The House of Commons 1604-1629

These volumes contain biographies of the 1,782 Members of the House of Commons from 1604 to 1629, surveys of elections in the 259 constituencies of Britain over the same period and a groundbreaking introductory survey of the early seventeenth-century House of Commons as an institution. The result of research in over 170 archives by expert historians, illuminating individual lives, local politics and national events, they constitute the most comprehensive survey of British politics during this period. These years constitute a critical moment in parliamentary history, which witnessed a far-reaching breakdown in the relationship between James I and Charles I and their parliaments. As the survey shows for the first time, they also saw a collapse in the capacity of the House of Commons to legislate, and increasing interest in membership of the Commons. Together, these volumes provide the means to transform the study of early Stuart politics.