The Estates of the English Crown, 1558–1640
The Estates of the English Crown, 1558–1640
$155.00
USDThis collection of essays is the first full account of the largest estate in early modern England, against which the fortunes of all other estates may be judged. Previous accounts have tended to regard the Crown lands as a resource to be plundered by successive monarchs in times of need: much of the monastic land confiscated by Henry VIII had been sold by the time of his death, and the estates had mostly been liquidated to meet the demands of expenditure by 1640. It is not denied in these essays that the estates suffered from the attrition of periodic sale, but the estates are also seen as a continuing enterprise of complexity and sophistication. Each essay is concerned with the dialogue between the Exchequer and its local administrators and tenants. The success and failure of initiatives launched by the Exchequer is illustrated by examples drawn from many communities throughout England.
- The first full account of the Crown estates during the reign of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I
Reviews & endorsements
"The Estates of the English Crown, 1558-1640 is an indispensable and much-needed book, dealing thoroughly with those problems of tenures, Exchequer administration and royal finance..." Times Literary Supplement
"Hoyle and his team have demystified the lands. Their volume is an essential handbook and much more." W.J. Jones, Canadian Journal of History
"These essays are rich in both detail and insight, and ought to be counted among the most significant contributions made in recent years to the administrative and financial history of the early modern English state." John M. Currin
"...very readable, well organized, exceptionally well documented, and soundly argued." The Historian
"...The quality of the work is amazingly even...this is an important book and one that will undoubtedly spark further investigations." Roy E. Schreiber, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"This is a devastating book: fourteen essays by six scholars (six of them by the editor himself) take us into the minefield of the early modern English royal estate; and if some of the mines are exploded round us, we are led safely out again, with infinitely better understanding and the feeling that the claim that this is 'the first full account of the largest estate in early modern England' is entirely justified." Jenny Wormald, Renaissance Quarterly
Product details
August 2002Paperback
9780521526517
460 pages
229 × 152 × 26 mm
0.772kg
14 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- List of Pubic Record Office classes cited
- 1. Introduction: aspects of the Crown's estate, c. 1558–1640 Richard Hoyle
- 2. The Elizabethan Crown lands
- their purposes and problems David Thomas
- 3. The Elizabethan Duchy of Cornwall, an estate in stasis Graham Haslam
- 4. Exchequer officials and the market in Crown property, 1558–1640 Madeleine Gray
- 5. Power, patronage and politics: office-holding and administration on the Crown's estates in Wales Madeleine Gray
- 6. Tenure on the Elizabethan estates Richard Hoyle
- 7. Leases of Crown lands in the reign of Elizabeth I David Thomas
- 8. Customary tenure on the Elizabethan estates Richard Hoyle
- 9. 'Shearing the hog': the reform of the estates, c. 1598–1640 Richard Hoyle
- 10. Jacobean Phoenix: the Duchy of Cornwall in the principates of Henry Frederick and Charles Graham Haslam
- 11. The Crown as projector on its own estates, from Elizabeth I to Charles I Joan Thirsk
- 12. Disafforestation and drainage: the Crown as entrepreneur? Richard Hoyle
- 13. From swanimote to disafforestation: Feckenham Forest in the early seventeenth century Peter Large
- 14. Reflections on the history of the Crown lands, 1558–1640 Richard Hoyle
- Index.
