“We have no newes in ower countrye”: news and political debate in Elizabethan gentry letters

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While the dissemination of news and political information in early modern England and Europe has become a matter of considerable debate in recent years, this paper addresses a relatively neglected aspect of the topic: the transmission of news within the wider political elite during the reign of Elizabeth I. Contrary to some accounts of a vibrant news culture in this period, I argue that the discussion of news even within ostensibly private, informal letters was very constrained both in quantity and quality. Means of communication which became common in the seventeenth century (such as the use of manuscript separates or professional London newsletter-writers) remained rarities at this point.

The paper explores what was or was not communicated, what could or could not be written, and why. By extension, it considers what this tells us about the role which the gentry played in Elizabethan politics, and how the situation began to change around the turn of the century.

Neil Younger is Senior Lecturer in History in the School of Arts and Humanities at the Open University

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The Institute of Historical Research (IHR)
Senate House
Malet Street
London
WC1E 7HU

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