ABSTRACT
It is judged that “A Discourse of the Commonweal of this Realm of England,” which was written in 1549 and first published in 1581, is “the most impressive piece of economic analysis produced in the sixteenth century.” The author was most likely Sir Thomas Smith (1513-1577), who was vice chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1543), clerk of the Privy Council (1547), secretary of state (1548), knighted (1549), ambassador to France (1562-7), and once again a privy councilor and secretary of state (1571-2).1
