The fine rolls record offers of money to the Monarchs of England for concessions and favours from the 12th to the 17th centuries.
In general, a fine is an agreement made with the king, or one of his chief ministers, to pay a certain sum of money for a specified benefit. In some cases the sum of money was paid immediately. However, in the vast majority of cases this did not happen. More often than not, the sums recorded on the fine roll, whether given or fined for, were monies that had been promised to the king, and which had yet to be collected. Moreover, the king did not receive this money directly. Rather, it was collected by, and paid into, the Exchequer at Westminster.
The rolls on which the fines were recorded provide the earliest systematic evidence of what people and institutions wanted from the king and what he was prepared to give.
Read more about Fine Rolls: Overview, Publication of The Fine Rolls
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