Revisiting the War in the Receipt, 1572–1609*

This article explores a protracted dispute in the exchequer of receipt that initiated lasting procedural reform. The argument revolved around contested narratives of exchequer history which had direct implications for officers’ fees, rights and status. The ferocity of the dispute has rendered it one of the most-studied episodes in exchequer history, yet historians have largely focused on procedural reform and dismissed the ardour of the protagonists. This article recontextualises the dispute within its political and physical context in the Palace of Westminster to argue that the feud was not merely personal but political. By drawing together officers’ personal papers with exchequer records and architectural records of the palace, this article demonstrates the agency of individuals in influencing institutional reform. The protagonists operated within webs of overlapping loyalties between crown, institution and patrons which reflects the place of the Receipt in central government. Consideration of the warring officers in this context reveals that the outcome of the dispute was not in spite of their passions, but a product of them.