How to look for records of... Political history in the Early Modern era – an overview

This guide provides an overview of political records held at The National Archives, dating from the early modern period, covering the 16^th, 17^th and 18th centuries.The advice here will help you to get your research into English and British early modern political government started, with links to our more specialist guides will help you to take your next steps and locate specific records.

Latin was regularly used in formal and legal documents until 1733 (except during the Interregnum). The handwriting can be difficult to decipher. See reading old documents for help.

During the early modern period, the monarch was the central source of justice and authority, and records at The National Archives reflect this. Most documents served to implement the king or queen’s decisions or preferences, often referred to in the records as the royal will.At the centre of the government in England was the Privy Council, where the monarch and senior ministers of state were presented with the daily round of business. They handled a vast range of matters, from trade and war to religion and colonial affairs. Each issue generated paperwork, including private petitions, correspondence, and official orders.

The council’s decisions were processed through three key secretarial offices, each with its own seal: the great seal, the privy seal, and the signet. This order reflects the chain of command, but each seal worked independently of each other to ensure the smooth running of government. In doing so, each created paperwork which gives modern researchers access to the early modern decision-making process.

The great seal, held by the Lord Chancellor, was the most senior and authenticated final decisions. Many decisions of government carried authority only if done under that seal. The privy seal issued internal government orders (known as warrants), while the signet, although the lowest ranked seal, was controlled by the secretary of state who oversaw all correspondence on the monarch’s behalf. The signet gave the secretary authority to implement government business in his own right.

The secretary of state’s office evolved significantly over the early modern period, especially from Henry VIII’s reign. Initially a chief minister, the secretary became central to government operations.

It was further expanded, especially during Elizabeth I’s reign, and the authority of the secretary of state increased. There was quickly a need for two secretaries to handle the volume of government business and this division lasted until 1782, when the office of secretary of state was formally divided into the modern Home and Foreign Offices.

The State Papers collection were originally understood to be a private collection of the monarch’s correspondence and were stored at the Rolls Office and at Westminster. The papers from the secretaries of states’ offices were kept separate at the State Papers Office, until they were sorted and assembled in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries into the State Papers, as we now understand them.

Early modern records held at The National Archives, like all records here, were created in the everyday business of the departments and law courts running English and subsequently British governmental affairs.

Political issues were usually dealt with by more than one government department, and records related to a single issue or person can often be found across multiple series. For example, a case taken against a person may result in correspondence within the State Papers; with entries of the matter being discussed at the Privy Council; before the matter was heard at the Star Chamber; and a resulting fine paid into the Exchequer. This will result in the need to examine at least four series, all of which were created independently of the other but exist together.

We recommend that you focus research on political issues in this era on the records of the following government departments and central law courts:

• State Papers
• Privy Council
• The Exchequer
• Court of Chancery enrolments
• Court of Star Chamber
• Court of King’s Bench

The records themselves come in a wide variety of formats and types. Typically, you will find:

• Correspondence. Letters received at the secretary of state’s office from within government, from petitioners within England and Wales, from ambassadorial missions abroad, from royal government in Ireland and Scotland. The list is extensive. Incoming correspondence that became part of the State Papers was sub-divided into Domestic and Foreign, sorted by reign, and bound into volumes.
• Memoranda. Records of issues, decisions, instructions and proceedings as recorded by government clerks and other officials.
• Enrolments. Clerical copies of documents, such as those which were issued under the Great Seal such as patent rolls. The text of the issued document was written onto parchment, which was sewn at the top and bottom, and rolled, ensuring the information on the roll was protected.

In general, locating individual early modern records in our collections is trickier than finding modern records. While searches for modern records usually begin in our online catalogue, the listings for early modern records in the catalogue are less comprehensive and more often a catalogue search will come up short.

To find individual items within early modern records you are likely to need to use calendars and other finding aids, some available online and others held exclusively in our reading rooms in Kew. Calendars give brief descriptions of correspondence and papers in chronological order. Chief among these are the Calendars of State Papers, a vital means of access to the records of the State Paper Office. They are available in our reading rooms and in research libraries but also online, though an institutional subscription.

This research is therefore likely to require a visit to our building, or to another archival or educational institution or a library with an institutional subscription to one or more of the following online sources:

• State Papers Online
• Colonial State Papers
• Privy Council Papers

Records of the State Paper Office are more commonly referred to as State Papers. The modern arrangement of State Papers is into series according to the royal dynasty or overseas interests.

State Papers Domestic

State Papers Domestic are the accumulated papers of the secretaries of state relating to domestic affairs from about 1547 to 1782, at which date the business of the two secretaries was divided between the Home Office and Foreign Office. State Papers Domestic are divided by reign.

For advice on how to find State Papers from specific eras, use the table below to select guides to for the relevant royal dynasties:

State Papers Foreign and Colonial

State Papers Foreign and Colonial are the papers of the secretaries of state in the conduct of British diplomacy abroad. They are divided by country.

Browse the State Papers Foreign list of series, in our catalogue, arranged by country and find research guides on State Papers Foreign and Colonial below:

Online access to State Papers

State Papers Online (institutional subscription required) offers online access to State Papers Domestic, Foreign, Scotland and Ireland.

Colonial State Papers (institutional subscription required) provides access to the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739.

Access to both is available at The National Archives and some major academic and research libraries.

The Privy Council, also known as the King’s Council, was a group of advisers chosen to help the monarch govern. Its members included the chief ministers of state, senior church leaders, important nobles and senior royal household officials. As well as its advisory role, the council also handled legal and administrative matters. It dealt with crimes against the king and reviewed appeals from the public. Until the mid-17th century, it carried out its authority through special courts, like the Star Chamber.Browse our catalogue, in record series PC 2 for registers of the Privy Council, comprising the records of its proceedings, its orders, certain proclamations and the reports of committees. See our research guide for more information.

Records of decisions of the Privy Council judicial committee are available online at the Privy Council Papers website.

The Exchequer was responsible for the accounting and audit of Crown (and therefore government) revenue. The records include those of the departments set up to deal with additional Crown revenues following the Reformation.Browse our catalogue, in record series E for records of the Exchequer, the main financial department of the medieval and early modern English state. They include records of the Court of Augmentation, founded in 1536 to deal with the transfer of land to the Crown when the monasteries were dissolved. Our guide to the dissolution of the monasteries gives more information.

State Papers online also contains some Exchequer records.

The Court of Star Chamber was effectively the Privy Council sitting as a tribunal to enforce law and order in both civil and criminal matters. James I and Charles I used the court to suppress opposition to royal policies, and it became increasingly unpopular in Parliament. Star Chamber was abolished in 1641.

Browse our catalogue in record series STAC for records of the Court of Star Chamber, which was concerned with the enforcement of law and order.

Our research guide gives more information.

The Court of the King’s Bench was the most senior criminal court and had supervisory jurisdiction over inferior criminal courts. It also dealt with some of the most important ‘State trials’ for treason held between 1477 and 1813. Records of these cases were collected together in bags, referred to as ‘baga de secretis’, and this arrangement remains today.

Browse our catalogue for treason trials and other special court cases in the records series KB 8.

You can search the same series by name but you should note that not all the catalogue descriptions of records in KB 8 include a person’s name.

Websites

Search the 18th Century Parliamentary Papers Collection (institutional subscription required) for digitised copies of official papers published by the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Search the London Gazette on The Gazette website by date or keyword for official news from home and abroad from 1665 onwards.

Explore a range of sources in British History Online.

Consult the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (institutional subscription required) for biographies of prominent people.