Private alliances and exchange of favours permeated political, social, economic, and artistic life in early modern Europe. These informal patronage relationships, which helped construct ties between monarchs and political elites, were especially strong in early Stuart England. As court patronage grew, so did opportunities for betrayal and corruption. But was early Stuart government really more corrupt than Tudor government? Were the structures of governance becoming unworkable, or were they badly managed by the Stuarts? Did corruption aid modernization? In this study, Linda Levy Peck tackles...