Description
Book SynopsisThis perspective on the troubled relationship between Charles I and the English aristocracy explores the effectiveness of Charles' efforts to cultivate and strengthen the peerage. It analyses how and why most peers supported the King at the outbreak of civil war, challenging notions of aristocratic decline and 'noble revolt'.
Trade Review'A work of superb archival research - painstaking and original.' Literary Review
'This powerful new book is a landmark in the historiography of the English Civil War … Cust's brilliant analysis turns [Laurence] Stone's work on its head. The book is the most formidable contribution to the debate on the origins of the Civil War in years.' Anthony Fletcher, History Today
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The honours system in late Tudor and early Stuart England; 2. Charles I and the defence of aristocracy, 1625–39; 3. The Court of Chivalry and the defence of honour; 4. The aristocracy and the Bishops' Wars, 1639–40; 5. The aristocracy and the outbreak of civil war, 1640–2; Bibliography; Appendices.
