Patronage in the Reign of Elizabeth I

By comparison with the fifteenth century, which saw the breakdown of central government and the confusion of the Wars of the Roses, the century of the Tudors appears an era of stability and calm. Yet this contrast between order and disorder presents a misleading picture. It is true that the Tudors provided firm government; but the country over whose fortunes they presided was undergoing fundamental changes which sorely tested the abilities of the dynasty.

The breach with Rome and the Reformation that followed; the dissolution of the monasteries; the price rise; alterations in the structure of industry and the expansion of overseas trade: individually, each of these was bound to have important political, social and economic repercussions; collectively, they represented a seismic upheaval at all levels of society which qualifies the sixteenth century as one of the most revolutionary periods in English history.