This study of politics in early modern England uses the relations between provincial towns, the landed elite, and the crown to argue that the growth of connections, as much as of conflict, explains the development of early modern government. Institutions provided a basic structure, but government relied on individuals and patronage for the articulation of political power. Patronage linked the powerful with the petitioners, enabling not only communication but also access and enforcement; personal connections made government work. This book shows the paradigmatic nature of patronage by...