The English Spa, 1560-1815


Book Description

Beginning in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, members of the English nobility and gentry made a practice of taking relaxation at the country's inland spas. This account shows the spas to have been not only centers of healing and recreating but also venues of intrigue extending to political, religious, economic, and social issues.







The Reformation and the Towns in England


Book Description

This analysis of the secular impact of the Reformation examines the changes within English towns from the mid-16th to the mid-17th century.




War and politics in the Elizabethan counties


Book Description

War and politics in the Elizabethan counties reassesses the national war effort during the wars against Spain (1585–1603). Drawing on a mass of hitherto neglected sources, it finds a political system in much better health than has been thought, revising many existing assumptions about the weaknesses of the state in the face of military change. It examines politics and government from the court and privy council to the counties and parishes, assessing the central regime as well as the local machinery of lord lieutenancies which provided troops to fight Elizabeth’s wars and ran the militia which defended against Spanish invasion attempts. The problems of government are assessed in a wide-ranging set of contexts, addressing popular attitudes to the war, government propaganda, local resistance and the problems of governing a country divided in religion. In this way the book covers much more than the war alone, providing a new assessment of the effectiveness of the whole Elizabethan state.




Somerset Record Society


Book Description

Annual report and list of subscribers in each vol. (except v. 10, 14).







A History of Bubonic Plague in the British Isles


Book Description

How the black rat introduced the bubonic plague into Britain, and the subsequent effects on social and economic life.




Publications


Book Description




The Life and Achievements of Sir John Popham, 1531-1607


Book Description

This is the first full-length biography of a pillar of the Elizabethan and early Jacobean state. A devoted servant of the Queen, Popham played a prominent part as her Attorney-General and Lord Chief Justice in the famous trials of Essex and Ralegh. He condemned to death the Gunpowder Plotters, and acquired a reputation as a severe judge. Enterprising and practical, he promoted attempts to settle Englishmen in Ireland and to drain the Fens of Cambridgeshire. Popham's final achievement was to establish the Virginia Company and send out an expedition that set afoot the first English colony in New England. Sir John was not only important but also notorious, becoming a legendary bogeyman in popular imagination. Accounts written hitherto have focused on that aspect, but this book aims to give a balanced account, giving credit to Popham as a visionary statesman and creative entrepreneur at the very center of English government. This book is thoroughly illustrated.