Introduction

At the heart of the essays in this volume lies an interest in the nature and

expression of power, defined quite straightforwardly as the ability to take and to

enforce a decision. My first researches focused on the power of the nobility in

Tudor England, a choice of subject that was in itself a critique of the then

dominant emphasis – it is sufficient to cite Sir Geoffrey Elton here – on the

institutions of central government as the key to the location and the effective

operation of power. Yet much writing on the politics of early modern

continental countries suggested rather the continuing importance of noblemen,

despite the myth of rising royal absolutism; it seemed worth exploring the

sources to determine more fully the role of the nobility in England. Chapter 2

here offers my latest reflections on this subject, drawing on my The Power of

the Early Tudor Nobility (1984), an introductory essay to The Tudor Nobility

(1992) and a paper in History Review (1995), but developing and expanding the

arguments there in several places.