The development of the privy council oath in Tudor England*

Abstract

Abstract From the early thirteenth century to the present day, privy councillors have been required to swear an oath of office. This article demonstrates that at least four different council oaths were administered by chancery during the Tudor period, and that William Cecil drafted yet another revised oath in 1558, although this was never finished. The article compares the respective texts and explains the administrative and political reasons for each of the revisions. It goes on to examine evidence from these oaths that suggests developments in the conception of counsel in the sixteenth century. It concludes with transcriptions of the four operational oaths and the Cecilian draft.