In this lecture Professor Wrightson provides an overview of central political issues of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He discusses the Queen's personal character and identity-forming experiences (and the challenges posed by her gender), the manner in which she interacted with her political advisors (notably William Cecil) and addresses the foreign and domestic crises which impacted her rule (such as the ongoing threat posed by the claims of Mary, Queen of Scots to the English throne and England's increasingly tense relationship with Spain). In particular, Professor Wrightson highlights the shifts in political culture which occurred during the period, as ideas concerning political participation and the role of institutions such as Parliament expanded. He introduces Patrick Collinson's notion of the Elizabethan regime as something of a "monarchical republic," with the Queen exercising power in cooperation with political stakeholders whose ideas about governance were informed by both their Protestant convictions and classical political principles.



Reading assignment:

Guy, The Tudor Monarchy

- Chapter 4: Collinson, "The Monarchial Republic of Queen Elizabeth I"

- Chapter 14: Elton, "Tudor Government: The Points of Contact I, the Parliament"

1. General Introduction
2. "The Tree of Commonwealth": The Social Order in the Sixteenth Century
3. Households: Structures, Priorities, Strategies, Roles
4. Communities: Key Institutions and Relationships
5. "Countries" and Nation: Social and Economic Networks and the Urban System
6. The Structures of Power
7. Late Medieval Religion and Its Critics
8. Reformation and Division, 1530-1558
9. "Commodity" and "Commonwealth": Economic and Social Problems, 1520-1560
10. The Elizabethan Confessional State: Conformity, Papists and Puritans
11. The Elizabethan "Monarchical Republic": Political Participation
12. Economic Expansion, 1560-1640
13. A Polarizing Society, 1560-1640
14. Witchcraft and Magic
15. Crime and the Law
16. Popular Protest
17. Education and Literacy
18. Street Wars of Religion: Puritans and Arminians
19. Crown and Political Nation, 1604-1640
20. Constitutional Revolution and Civil War, 1640-1646
21. Regicide and Republic, 1647-1660
22. An Unsettled Settlement: The Restoration Era, 1660-1688
23. England, Britain, and the World: Economic Development, 1660-1720
24. Refashioning the State, 1688-1714
25. Concluding Discussion and Advice on Examination

This course is intended to provide an up-to-date introduction to the development of English society between the late fifteenth and the early eighteenth centuries. Particular issues addressed in the lectures will include: the changing social structure; households; local communities; gender roles; economic development; urbanization; religious change from the Reformation to the Act of Toleration; the Tudor and Stuart monarchies; rebellion, popular protest and civil war; witchcraft; education, literacy and print culture; crime and the law; poverty and social welfare; the changing structures and dynamics of political participation and the emergence of parliamentary government.

Course Structure:
This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 50 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Fall 2009.