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[Last updated 12/9/16; mag1010]
Historical Tripos – Part I – Paper 4
British Political History 1485-1714
The Tudor and Stuart Age
Course Guide 2016-2017
To be read in conjunction with the Reading List, available from the Paper 4 Moodle site or
the History Faculty website.
An introduction to the period
The two-and-a-third centuries of British political history covered by this paper were, for the
people who experienced them, difficult, unstable, and profoundly unsettling - for historians,
then, they are exciting and challenging. Between 1485 and 1714 the subjects of England,
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales learned to challenge the sanctity and authority of kings and
governors. They executed one king and a queen, deposed another monarch, and built a
republic; they fought a war in three kingdoms in the seventeenth century, three more against
the Dutch Republic, and finally two major European wars against Louis XIV’s France. The
medieval polity transformed itself into the modern state, although how, why, and when this
transformation happened are controversial questions. The Tudors declared themselves
supreme heads and governors of the English Church, and the Protestant Reformation they
sponsored destroyed ancient forms of worship and reinforced the coercive power of the
state. And yet religion also became a resource for challenging royal authority. The close
relationship between confessional faith, royal dynasty, and the acceptable –
and
unacceptable – exercise of political power set the scene for the ‘intestine’ wars of the
seventeenth century.
Central themes
When studying this period keep in mind these key themes, some of which form specific
topics in the Reading List, but all of which are implicit throughout the course:
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the relationship of court, privy council, counsel, and parliaments
the relationship of Whitehall and Westminster to counties, towns, and parishes
the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland
the relationship of church and state, religion and politics
the machinery, financing, and personnel of government
religious and political ideologies and mentalities
the relationship of political processes to the social structure
the mediation of politics through public media: pulpit, print, cartoons, ballads
the connections between politics and culture: art, poetry, theatre, music, ritual
the impact on domestic affairs of events in Continental Europe and beyond
the connections between the British Isles and the Atlantic world
Rubrics
With effect from October 2013 (for examination in Tripos 2015 onward), the rubrics for this
paper are as follows:
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1. Paper 4 remit. The paper covers the Tudor-Stuart age, 1485-1714, and is a paper in
political and religious history. (Note, however, that the boundary between this paper and
Paper 9 is porous, and that the division between ‘political and religious’ and ‘economic and
social’ history is often artificial, especially given the recent growth of ‘cultural’ history.)
2. Two sections. The paper is divided into two sections. Section A provides a chronological
overview of Early Modern Britain and Ireland between 1485 and 1714, and comprises 15
topics covering the whole period sequentially. Section B, called Themes in Early modern
British History, comprises 8 topics that encompass the whole period. Again, the boundaries
are often artificial. Essays on the ‘Themes’ in Section B will often have overlaps with material
covered in Section A. In the examination, candidates should not feel constrained by
boundaries, but should avoid undue repetition. The remit of the topics in Section A has been
modified since 2014-15 to encourage candidates to examine the period with reference to and
from the perspective of all three kingdoms. Section B no longer contains separate topics on
Scotland and Ireland.
3. Exam paper. The exam paper is divided into the same two sections, and candidates are
required to answer three questions, including at least one from each section. The exam
paper will include questions on each of the 23 topics on the Lecture List. The questions in
Section A will provide candidates with the opportunity to display their knowledge of individual
countries and kingdoms as well as to discuss them comparatively.
4. What to cover. In your study for Paper 4, you should aim to cover about a century in your
chronological work (Section A), typically 1485-1603, 1558-1660, or 1603-1714; and should
cover as many topics in Section B as will enable you to answer a question in the exam. Thus,
the aim is to acquire a broad grasp of major themes throughout the Tudor-Stuart period,
together with more specialist knowledge of part of the period. In marking Section B answers,
the examiners will recognize that candidates’ knowledge will not be equally deep for the
whole Tudor-Stuart period.
Course Convenor and Moodle site
 The current Convenor is Mark Goldie ([email protected]).
 There is a Moodle website for this paper, where you can find useful information and
lecture handouts. All lecturers for the paper are encouraged to upload their handouts.
Reading List and online resources
 You will find the Faculty’s Reading List for this paper on the Faculty and Moodle
websites. The current edition was prepared in 2013, and was updated in 2015.
Teachers and students are encouraged to recommend good recent publications.
 There are many useful internet resources for early modern British history, available
via the University Library e-resources site. You may need your Raven password. The
most important are:
JSTOR (journal articles)
ODNB (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography)
EEBO (Early English Books Online: pre-1700 printed texts)
ECCO (Eighteenth-Century Collections Online: 1700-1800 printed texts)
ESTC (English Short Title Catalogue: bibliography of pre-1800 books)
BHO (British History Online)
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Bibliography of British and Irish History (via Brepolis)
Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 (www.rps.ac.uk)
English Historical Documents Online, vols. IV, Va, Vb, VI, cover our period
Depositions relating to the 1641 rebellion (http://1641.tcd.ie/)
 Note that the journals which contain most articles on early modern British history are:
Journal of Modern History
English Historical Review
Historical Journal
Past and Present
Historical Research
Transactions of the Royal
Journal of British Studies
Historical Society.
Journal of Ecclesiastical History
Places to visit in and around Cambridge relevant to this paper
King’s College Chapel
Gates of Trinity, John’s, and Christ’s Colleges
Chapels of Trinity, Pembroke, Emmanuel, among others
Halls of Trinity, St John’s, Christ’s, among others
Libraries, especially Trinity’s Wren Library, Pepys Library at Magdalene
Churches, esp. St Botolph’s; St Edward King & Martyr; Great St Mary’s
The Fitzwilliam Museum – includes many relevant paintings and artefacts
Cromwell House, Ely
Ely Cathedral, particularly the defaced Lady Chapel
The programme of teaching
 The course is taught through Faculty lectures and classes, and College supervisions.
The supervision norm is eight, plus at least one revision supervision in your exam
term. Your supervisor will probably expect your weekly essay to be about 2500 words
long, to be delivered the day before the supervision.
 The Faculty provides 32-48 hours of lectures per annum for each Part I paper; you
should aim to attend 2-3 per week during Michaelmas and Lent Terms for this paper.
As with all papers, the lecture cycle is annual, so you will need to attend lectures for
this paper both in and outside your supervision term.
 The teaching for this paper takes various forms:
(a) Core Lectures: twice weekly in Michaelmas Term
(b) Supplementary series, which explore themes and topics in greater depth than
the Core lectures. Some of these are ‘cross-listed’ with other Tripos papers. These
take place in the Michaelmas and Lent terms. Some series are ‘borrowed’ from other
Triposes, e.g. Divinity.
(c) Core Document Classes: weekly in Lent Term. These one-hour classes focus on
the topics in Section A of the Reading List and therefore correspond directly with
those on which you will be writing supervision essays. You should to attend several
classes relevant to your supervision topics. These classes explore short extracts from
primary sources, which will all be uploaded onto Moodle. You are asked to read these
in advance and to bring copies with you, or a laptop by which you can access them.
(d) Revision lectures and classes in Easter Term, which may be given by ‘trainee’
lecturers who are PhD students.
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(e) Supervisions. Each student will have 8 supervisions, arranged by their College
Director of Studies.
Basic books
If you have never studied the period before, some beginners' items of reading are:
Kenneth Morgan, ed., The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain (1984)
John Morrill, ed., Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor and Stuart England (1996)
Patrick Collinson, The Sixteenth Century, 1485-1603 (2002)
Blair Worden, The English Civil Wars, 1640-1660 (2009)
Jenny Wormald, ed., The Seventeenth Century (2008)
Some excellent textbooks:
Stephen Ellis and Christopher Maginn, The Making of the British Isles (2007)
John Guy, Tudor England (1988)
Jane Dawson, Scotland Reformed (2007)
Mark Nicholls, A History of the Modern British Isles, 1529-1603 (1999)
Barry Coward, The Stuart Age (1978)
David Scott, Leviathan: the Rise of Britain as a Great Power, 1485-1783 (2013)
David Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, 1603-1707 (1998)
Documentary sourcebooks:
G. R. Elton, ed., The Tudor Constitution (1960, and later editions)
J. P. Kenyon, ed., The Stuart Constitution (1966, and later editions)
E. N. Williams, ed., The Eighteenth-Century Constitution (1960, later editions)
David Wootton, ed., Divine Right and Democracy (1986) [Stuart century]
W. C. Dickinson, G. Donaldson, and I. A. Milne (eds.) A Source Book of Scottish
History (1958-63)
English Historical Documents Online, vols. IV, Va, Vb, VI, cover our period.
Prescribed topics
The Reading List is organised under the following prescribed topics.
Section A (Chronological): Early Modern Britain and Ireland 1485-1714 [15]
1. Kingship at the turn of the sixteenth century: Henry VII and James IV 1485-1513
2. Politics and government in the British Isles, c.1509-1547
3. The Henrician Reformation and its repercussions, 1521-1547
4. Crisis and conflict in the British Isles, 1542-1561
5. Securing regimes and eliminating rivals: governance in the British Isles 1558-1587
6. War and succession politics in the British Isles, 1585-1603
7. Reformation and state religion, c. 1559-1603
8. Politics and government, 1603-1640
9. Religion and the church, 1603-1640
10. The Civil Wars, regicide, and the radicals, 1637-1649
11. The Interregnum, Oliver Cromwell, and the republicans, 1649-1660
12. Politics in the reign of Charles II, 1660-1685
13. James VII and II and the Revolution, 1685-1690
14. Parliament, parties, and political culture, 1689-1714
15. The restored church and religious dissent, 1660-1714
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Section B: Themes in Early Modern British History [8]
16. The three kingdoms and the ‘British problem’
17. Centre and locality: state formation and patterns of governance
18. The culture of power and the power of culture
19. Political ideas: sovereignty, common law, counsel, and constitution
20: Rebellion, resistance and revolt
21. Media and opinion: pulpits and pamphlets, news and censorship
22. Britain, Europe, and Christendom
23. The emergence of the Atlantic Empire
Michaelmas Term
Lecture Programme for 2016-17
Core Lectures – 12 lectures, Tuesdays and Fridays at 9am
7 Oct. - Introduction and Narrative Framework – Dr Paul Cavill and Prof. Mark Goldie
11 Oct. - Dynasties – Dr Paul Cavill
14 Oct. - Counsel – Dr Paul Cavill
18 Oct. -Parliaments and Elections – Dr David Smith
21 Oct. - Factions and Parties – Dr David Smith
25 Oct. - Three Kingdoms – Dr Clare Jackson
28 Oct. - Reformations – Dr Arnold Hunt
1 Nov. - Political Ideas – Dr Clare Jackson
4 Nov. - Britain and Europe – Dr Gabriel Glickman
8 Nov. - Centre and Localities – Prof. Mark Goldie
11 Nov. - Print and the Public Sphere – Prof. Mark Goldie
15 Nov. - Empire and the Atlantic – Dr Gabriel Glickman
Supplementary lecture series
Dr Paul Cavill, ‘Themes in Tudor Politics’ – 4 lectures - Wed. 10am - weeks 1-4
Dr Arnold Hunt, ‘Reformation to Civil War, 1559-1640’ – 4 lectures - Wed. 10am – weeks 5-8
Dr Liesbeth Corens and Dr Simone Maghenzani, ‘Textual Counter-Reformation: Reading and
Writing Catholicism in Britain and Europe’ – 4 lectures – Tue. 10am – weeks 5-8
Prof. Richard Rex, ‘The English Reformation’ – Thu. 10am – 8 lectures – Divinity Faculty
Lent Term
Core Document Classes – 8 one-hour classes, weekly, Fridays at 9 am.
20 Jan. - Week 1: Dr Paul Cavill
1. Kingship at the turn of the sixteenth century: Henry VII and James IV, 1485-1513
2. Politics and government in the British Isles, 1509-1547
27 Jan. - Week 2: Dr Paul Cavill
3. The Henrician Reformation and its repercussions, 1521-1547
4. Crisis and conflict in the British Isles, 1542-1561
3 Feb. - Week 3: Dr Paul Cavill
5. Securing regimes and eliminating rivals: governance in the British Isles 1558-1587
6. War and succession politics in the British Isles, 1585-1603
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10 Feb. - Week 4: Dr Paul Cavill
7. Reformation and state religion, 1559-1603
17 Feb. - Week 5: Dr David Smith
8. Politics and government, 1603-1640
9. Religion and the church, 1603-1640
24 Feb. - Week 6: Dr Gabriel Glickman
10. The Civil Wars, regicide, and the radicals, 1637-1649
11. The Interregnum, Oliver Cromwell, and the republicans, 1649-1660
3 Mar. - Week 7: Prof. Mark Goldie
12. Politics in the reign of Charles II, 1660-1685
13. James VII and II and the Revolution, 1685-1690
10 Mar. - Week 8: Prof. Mark Goldie
14. Parliament, parties, and political culture, 1689-1714
15. The restored church and religious dissent, 1660-1714
Supplementary lecture series
Dr Jennifer Bishop and Dr John Gallagher, ‘Teaching and Learning in Early Modern Britain’ –
4 lectures - Tu. 12 noon – weeks 1-4
Dr Arnold Hunt, ‘Early Modern Media’ – 4 lectures - Th. 12 noon - weeks 1-4
Dr Gabriel Glickman, ‘The Church of England and its Opponents, 1603-1689’ – 4 lectures Th. 12 noon – weeks 5-8.
Prof. Richard Rex, ‘English Christianity before the Reformation’ – 8 lectures - Tu. 11am –
Divinity Faculty
Easter Term
Revision Lectures and Classes
Revision Classes – Dr David Smith – 4 one-hour classes – Fri. 9am – weeks 1-4
Revision Lectures – Prof. M. Goldie and others – 4 lectures – Wed. 11am – weeks 1-4
Supervisors and Lecturers for this paper (where known to the Convenor)
[some teachers may be on research leave in any given year]
Mr Jens Aklundh
Dr Jennifer Bishop
Ms Carys Brown
Dr Paul Cavill
Dr Liesbeth Corens
Ms Jessica Crown
Dr Eoin Devlin
Dr Michael Edwards
Dr Jon Fitzgibbons
Dr John Gallagher
Dr Gabriel Glickman
Prof. Mark Goldie
Mr Tim Gray
Dr John Guy
Dr Arnold Hunt
Dr Clare Jackson
Dr Melanie Lamotte
Ms Harriet Lyon
Dr Simone Maghenzani
Mr Scott Mandelbrote
Ms Aislinn Muller
Dr Mark Nicholls
Dr Kate Peters
Ms Joan Redmond
Prof. Richard Rex
Mr Morgan Ring
Mr Greg Salazar
Dr David Smith
Dr Elliot Vernon
Prof. Alex Walsham