A new year at the History of Parliament Trust sees the start of a new project. Research on the House of Lords 1558-1603 will complement our Commons project during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I by exploring the members of the upper chamber. Dr Andrew Thrush, editor of the project, explains more… The History of Parliament is delighted to announce the creation of a new, … Continue reading New project: the Elizabethan House of Lords
As our House of Lords 1604-1629 project nears completion, Dr Paul Hunneyball takes a look at one of the lesser-known peers who feature in the forthcoming volumes… When we use the term ‘House of Windsor’ nowadays, we’re referring to the royal family, who adopted this name in 1917, thereby celebrating their long-standing association with Windsor Castle. However, back in the early 17th century, the ruling … Continue reading The ‘Other’ House of Windsor
Ahead of this evening’s session of the IHR’s Parliaments, Politics, and People seminar, Lewis Brennen, PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, summarises the themes that he covered in his paper, ‘The Political and Religious Origins of the 1563 Witchcraft Act’, at our last session… The 1563 Witchcraft Act, formally titled an ‘Act agaynst Conjuracons Inchantments and Witchecraftes’, was one of the most significant pieces … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People Seminar: The Political and Religious Origins of the 1563 Witchcraft Act
Continuing our theme of alternative functions once served by the palace of Westminster, Dr Andrew Thrush of the Lords 1604-29 section considers activities at the southern end of the complex in the early seventeenth century… During the early modern period parliaments were neither regular nor particularly frequent but sat at the whim of the monarch. Consequently, for most of the time the old palace of … Continue reading The House of Lords Outside Parliament Time, 1604-1629
This week as part of our Mothers and Fathers of the House series, Paul Seaward, British Academy/Wolfson research professor at the History of Parliament Trust, explores the origins of the parliamentary tradition of the Father of the House… The origins of the idea of a ‘father of the House’ are, like so many parliamentary traditions, deeply obscure, which is scarcely surprising for a role which … Continue reading The Origins of a Father of the House
What a year it’s been! After all of the staff changes at the end of 2017 we started the new year with a new Director, Stephen Roberts, Assistant Director, Emma Peplow, and Public Engagement Officer, Sammy Sturgess, who, in addition to our continued research, were ready to forge ahead with a bumper public engagement programme involving our academic projects and beyond. 2019 will see the … Continue reading Review of the Year 2018
At our first ‘Parliaments, Politics & People’ seminar of the new academic year, Dr Hannes Kleineke, Dr Ruth Ahnert, Professor Arthur Burns, and Professor Jane Winters offered some compelling insights into the evolution of digital humanities, its impact on the practice of history, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the management of digital projects. Our first session of the Parliaments, Politics and People seminar for … Continue reading Round-table session: Digital humanities and political history: in memoriam Valerie Cromwell
In our Medieval MP of the Month series we’ll be exploring some of the characters who feature in our Commons 1422-1504 volumes, which were published in April 2020. Today we hear from Senior Research Fellow, Dr Hannes Kleineke about William Holbeck, MP for York in the Parliament of 1450-1… THE HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 1422-1461, edited by Linda Clark, is out now. … Continue reading House of Commons 1422-1504: MP of the Month, William Holbeck
Today’s post is a guest blog from Andrew Gray of University College London. Andrew explains his Wikidata project which now links to all of the published History of Parliament biographies to the database; he also shares some of the more notable – and perhaps unexpected – anecdotes from his research… Over the past couple of years, I have been working on a project to build a single … Continue reading Wikidata, British Politicians and the History of Parliament Trust
With tariffs on imported goods currently in the news, Dr. Simon Healy of the Lords 1604-29 Section provides some food for thought on Parliament and customs duties in the seventeenth century… Dried grapes were a luxury product in medieval England, but in the sixteenth century they became more readily available. By 1600 around 1,000 tons of dried fruit were imported annually. What does this have … Continue reading Currant affairs? Taxation without representation in early Stuart England
