Helen Good has been studying the history of Elizabethan Hull through local and national archives for many years, uncovering stories of witches and magic, inns and fairs, Shakespeare and the Spanish Armada. Her current research is focused on the Elizabethan Star Chamber Project . Operating from 1485 to 1641, the royal prerogative Court of Star Chamber handled criminal and civil cases involving an allegation of violence. Organised by reign, its archives touch on many aspects of local and family history - public disorder and riots, bribery and corruption, sedition and libel, robbery, illegal hunting, murder and witchcraft, forcible entry, assault, fraud and disputes (municipal, trade and land) - but inadequate indexes have so far left them unexploited. Helen and colleagues are working on the Elizabethan records (1558-1603) - c.100,000 documents, grouped under c.35,000 references and representing c.15,000 cases - to produce freely searchable personal and geographical indexes
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