Tudor Historical Thought is a revealing account of vital changes in intellectual orientation. Originally published in 1967, F.J. Levy's seminal work explores the factors - humanism, theology, antiquarianism, Machiavellianism - that brought about the changes in historical thinking from the time of Caxton to that of Bacon, Raleigh, and Camden.

Earlier, the study of the past was justified on utilitarian grounds, and the purpose of history writing was didactic. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, chroniclers exemplified the workings of Providence and taught personal...