The principal residence of the monarchy was the Palace of Westminster — today better known as the Houses of Parliament. The enormous hammer-beamed Hall survived the great fire of 1834, and in that Great Hall would have been the first circle of government which would have included the Signet Office. This office wrote personal letters on behalf of the monarch, which carried the royal seal. Henry decreed that the Signet Office should use English. This provided at last a breach in the walls guarding the citadel of French; English poured through it. French was dispossessed of the language of
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