IV. John Lingard and the Simancas Archives

John Lingard (1771–1851) was the first English historian to attempt to look at the history of England in the sixteenth century from an international point of view. He was unconvinced by the story of the Reformation in England as found in the works of previous historians such as Burnet and Hume, and believed that new light needed to be thrown on the subject. One way of doing this was to look at English history from the outside, so to speak, and Lingard held it to be a duty of the historian ‘to contrast foreign with native authorities, to hold the balance between them with an equal hand, and, forgetting that he is an Englishman, to judge impartially as a citizen of the world’. In pursuit of this ideal Lingard can be said to have given a new dimension to the source materials for English history. As parish priest in the small village of Hornby, near Lancaster, Lingard had few opportunities for travel. But he made good use of his various friends and former pupils at Douai and Ushaw colleges who were settled now in various parts of Europe. It was with the help of these friends that Lingard made contacts with and gained valuable information from archives in France, Italy and Spain. We shall concern ourselves here only with the story of Lingard's contacts with the great Spanish State Archives at Simancas

Archaeology · Duty · Gentry · Political science · State (computer science · Classics · Computer Science · Historical and Literary Analyses · Historical Art and Culture Studies · Historical Studies on Spain · History · Law

• The Transition in English Historical Writing 1760–1830

  Thomas Preston Peardon•The Transition in English…•1933

  Add to list

• The Conspiracy of Dr. Lopez

  ARTHUR DIMOOK•The English Historical Review•1894

  Add to list

• The Rise of the Spanish Empire

  Roger Bigelow Merriman•Geographical Journal•1919

  Add to list