Concept
Royal charter
Overview
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but since the 14th century have only been used in place of private acts to grant a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organisations such as boroughs (with municipal charters), universities and learned societies, and were historically used to establish companies.
Charters should be distinguished from royal warrants of appointment, grants of arms, and other forms of letters patent, such as those granting an organisation the right to use the word "royal" in their name or granting city status, which do not have legislative effect. The British monarchy has issued over 1,000 royal charters. Of these about 750 remain in effect.
The earliest charter recorded on the UK Privy Council's list was granted to the Worshipful Company of Weavers by Henry I of England on 17 November 1155, although older charters are known to have existed, including Malcolm III's charter to the town of Tain in Scotland in 1066 and William I's charter to the City of London in 1067. Charters continue to be issued by the British Crown, a recent example being that awarded to the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX), and the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, in 2014.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
The Right Honourable Peter Lord King, High Chancellor of Great Britain. His Grace Thomas Duke of Newcastle, Principal Secretary of State for the Plantations in America, &c. The Right Reverend Edmund Lord Bishop of London. _Who have been pleased to accept the Office of Trustees or Overseers of so useful a charity._ _N.B. Till such time as the contributions and subscriptions amount to a sum sufficient for providing…
George Berkeley, A Proposal for the Better Supplying of Churches in Our Foreign Plantations, and for Converting the Savage Americans to Christianity, By a Co
The author is tied to Royal charter in the knowledge graph.
The reestablishing this ancient order was the object of several statutes enacted in England during the course of the fourteenth century, particularly of what is called the statute of provisors; and of the pragmatic sanction, established in France in the fifteenth century. In order to render the election valid, it was necessary that the sovereign should both consent to it before hand, and afterwards approve of the…
Adam Smith, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
States what Royal charter is.
An ancient French writer calls them a new and wicked device, to procure liberty to slaves, and encourage them in shaking off the dominion of their masters [x]. The famous charter, as it is called, of the Conqueror to the city of London, though granted at a time when he assumed the appearance of gentleness and lenity, is nothing but a letter of protection, and a declaration that the citizens should not be treated as…
David Hume, The History of England, Volume I
States what Royal charter is.
Philosophers who discussed Royal charter
Related ideas
- Republic of Ireland
- Laissez-faire
- Latin
- University of St Andrews
- Middle Ages
- BBC
- University
- American Revolution
- Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet
- University of Aberdeen
- University of Edinburgh
- Princeton University
- University of Cambridge
- James VI and I
- Durham University
- Supreme Court of the United States
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Oxford
- University of Sydney
- Vancouver
- Belgium
- Yale University
- Jagiellonian University
- University of Glasgow
Opposing perspectives
Place in the tradition
Part of Scottish philosophy.