little or no actual work. Sinecures have historically provided a potent tool for governments or monarchs to distribute patronage, while recipients are able to store up titles and easy salaries.
The title keeper of the seals or equivalent is used in several contexts, denoting the person entitled to keep and authorize use of the great seal of a given country. The title may or may not be linked to a particular cabinet or ministerial office. This is most often the case today, but in the past the role was often a distinct and important job.
A privy seal is the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used to authenticate official documents of a personal nature, in contrast to a great seal, which is used for documents of greater importance.
Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington and Thirlstane was a Senator of the College of Justice, an Ordinary Lord of Session from 1561 until 1584, and notable Scottish poet. He was served heir to his father, Sir William Maitland of Lethington, East Lothian, and Thirlestane, Berwickshire, on 15 October 1515, his father being one of the casualties at the Battle of Flodden. He held the political office of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and was also the Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, from 1563 to 1567, and was succeeded in this post by his son Sir John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane.
The Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan was an administrative post not of Cabinet rank in the government of the Empire of Japan, responsible for being a direct, personal advisor to the emperor, and keeping the Privy Seal of Japan and State Seal of Japan among other things.
The King's Wardrobe, together with the Chamber, made up the personal part of medieval English government known as the King's household. Originally the room where the king's clothes, armour, and treasure were stored, the term was expanded to describe both its contents and the department of clerks who ran it. Early in the reign of Henry III the Wardrobe emerged out of the fragmentation of the Curia Regis to become the chief administrative and accounting department of the Household. The Wardrobe received regular block grants from the Exchequer for much of its history; in addition, however, the wardrobe treasure of gold and jewels enabled the king to make secret and rapid payments to fund his diplomatic and military operations, and for a time, in the 13th-14th centuries, it eclipsed the Exchequer as the chief spending department of central government.
Robert Braybrooke (1336/7-1404) was a medieval cleric and King's Secretary. He was Dean of Salisbury and Bishop of London.
William Ayermin was a medieval Bishop of Norwich.
Robert Wyvil was a medieval Bishop of Salisbury.
Guy Mone (Mohun) was an English royal administrator and bishop.
John Gunthorpe was an English administrator, Clerk of the Parliament, Keeper of the Privy Seal and Dean of Wells.
In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary.
The Principal Secretary of State, or Principal Secretary of the Council, was a government office in the Kingdom of Ireland. It was abolished in 1801 when Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union 1800.
The Privy Seal of England originally served to authenticate the king's personal communication and can be traced back to the reign of King John in the early thirteenth century. While the Great Seal was required to remain in Chancery, the Privy Seal travelled with the sovereign. However, during the second half of King Edward III's reign, in the mid-fourteenth century, the Office of the Privy Seal took on various additional government roles. This led to the development of a third seal, known at first as the "secret" seal, to handle the private communication that had been the original remit of the Privy Seal.
Peter Lacy was a medieval English Keeper of the Privy Seal.
John Prophet (1356–1416) was an English medieval Secretary to King Henry IV, Keeper of the Privy Seal and, Dean of Hereford and York. A distinguished and capable administrator he remained loyal to all kings through a mix of shrewdness, and cunning. Although guilty of simony and pluralism, Prophet was no lollard, but successfully made the transition from Richard II's extravagant court at Westminster to an indispensable servant of the Lancastrians.
Robert Wodehouse was a medieval English administrator.
Sir Christopher Musgrave, 5th Baronet of Eden Hall, Cumbria was an English baronet and politician.
In the United Kingdom, the Great Officers of State are traditional ministers of the Crown who either inherit their positions or are appointed to exercise certain largely ceremonial functions or to operate as members of the government. Separate Great Officers exist for England and Wales, Scotland, and formerly for Ireland, though some exist for Great Britain and the United Kingdom as a whole.