Signed, stamped, and sealed: delivering royal justice in early sixteenth-century England

Abstract

That Henry VIII’s will was stamped with a facsimile of his signature rather than authentically signed has long been taken as proof that it was ‘forged’ sometime around his death in 1547. This article explores the longer history of the stamp as an authorizing mechanism, locating its creation at the beginning of the reign for the purposes of justice-giving. An investigation of these earlier documents reveals that an initial ‘wet’ stamp served to expedite suits presented at the royal household and project the king’s authority outwards. The article therefore offers a revisionary account of the priorities and workings of Tudor governance.