The charters en the chancery of the counts of Hainault, Holland and Zealand. Written communication in times of a personal union. Hainault (1280-1345)

A palaeographical and diplomatic study of the charters and registers of the counts of Hainault between 1280-1345 (Avesnes dynasty) revealed how a small writing center grow to an independent (proto)institution that was no longer dependant on the presence of the count to function. The two cardinal factors were the personal union with the distant counties of Holland and Zealand (1299) and the death of the countess(-mother) Philipinne, who had served as the "lieutenant" of her absent son, in 1310. However, the chancery remained relatively small and loosely organised, with at any given time no more than up to four permanent clerks.