This interdisciplinary 1996 collection examines the multiple ties that connected the Stuart court to Europe, and the ways in which these shaped English politics and political culture. Together, the essays demonstrate that even the domestic history of the period can only be understood fully by taking into account the international horizons, concerns and affiliations of the British ruling elite. The opening essays by Jonathan Scott develop a provocative overview of the whole period. The remaining contributions examine topics such as the European roots of common law thought; the nature of national identity; the use of visual display in conveying the grandeur of kingship; the religion of Charles II; and the role of Charles's French mistress, the duchess of Portsmouth, in English and international politics. A concluding chapter by Geoffrey Parker suggests several new avenues for placing the British Isles within a European perspective.
Stresses the cosmopolitan nature of society, politics and culture at the Stuart court, and the importance of this cosmopolitanism in shaping political life and culture well beyond the court itself. The essays deal both with the actual operation of the court, politics, and the systems of cultural meaning in which political life was embedded.
