About the project

The expense and receipt books of the King's Chamber, known as the Chamber Books, are the single most important source for understanding both the public rule (kingship, government and state finance, including the infamous bonds and recognisances) and the private life (material culture, alms-giving, and the rhythms of daily life at court) of Henry VII and Henry VIII up to 1521.

Historians never used the Chamber Books systematically, due to their bulk (over 4000 manuscript pages) and their organisation, which is mainly into daily entries, and they have never been published.

This project, which started in Sept. 2016 and is funded by the Leverhulme Trust, will provide a freely accessible digital edition, fully searchable and manipulable. Based on this resource, the project team will publish a major reappraisal of early Tudor kingship and the culture of the court.

Principal Investigator: Dr James Ross.

Further information

Visit the project website for more in-depth information on the project, the full research team, publications and blogs.

Follow us on Twitter: @TudorKingship

Recent events

Project Conference, 29/30 August 2018, University of Winchester

A conference celebrating the launch of the digital edition of the Chamber Books of Henry VII and Henry VIII (1485 - 1521). 

Download the Kingship, Court and Society conference programme

Image: Richmond Palace, drawn by Antony Wyngaerde, dated 1562.