Manchester University Press
6 Elizabethan chroniclers and parliament
Abstract
Chronicles remained the dominant form of historical writing throughout the sixteenth century, and contained much material about the relationship of parliament and the crown and the wider political community. But how coherent a view of parliament could be derived from the chronicles? That is the question addressed by this essay, primarily through Holinshed, but with reference to the other chronicles on which his account was built. Holinshed included some key texts on parliament, including William Harrison’s reworking of Sir Thomas Smith’s account in De republica Anglorum (1583), significantly enhancing parliament’s role on the succession and church reform, and John Hooker’s Order and Usage (1572), inserted into the Irish section. But Holinshed famously left his chronicles open to variant readings. There was little interest in parliament’s institutional development, or commonwealth legislation, but much more interest in parliament as the bringer of hated taxes, and in the politics of parliaments, particularly relating to monarchical succession. It is argued that readers might take away various understandings from the chronicles, but that in any case the chronicles tended to focus less on institutional structures than on the moral qualities of the country’s leaders who operated them.
Abstract
Chronicles remained the dominant form of historical writing throughout the sixteenth century, and contained much material about the relationship of parliament and the crown and the wider political community. But how coherent a view of parliament could be derived from the chronicles? That is the question addressed by this essay, primarily through Holinshed, but with reference to the other chronicles on which his account was built. Holinshed included some key texts on parliament, including William Harrison’s reworking of Sir Thomas Smith’s account in De republica Anglorum (1583), significantly enhancing parliament’s role on the succession and church reform, and John Hooker’s Order and Usage (1572), inserted into the Irish section. But Holinshed famously left his chronicles open to variant readings. There was little interest in parliament’s institutional development, or commonwealth legislation, but much more interest in parliament as the bringer of hated taxes, and in the politics of parliaments, particularly relating to monarchical succession. It is argued that readers might take away various understandings from the chronicles, but that in any case the chronicles tended to focus less on institutional structures than on the moral qualities of the country’s leaders who operated them.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xii
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Polydore Vergil and the first English parliament 37
- 3 ‘The consent of the body of the whole realme’ 60
- 4 The Elizabethan Church and the antiquity of parliament 77
- 5 Parliament and the principle of elective succession in Elizabethan England 106
- 6 Elizabethan chroniclers and parliament 133
- 7 The significance (and insignificance) of precedent in early Stuart parliaments 153
- 8 The politic history of early Stuart parliaments 172
- 9 ‘That memorable parliament’ 194
- 10 Institutional memory and contemporary history in the House of Commons, 1547–1640 211
- 11 Afterword 229
- Index 245
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- List of abbreviations xii
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Polydore Vergil and the first English parliament 37
- 3 ‘The consent of the body of the whole realme’ 60
- 4 The Elizabethan Church and the antiquity of parliament 77
- 5 Parliament and the principle of elective succession in Elizabethan England 106
- 6 Elizabethan chroniclers and parliament 133
- 7 The significance (and insignificance) of precedent in early Stuart parliaments 153
- 8 The politic history of early Stuart parliaments 172
- 9 ‘That memorable parliament’ 194
- 10 Institutional memory and contemporary history in the House of Commons, 1547–1640 211
- 11 Afterword 229
- Index 245
