ABSTRACT
The household was a little less personal than the chamber, and its officers were not in such direct and constant contact with the king. An accurate definition of the respective spheres and influence of household and chamber is difficult if not impossible. The household was the larger organisation of which the chamber was an essential and intricate part. The lesser was distinct from the greater, yet a part of it. Its tendencies towards independence were growing during the reign of Edward II, but there always remained a vital connection. The distinction between household and chamber is brought out in a letter concerning the countess of Warwick. The ladies and waitingmaids of her chamber and the men of her household had been arrested1. The chamber was officered by personal servants of the countess who stood in a very close relationship to her; the men of her household were also her personal servants, but while their dependence upon her was as complete as the servants of the chamber their relation was not as intimate. The great difference between chamber and household was the greater intimacy of the former with the head.
