Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours, 1500-1707 (Oxford Histories)

__Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours c.1500-1707__ is a rich narrative history of England's increasing dominance over the cluster of territories that became known as the British Isles. It brings alive a period and a geography remarkable for repeated religious wars and a long colonial struggle as well as for London's emergence as a political, economic, and cultural hub. While __Dominion__ concentrates on English actions and purposes, it pays careful attention to interactions in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and to the pressures of European competition. It does so by drawing on the vibrant recent scholarship of the separate nations and considerable primary research, and also on the language of the actors, from Henry VIII and Elizabeth, Spenser and Shakespeare, to Oliver Cromwell and John Milton. Its purpose is not just to explore English understandings and ideologies, but their consequences, both creative and disruptive. The landmarks of the Tudor and Stuart centuries may be familiar: the creation of Ireland as a subordinate but fractured kingdom, the unification of Wales with England, the unstable union of the crowns of England and Scotland, the bloody conquest and reconquest of Ireland, and the formation of the United Kingdom amid fierce rivalry with France. By interweaving these strands as a single coherent story of English reactions and projections, this book opens up a new understanding of this formative period in the history of these islands - and also of its fractious legacy. "Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours c.1500-1707 is a rich narrative history of England's increasing dominance over the cluster of territories that became known as the British Isles. It brings alive a period and a geography remarkable for repeated religious wars and a long colonial struggle as well as for London's emergence as a political, economic, and cultural hub. While Dominion concentrates on English actions and purposes, it pays careful attention to interactions in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and to the pressures of European competition. It does so by drawing on the vibrant recent scholarship of the separate nations and considerable primary research, and also on the language of the actors, from Henry VIII and Elizabeth, Spenser and Shakespeare, to Oliver Cromwell and John Milton. Its purpose is not just to explore English understandings and ideologies, but their consequences, both creative and disruptive. The landmarks of the Tudor and Stuart centuries may be familiar: the creation of Ireland as a subordinate but fractured kingdom, the unification of Wales with England, the unstable union of the crowns of England and Scotland, the bloody conquest and reconquest of Ireland, and the formation of the United Kingdom amid fierce rivalry with France. By interweaving these strands as a single coherent story of English reactions and projections, this book opens up a new understanding of this formative period in the history of these islands - and also of its fractious legacy."--Publisher's website. Cover 1 Contents 8 List of Maps 10 Part I: Searching for Meaning: Empire and the Rat 12 Part II: England’s Archipelagic History c.1500–1707 20 Prologue 22 1. The Old Order Changes 1500–1540 30 2. Titles in Question 1540–1551 52 3. State Formations 1551–1568 74 4. Causes of the Lord 1568–1585 97 5. Endgames 1585–1603 121 6. Towards a Greater Britain? 1603–1618 142 7. Conforming Multiple Kingdoms 1618–1637 167 8. Conflicted Kingdoms 1637–1646 189 9. Revolution and Conquest 1646–1660 216 10. Restoring Crown and Church 1660–1686 241 11. A British Isles? 1687–1707 268 Part III 294 Bibliographic Essay 296 Index 312 A 312 B 313 C 314 D 316 E 317 F 320 G 321 H 321 I 322 J 324 K 324 L 324 M 325 N 327 O 327 P 328 Q 329 R 329 S 329 T 331 U 332 V 332 W 332 Y 333 Derek Hirst. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [285]-300) And Index.