THE University of York is among the first UK institutions to offer students online access to the largest set of government documents from early modern history.

Having State Papers Online (SPO), 1509-1714, means that students at the university will be able to take 16th- and 17th-century – Tudor and Stuart – historical research to a new level.

The University of York has one of the largest history departments in the UK and a very prestigious research culture, attracting students from all over the world.

Dr John Cooper, University fo York history lecturer, said: “Using SPO we have built in to our new first-year undergraduate programme a series of York-based case studies to teach students how historians have researched the stories they are learning about – this is something they will not have learned at school. We ask students to read important works, compare articles and discuss the relative significance of York-based stories.

“For example, Henry VIII’s visit to York in 1541 came about following the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion of 1536-7 which generated enormous correspondence – all of which can be found in SPO.”