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Charter is simply a document which records a public act, 
particularly the record of a gift or grant. In English history Charters
are associated with the delegation of authority and were used by medieval
Kings and their descendants to give some powers of self rule to the urban
communities.
The contents were determined by a combination of tradition, customs and current practice. They were written to offer the aspirations of the towns people to the ruling Monarch for approval, and were often based around previous Charters granted to other towns.
Portsmouth
has been granted a total of 24 Royal Charters that are recorded,
either in their original form or in the contents of later confirmations.
There is some mention by 17th century Historians to a Charter being granted by King Henry I in 1106, however no evidence can be found of this document which, if it existed, was most probably destroyed in the French raids in the 14th century.
The
first officially acknowledged Royal Charter was granted by King Richard
I, on the 2nd May 1194, during his stay in Portsmouth prior to him leaving
to fight in Normandy.
This Charter Confirms on the town a number of the rights enjoyed by "Free-Boroughs", but without actually granting the town complete autonomy. Richard wished to keep control over the town for himself, thereby providing an uninterrupted route to the continent.
Although it did not actually make Portsmouth a "Free-Borough" (liber burgus), the Charter did grant a 15 day annual, a weekly market, the right to trade throughout Richard's realm and some basic criminal jurisdiction. In effect this Charter put Portsmouth on the national trading map.
Financial self control did not come to Portsmouth until Henry III's Charter of 17th Nov. 1229 which granted "fee-farm" to the town. "Fee-farm" was a system by which the Town's Men controlled the revenue from trade and taxes in return for paying a set annual sum to the crown, at this time it was £20 per year.
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further 21 Charters were granted either 
confirming
earlier ones or granting new rights. For example Henry III's third charter
of 1256 granted Portsmouth a Merchant Guild, an important land mark in
the growth of the town.
The Charter of Elizabeth I in 1600, defines the corporate body as the Mayor and the Charter of Charles II in 1682 included Gosport in the liberties of Portsmouth.
The grant of each new Charter gave Portsmouth new powers and authorities and therefore helped to ensure its continued growth to become one of the country's major areas.
The last charter to be granted was on the 1st April 1974, by Queen Elizabeth II and granted the status of CITY to portsmouth and therefore brought to an end 800 years of the tradition of Royal Charters.
The surviving 13 Charters are now held in the Portsmouth City Records Office, the earliest being the Charter of Edward II, dating from 1313.
