The political, social and economic changes which overtook England in the early seventeenth century forced Parliament to adapt from a medieval institution into one with authority over all facets of society; studies focus on particular cases. The political, social and economic changes which overtook England in the early seventeenth century were both powerful and dramatic, forcing Parliament to adapt from a medieval institution into one with authority over all facets of society. Dynastic change, union with Scotland, fiscal reform, civil war, revolution and Restoration required Parliament not only to be at work, but also to discover how to work.

These studies focus on change and development in three areas: firstly, the institution of Parliament itself, exploring its growing institutional sophistication and the problems connected with attendance, workload and physical environment; secondly, on Parliament's role within the institutional set-up of the constitution, and the structure and relationships of power within the governance of the country; and thirdly, on the public perception of Parliament, and the practicalities of the relationship between Parliament and the wider world.