The Stuart Court and Europe

This interdisciplinary collection examines the multiple ties that connected the Stuart court to Europe, and the ways in which these shaped English politics and political culture. Together, the essays demonstrate that even the domestic history of the period can only be understood fully by taking into account the international horizons, concerns and affiliations of the British ruling elite. The opening essays by Jonathan Scott develop a provocative overview of the whole period. The remaining contributions examine topics such as the European roots of common law thought; the nature of national identity; the use of visual display in conveying the grandeur of kingship; the religion of Charles II; and the role of Charles’s French mistress, the duchess of Portsmouth, in English and international politics. A concluding chapter by Geoffrey Parker suggests several new avenues for placing the British Isles within a European perspective.