Taking Measure: The Bureaucratization of the French Monarchy
Governments need records of their acts and other documents to refer to in disputes and as aids to memory. King of France Philip Augustus used to carry his own collection with him in his baggage train. After losing his documents in battle in 1194, Philip set up a permanent home for royal acts: the Trésor des Chartes, or Treasury of Charters (official documents). This graph, recording all the original legislation retained in the Treasury from 1136 to 1223, shows the importance Philip’s decision. Very few records survive before 1194. The story is different thereafter.
Source: John W. Baldwin, The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986), 410.
Question to Consider
Why did French kings originally think it unimportant to have a permanent place to keep their records?