The King's
Wardrobe, together with the
Chamber, made up the personal part of
medieval English government known as the
King's household. Originally the room where the king's clothes, armour and treasure were stored the term was expanded to describe both its contents and the department of clerks who ran it. Early in the reign of
Henry III the Wardrobe emerged out of the fragmentation of the
Curia Regis to become the chief administrative and accounting department of the Household. The Wardrobe received regular
block grants from the
Exchequer for much of its history; in addition, however, the wardrobe treasure of gold and jewels enabled the king to make secret and rapid payments to fund his diplomatic and military operations, and for a time, in the 13th-14th centuries, it eclipsed the Exchequer as the chief spending department of central government.