CHANCELLOR, was at first only a chief notary or scribe under the emperors; and was called cancellarius, because he sat behind a lattice (in Latin cancellus) to avoid being crowded by the people: though some derive the word from cancellare to cancel; (see CHANCERY.) This officer was afterwards invested with several judicial powers, and a general superintendency over the rest of the officers of the prince. From the Roman empire it passed to the Roman church, ever emulous of imperial state; and hence every bishop has to this day his chancellor, the principal judge of his consistory. And when the modern kingdoms of Europe were established upon the ruins of the empire, almost every state preferred its chancellor with different jurisdictions and dignities, according to their different constitutions. But in all of them he seems to have had the supervision of all charters, letters, and such other public instruments of the crown as were authenticated in the most solemn manner; and therefore, when seals came in use, he had always the custody of the king's great seal.