What can the new historiography of political thought, political anthropology and sociology, and literary historicism contribute to our understanding of the Tudor commonwealth? This volume of essays looks at the languages, debates and underlying structures of Tudor political thought and policy. Emphasizing the intellectual and the cultural, and introducing interdisciplinary methods and perspectives, the essays address a range of problems in Tudor politics and statecraft which have traditionally received little attention. Issues such as the political uses of the past, approaches to resistance,...

Shining new light onto an historically pivotal time, this book re-examines the Tudor commonwealth from a socio-political perspective and looks at its links to its own past. Each essay in this collection addresses a different aspect of the intellectual and cultural climate of the time, going beyond the politics of state into the underlying thought and tradition that shaped Tudor policy. Placing security and economics at the centre of debate, the key issues are considered in the context of medieval precedence and the wider European picture.