The Parliaments of Early Modern Europe (review)

Reviews 237 ofLe Mans by David Hiley, the Little Office ofthe Virgin by Rebecca A. Baltzer, and the Presentation of the Virgin by James John Boyce. The sixth and final section introduces the use of large computerised databases in the study of the office, the papers being Andrew Hughes' discussion of his Late Medieval Office project, and a second by Lora Matthews and Paul Merkley which introduces the CANTUS database and their o w n work on tonaries. Without a doubt this is a book of major significance for the study of the Divine Office and it is enthusiastically recommended. Kathleen Nelson Sydney Conservatorium of Music University of Sydney Graves, Michael A. R., The Parliaments of Early Modern Europe, Harlow, Longman, 2001; paper; pp. ix, 230; 1 map; R R P US$22.00; ISBN 058230587X. Professor Graves, an authority on Tudor Parliaments, has written a very us overview of elected European representative assemblies, from the late medieval period to around the 1660s. Handling an impressive range of material he introduces the multifarious Cortes, Diets, Estates, and Reichstags, from Poland to Portugal and Sweden to Sicily - even provincial bodies receive some treatment. Obviously such a work relies on secondary materials and contains no new research and is therefore best judged as a potential textbook. After an interesting introduction to medieval ideas and assemblies, the book is organised in a straight forward fashion with four chapters devoted to centuries, one on thefifteenthcentury, two on the sixteenth century, covering 1500-59 and 1560-1600 respectively, andfinishingwith the seventeenth. Several chapters have numerous 'Case Studies' of various assemblies. In a few instances several are too short, e.g. Scotland (p. 52); and at times the parliamentary focus is lost with too much general history, e.g. the Thirty Years War (p. 117), or national summaries, e.g. James I (p. 114-15), best left for a general textbook. A 'Case Study' approach, while worthwhile, implies that particular themes or key assemblies are to receive more detailed examinations, but instead there are too many short examples. The periodisation into 50 or 100 year blocks sometimes breaks up and obscures some themes. One such is the interesting example of bodies that acted as tax collectors in Habsburg territories. The demise of the French Estates General would have been clearer with a more continuous treat- 238 Reviews ment, instead ofbeing awkwardly split up (p. 87-89, and 116), while Richelieu's assemblies ofnotables (1617 and 1626) are simply ignored. The concluding part ' of the book usefully deals with more technical issues. To indulge in some nitpicking, chapter periodisation is not a reliable guide with many 'Case Studies' including chunks ofmaterial from other centuries, e.g. England (pp. 47-8), Castile (p. 92), Poland (p. 134), and the Empire (pp. 137-8). The chapter on the seventeenth century discards the 'Case Study' approach, even though there is enough material on the various assemblies discussed to justify its retention. With nothing on the eighteenth century, the book has a certain imbalance. Here Graves's eschewing of a teleological focus on 'winners' actually obscures the 'rise' of the English Parliament, and this whole matter receives too little attention. W h y index and discuss Wolsey's 'Amicable Grant' but ignore ship money, Hampden, and P y m ? Also barely mentioned, and not indexed, are impeachment and the petition of right (p. 124). Coverage of the events of 1688 is too thin, and students expecting the familiar term 'Glorious Revolution' will not find it (p. 151). As a student text it would have benefited from at least some discussion of historiography. Only H. G. Koenigsberger is regularly mentioned. 'Revisionism' receives glancing treatment relating to Spain (p. 90), but one looks in vain for Conrad Russell and the debate on the English parliament as 'event' vs. 'institution'. O n p. 30, Graves appears to favour an emphasis on institutions, but with a stress on loyalty of assemblies to monarchs. However, various depositions or rulers are usually only mentioned in passing, e.g. of the Dutch: 'in 1581 allegiance to Philip II was formally ended' (p. 95). This is a tame presentation ofthe context and Act ofAbjuration (which is not named or...