ABSTRACT
Substantial collections of letters have survived from the sixteenth century. We can read Henry VIIFs love letters to Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More on events that led to his execution, the business correspondence of the Johnson family, Sir Amyas Paulet describing his custodianship of Mary, Queen of Scots, Sir Thomas Gresham on the management of royal finance, or Queen Elizabeth teasing her courtiers. Bishops give their views on ecclesiastical controversies, courtiers share their scandals, ambassadors send news from abroad, and a seaman with Sir Richard Grenville writes from The Revenge. A few letters such as that transcribed in Chapter 7 to a toolmaker survive from humble folk. The vast correspondence of the Cecils and the Privy Council letters preserved in state papers provide a detailed insight into the business of Tudor government. At last it becomes possible to derive much of our political and social history from the correspondence of those who made it, for the country’s business was carried out by writing letters.
