Chapters in this book

1. Front matter i
2. Dedication v
3. Contents vii
4. Notes on contributors ix
5. Acknowledgements xi
6. List of abbreviations xii
7. 1 Introduction 1
8. 2 Polydore Vergil and the first English parliament 37
9. 3 ‘The consent of the body of the whole realme’ 60
10. 4 The Elizabethan Church and the antiquity of parliament 77
11. 5 Parliament and the principle of elective succession in Elizabethan England 106
12. 6 Elizabethan chroniclers and parliament 133
13. 7 The significance (and insignificance) of precedent in early Stuart parliaments 153
14. 8 The politic history of early Stuart parliaments 172
15. 9 ‘That memorable parliament’ 194
16. 10 Institutional memory and contemporary history in the House of Commons, 1547–1640 211
17. 11 Afterword 229
18. Index 245