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Renaissance

Click here to learn more about the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies at the University of Birmingham. Frans Hals, Man with a Skull © The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

There are hundreds of fascinating documents in the Sutherland Papers relating to English history and culture in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Brought together under the name ‘Renaissance’, the documents explored here date back to the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I.

Staff and students at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies have examined some of the letters, bills, legal papers and household accounts from this period which survive in the Sutherland Papers, creating pages exploring the content and context of these fascinating documents.Click on the links below to learn more about their work with the collection.

Seventeenth Century Love Letters
PhD student Katie Wright specialises in religious identity and material culture in post-Reformation England. She has examined and transcribed letters written by Katherine Duddeley, later Leveson, to Sir Richard Leveson during the couple’s courtship and following their marriage. These fascinating letters provide an insight into courtship and marriage rituals during the early seventeenth century.

Click here to read Katie’s article The Seventeenth Century Love Letters of Katherine Duddeley (later Leveson) to Richard Leveson

Click here to see Katherine Duddeley’s letters and read Katie’s transcriptions of these fascinating documents

The Life of Francis Coppinger
PhD student Mary Partridge specialises in Elizabethan Court culture. Mary has examined and transcribed documents in the Sutherland Papers relating to the life of Francis Coppinger, a ward of William Brooke, Lord Cobham. These fascinating bills and legal papers tell us about Francis Coppinger’s life and education and his scandalous clandestine marriage to Elizabeth Randolph in 1596. In addition to producing transcriptions of documents relating to Francis Coppinger’s secret marriage, Mary has written an article exploring the background, family politics and consequences of the clandestine marriage in 1596.

Click here to see documents relating to clothing and education in the late sixteenth century and read Mary’s transcriptions

Click here to see documents relating to the secret marriage of Francis Coppinger and read Mary’s transcriptions

Click here to read Mary’s article Francis Coppinger’s Secret Marriage

Sir John Leveson of Halling & William Lambarde
Dr. Neil Younger is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies, University of Birmingham. During his doctoral research he worked extensively on the archive of Sir John Leveson (1555-1615), now part of the Sutherland Papers. Neil has examined the correspondence of famous Elizabethan writer William Lambarde and Sir John Leveson between 1585 and1601. These fascinating letters provide an insight into politics, government and family life in England during the late sixteenth century.

Click here to read Neil’s article The Correspondence of William Lambarde and John Leveson

Click here to see the correspondence of William Lambarde and John Leveson and to read Neil’s interpretation and transcriptions of these letters

Trentham Gardens in the Seventeenth Century
PhD student Jill Francis specialises in gardening practices during the early modern period. Jill has examined the building and garden labour accounts for Trentham during the 1630s which survive in the Sutherland Papers. These accounts provide a fascinating insight into the design of the gardens at Trentham during the early seventeenth century.

Click here to read Jill’s article Trentham Gardens in the Seventeenth Century: An Account of the Work Carried out on the Garden during the Rebuilding of Trentham Hall by Sir Richard Leveson, 1633-37