"At its simplest, a pipe roll was a list of debts to the medieval English government, together with any payments towards these debts. This sounds straightforward, but reading and understanding pipe rolls can be a daunting prospect at first. There is no point in pretending otherwise: pipe rolls can seem quite forbidding, whether you meet them in person, in print, or online."
"They are for the most part formulaic and repetitive; this means that, once you have got used to the set terminology and scribal habits, they can be read quite easily. The language is generally simple, and there is a limited repertoire of conventional abbreviations. The difficult part is becoming accustomed to the basic elements which make up the rolls. From then on, much of the content of pipe rolls will fall into place as no more than a series of repetitions of familiar phrases."
Pipe rolls recorded debts owed to the medieval English government and payments made against those debts. The rolls often appear daunting initially because of unfamiliar language, accounting conventions, and scribal presentation. The records are largely formulaic and repetitive, so learning the set terminology and scribal habits makes them much more accessible. The language used is generally simple and the number of conventional abbreviations is limited. Printed transcripts eliminate abbreviations but do not remove challenges posed by medieval language and accounting practices. Researchers working on thirteenth-century England and medieval government benefit from familiarity with these records.
Read at Medievalists.net
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