I am writing an essay on 'What was the significance of Protector Somersets actions in provoking disorder and rebellion?' I am an A Level Student and am 17 years old.
Im looking at things like the religious reform, economic issues as well as things beyond his control like harvest failures and the fact that in regards to foreign policy it was not necessarily his own actions that provked problems but instead was the situation left by Henry VIII.
I have to include a variety of Primary and Secondary sources in this and am having a great deal of difficulty in finding relevant onces.
I would appreciate any general help in this.
Thanks
I hate to see a post go unanswered. Here are some ideas for you.
ReplyDelete1. You should not spend time reading an entire book. Use the table of contents and the index to find the sections relevant to your topic and just read those bits including a little before and after.
Start with secondary sources. You could look at Eamon Duffy's, 'The Stripping of the Altars'; any of the books on Edward VI will probably have relevant bits - try Diarmaid MacCulloch 'The Boy King'. Also you might want to look at Merriman's 'The Rough Wooings' about England's conflict with Scotland during Edward's reign. Also maybe Guy's 'Tudor England'.
Edward VI's diary has been published and that would count as a primary source. I just saw this one on Amazon 'England under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary: With the Contemporary History of Europe, Illustrated in a Series of Original Letters Never before Printed' edited by Tyler.
Most of these should be available at a library. Visit the biggest library you can get to and ask a librarian for help locating these books, or books on these topics.
You should look at printed primary sources. The most comprehensive will be the State Papers Domestic. They are available for free online at the internet archive.
http://www.archive.org/details/calendarofstatep03greauoft
The thing to remember about the primary sources is that YOU have to decide what's important and what's not. So you have to read a lot of stuff before you can analyze what is relevant to your paper and why.
One of your issues may be the number of things you are looking at. You may want to drop foreign policy unless you limit it to Scotland.
Hope this helps somewhat - and Good Luck!