State Papers Online, 1509-1714

This four-part collection of primarily Early Modern materials consists of:

  • Facsimile images of almost three million State Papers
  • Direct linking between the facsimile images of the manuscripts and their individual calendar entries
  • Hyperlinking between all references in the calendar indexes and the calendar entries
  • The Irish Manuscript Commission series of Calendars of State Papers Ireland
  • The manuscripts collections of Sir William Cecil (Lord Burghley) and his successor, Robert Burghley, from the National Archives and the British Library (Lansdowne Collection), as well as the complete twenty-four volumes of the Calendars of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House and the Haynes/Murdin transcriptions

An international resource

The global reach of the series offers researchers the scope to explore documents covering Britain's diplomatic relations and trade in Europe and with the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Users can read letters from popes, cardinals and bishops, Holy Roman emperors, and the kings of France and Spain as well as rulers, diplomats, counselors, and agents from every other country in Europe. By providing little-studied volumes online, State Papers Online, 1509-1714 represents enormous potential for new research.

Who is it for?

State Papers Online, 1509-1714 is a core resource for any student or researcher studying and publishing in the following areas:

  • Early modern British and European history, including diplomacy, politics, society, culture, law, religion, kingship and queenship, exploration, travel and trade, and the early empire
  • Early modern literature
  • Renaissance and Reformation studies
  • Tudor and Stuart studies

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Collections

State Papers Online, 1509-1714: Part I: The Tudors, Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic

This collection delivers access to the official records of the secretaries of state serving the ruling monarch of the day, encompassing every facet of early modern government, including social and economic affairs, law and order, religious policy, crown possessions, and intelligence. Part I delivers the complete series of State Papers Domestic for the Tudor era.

State Papers Online: Ireland, Scotland, Borders and Registers of the Privy Council

This collection contains State Papers Foreign, Scotland, Borders, and Ireland together with the Registers (Minutes) of the Privy Council for the sixteenth century. These documents record the relationship between England and the rest of Europe, as well as the relationships among the European states, both Catholic and Protestant.

State Papers Online: State Papers Domestic: Part III: The Stuarts: James I to Anne, 1603–1714

State Papers Domestic for the Stuart era (1603-1714) is the richest primary source archive of its kind to cover national affairs in England in the seventeenth century. The manuscripts and accompanying calendars are vital to any scholar's understanding of this turbulent century of civil strife, revolution, and regicide. Users can explore the nature of monarchy, the details of religious conflict, and the emergence of party politics.

State Papers Online, 1509-1714: Part IV: The Stuarts: James to Anne, 1603-1714: State Papers Foreign: Ireland, Scotland and Registers of Privy Council

Part IV completes the State Papers of the Stuart period and contains volumes of documents from, to, and about all the countries of Europe. Many of these countries have lost their own collections from this period, increasing the rarity and value of these British State Papers. All the great international themes of the seventeenth century play out in document after document, making them an essential resource for not only British but European history: marriage alliances, revolutions, wars and treaties, trade and commerce, and religion.

State Papers Online: The Stuart and Cumberland Papers from the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle

Digitized for the first time, the Stuart and Cumberland papers from the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle are now available online in their entirety. The Stuart papers represent the correspondence and personal documents of the exiled members of the Stuart dynasty after 1688. Available here alongside the Cumberland papers of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and second surviving son of George II, they provide a unique window into the world of the Stuarts and their Jacobite followers, as well as to the incumbent Hanoverian monarchy during a time of continental wars, domestic conspiracies and rival claims to the Throne.

Product Features & Tools

Cross-Search Capability

Search across State Papers Domestic, Foreign, Ireland, and the registers of the Privy Council from 15th to 18th centuries.

Comparative Analysis

View two manuscripts side by side to compare drafts or handwriting.

Multiple Ways to Explore

Search across the Calendar entries and link to the manuscript, or browse each manuscript volume folio by folio.

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Related Products

State Papers Online: State Papers Domestic: Military and Naval and the Registers

This collection focuses research on British domestic politics and society in an age punctuated by plots, rebellions, uprisings, and financial crises. Part I offers researchers online access to approximately 300,000 folios from the reigns of King George I, King George II, and part of the reign of King George III, plus military, naval, and plantation registers, sheriffs' lists, and State Papers of Scotland and Ireland.

State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782: Part II: State Papers Foreign: Low Countries and Germany

State Papers Foreign: Low Countries and Germany expands on the domestic papers in Part I and presents the first section of the foreign papers during the reigns of George I, George II, and George III until 1782, when the State Papers series ends.

State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782: Part III: Western Europe

Papers series relating to France, Portugal, Spain, Malta, the Italian States and Rome, Genoa, Tuscany, Venice, Savoy and Sardinia, Sicily and Naples. It also includes the Royal letters and Treaties series. These are the papers written or received by the secretaries of state in their conduct of British diplomacy and intelligence gathering. They document the relationship of the Hanoverian monarchs with the rulers, governments and commerce of Western Europe. Scholars will also find narratives of each country’s history running through the letters and reports as events, debates, discussions, conversations and gossip are relayed back to London.