Condemned as 'useless and dangerous', the House of Lords was abolished in the revolution of 1649, shortly after the execution of the King. When it was reinstated, along with the monarchy, as part of the Restoration of 1660, the House entered into one of the most turbulent and dramatic periods in its history. Over the next half century or more, the Lords were the stage on which some of the critical confrontations in English and British constitutional and political history were played out: the battles over the exclusion from the throne of the later James II; the key debates over the 'abdication' of William III; the many struggles over the Act of Union with Scotland. This highly illustrated book presents the first results from the research undertaken by the History of Parliament Trust on the peers and bishops between the Restoration and the accession of George I. It shows them as politicians at Westminster, engaging with the central arguments of the day, but also using Parliament to pursue their own projects; as members of an elite intensely conscious of their status and determined to defend their honour against commoners, Irish peers and each other; as a class apart, always active in devising new schemes - successful and unsuccessful - to increase their wealth and 'interest'; and as local grandees, to whom local society looked for leadership and protection. From the proud Duke of Somerset to the beggarly Lord Mohun, from the devious Earl of Oxford to the disgruntled Lord Lucas, the material here presents an initial impression of the nature of the Restoration House of Lords and the men who formed it, showing them in their best moments, when they vigorously defended the law and the constitution, and in their worst, as they obsessively concerned themselves with honour and precedence and indefatigably pursued private interests. Edited by Ruth Paley and Paul Seaward, with Beverly Adams, Robin Eagles, Stuart Handley and Charles Littleton

This institutional history charts the development and evolution of parliament from the Scottish and Irish parliaments, through the post-Act of Union parliament and into the devolved assemblies of the 1990s. It considers all aspects of parliament as an institution, including membership, parties, constituencies and elections.

This publication contains the Standing Orders of the House of Lords which set out information on the procedure and working of the House, under a range of headings including: Lords and the manner of their introduction; excepted hereditary peers; the Speaker; general observances; debates; arrangement of business; bills; divisions; committees; parliamentary papers; public petitions; privilege; making or suspending of Standing Orders.

This book examines the lead up to the passage of the Statute of Anne 1709 and charts the movement of copyright law throughout the eighteenth century.