"This is a study of the social and cultural implications of the growth of governance which occurred in England in the context of social and economic change in the century after 1550. Although historians have long associated this period with centralization, with the quickening tempo of local administration, and with an increase in litigation, these trends have usually been discussed in isolation. This book analyses the relationship between these historiographies of government by exploring the growth and elaboration of the role of the early modern state. It is less concerned with institutional development than with the cultural role played by the middling sort in social and political regulation, especially through recourse to law."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This is a study of the social and cultural implications of the growth of governance in England in the century after 1550. It is principally concerned with the role played by the middling sort in social and political regulation, especially through the use of the law. It discusses the evolution of public policy in the context of contemporary understandings and of economic change. It also analyses litigation, arbitration, social welfare, criminal justice, moral regulation and parochial administration as manifestations of the increasing role of the state in early modern England.

This book examines the development of the English state during the long seventeenth century, emphasising the impersonal forces which shape the uses of political power, rather than the purposeful actions of individuals or groups. It is a study of state formation rather than of state building. The author's approach does not however rule out the possibility of discerning patterns in the development of the state, and a coherent account emerges which offers some alternative answers to relatively well-established questions. In particular, it is argued that the development of the state in this period was shaped in important ways by social interests - particularly those of class, gender and age. It is also argued that this period saw significant changes in the form and functioning of the state which were, in some sense, modernising. The book therefore offers a narrative of the development of the state in the aftermath of revisionism.

This is a study of the social and cultural implications of the growth of governance in England in the century after 1550. It is principally concerned with the role played by the middling sort in social and political regulation, especially through the use of the law. It discusses the evolution of public policy in the context of contemporary understandings, of economic change; and analyses litigation, arbitration, social welfare, criminal justice, moral regulation and parochial analyses administration as manifestations of the increasing role of the state in early modern England.

This volume is part of the Seminar Studies in History series which aims to provide concise analyses of complex issues and problems in important A level modern history topics. They use supporting documents designed to give students a clear account of historical facts and an understanding of the central themes and differing interpretations. modern England 1590-1720, drawing on recent work concerning the nature of, and the changes in, English society during that period. The author traces the developments of the new approach to and redefinition of social history and then considers the structure of early modern English society. conditions of people and in the structure of society, and changes in people's beliefs and modes of thought, are treated separately. as one which was already modern in some of its features and which had already broken out of its medieval mould. contemporary commentators and travellers, their diaries and letters, official records and contemporary plays and poems.

Early Modern England, first published two decades ago, and recently updated, is one of the most widely used texts in this area of subject study. This new edition incorporates the substanial changes which have swept the field combining more traditional concerns of social history with investigation of the newer items on the agenda of historians. The result is a masterly study, providing the only up-to-date interpretation available for the period.