This is an examination of the role and development of parliament throughout the Tudor period, now a central topic in the study of Tudor history. Jennifer Loach examines the constitutional position, political activities, and relationships of the two houses of parliament from the late Middle Ages until the accession of the Stuarts. She explores the growing importance of the Commons and examines the ways in which the Tudor monarchs, from Henry VII to Elizabeth I, attempted to exert their royal power. Topics covered include elections, patronage, and constitutional issues such as the succession to the throne; the fundamental part played by parliament in taxation and other financial matters; the social and economic background; and the vexed and vital question of religion. Thoroughly grounded in contemporary sources, this is a comprehensive and lucid account, which will be invaluable to students of Tudor history.

Edward VI was the son of Henry VIII and his second wife, Jane Seymour. He ruled for only six years (1547-1553) and died at the age of sixteen. But these were years of fundamental importance in the history of the English state, and in particular of the English church. This new biography reveals for the first time that, despite his youth, Edward had a significant personal impact. Jennifer Loach draws a fresh portrait of the boy king as a highly precocious, well educated, intellectually confident, and remarkably decisive youth, with clear views on the future of the English church. Loach also offers a new understanding of Edward's health, arguing that the cause of his death was a severe infection of the lungs rather than tuberculosis, the commonly accepted diagnosis. The author views Edward not as a sickly child but as a healthy and vigorous boy, devoted to hunting and tournaments like any young aristocrat of the day. This book tells the story of the monarch and of his time. It supplies the dramatic context in which the short reign of Edward VI was played out-the momentous religious changes, factional fights, and popular risings. And it offers vivid details on Edward's increasing absorption in politics, his consciousness of his role as supreme head of the English church, his determination to lay the foundation for a Protestant regime, and how his failure in this ambition brought England to the brink of civil war.