Letters close (Latin: litterae clausae) are a type of obsolete legal document once used by the Pope, the French and British monarchy and by certain officers of government, which is a sealed letter granting a right, monopoly, title, or status to an individual or to some entity such as a corporation.
The cords were often threaded through the letter to keep it folded, with the address written on the dorse (back) of the document (endorsed) for the entrusted deliverers to read.
The original charters of Edward the Confessor can be considered to be a form of letters close, as they were delivered wrapped, with the seal hanging down.
[citation needed] It is thought that the earliest surviving English instance remaining unopened dates to the reign of Henry VIII.
[1] Over time, however, as new document series emerged, the scope of the Close Rolls narrowed; and after 1533 their contents consisted solely of copies of private deeds and awards of enclosure, and the like.