Based largely on manuscript material, this comprehensive account of the Irish Parliament in the Middle Ages shows that early Irish parliaments cannot be identified either in form or function with their modern namesake and, consequently, demonstrates that the concept of governmental democracy had a much slower, more gradual development than historians have heretofore believed. The history of the Irish Parliaments proper begins with that held at Castledermot in mid-June 1264. During the reign of Edward II and the early years of Edward III significant changes took place—changes, the authors, point out, similar to those taking place in the development of the English Parliament, though there were important differences. The book continues with a description of the Irish Parliament in the middle years of Edward III's reign and concludes with an account of the parliament at Drogheda held in 1494, when the passing of Poyning's Law brought the period of medieval parliaments to a close. The appendices include an almost complete list of the meetings convened between 1264 and 1494, as well as copies of documents that, the authors say, are the only means whereby a close glimpse may be had of the personnel and deliberations of the Privy Council.

The Irish Parliament met for the first time on June 18, 1264 at Castledermott and for the last time in the Parliament House, Dublin, on August 2, 1800. It had lasted for over 500 years, and from 1707 it was the only parliament in the British Empire with the medieval structure of King (represented by the Lord Lieutenant), Lords and Commons. Like the English/British parliament it only met regularly from the end of the 17th century. In 1692 Ireland had a minimal infrastructure; by 1800 it had become recognisable as the country in whose history and culture there is a continuing and irresistible tide of interest worldwide. Since its publication, "History of the Irish Parliament "has acquired an already legendary status. This companion volume looks at Irish society and the personal concerns which influenced the MPs. This volume will form a valuable reference work in addition and complementary to the "History of the Irish Parliament." The six-volume "History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800" was published in 2002. The online resource is available at www.historyoftheirishparliament.com.

Boyce examines the relationship between ideas and political and social reality. A new final chapter considers the development of nationalism in both parts of Ireland, and places the phenomenon of nationalism in a contemporary and European setting

In the last decades of the thirteenth century the British Isles appeared to be on the point of unified rule, dominated by the lordship, law and language of the English. However by 1400 Britain and Ireland were divided between the warring kings of England and Scotland, and peoples still starkly defined by race and nation. Why did the apparent trends towards a single royal ruler, a single elite and a common Anglicised world stop so abruptly after 1300? And what did the resulting pattern of distinct nations and extensive borderlands contribute to the longer-term history of the British Isles? In this innovative analysis of a critical period in the history of the British Isles, Michael Brown addresses these fundamental questions and shows how the national identities underlying the British state today are a continuous legacy of these years. Using a chronological structure to guide the reader through the key periods of the era, this book also identifies and analyses the following dominant themes throughout: - the changing nature of kingship and sovereignty and their links to wars of conquest - developing ideas of community and identity - key shifts in the nature of aristocratic societies across the isles - the European context, particularly the roots and course of the Hundred Years War This is essential reading for undergraduates studying the history of late Medieval Britain or Europe, but will also be of great interest for anyone who wishes to understand the continuing legacy of the late medieval period in Britain.

This book investigates the norms and values of Tudor and early-Stuart politics, which are considered in the contexts of law and the Reformation, legal and administrative institutions, and classical and legal humanism. Main themes include 'imperial' monarchy and the theory of 'counsel', Parliament and the royal supremacy, conciliar politics and organization, the relationship of law and equity, and the jurisdictional rivalry between the courts of common law and canon law. The author argues that norms of Tudor England were sufficiently pluralist to satisfy both 'absolutist' and 'constitutionalist' aspirations, whereas by 1628 they proved no longer effective as a mechanism for the orderly conduct of politics. The clash between two conflicting sets of values was translated into a clash of ideologies.

This authoritative survey of Britain in the later Middle Ages comprises 28 chapters written by leading figures in the field. Covers social, economic, political, religious, and cultural history in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales Provides a guide to the historical debates over the later Middle Ages Addresses questions at the leading edge of historical scholarship Each chapter includes suggestions for further reading

What came before 'postmodernism' in historical studies? By thinking through the assumptions, methods and cast of mind of English historians writing between about 1870 and 1970, this book reveals the intellectual world of the modernists and offers a full analysis of English historiography in this crucial period. Modernist historiography set itself the objective of going beyond the colourful narratives of 'whigs' and 'popularizers' in order to establish history as the queen of the humanities and as a rival to the sciences as a vehicle of knowledge. Professor Bentley does not follow those who deride modernism as 'positivist' or 'empiricist' but instead shows how it set in train brilliant new styles of investigation that transformed how historians understood the English past. But he shows how these strengths were eventually outweighed by inherent confusions and misapprehensions that threatened to kill the very subject that the modernists had intended to sustain.