A financial device which enabled payments to be made in advance to members of the royal household and also departments of the household. It was often used outside England, when clerks and knights for example were away from their sources of income. Magnates had their own bankers, but most people relied upon prests, authorised by the treasurer of the *king's wardrobe. The accounts were maintained in a book known as prestita privata, i.e. private prests. [< OldFr. prester = to lend]
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.