“The Dialogus de Scaccario is an anonymous book, but there can be little doubt that we are right in ascribing it to Richard Fitz Neal: that is to say, to Richard the son of that Nigel, bishop of Ely …. The book stands out as an unique book in the history of medieval England, perhaps in the history of medieval Europe. A high officer of state, the trusted counsellor of a powerful king, undertakes to explain to all whom it may concern the machinery of government. He will not deal in generalities, he will condescend to minute details. Perhaps the book was not meant for the general public so much as for the numerous clerks who were learning their business in the exchequer, but still that such a book should be written, is one of the wonderful things of Henry’s wonderful reign.” 1 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I 161–62 (2d ed. 1898).
dialogus de scaccario
Dialogus de Scaccario (dI-al-[schwa]-g[schwa]s dee sk[schwa]-kair-ee-oh), n. [Law Latin “a dialogue of or about the Exchequer”] Hist. A treatise, written during the reign of Henry II, on the Court of Exchequer, set up in imaginary dialogue form between a master and a disciple. • Although some originally attributed the work to Gervase of Tilbury, it was probably written by Richard Fitz Nigel, the bishop of London under Richard I, and the former Treasurer of the Exchequer.
