This book deals with critical aspects of English historical, constitutional and political thought from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. In particular, the book is a study of the ways in which history could be deployed for all kinds of political purposes. The entire story of the historical construct of the "radical ancient constitution" is told, focusing on the ways in which rebels turned to important medieval sources including the so-called "Laws" of Edward the Confessor, in an effort to legitimize resistance, deposition and regicide.

This book deals with critical aspects of English historical, constitutional and political thought from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. In particular, the book is a study of the ways in which history could be deployed for all kinds of political purposes. The entire story of the historical construct of the "radical ancient constitution" is told, focusing on the ways in which rebels turned to important medieval sources including the so-called "Laws" of Edward the Confessor, in an effort to legitimize resistance, deposition and regicide.

Concerned in a general way with theories of legitimacy, this book describes a transformation in English political thought between the opening of the civil war in 1642 and the Bill of Rights in 1689. When it was complete, the political nation as a whole had accepted the modern idea of parliamentary or legal sovereignty. The authors argue that a conservative theory of order, which assigned the king a lofty and unrivalled position, gave way in these years to a more radical community-centered view of government by which the king shared law-making on equal terms with the House of Lords and the...