Neil Younger
neilayounger.bsky.social
Neil Younger
@neilayounger.bsky.social
Historian of early modern England at the Open University. Convenor of the IHR Tudor & Stuart Seminar. Live-tweeting the reign of Elizabeth I. New(ish) book on Sir Christopher Hatton: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526159496/
Pinned
It occurred to me lately that I started studying Elizabeth I's reign as a postgrad 24 1/2 years ago (yikes), and also that Elizabeth's reign, at 44 years, is probably about the length of my academic career. By this logic, in terms of my-career-transposed-onto-Elizabeth's-reign, it's 1 March 1582.
Reposted by Neil Younger
25 November 1582: Quiet day in the archives today, mainly foreign news for Walsingham. The ambassador in France sends a long report; the French are preparing another attack on the Azores; there are reports that the Duke of Florence 'is troubled in his mind with some alteration ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
25 November 1582: Quiet day in the archives today, mainly foreign news for Walsingham. The ambassador in France sends a long report; the French are preparing another attack on the Azores; there are reports that the Duke of Florence 'is troubled in his mind with some alteration ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
24 November 1582: John Dee, who has been in intense conversation with the angels the past few days, records a rather distressing night in his diary: 'I dremed that I was deade, and afterward my bowels wer taken out I walked and talked with diverse, and among other with the Lord .... 1/
#earlymodern
November 24, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Reposted by Neil Younger
Just a reminder about our seminar tonight:
Richard Hoyle (Reading): 'Harvest variability in the 1580s: volume and prices at the mills of the earl of Shrewsbury in Sheffield (Yorkshire), 1578-1588'

Book here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

All welcome, in-person or online.

Abstract below.
Harvest variability in the 1580s: volume and prices at the mills of the earl of Shrewsbury in Sheffield (Yorkshire), 1578-1588
www.history.ac.uk
November 24, 2025 at 12:15 PM
24 November 1582: John Dee, who has been in intense conversation with the angels the past few days, records a rather distressing night in his diary: 'I dremed that I was deade, and afterward my bowels wer taken out I walked and talked with diverse, and among other with the Lord .... 1/
#earlymodern
November 24, 2025 at 9:57 AM
'What condign graces and thanks ought men to give to the writers of histories, who with their great labours have done so much profit to the human life. They show ... what we should enquire, desire and follow, and also what we should eschew, avoid, and utterly fly.' (Lord Berners)
November 22, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
21 November 1582: Burghley writes to Walsingham from Hertford, where he's holding his Exchequer court during the law term adjourned due to plague. He thinks they'll be finished there in 8 days, and wants to know whether the queen wants them to return to court, as he hears she's ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM
21 November 1582: Burghley writes to Walsingham from Hertford, where he's holding his Exchequer court during the law term adjourned due to plague. He thinks they'll be finished there in 8 days, and wants to know whether the queen wants them to return to court, as he hears she's ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Neil Younger
20 November 1582: William Harborne is appointed England's first resident ambassador to the Ottoman Empire by Elizabeth I. He's paid, however, by the Turkey Company, established the previous year, to guard the interests of English traders. Harborne has already ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 20, 2025 at 12:31 PM
20 November 1582: William Harborne is appointed England's first resident ambassador to the Ottoman Empire by Elizabeth I. He's paid, however, by the Turkey Company, established the previous year, to guard the interests of English traders. Harborne has already ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 20, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
19 November 1582: Just a few bits today (busy day): the earl of Shrewsbury writes to his servant Baldwin that his ship the Talbot (doesn't everyone have a ship?) has had an unsuccessful voyage; I think it may have been sent after pirates. Anyway, he wants some 'little rarities' ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 19, 2025 at 6:49 PM
19 November 1582: Just a few bits today (busy day): the earl of Shrewsbury writes to his servant Baldwin that his ship the Talbot (doesn't everyone have a ship?) has had an unsuccessful voyage; I think it may have been sent after pirates. Anyway, he wants some 'little rarities' ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 19, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
17 November 1582: It's Accession Day! 24 years since Elizabeth came to the throne. Sadly, the plague raging in London means that celebrations are muted - no big tournament this time. However, there are records from across the country that bells were rung, candles lit, sermons ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 17, 2025 at 10:26 AM
17 November 1582: It's Accession Day! 24 years since Elizabeth came to the throne. Sadly, the plague raging in London means that celebrations are muted - no big tournament this time. However, there are records from across the country that bells were rung, candles lit, sermons ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 17, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Neil Younger
16 November 1582: In the Stationers' Register today, 'a ballade intituled, Yorke Yorke for my money of the merry reporte of Archery'. Known now only from a 1584 reprint, it describes an archery competition in York, witnessed by the Russian ambassadors (who must have been passing... 1/
#earlymodern
November 16, 2025 at 12:17 PM
16 November 1582: In the Stationers' Register today, 'a ballade intituled, Yorke Yorke for my money of the merry reporte of Archery'. Known now only from a 1584 reprint, it describes an archery competition in York, witnessed by the Russian ambassadors (who must have been passing... 1/
#earlymodern
November 16, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
15 November 1582: In Mortlake, Dr John Dee is conversing with angels again, along with his scryer Edward Kelley, with whom he has recently reconciled. Dee starts a new record book today, his Quartus Liber Mysteriorum, and they use a 'showstone', or crystal ball. They speak ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 15, 2025 at 3:21 PM
15 November 1582: In Mortlake, Dr John Dee is conversing with angels again, along with his scryer Edward Kelley, with whom he has recently reconciled. Dee starts a new record book today, his Quartus Liber Mysteriorum, and they use a 'showstone', or crystal ball. They speak ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 15, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
14 November 1582: Lots of letters for Lord Burghley today. First, Philip Sidney, passing on a letter from his father Henry; he'd intended to visit in person, but Burghley is so grief-stricken he does not, not least because he and Burghley's late son-in-law, Wentworth 'weare ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 14, 2025 at 12:09 PM
14 November 1582: Lots of letters for Lord Burghley today. First, Philip Sidney, passing on a letter from his father Henry; he'd intended to visit in person, but Burghley is so grief-stricken he does not, not least because he and Burghley's late son-in-law, Wentworth 'weare ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 14, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
13 November 1582: The earl of Leicester writes to Burghley with condolences on the death of his son-in-law, excusing their lateness with a disturbing tale of his own; he'd been at his house at Wanstead, but one of his servants fell sick of the plague, and since everyone had ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
13 November 1582: The earl of Leicester writes to Burghley with condolences on the death of his son-in-law, excusing their lateness with a disturbing tale of his own; he'd been at his house at Wanstead, but one of his servants fell sick of the plague, and since everyone had ... 1/
#earlymodern
November 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
12 November 1582: The court of James VI continues to be much more eventful than that of his cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth's envoy, Robert Bowes, has, rather extraordinarily, been hunting for a casket, perhaps this one, containing the originals of the (in)famous Casket Letters from... 1/
#earlymodern
November 12, 2025 at 1:31 PM
12 November 1582: The court of James VI continues to be much more eventful than that of his cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth's envoy, Robert Bowes, has, rather extraordinarily, been hunting for a casket, perhaps this one, containing the originals of the (in)famous Casket Letters from... 1/
#earlymodern
November 12, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Neil Younger
9 November 1582: John Somer, one of Walsingham's espionage apparatchiks, writes to Walsingham about a conversation with Elizabeth I. He has evidently been talking to Archibald Douglas, an exiled Scot and inveterate (Protestant) conspirator, who seems to be back in the business. 1/
#earlymodern
November 9, 2025 at 2:26 PM