In premodern Britain civic officials took oaths in solemn ceremonies in full view of their colleagues and fellow citizens. This article examines oaths ranging from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries from 31 towns in England, Scotland, and Ireland to demonstrate how officials were ritually enjoined to keep secrets. Oaths were public acknowledgments that secrets were going to be kept. The act of governing necessitated the keeping of secrets to ensure the protection of the town's interests. But oath-taking was also a concession to the idea that governing required a degree of transparency for the ruling elite and other authorities to appear legitimate and incorruptible.

在前现代英国，公民官员在同事和同胞的众目睽睽下在庄严的仪式上宣誓。本文考察了从 14 世纪到 17 世纪英格兰、苏格兰和爱尔兰 31 个城镇的誓言，以展示官员是如何在仪式上被要求保守秘密的。誓言是公开承认将保守秘密。治理行为需要保守秘密，以确保保护城镇的利益。但宣誓也是对这样一种观念的让步，即治理需要一定程度的透明度，以使统治精英和其他当局显得合法和廉洁。