The Master of Requests was a

Great Officer of State Government in medieval monarchies generally comprised the king's companions, later becoming the Royal Household, from which the officers of state arose, initially having household and government duties. Later some of these officers became ...

in the kingdoms of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Masters of Requests (England)

In England the office was created in the 15th century and abolished in 1685. For main article, see

Master of Requests (England) The Court of Requests was a minor equity court in England and Wales. It was instituted by King Richard III in his 1484 parliament. It first became a formal tribunal with some Privy Council elements under Henry VII, hearing cases from the poor an ...

. Masters of Requests Ordinary Masters of Requests Extraordinary - partial list * 1591–1596:

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

* 1630–1640: Robert Mason * 1660: Sir Edmund Pierce

Masters of Requests (Scotland)

In Scotland the office first appeared in the reign of

King James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and dur ...

. Its functions in Scotland differed from those of the offices in England and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and included the receiving of petitions from subjects and presenting them for consideration by the

Scottish Privy Council The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of ...

. After 1603, the Scottish Master of Requests acted as an intermediary between the Council in Scotland and the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

in England. Although not named as an Officer of State in 1579, he was ''"to have acces in the counsalehouse and be present in tyme of counsale".'' In 1592, however, he was included with the

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

, the

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

, the

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

and the

Lord Clerk Register The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century. It historically had important functions in relation to the maintenance and care of the public records of Scotland. Tod ...

who ''"being ordinar officaris of the estait as also senatouris of the college of justice"'' could not attend council on a daily basis. The Master of Requests sat in the Scottish Parliament as an officer of State from 1604 to 1633, but his office was not revived at the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, its duties being taken over by the Secretary. Masters of Requests Ordinary - partial list * 1577-1606:

Mark Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian Mark Kerr (or Ker), 1st Earl of Lothian (15538 April 1609) was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He became the first Earl of Lothian in 1606. Family He was a member of the "famous border family" of Ker of Cessford. He was the son of Mark Ke ...

* 1606:

Robert Kerr, 2nd Earl of Lothian Robert Kerr, 2nd Earl of Lothian (died 1624) was a Scottish noble. His life Robert Kerr was the son of Mark Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian, who had been given the new title in 1606. He was the eldest son, with three brothers: William, Mark, and James, ...

* 1614:

Sir William Alexander William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling (c. 1567 in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire12 February 1640) was a Scottish courtier and poet who was involved in the Scottish colonisation of Charles Fort, later Port-Royal, Nova Scotia in 1629 and Long Is ...

(died 1640)

Notes

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Masters of Requests (England)

Masters of Requests (Scotland)

Notes

See also