So here I am, excited to fill you in on how my Edward VI research and writing has been going.
SO... I have been having to do my best with what's available online and what's been cited in other secondary sources. And that really hasn't been an entirely dismal - it's just a challenge. Add that to the fact that my little local libraries have a MUCH different selection of books on the political and religious landscape of the mid-Tudor period than what I'm used to at my Oxford colleges. Again, a challenge! Luckily, I have found a very nice resource in Shenandoah University - just a few miles away from home, which contains many of the sources that I've had trouble getting my hands on. I've learned, through the work I've done on this manuscript so far, that having an educational institution at your disposal is essential. It also provides a lovely and quiet place to work. (If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I spend a glorious seven-hour stretch there just last week, and it made me feel very nostalgic for my Oxford days.)
I'm also extraordinarily lucky, given that many of the most valuable primary sources are available online in digitized formats. The various Calendars of State Papers (Domestic, Spanish, Venetian, etc.) are all mercifully available - and while I'd love to be poring over these texts in person, I'll take what I can get. Letters and papers during the reign of Henry VIII are also online (though I bought myself a hard copy from Amazon), as well as Hall's Chronicle, the Lisle Letters, and various personal letters between Edward, Mary, Elizabeth, and Katherine Parr.
Which has been my favorite source so far, you ask? I feel extremely fortunate that we have Edward's own words to reflect on, courtesy of his Chronicle (or 'Diary') that he kept between ages twelve and fifteen. Though he shares very little of his emotion in the words he writes, he does give an account of his reign through his own eyes and pen. The value of such a resource - frustrating as it might be at times - cannot be overstated. However, the real star in my primary source reading has been the Imperial Ambassador Francois van der Delft, who frequently wrote back to Charles V about the goings-on at the English court between 1545 and 1550. His descriptions of events - incredibly detailed and at times full of humor - have been some of my favorite words to read as I've transported myself back to Edward's reign. When I had to write about his death in June 1550 just a couple of weeks ago, I had a brief few moments of mourning for the loss of his account of events. His successor as Charles V's ambassador, Jean Scheyfve, is still valuable, but I miss van der Delft.
It's also been really fun. I'm constantly pinching myself because it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that I'm actually writing my first history book! This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember - certainly for the last fifteen years - and a part of me had thought I'd given up on this particular dream when I decided not to pursue the academic life and work towards my PhD. I assumed I would never be in a position to write a book like this for a publisher, and I certainly never could have guessed that said publisher would actually approach me about it. I feel enormously lucky every day - even when finding the time to right proves to be a challenge. All I can hope is that I'm doing the research, the writing, the story of Edward VI the credit and justice that it's due. I'm working very hard to do exactly that.
I can't wait to share more with you as the months progress and I come closer to finishing the first draft and submitting it. If you're interested, be sure to follow me on Twitter, where I share frequent writing updates and anecdotes (@TudorEnthusiast). By the end of the year, I hope to have completed the writing, so that the month of January can be devoted to editing and cleaning up... and if you're following along, you can hold me accountable!
I can't wait to share Edward VI with you in due time.