ABSTRACT
The Privy Seal Office, over which the Lord Privy Seal presided, consisted of four Masters of Requests and four Clerks of the Privy Seal, who were responsible for receiving documents from the Signet Office and preparing documents for the Great Seal. The Privy Seal itself was a small seal bearing the royal coat of arms, applied on a red wax; it was used by the king when replying to various petitions and authorising special money transactions. The Lord Privy Seal was also responsible for the Court of Requests (a prerogative court offering cheap and speedy justice to the poor in civil law cases).
