Parliaments, Politics and Elections, 1604–1648

Highlights the breadth of surviving material for seventeenth century Parliaments in England.

Chris R. Kyle (Edited by)

9780521802147, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 September 2001

368 pages
22.5 x 14.7 x 2.4 cm, 0.589 kg

"First-rate researchers, most having some experience with the History of Parliament Trust, have expertly edited and introduced five sources that bear on early Stuart parliamentary history." H-ALBION

This volume reproduces a wide range of parliamentary documents from the seventeenth century. It presents Parliament as an institutional event which generated great interest within both the gates of the Palace of Westminster and in the country at large. The volume includes the unpublished notes and diaries of the 1604–10 Parliament by Sir Edward Montagu, Sir Robert Cotton and Sir George Manners and Committee lists highlight the apathetic attitude of MPs and the chaotic nature of the nascent bureacracy. The translation of two letters from the Spanish Ambassador, Gondomar, to the Infanta details the personal nature of James I's kingship and reveals much about his attitude to Parliament and why the 1621 Parliament ended in acrimony. Finally, the inclusion of 117 letters sent to Hull by its MPs between 1644 and 1648 illustrate a fascinating interaction between centre and locality and highlights the localist nature of Hull politics.

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction Chris R. Kyle
1. Debates in the House of Commons, 1604–1607 Simon Healy
2. War or Peace? Jacobean politics and the Parliament of 1621 Brennan Pursell
3. 'It will be a scandal to show what we have done with such a number:' House of commons Committee Attendance Lists, 1606–1628 Chris R. Kyle
4. Tactical Organisation in a contested election: Sir Edward Dering and the spring election at Kent, 1640 Jason Peacey
5. 'Particular businesses' in the Long Parliament: The Hull Letters, 1643–1648 David Scott
Index.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], British & Irish history [HBJD1]