Politics and Nation: England 1450 – 1660

This book provides a political narrative of the rise and fall of the Tudor monarchy key to understanding the history of the years 1450 to 1660.

The theme is the relationship between the Crown and the aristocracy and how a partnership was created partly by the actions of the Crown and partly by the changing composition and attitudes of the political nation. It begins with the chaos of factional quarrels which was the political life of England under Henry VI in the 1450s and then examines the rebuilding of the strength of royal government under Edward IV, Henry VII and Henry VIII. That government was tested in various ways under Edward VI and Mary, reached its peak under Elizabeth, and declined under James I. The partnership finally broke down in the civil war of the 1640s and the Tudor monarchy collapsed.

This is the life cycle of a political system created out of necessity and fashioned by a mixture of vision and circumstance. After its collapse the Republic failed to create a viable alternative, but the resurrection of the old system after 1660 was more apparent than real.

Preface to the Fourth Edition.

Preface to the Third Edition.

Introduction.

Part I: The Eclipse of the Medieval Monarchy, 1450–1521:.

1. The Lack of Governance.

2. The Collapse of Obedience.

3. The Restoration of Authority.

4. The Foundation of the Tudor Monarchy.

Part II: The Establishment and Testing of the Tudor Monarchy, 1521–1570:.

5. The Administration of Cardinal Wolsey.

6. Thomas Cromwell and the Crisis of Authority.

7. Henry VIII and his Legacy.

8. Religious Reaction and the Spanish Marriage.

9. A New Queen and a New Identity.

Part III: The Decline of the Tudor Monarchy, 1571–1629:.

10. The Years of Stability.

11. The Stresses of War.

12. The New King and the Old Problems.

13. The Ascendancy of the Duke of Buckingham.

Part IV: The Collapse of Traditional Government, 1630–1660:.

14. The Failure of Communication.

15. Constitutional Stalemate and Civil War.

16. The Fall of the Monarchy, and Military Dictatorship.

Historiographical Appendix.

Notes.

Select Bibliography.

Index.

David Loades is Emeritus Professor of the University of Wales and Honorary Research Professor of the University o0f Sheffield. He taught at the universities of St Andrews and Durham before moving to the University of Wales, Bangor in 1980 as Professor of History. His previous books include Mary Tudor: A Life (1989), The Tudor Court (1986) and Tudor Government (1997).