Historical and topographical collections, 1529-1640
Scope & Content:
Collection of historical letters and papers, principally from the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James VI and I. From the collection of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician. Partly assembled by Cotton and William Camden (1551–1623), historian an...
Records and papers concerning England and the Low Countries, 1588–1589
Scope & Content:
Records and papers concerning England and the Low Countries, 1588-1589. ff. 3r-4v Letter from Sir William Russell to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Reporting the dangers he apprehends for Flushing. Flushing, January 2 1587-8. ff. 5r-6v Memorandum for Joachim Ortell, agent sent from the Stat...
Collection Area:
Western Manuscripts
Languages:
Cipher, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish
Records and papers (originals and transcripts) concerning Anglo-Spanish relations, 1587-1603
Scope & Content:
This is a collection of transcripts and original documents. A number of documents are identified as gifts, or translations from the papers of, the Spanish Ambassador (Gondomar) in 1615 ((ff. 11*r, 276r-v, 281r-284r, 289r-293v). Some of the documents probably came from Robert Beale. The document...
Penitential and similar texts including excerpts from Gennadius of Marseilles, Liber Ecclesiasticorum Dogmatum, and Bernard of Clairvaux, Parabolae; Canones Penitentiales Secundum Ieronimum; Fulbert of Chartres, De Peccatis Capitalibus; anonymous penitential texts; Adso of Montier-en-Der, De Ortu et Tempore Antichristi; Pseudo-Jerome, Quindecim Signa Ante Iudicium; a collection of sermons for liturgical feasts, including sermons by St Wulfstan, St Augustine of Hippo, St John Chrysostom, and ...
Scope & Content:
This manuscript contains a large collection of penitential texts, papal decrees, conciliar canons, liturgical and theological treatises, sermons, miracles and exempla. Although the manuscript has previously been dated to the 11th or 12th century, the identification of sermons by Geoffrey Babio (...
Letters to the Earls of Leicester, Sussex and others
Scope & Content:
Letters to the earls of Leicester, Sussex, and others, mainly from the reign of Elizabeth I and James I (1558-1625). f. 1r partial contents list of letters. ff. 2r-3v Letter from Robert Zinzan to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Reporting his delivery of the Queen’s present of horses to King ...
Collection Area:
Western Manuscripts
Languages:
English, French, German, Greek, Ancient, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish
Records and papers (primarily originals) concerning England and Scotland, 1569–1572.
Scope & Content:
This volume is a rich source of materials for Anglo-Scottish relations and the issue of Mary, Queen of Scots in English and Scottish politics between 1570 and 1572 (there is one document, and possibly another, from 1569). It includes original correspondence of Mary, Queen of Scots (r: 1542–1567;...
Letter-book of Sir Henry Brooke alias Cobham (d. 1592) as English Ambassador in France, 1580-1582
Scope & Content:
This is the letter-book (1580-1582) of Sir Henry Brooke alias Cobham (1537-1592), English Ambassador in France. (Cobham preferred to use the family title of Cobham as surname rather than the actual family name of Brooke). The volume was badly damaged in the fire of the Cotton MSS in 1731, so na...
Records and papers concerning England and Spain, 1262-1509
Scope & Content:
Papers concerning England and Spain, 1262-1509. Including the marriage contract of Arthur, Prince of Wales (1486-1502), and Katherine of Aragon (1485–1536) in 1497 (ff. 227r-237v), and the marriage contract of Prince Henry, later King Henry VIII (1491–1547), and Katherine of Aragon in 1502 (ff. ...
Correspondence and other documents written or attested by various monarchs
Scope & Content:
Correspondence and other documents written or attested by the kings, queens and rulers of England, France, Scotland, Castile, Aragon, Spain, Portugal, Florence, Tuscany, the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary and Russia, including William I of England (1066–1087) and his succes...
Collection Area:
Western Manuscripts
Languages:
Danish, English, French, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish
Date Range:
4th quarter of the 11th century-1st quarter of the 17th century
Records and papers concerning England and Scotland, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I
Scope & Content:
ff. 4r–414v: Records and papers (originals and copies) concerning England and Scotland, from the reigns of Henry VIII (1509–1547) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603), including The Act for furthering of Iustice in criminall causes, 9 November 1588 (Edinburgh: Henrie Charteris, 158), STC 21887.5, ff. 38r...
Collection Area:
Western Manuscripts
Languages:
Cipher, English, French, Latin, Scots, and Spanish