State Papers Online is a searchable online collection of British government documents from the 16th and 17th century, with each manuscript linked to its calendar entry. The database includes introductory essays and a variety of reference tools.
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“Historians have to look at their sources with critical and appraising eyes. Rarely are manuscripts objects of unalloyed purity. Most of the original documents we read in State Papers Online were the everyday working papers of the royal government... Some are immensely valuable on their own and tell us a great deal about Tudor society: others communicate to us the fact of life that running a government can be a dull business. But even the dullest document can tell a story, and we have to be alive to it: Who wrote it? Why did they write it? Who read it? Whose handwriting can we see in the margin?"
(Stephen Alford, ‘Introduction to State Papers Online and the Sixteenth Century State Papers, 1509–1603’, State Papers Online, 1509–1714, Cengage Learning EMEA Ltd, 2008)
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At present the collection covers 1509-1714 and consists of:
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Part I: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic
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Part II: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Foreign, Scotland, Borders, Ireland and Registers of the Privy Council
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Part III: The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I - Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Domestic NEW!
Coming soon:
Many manuscripts are accompanied by transcriptions.
Manuscript - Queen Margaret to King Henry VIII.2. In State Papers Published under the Authority of his Majesty's Commission: King Henry the Eighth, 1830-1852. Vol. 4: Part IV: Correspondence relative to Scotland and the Borders, 1513-1534.
Transcript - Queen Margaret to King Henry VIII.2. In State Papers Published under the Authority of his Majesty's Commission: King Henry the Eighth, 1830-1852. Vol. 4: Part IV: Correspondence relative to Scotland and the Borders, 1513-1534.