The Ruling Elite of Cambridgeshire, England, C. 1520-1603 (Studies in British History, 74)

This study suggests that geography, kinship and other communal connections were important factors for the formation of an active political elite, often superseding religion and external or central intervention in significance. Core groups of resident gentry within the broader elite dominated local office holding and more importantly, active participation in shire government throughout the period examined. The dual focus on the myriad connections that impacted the formation of the Cambridgeshire ruling elite together with the detailed analysis of local governmental activity represent two themes that are not widely published for Tudor counties. The Cambridgeshire experience and developments in other countries are compared extensively, while considering the wider national context that includes changes in central government, the progress of the religious reformation, efforts at governmental centralization, and responses to foreign threats.