Published by Primary Source Microfilm

The great clashes between Church and State, Protestants and Catholics and the King and Rome are extensively documented in this collection of previously unpublished volumes from Lambeth Palace Library.

The collection is divided into three sections:

The Gibson Papers (Lambeth MSS.929-942)

This important set of papers was the property of Edward Gibson, Bishop of London, who acquired them via Archbishop Thomas Tenison, whose papers are prominent. They touch upon a wide variety of issues, including the Church in Ireland, the Episcopal Clergy of Scotland, Jews, recusants, the Popish Plot, the Toleration Act and the state of religion in Europe. Also included is a volume of the papers of Francis Bacon from 1603 to 1625 concerning personal and state affairs.

The Fairhurst Papers (Lambeth MSS. 2000-2019)

This is a notable collection of manuscripts detailing the history of the Church of England which was kept in the Archbishop of Canterbury's study until the advent of Civil War. Included are the papers of Burghley, Walsingham, Cardinal Campeggio and a number of Archbishops including Grindal, Cranmer and Whitgift. Royal and papal documents are also featured, including a copy of the bill excommunicating King Henry VIII.

The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon (Lambeth MSS.2341-2342)

These are the papers prepared for the papal legates Cardinals Wolsey and Campeggio who heard the suit at Blackfriars in 1529. There are legal opinions of bishops and ecclesiastical lawyers or scholars and copies of papal bills concerning the validity of marriage.

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