Journal of Tudor Studies

Journal of Tudor Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the history, culture, religion, politics, diplomacy, law, literature, art, and material life of the Tudor period in England and its international connections. It publishes original essays, document translations, review articles, and bibliographies that engage with figures such as Henry VII of England, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I of England, and Elizabeth I and with institutions such as the Privy Council of England, the Court of Star Chamber, the Church of England, and the House of Commons. The journal situates Tudor developments in comparative perspective alongside continental counterparts like the Habsburg Netherlands, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.

History

The journal was founded in the late twentieth century by scholars associated with centres such as the Institute of Historical Research, the Cambridge Centre for Early Modern Studies, and the Early Modern Forum to fill a perceived gap between specialised monographs and broader periodicals like The English Historical Review and Past & Present. Early editorial boards included historians connected to universities such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of London, University of Edinburgh, and University of York. Its early issues published work on topics linked to events such as the Field of the Cloth of Gold, the Pilgrimage of Grace, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the Anglo-Spanish relations of the sixteenth century. Over successive decades the journal expanded contributors from institutions such as Trinity College, Cambridge, Magdalen College, Oxford, King's College London, University of St Andrews, and international centres including Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago, and Leiden University.

Scope and content

Coverage encompasses political biography of figures like Thomas Cromwell, Thomas More, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Margaret Beaufort; ecclesiastical change linked to Thomas Cranmer and Stephen Gardiner; legal transformations traced through cases in the Court of Common Pleas and the Star Chamber; diplomatic correspondence involving Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I of France, Suleiman the Magnificent, and Philip II of Spain; and cultural production represented by works such as The Book of Common Prayer, Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and poetry by Edmund Spenser. Articles treat manuscript sources from collections like the Tudor State Papers, the Lambeth Palace Library, the Bodleian Library, the British Library, and archival holdings at The National Archives (UK), and they address material culture found in artifacts such as Tudor armor, royal inventories, and household books associated with houses like Hampton Court Palace and Kenilworth Castle.

Editorial board and peer review

The editorial board typically comprises scholars with appointments at institutions including University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College London, University of Warwick, Queen Mary University of London, University of Birmingham, Princeton University, Columbia University, and The Ohio State University. Editors have often been drawn from named chairs such as the Regius Professor of History (Cambridge), the Regius Professor of Modern History (Oxford), and professorships in early modern studies at King's College London. Peer review is double-blind and overseen by associate editors who commission referees from networks that include members of societies like the Royal Historical Society, the Society for Renaissance Studies, the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, and the Economic History Society. The journal has adopted editorial policies on source editions, archival citation, and digital humanities methods, aligning with best practices exemplified by projects such as the Calendar of State Papers and the Mapping Early Modern London initiative.

Publication format and indexing

Issues appear biannually with themed special issues and general ones; formats include long articles, short notes, document editions, and review essays. The publisher collaborates with university presses and scholarly societies similar to arrangements seen with Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and the Royal Historical Society. The journal is indexed in bibliographic databases and catalogues such as Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Historical Abstracts, JSTOR, and EBSCOhost, and it is discoverable through library catalogues like WorldCat and institutional repositories at universities including University of Michigan and University of Toronto.

Notable articles and contributions

Landmark essays have revisited the political machinery of figures like Cardinal Wolsey and Catherine of Aragon, reinterpreted episodes such as the Essex Rebellion and the Spanish Armada, and introduced new readings of texts by William Shakespeare that foreground sixteenth-century contexts. The journal has published influential document editions of correspondence by Henry VIII and diplomatic dispatches involving Eustace Chapuys and Sir Francis Walsingham, and it has showcased prosopographical studies of networks around Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Lady Jane Grey, and the Howard family. Methodological contributions have bridged palaeography from collections at the Bodleian Library, quantitative prosopography linked to databases modelled on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and digital mapping informed by projects at King's College London and University College London. Review essays have engaged recent monographs from scholars associated with presses such as Yale University Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Manchester University Press.

Category:History journals Category:Tudor England