February 14th, 2008
Uses for Royally Granted Letters (of) Patent
Letters Patent were usually granted by Royalty to individuals or groups for just about anything you could think of.
If you wanted to travel the countryside as a Jester or Entertainer or as a Traveling Merchant then you absolutely had to have a Letter(s) of Patent from the intellectual property licensing reigning monarch. In medieval England, if you wanted to compete in the Royal Tournament; then you certainly needed a Patent that verified you family’s lineage.
If you were not of Noble Birth then you could not enter the competition. This was simply another possible use for Letters of Patent.